I didn’t expect to be back so soon with another travel vlog, but when you’ve lived to tell the tale of a wild road trip through two of my favorite states, sweating it out in multiple 2-3 hour lines all in the hope of store credit… well you must tell the tale! (You can also watch this on Instagram if that’s your cup of tea.)
My favorite used bookstore, McKay’s, did a promotion so massive not even they could have expected the turnout it would generate: visit all five of their locations, earn up to $800 credit. Turns out most of the travelers had the same idea we did and started in North Carolina, which then overwhelmed store after store as the horde moved west. Despite the lack of line management or crowd control, McKay’s made it as easy as possible to get the cash, extending store hours and allowing participants to skip whole stores altogether. As a result, we only waited at two stores and still got the full amount. (We still drove the whole distance though, which was 570 miles/9.5 hours one way.) With a lot on the line, I was surprised how gracious the company was, and how professional and kind their staff remained throughout the day!
Although we mostly listened to dad rock on the drive, I ultimately wanted to use Ginger Root’s “No Problems” for the vlog, due to its kinetic energy and double meanings. The trip had its share of problems, but it’s also hard to complain when you get to spend a whole day with your friends and earn $800 by the end of it. I’m loving editing more and more to music - maybe I should do a music video someday! :P
Hope y’all are enjoying the addition of travel videos on the channel! I am hard at work on the next animated project too but am glad to not have year+ long gaps between my uploads.
Thanks for watching and reading, and I hope you’re staying cool this summer!
My flirting with the YouTuber lifestyle continues - with a new vlog/storytime/travel show video! Check it out here!
I’m really enjoying making more videos for the channel - especially ones that don’t take a year+ to complete. It’s a great way for me to practice my editing and directing in a more rapid timeframe. I’d been watching a bunch of travel YouTube (specifically the One Pack Wanderers and Rick Steves) in advance of my family’s trip to Greece and wanted to do something similar, but with a distinct art and educational bent to keep it worth your time and not tooooootally incongruous with my previous projects (although if travel became a large part of my channel, I would not mind…) I was also happy to indulge a bit of the Nat Geo, Scholastic look which I’ve become fond of recently. Serif fonts, rejoice! Oh and maybe you’ll even learn something about Greece too!
No upload of mine can truly be without its hiccups. I like to use Louie Zong’s music in my videos since he allows small creators to do that sort of thing, but I didn’t realize that an AI artist plagiarizing Louie Zong’s music would copyright strike the video. While this is perhaps the most righteous reason I could have for disputing a copyright strike, it still means the video won’t earn very much. Oh well. Clearly, I don’t make these things to make money… but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless!
Speaking of earning money… how about that job search?
I really thought I would enjoy a couple months away from work but it kinda sucked. Despite having more time than ever for my personal work, it felt like I barely got anything done. It was not the perfect situation I had secretly dreamed it would be. With seemingly infinite time on my hands, it was easier than ever to procrastinate, and yet I judged myself harder for doing so. I realized having a dayjob’s not just about income for me, but also about providing structure, a communal mission, and a level of scarcity to my art time which helps me to treat it with greater respect. The grass does always seem greener on the other side, further reinforcing what I’ve known for a while - that my artwork doesn’t necessarily suffer from having to sit alongside another job, and in fact, can benefit from it.
Jobs, however, have been hard to find. Not just in the entertainment sphere, which seems historically dry everywhere, but also in the non-art space, which surprised me. I had foolishly assumed that with my experience I’d at least be able to land the sort of jobs high schoolers get. But even that proved difficult. Thankfully, I was able to land a job at the one place that offered me an interview, the Well Coffeehouse. I was interested to work in coffee since I’d get to learn a new craft and still be creative as part of the job. I also had this quaint dream of biking to work and smelling like caramelized coffee all the time, although in reality I have always opted to drive and smell more like sweat and dish soap.
While being a barista can mean a lot of things depending on the shop, I’m glad that the Well has proven to care intensely about their coffee and their workers, which has meant I’ve been able to learn a lot and (slowly) get a hold on the finer points of coffee like dialing in a brew and creating latte art (ironically, the part of the job I’m the worse at.) I haven’t worked at any place with this much teamwork and care to set up the next department for success - I really need to take that spirit into my studio animation work!
There’s a narrative here that’s disappointing, where I’ve fallen from my lofty heights, my story ideas sitting on the shelf while I do sweaty work washing dishes. But it only feels that way if I frame it that way. I feel like I’m becoming more independent, free to really do my own thing in animation/YouTube, but also free from animation being the one thing that defines both my personal and professional life. And with limits placed back again on my creative time, I’ve gotten much better at actually using it. Now with this video wrapped I’m working to finish up the script for my new animated show, which means I’ll likely resume project updates and paid subscriptions here. While this year has definitely beat me down, I think I’d lose more by waiting for a better time to make this next project.
So that’s where I’m at! Situated in a new job, learning a new skill, having all kinds of new experiences both at home and abroad. Still dealing with mental health issues (anxietyyyyy) but I’ve made a lot of progress leaving that dark forest behind. I feel like I’m in the middle of whatever episode of life this is, so not there yet, but going somewhere. While things have stabilized somewhat, they by no means feel final. How strange. Will try and keep you updated.
I hope you enjoyed the video and whatever will come next!
