The Point of All of This
Why I write publicly about the Journey to 197
November 11, 2022
Happy Friday, travelers!
Today, I’m doing something I should have done long ago. Today, I’m setting intention.
After I’ve done my best to entertain on Instagram and give helpful information on Sarah L. Travels, after the show is over and the curtain comes down, this group is the people who remain.
In the beginning, years ago, I had the wrong goals. The wrong intentions. In determining how I write about this journey, I wanted the page views. The fame. Notoriety. Lots of followers. Because all of the above meant money.
And in aiming for the wrong things, I said the wrong things. Wrote in ways that did not sound at all like myself, obsessed over hashtag research, joined Facebook groups to artificially inflate my like count on Instagram, then rejoiced when I was able to achieve the same like count without the tit-for-tat comment threads. In that sweet spot before Reels, I thought I had it made and was on my way to travel world stardom.
Now, I see not only how wrong my intentions were. I see I was playing small. And notoriety was never the right goal.
Why does this space even exist? Each post on my blog and here in the newsletter takes days to craft before sharing publicly. Why spend the time? I needed to have a heart to heart with myself and with you. What did people even want to read?
And did I want to write the things you wanted to hear?
These are too many questions to answer in a Friday email, but I can start with the first.
Why this space exists
Writing is something I will always do, even if no one reads, even if no one pays, even if I fail miserably at it. I will wallow, then dust myself off, get back up again, and pick up the (figurative) pen.
But when it comes to writing about this sometimes ridiculous journey to every country in the world, I could write all of it down in a few journals, never to see the light of day and safe from the public eye.
The reason I write about this publicly was originally to monetize Sarah L. Travels and travel on the income. Now that I see how monetization is a long, hard road and my career has diversified, I had to pivot.
I decided to tell the story again.
And in telling the story again, I dealt with setbacks. Social media views tanked. People unsubscribed. I had to find the confidence to keep going even when my deepest thoughts were pessimistic.
But the hardest part is regret. It’s realizing that this entire online presence was all about me. That is no way to live, write, or contribute to society.
And it’s definitely no way to travel.
In fact, I’m willing to wager that the majority of our problems in this industry start with selfishness, with making a travel experience all about the perspective of the visitor at the expense of locals.
Have people like me made mistakes in travel writing? Absolutely. I know I’ve written things about a destination that make me grateful for growth and for edit buttons.
The reason I write to you publicly about the Journey to 197 instead of keeping all these reflections private is because I can’t imagine doing anything else. Because travel is better when shared. Because people see the end of an epic journey and never saw how much it breaks your heart as much as it mends along the way. Because this space is raw and real, and God knows we could use more of that in a world of veneers.
I can’t say for certain what you’ll get out of it, because all of you are so different. That’s one of my favorite things about the people who read From the Aisle Seat. We have people here from different continents, age groups, walks of life, genders, faith backgrounds. In a place as vast and unforgiving as the Internet, the group attracted to this space is one of the best out there. That is the one thing all of you have in common.
If I can have any pride in what From the Aisle Seat has become, it’s pride that you, specifically, read it alongside one another from distant corners of the globe.
To close, I will say what I hope you gain from reading.
I hope you find your Journey to 197. I hope that, if you have a dream that people say is stupid, just like people I love dearly have told me about this journey, that you do it anyway. I hope to end your week of too much screen time with something thought-provoking about a place you may have never been, maybe will never go and don’t want to. I hope you eat food you can’t name, because the start to empathy is sharing a meal. I hope you read more books, because I truly believe books make the world better.
Whatever you’re searching for, I hope you find it. And on your way, I hope you put the memories in a place where someone else can see how brave you were.
Until the end,
Sarah
P.s. I started reading The Paris Library. I’ll share about it next week. What are you reading/watching/listening to?