A Special Place In Hell
Find out why I moved my newsletter to Substack and where the name of this post comes from below!
Welcome to A Special Place in Hell, the first installment of my new Not That You Asked Newsletter on Substack.
You might be wondering why I wanted to navigate my newsletter to this platform. Let’s start there. First, it’s far more beautiful than the 1997 Gmail newsletter I was rocking for the first 5 iterations. Also, the chance of having paid subscribers is certainly a hefty part of the consideration, but in all honesty—it’s not the biggest reason why I pulled the trigger.
There are two primary reasons, both tied to one thing: Puerto Escondido, Mexico. The place I live, the place that feels more like home to me than any other corner of the world now.
Reason the first…
The first big reason is simply wanting to reflect and write about Puerto Escondido and life as an ex-pat in Mexico…(here’s the catch) without a stream of haters sifting through my carefully chosen words just hoping to be outraged.
If you haven’t noticed, the internet can be a mean place. Comment sections can be brutal. Recently, I put out a blog post on my Medium about a failed attempt at being granted a one-year visa to live in Mexico. Check it out if you’re curious, but to summarize, the article was basically “I was dumb and optimistic, I had no chance. I hope my story helps you to better understand the process.”
In the comment section of a few Facebook groups where I shared the article, many people responded by saying “this is great, very helpful, thank you!” However, some responded to my article about being dumb and optimistic by basically saying “you’re dumb.” How helpful. How insightful.
Other people took it even further and threw internet uppercuts, calling me “entitled” and “privileged.” (Note: I included a whole paragraph acknowledging my privilege in the post, so again… How helpful. How insightful.)
One woman even threw shade in my direction for calling a consulate worker “dude.” Like somehow calling someone “dude” was deeply disrespectful. Like I wouldn’t refer to Obama as a “dude” in certain contexts. It really sunk in for me over the past month that some folks WANT to pick apart your words to make you the problem, an example, the less advanced primate who isn’t as “woke” or wise as them.
Valerie’s comment trying to punk me and prove her “99% wokeness score” got more likes than my actual post. This is what you get for sharing your experiences on the internet today, and I might just be too soft for it.
Basically, I realized that I can’t really write about the life I’m living as the person I am, without catching an unwanted amount of flack from online trolls and the woke police. I also know that I’m a sensitive person, and will stay up late into the night writing long, thoughtful responses to the haters in my mind. Responses that I’ll never send. Life is just too short for that.
I live in Mexico, and I’m a white ex-pat from the United States. Those are the facts. I realized after this experience that even if I wrote an innocent little article called How Much I Love Mexico and Why, and shared it in some of these big Facebook groups and WhatsApp chats, I’d have passionate haters.
Some would say, “Don’t share how much you love Mexico, there’s too many of you here already and this invites more.” Others would say, “That’s not for you to love” or “That’s not how you’re supposed to love it.” Others still would say negative things that I can’t even predict because I’m just not that negative.
As I was ruminating on my frustration about not being able to share without finding myself in this defensive position, I had a realization. In the exact same group where Valerie had the comment section on their feet like “GET HIM!” for telling me about my privilege getting checked, I remembered that about two months ago I was given shit for being “too woke” in that same group.
In that instance, I shared an article called “Eight Ways to Say ‘I’m American’ while Traveling without Saying ‘I’m American.’” That travel blog started with a brief note about how I find it strange that we call ourselves “American” when we’re just one country out of 35 that make up “The Americas.” “Libtard” and “snowflake” were thrown around merrily in a few different comment sections that day by folks who only read that opening paragraph.
That afternoon while riding my bike down the Oaxacan coast, I thought to myself The comment section gonna comment section on loop. I repeated it like a mantra, trying to find peace in the truth. I realized that some % of people will always think I’m “too woke” and some will think I’m “not woke enough,” and actually stressing about that forever truth is a terrible use of time and energy.
The comment section gonna comment section…
Reason the Second…
Putting my thoughts and reflections about Mexico behind a subscription newsletter ensures that those who want my written perspective on life in Puerto Escondido as an ex-pat can get it. It also helps protect me from trolls and haters. It also specifically protects me from comments like this one below… which is the second main reason that I moved to Substack. [Below the ecstatic dance part. Ah Puerto, lol.]
Preston is a good friend of mine, and his reaction to a Travel and Leisure article about Puerto comes from a real place. He loves this beach town and wants to pump the breaks on the rate of change. I, however, want to write about the rate of change and all things Puerto without directly contributing to its increasing popularity.
Substack feels like my way to “have my fried-coco shrimp taco and eat it too.” I don’t want to end up in that special place in hell, but I also want to share my lived experience through the written word. It’s one of the things I do best. For example, if I can somehow get my subscriptions up to 100 people over the next few years, I just don’t see how posting anything to that group will “blow Puerto up.” This will always be a fringe publication.
So to recap, for these two reasons, Substack will be where I share all of my Puerto-based thoughts going forward. I still plan to publish about other subjects on my medium page.
To help me to avoid a huge % of the trolls and haters out there just looking to be outraged.
To keep me from ending up in that special place in hell.
I can’t exactly predict what subtopics I’ll want to write about and share here, but these are boiling in my brain soup right now.
Six of the Best Things about Puerto Escondido and the Real Reason That I Love Her. (This will actually be the next newsletter and the first behind the paywall.)
Updates around the plastic recycling program I helped to start, our new initiative to set up a free public water drinking system using Eco Filtros, and other sustainability initiatives that I’m helping to lead in Puerto Escondido.
Open mic night (which I started over 1.5 years ago and is now the biggest weekly event in Puerto), the live music scene overall, and other events happening in Puerto Escondido.
Weekend side-trips and other adventures along the Oaxacan coast.
What to do with less than a week in Puerto Escondido.
The daily conversations of Puerto Esocondido:
Are we becoming the next Tulum?
Fear and fear-mongering of over-development. (To foreshadow, most of the conversations I hear people having about development aren’t useful or productive. They’re incredibly binary and I think we need to change how we discuss and engage on this issue.)
Rising prices and the changing housing landscape.
Where can you get the best-fried shrimp taco in town?
So, now you know why this newsletter exists. I hope you like its first iteration, and please do subscribe if you don’t want to miss what’s coming next. My old 8-bit Gmail newsletter had a few sections I plan to keep, like “Trav Shares” with links to things I believe you’ll enjoy, and "The Bob King Memorial Advice Section” where I share one quick piece of advice.
I recently wrote “author” on my immigration card for the first time on a trip to Guatemala. Supporting my writing with a subscription to my substack, by following my Medium, or by purchasing my memoir helps make that even more of a true thing. I appreciate you for making me an “author” more than you can imagine.
Bob King Memorial Advice Section:
This one is specifically for the writers out there. Try to avoid saying “more than words can describe” because your job is to use words to describe things. It’s basically an admission that you’re not able to succeed at your craft. More than you can imagine, so friggin’ much, an unquantifiable sum, or a big ol’ boatload are all preferred.
Love this more than words can describe--so much so that I promise *never* to tell an unquantifiable sum of humans about it