Things are shaping up. I know where to publish, I have decided on the tech to take with, have a basic idea where I want to start from, and a backpack to carry my life around with me.
Of course, I have my share of reservations about Substack. It’s not just the rather pushy way, Substack tries to encourage paid subscriptions (after all, that’s their business model), or the rumors of hired publishers to “strengthen the brand,” but everyday questions, such as data portability.
But there are many things, it gets right. Podcasts, videos, and texts all under one, unified roof. A blog and mailing list in one, with the mailing list as a first class citizen and not just a way to drag people onto the site.
My greatest complaint, though, is the lack of a mobile composer. WordPress or Ghost can do most of the things Substack does, but allow mobile writing. This isn’t as much of an issue for the next few weeks, as I will be traveling with my laptop and/or the iPad Mini 6 and keyboard, but for the coming Camino walks, this won’t be as convenient.
The thing I am most excited about is video. Blackmagic released 18.5 of Resolve for iPad today, which includes transcriptions and J/L cuts in the Cuts page. A sneaky hack even allows to enable the Edit page and with that audio syncing and other goodies. And while the iPad Mini isn’t the beefiest of systems, if there’s one thing I have in spades for the next 12 months, it’s time.
The current plan, outlined before, is to travel light with a DJI Action 2, DJI Mic, and my phone as a secondary and backup camera. Stick everything into a one-bag travel solution (the Peak Design 40 or Kumo 36 respectively), and all that jazz comes to a kilo and a half (with iPad and keyboard) or 1/8th of the total weight I intend to carry.
Another kilo goes to other tech, including chargers, phone, watch, and my medical needs (USB powered cooler), three kilos to clothing, and some leeway to pack purchases, food and snacks, and hygiene products. I’d rather pay a few bucks every other day to hit a laundromat than lug around six sets of clothes.
Oh, and my Apple Watch Ultra arrives today. I am excited to see what better battery life and some of the other quality of life upgrades will do for me using my phone less (and thus not having to carry more external batteries).
Things are shaping up. Much as I mourn that that is past, I am very much looking forward to the next twelve months.