NEWSLETTER 3!
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A BUSY FEBRUARY
This past month has been very hectic – but not in a bad way. My coaching schedule has taken me to Nebraska, Arkansas, Alabama, and all around Kansas. I had one free weekend after a Friday meet in Arkansas and explored a little around SW Missouri and SE Kansas. I’ve kept track of my travel stats since the beginning of the year - so far in 2024 I have been to 10 states, drove/ridden 4438 miles (flown 1503) and been on the road 19 out of the first 60 days of the year. I don’t know how that compares to previous years, but it feels similar.
FEBRUARY YOUTUBE REVIEW
n the past month, I’ve released videos from 5 states (Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas). They’ve literally and figuratively been all over the place. I even released a video about the forgotten sport of Jai Alai – which predictably wasn’t very popular, but I had a lot of fun doing it! I watch a lot of videos of other YouTube creators who talk about growing their channel’s popularity and “chasing the algorithm”. And while I certainly have learned what videos will and will not be popular, I am always going to continue making videos of places and things I find interesting, even if it means getting less clicks (i.e. Jai Alai). I think when you start to chase views it will eventually feel more like a job. Fortunately there are enough of you out there who seem to like the content I put out – I see your comments and appreciate them more than you know!
WHAT’S COMING UP IN MARCH?
Good question haha. It’s been hard to plan with the past month being so hectic, but I do have a few bigger and longer videos on the horizon as well as one totally new idea. I’m in the middle of releasing two videos about the least populated county in Florida (Liberty County). I had a blast exploring this part of the state and I hope some Floridians see it and realize they also have some very sparely populated areas of their own. On Sunday I’ll be releasing the 10 Smallest Towns in Florida – which I’m very excited about. There are some traditional small and historic towns on this list, but there are also some very odd stories as to why other towns are so small. Previously I have done two “behind-the-scenes” videos of traveling around Arkansas and Iowa. I filmed a bunch of stuff on my holiday trip from Kansas to Florida and have thought about doing that in two parts. My other “new” idea is something totally different and I haven’t said anything publicly yet (this is why you signed up for this newsletter right?). On Thursday, March 7, I will be releasing a video where I do an interview with another travel YouTuber (who has a much larger channel than mine). I’ll also be talking about my favorite YouTube channels and possibly adding some humor (at least it’ll be an attempt at humor). If this goes well, I might do “bonus” videos in the future like this. So make sure to let me know what you think after you see it!
MEDIA MENTIONS
You may have listened to the interview I did with a radio station in Missouri about my Three Notch Road video. I also did an interview here in Wichita last week and will be featured in next month’s “West Side Story/East Wichita News” magazine. I’m not sure if they have an online version, but I’ll try to show you all what it is when it comes out. I have added a page to my website where I list all of the media mentions of the YouTube channel. I also have a new “about” section if you’re interested in stuff like that.
Q&A
Please send any questions you have to jwise@goshockers.com and I’ll try to answer them next time!
Q: How much time do you spend researching where you are going? – Becky
A: I would say my trips fall into 3 categories and they all have a slightly different answer. Trip type 1 is a long road trip like The Oregon Trail. The first thing I do is figure out the big picture travel details – flights, rental car, general distance to travel each day. I periodically work on that trip for months. Once I get the route figured out, I get maps and find every little town, community, or historical place and type it out chronologically from start to finish. It might be 10 pages long. Then I go through each of them and look up populations, years founded, etc. While this sounds very tedious, it’s one of my favorite things to do and gets me excited during the trip for what is next! I spend far less time figuring out stuff like hotels and places to eat. Trip type 2 would be a weekend exploring an entire county or area (like Liberty County, Florida for example). I do the same as I mentioned above, except I usually print out everything I can about each town, ghost town, community, post office, etc. I plan the roads I’m going to take to make it as efficient as possible and try to find the closest hotel to where I think the halfway point would be. I also try to type out the places chronologically and take a hard copy with me. Trip type 3 is when I wake up on a Saturday morning and randomly decide to just head out on the road. I might pick a couple places I want to go then “figure it out” as I go. No planning and I’m usually trying to look on my phone for information. I’ve done a lot of videos where I say things like “I don’t know much about this place” and it’s probably because it was a random day out exploring. Sometimes those can be a lot of fun too! Overall, the longer or more significant the trip, the more planning involved. I’m going to Alaska in July, and I hope to start planning that very soon. I’ve already been looking at my Alaska Delorme Gazetteer maps to get some ideas, but I haven’t decided on anything yet. Thanks for the question!
Thanksfor the continued support! Until next time, safe travels!
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