Major Announcement! The Travel Continues!

The Roadmap For The Newsletter And The Rest of 2022

As Sidney and I prepare for our last 4 months of our year-long adventure, I thought this would be a good opportunity to share some ideas that I have been mulling over when it comes to this newsletter.

First off, I know I have said this a few times already, but I truly can’t express how much I appreciate your readership and engagement. You have allowed me to rediscover my passion for writing, and it has been an absolute pleasure to share our travel experiences with you!

It is still hard to believe that we are now 8 months into building our online brand. The time has flown by and we have cherished every second of it!

As our audience has grown, I have had a lot to consider related to the structure of the newsletter, particularly when it comes to charging for access through the subscription-based model that Substack operates on.

To be completely honest, I have never felt comfortable with the idea. I love that absolutely anyone can access and engage with my work. Stories are always better when everyone is invited to listen.

Before I go any further, I will let you know right away that I have decided to continue offering 100% free access to all newsletters.

However, I do value my time, labor, and creative energy, as all of us should. Every newsletter takes anywhere from 3 to 5 hours to complete, and I have often published multiple newsletters a week throughout the year.

While I love every minute of the process, I do have to allocate time for writing into our schedule, which can sometimes be a bit of a struggle on top of travel days, filming, and editing.

So, instead of a subscription-based model, I have decided to set up a Venmo address for our travel content that I will include at the beginning and end of every newsletter.

@Max-and-Sid

If you feel like you gained value or enjoyment after reading any of our newsletters, feel free to send us whatever amount you feel comfortable with.

Also, I will be sure to always include this button at the end of every newsletter to make it as convenient as possible.

As we are just starting to get our business off the ground, absolutely anything helps and no amount is too small!

If you don’t have a Venmo account, it is very easy to set up! However, if you don’t like using it, I completely understand.

Even after providing half a year’s worth of free content, I still feel extremely uncomfortable typing this out right now. I hope you all understand that in a perfect world, I would continue writing for you forever without asking for a dime.

However, travel is not free. Even though it should be!

I will say that I am far more comfortable with this system than a subscription model, because Sidney and I have such a chaotic schedule that it can be difficult to write on a predetermined timeframe.

I definitely wouldn’t like the idea of charging for access when I might not be able to release multiple newsletters a week on a consistent basis.

With that said, I can absolutely guarantee that you will receive a newsletter every Friday morning! I am hoping to release another newsletter on top of that for a total of 2 newsletters a week, but our travel and filming schedule may not always allow it.

I plan on testing out this system for a while to see how it works out. As of now, I have no plans of activating a monthly subscription charge, and I would definitely prefer the Venmo method if it is feasible for us!

There is absolutely no obligation to send us anything unless you feel like we provided value to you.

If you enjoy reading but would prefer not to pay, sharing the newsletter with friends, family, or anyone you know who might be interested is also a massive help and extremely appreciated!

Every single new subscriber increases our circulation within the Substack platform and our growth potential.

I am excited for this next leg of the adventure, and can’t wait to share it with all of you!

Feel free to make a financial contribution to our travels if you felt you gained value from this newsletter! If not, no worries! Don’t forget to share if you know anyone who might enjoy it 😃