Man, a ton of emails came in yesterday. Probably the most I’ve gotten in a year. Lately, when I write something long-winded, the response is so big that a followup post is needed. So here it is. One last post and then we move back to our regularly scheduled deal talk. As always, 90+ percent of you guys were incredibly supportive. I’d say my favorite email was this:
“I think your post is right on, thank you for writing it, and thank you for not allowing people to comment on it — it makes it even better. I enjoy your blog, I enjoy how much time and energy you put into your blog and into this craft, and thank you for continuing to do so. Thank you for doing top CC list and actually listing all best deals (i.e. FT ones as well), I respect you tremendously for that. If you are ever in NJ, I’ll take you out for dinner, I’ll even pay cash and not make any miles/points on it — that would be a sign of how much I like you blog.”
Amazing, right? That last sentence cracked me up and more kind words kept coming in throughout the day. I’m not sure how long I’ll continue to do this, but man do I appreciate the responses. Your feedback is a big part of the reason I keep posting. Of course, as always, a small minority of people missed the point. Oh well. Reading comprehension isn’t for everyone. But I do want to talk about one thing/person…
A few of you mentioned someone named Drew. To be honest, I had no idea who the hell he was. But a lot of you guys really seemed to like him. Hold that thought. Let me paint a picture and put you in my shoes for a minute. You have 2 jobs with no fixed salary, so you have to hustle to get paid. Fun jobs, but very long hours. Then you try to run a blog, respond to readers, and keep up with constant family/friend obligations. Occasionally, you attempt to squeeze in a trip or two. Sure, it’s a good life, but there aren’t many free moments in the day. It’s pretty damn busy in these shoes. So I don’t have the time to keep up with blogger politics. I’m a lot more focused on my blog than anyone else’s. When people email me something, I click. And I read. Here’s a deal. Click and read. Here’s a rant. Click and read. Occasionally, I feel something and share my opinions here.
After reading incredibly similar piss-poor blog rant after blog rant for months, I was annoyed enough to write yesterday’s letter. People loved it. I’m proud of it too. But I kept getting emails about this guy Drew. I kept hearing about what a nice person he is. Finally, I (captain obvious) realized that this mystery Drew is the writer of the blog Travel Is Free. I’ve read it a few times and was always impressed. Well, it just so happened that his rant was the last one I read…the straw that broke the camel’s back. But, as (almost) everyone realized, I wasn’t speaking to one person yesterday. There was a long line leading there and I was responding after a craptastic stretch of rant-reading. This was clear to the majority of readers, as my post began “Dear Blogger.” The sentence before that introduced an “open letter to bloggers.”
I didn’t single anyone out because I wasn’t talking to an individual. As always, I’m happy to point fingers. There are plenty of once-great blogs I now hate (see: MileValue). But, in this case, I was writing an open letter. Again, just about everyone understood that. Still, supporters of Travel Is Free wanted to make their voices heard. They emailed me, talking about how Drew is a great guy, how he’s open with his financial challenges, and on and on. So, I took an hour out of my insanely busy day to read through his blog.
And what did I find?
Actually, I found a guy who writes a lot like I do. And his content is much better than most. Really useful stuff for mile nerds everywhere. I’m a fan. True, his attempt at ranting was awkward/embarrassing/misguided/not his specialty, but everything else there is pretty great. As an artist, I felt inspired reading about someone with such a unique life. If you look on the right sidebar, I’ve added Travel Is Free to my very short list of blogs I like. Not many of these clowns deserve my limited time. This Drew guy does. If his blog is new to you, give it a read and let me know what you think.
Back to deals tomorrow!
