Pull up a chair. Grab yourself a stiff drink, and let's get into it.
If you're new here, I encourage you to read about the idea behind "Unlocking the Commons," a philosophy I try to adopt for most of my projects -
The most economically powerful thing you can do is to buy something for your own enjoyment that also improves the world. This has always been the value proposition of journalism and art. It’s a nonexclusive good that’s best enjoyed nonexclusively.
- Tim Carmody, Nieman Lab
I’m not saying that I’m doing any world-improving stuff over here, but I’m also not not saying that…
Anyway, at its core, your support helps me to keep the lights on here, invest in the storytelling, and allow the majority of my work to be freely accessible for all. Most of my projects take me around to far-off places that require expensive plane tickets, lodging, camera gear, and most importantly, time. You might be thinking “hey man I’m not going to pay for your vacation,” to which I say, fair play, but if you’ve seen some of the places I’ve stayed I promise you won’t be very impressed.
If I haven’t convinced you with the warm and fuzzies, not to worry, there are some actual real tangible benefits for members:
Paid Member Benefits
A free print of one of my photos (more info below).
Access to my dérive/meander app that will take you on an random adventure through a city (more info below).
Members-only series, including but not limited to:
Full transcripts of interviews with cool people like distillers, chefs, and other makers.
(Coming Soon) Last Call: Notes on where and what to eat/drink and places I’ve enjoyed in locales around the world.
(Coming Soon) Trip Reports: Behind-the-scenes gear, budgeting, logistics, etc.
All on top of the normal series of missives that you (maybe) already enjoy. All of that for the cost of one fancy single origin coffee per month. Is that enough? Idk, I feel like an infomercial right now. But I think it’s worth a few bucks.
Prints
I’ll be doing limited runs of various prints, typically between 10-30 prints max. Once they’re gone or I get bored and want to move on to a new picture, that image won’t be printed again. Each one will be 8x10 using archival paper and ink, and matted for an 11x14 frame. They’re printed and matted by me at a photography nonprofit in Seattle, no print on demand service used. I’m only shipping to U.S. addresses for now, if that’s an issue send me a note and we can try and work something out!
Below are the photos and quantity I’m currently printing for paid subscribers.
Porteño (x10)
Roman Reflections (x10)
Lazy Cows (x10)
The Meander App
I love the idea of the dérive, or drift, as a way to explore the city. So I built and app to help facilitate drifting, or at least my interpretation of the dérive.
The app is pretty simple: enter in a type of destination, a distance, and a form of transit. Once you submit, it'll ask to detect your location, and within a second a new link will appear below that says "Take Me There." Clicking that link will open Google Maps with the coordinates of the location it found and directions using the transit modality you chose.
A few notes. I'm using the Google Maps API, so however Google classifies the place, whether correctly or incorrectly, is how it'll get classified here. Second, the distance input is a radius so it’ll find somewhere in any direction within the given distance. In the future I'd like to add some kind of cardinal directionality. Third, I built it to specifically avoid seeing any information about the destination. No names, reviews, or any other data upfront that could affect my opinions - I want as much surprise as possible.
It’s very much an early early early prototype and work in progress, but man I had some good fun with it in London. Feel free to drop any questions, report bugs, or add feature suggestions in the comments. But please let me know if you use it! I’d love to hear your stories or what you found along the way.
Running this app and every time you click “Find a Place” costs money, which is why it’s a perk for paying members only right now. So please don’t send the link or share it around. 🙏
Note: Always be safe when you’re using this app, pay attention to others and your surroundings. There are no safeguards built-in to exclude dangerous neighborhoods or locations, so you need to take precautions and heed advice of locals or government officials. Even better, enjoy it with a friend!
FAQ
Is it easy to cancel? Yes, you can cancel your memberships at any time by accessing your Substack account. Plus, I try not to look at unsubscribe data, so you don't have to worry about hurting my feelings.
Who handles payments? This platform runs on Substack, which integrates with the payment processor Stripe. I don’t see your payment information and never will. Big fancy companies have that all tucked away in high-security digital vaults on their servers.
I'm not convinced you just won't take my money, where can I check out more of your work? The first thing would be to subscribe to the newsletter - everything happens there first. Then I'd poke around the archives a bit and peruse some of the work. Then check some of my social media channels. If you like what you see and want more of it, consider joining.
Can I buy a print without subscribing? Uhm, not right now, but maybe in the future!
I don't have much money but would like to support in some way. The fact that you want to already means the world to me - thank you for that. If you aren't comfortable with the cost of the monthly or yearly tiers, you can buy me a cup of coffee by using this virtual "tip jar" to give a one-time contribution. Outside of that, sign up for the newsletter and say hi read on.
Just...why? Woof - that’s a loaded question and one which I continuously ask myself while I’m in bed staring at the ceiling during the depths of the night. I’ll let you know if I have an answer.
Can I ask more questions? Sure thing, email me at skylar@thedailygrog.com, and we'll sort it out.