If you’re new here — HELLO. I’m Atom, and you signed up for my newsletter. If you were forced to input your email address by a friend of a friend who knows me, if you subscribed amidst a state of inexplicable delusion, or if you’re just soo tired of these emails contributing to the bottomless pit of your inbox, then let me save you some trouble and direct you to the end of this email where you may unsubscribe. Otherwise, welcome to the ever-growing adventure.
I started this because I was inspired by Paul Nicklen’s Field Notes and Craig Mod’s Ridgeline newsletter. You may even find some similarities that I won’t bother hiding. So why subscribe to me rather than Paul or Craig? Well, first of all, I would highly encourage you to go and subscribe to them. Second, I hope you are reading this more because of what I have to say than how I’ve named my newsletter.
I’m a very introspective guy. I love to write and I love to reflect. I journal in the morning, I journal at night, I journal to end the week, and I journal to end the month. I journal whether or not I travel, but I’ve noticed my notes are wilder and more profound when I’m on the road.
I love talking about what I learn too, but the social contexts I often find myself in rarely call for the introspective, reflective, and deeply personal notes that go into my journals. Instead, most situations are only interested in the “best” beach or the “most underrated” province. There’s nothing wrong with this either; I like talking about them too. They’re just different conversations, and I badly want both.
So I’m putting this out for the one, two, or three of you introspective, reflective, and deeply personal types who want to see underneath my Instagram pictures and reels, who are not only after the top 10 destinations of the Philippines but also the top 10 ways travel can change you.
Craig Mod likes to say, “good walks benefit from context.” For this reason, before we start, I figure the best way to catch you up on my unusual, exciting, and typically reckless adventures is to share some photos of where I’m from and where I’ve been.
Consider me your guide, the central hub of this wheel where you are a spoke. You may not see each other but we’re on this adventure together—you, me, and everyone else subscribed.
If you’re game, reply to this email with a photo from one of your own reckless adventures you wouldn’t mind me sharing anonymously. You can pair this with a sentence or two so the rest of us can understand the context. I’ll append next week’s 12 About 12 post with a photo of my own then I’ll gradually add yours as the weeks pass.
Until our next adventure, Atom
P.S. If you’ve made it this far then I’d love to get to know you! You can reply to this email with a photo from one of your own reckless adventures or misadventures. If you don’t want me to share it in this newsletter then that’s okay too, you can let me know and I’ll keep it to myself.
Welcome to your life of travel! Thank you for reading Atomic Travels.
Keep sharing about your adventures please, Atom!! Living through you vicariously HAHA
Love this Atom! Excited to see what comes next :)