68 Days Away: The End of an Era

What am I going to do now?

Jake Lyda
Jake Lyda
Jul 10, 2017 · 3 min read
Photo Credit: QuoteFancy

This is a daily documentation of my adventure from Hillsboro, Oregon to Cape Town, South Africa on September 16th, 2017.

Day 33, and I’ve lost my publication.

The publication I have been posting these daily posts to, The Wake Up Call, has disbanded, leaving these words dead on the side of the road, like a minivan full of clamoring kids.

Now what do I do?

Well, I can either post these straight up, without a publication, and see where that takes me. Like I’ve said before, I don’t post these for the recommends or the views even. This serves as an online journal that I can come back to and remember.

Or I can find another publication.

As earlier posts reveal, I haven’t had the best of luck with publications on Medium, and judging from the stats I got from that article, others have had the same experience.

This makes me weary of joining another one, for fear that my DAILY posts won’t be published DAILY.

So for now I think I’ll do these free form; maybe they will be read, maybe not. You could assume, with now over 1,000 followers, my content would be read, but I fear that Medium is slowly becoming exactly like Instagram — in that, you get followers who want you to follow them back and won’t actually read what you have to say.

Time to see whether my “fans” on Medium are real or not.

While I focus on this inner conundrum of do I publish solo or publish to an audience, I think The Wake Up Call needs its share of recognition.

I am still pretty green when it comes to Medium. Even though I have a ridiculous amount of confidence — borderline arrogance — I have enough self awareness to know where my place is on certain platforms. Instagram is still new to me despite being active for a couple years. Medium, on the other hand, has become second nature…

…And that’s thanks to The Wake Up Call, among other things.

So thank you Kevin D.S; you provided me with a space to air my dirty laundry, to “bleed” my day-to-day trials and tidbits. You made me an editor, which was short-lived but incredibly eye-opening to the possibilities my writing career can take me. And while I did ponder taking over the publication, I knew in the end I wouldn’t do it the justice it or you deserved.

It is bittersweet, but it is time to move on, to more opportunities and the exciting future that lies ahead!

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” -Seneca (not Semisonic)

Thanks for reading! If you found value, please like, comment, and share — it let’s me know that my content is worth sharing.

If you want to see my adventure in travel and fitness, follow me on Medium and Instagram. To see Jess’ virtual assistant and digital marketing business, Genuine Conversations Media, click here. More content soon!

Keep up with the rest from the series by clicking the #100SA button below!

Jake Lyda

Written by

Jake Lyda

Storyteller / Digital Nomad

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