I’ve been an early-riser for quite some time now. It all started when I was assigned to dayshift before I retired and my alarm clock would go off at 4:45 A.M. My body seems to be under the impression that I am still working because I just pop awake around that time each day. Today is no different.
For almost five years, this is the time of day when I would typically write blog articles. Each time I finished one, I would sit quietly enjoying additional cups of coffee until my editor-in-chief and wife of many years, Linda, finally rolled out of bed to give it the once over.
Once I received her sleepy seal of approval, I would hit publish and the article would go out to tens of thousands of readers. At my peak, I had around 60K readers and many of my articles were republished in various English-language periodicals around Mexico.
All of this information may come as a surprise to those folks who only knew me as a YouTuber. That little adventure started as an early New Year’s Resolution in December of 2020.
At the time, the blog was plagued by a technical issue that we just could not resolve making the articles appear as “code” on many devices. The software folks blamed the server and the server blamed the software. We installed updates, deleted plug-ins, but nothing worked. It seemed like the perfect time to try something new, and I chose video production.
The whole video “thing” seems to be going well so far. The channel has 73K subscribers and the limited collection of videos have been viewed 3.9M times.
Still, I found myself missing blogging. So this past week, I decided to do something about it.
Blog Reboot 2022
After a few key strokes, which included multiple messages of ARE YOU SURE? The old blog was gone and a freshly installed blank slate stood before me. It reminded me of how I felt when Linda and I got rid of 99% of our belongings before moving to Mexico in 2015 — both nervous and excited at the same time.
I could have imported my extensive subscriber list into the new blog, but instead, I chose to start over there too. How better to evaluate if the blog is successful or not? A new blog with zero subscribers. Just like when I started blogging years ago.
Let’s Wrap This Up
Just to be clear, I’m not quitting YouTube. I enjoy making videos and it has been more profitable than I thought it would be. Our numerous trips are now 100% funded this way. I’d have to be an idiot to give that up.
This blog will just be another resource for folks who are interested in learning more about Mexico and/or prefer a written format.
There will be information on our YouTube channel that you won’t find here and information here that you won’t find there. If that sounds like something you might be interested in, feel free to subscribe.
Well, that’s it for today. I’m going to grab another cup of coffee and watch the sun come up. Hasta luego.
