The past seven days have been, without a doubt, the weirdest I’ve experienced in a very long time. Entire countries are shutting their borders, the airline industry is collapsing right in front of our eyes, and it’s been raining here in San Diego nearly the entire time with no end in sight. This is crazy!
Oh – and there’s that whole coronavirus thing going on. Social distancing, panic buying at the grocery stores, overwhelmed healthcare facilities, and unfortunately… loss of life.
It’s been quite a lot to digest. I was meaning to make an update post earlier, but things have been changing so fast and my feelings on the situation have been changing day by day.
Anyway, now that I’ve overdosed on Twitter (updating my feed every five seconds to check inhale the latest news), I figured it was a good time to pause for a second and give everyone an update on my current situation. Not that I feel like I’m extra special or anything, but as you know, travel is my job and it’s what I depend on to put food on the table. Here’s what’s been happening in my world lately:
Content viewership is way (way) down
As you might expect, travel-related blogs and YouTube channels are doing quite horribly at the moment. Search volume for travel-related topics have fallen through the floor, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this.
My YouTube channel is down roughly 30% on both views and revenue. My blog however, is taking the brunt of it. Since SANspotter.com consists mostly of airline reviews, I am seeing daily traffic declines of up to 60% compared to what they were just one month ago. Nobody (and I mean nobody) is searching for written airline reviews at the moment.
I guess the lesson learned from all this is that I need to diversify my content a bit more. This website has never been about airline news, and I’ve always put the primary focus on sharing my travel experiences and giving unbiased advice. I guess I got burned by being so narrow-minded.
I also suppose that I could get a nice bump in traffic by covering all the coronavirus-related airline news, but that’s just not what I do (and it’s not a business-model I’m attracted to). I’m hardly qualified to be reporting on the latest news anyway – especially health related news – so you won’t see any of that here. You’re welcome.
I’ve canceled all of my upcoming travel plans
This one really hurts. I’ve been traveling very heavily for the past two years now, and for the first time since I was laid off from my corporate job in May 2018, I’m faced with the reality of being at home for a while.
I had a trip planned to St. Maartin for later this month. It included a ride on a very rare Delta Air Lines A330 out of San Diego (an aircraft / airline combo not normally seen at SAN), and I was very much looking forward to the experience. However, American Airlines canceled their portion of the itinerary on me (did you read my recent Delta vs. American comparison?), so I took that as a sign that I need to be responsible and stay home. Not only to protect my health, but to protect the health of others around me. It’s the right thing to do.
I also had a trip that I was putting together to Japan for late April. I haven’t booked anything for that one yet, but I about to right before things started getting ugly here in the US. That trip is on hold indefinitely now, and for the first time since I can remember – I have no travel planned. At all.
Am I still going to be posting content?
Yes! After the video that I will upload to my YouTube channel today, I’ve got four more videos still to edit and upload. The problem is that nobody knows how long the coronavirus crisis is going to last, and I got a sneaky suspicion that four weeks worth of content isn’t going to be enough to keep the channel going as normal.
As of right now, I suspect that two things will happen:
- I may skip weeks here and there, so there may not be a video from me every week for the next month or two.
- Second, once I run out of airline review content, I’ll most likely start recording videos from home. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be talking about, but it’ll most likely be airline comparisons and things of that nature. I’m totally open to suggestions though – heck, I’ll suspect that I’ll be so desperate for content ideas that I wouldn’t necessarily dismiss the thought of showing you “SANspotter’s 10 best tips for cleaning dirty toilet bowls” or something. You laugh, but…it just might happen!
As far as the blog goes, I will be maintaining my once-per-week posting schedule as usual. As I’ve already mentioned, I need to start thinking about other types of airline and travel-related content that aren’t necessarily airline reviews. However, I am sitting on a huge backlog of airline reviews that I need to write still, so it’ll probably be a mix of things for the next several months.
Doesn’t it feel weird posting airline reviews right now when nobody is traveling?
You bet it does. as a matter of fact, I was scheduled to post my written review of the Singapore Airlines A350 business class experience from Singapore to Los Angeles today. Instead, you’re getting this drivel.
Later today I will post my video review of the Japan Airlines 787–8 economy class flight I recently took from San Diego to Tokyo. It feels weird to be prepping another video for upload. And scary! Based on the abysmal performance of my last video (Starlux A321neo business class), I can only imagine how bad the numbers are going to be on this one…
I’m not even sure that I would’ve uploaded it today if it weren’t for the fact that it had sponsored content in it. The deal with my sponsor had been in place for several months now, and they were expecting a video posted today. Talk about bad timing, right?
What’s next for the SANspotter brand?
As far as I know, it’s going to be business as usual. I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll still be posting content no matter if I’m traveling or not.
Never in a million years would I have expected the entire travel industry to implode as much as it has over the past two weeks. It’s a pretty lousy time to put the corporate life behind me and go full-time as a travel blogger, right? Ugh…
If there’s any good news in all of this, it’s that I’ve always been a bit of a worry wart. Knowing that nothing lasts forever and things can change at a moments notice, I’ve always been working on side projects outside of the SANspotter brand. I do have money coming in from other projects, so it’s not like I’ve been totally wiped out in this mess. I’ll be OK.
Even then, all of this leads me to believe that maybe I shouldn’t be thinking of this SANspotter thing as my primary gig anymore. Of course I’m always going to devote most of my time to it since it’s what I am most passionate about, but I do need to keep working on my other side projects I think.
I view my businesses as investments, and even if I have to spend a few less hours on making SANspotter content every week, I’ll still be benefiting from my efforts elsewhere.
Don’t worry though. I’m not going anywhere, and I’d still be making airplane videos and blog posts even if I wasn’t making a dime doing it.
Stay safe out there! Things might get worse before they get better, but if we all work together we can pull through this relatively quickly.
Eben Cole
Scott, if you ever run out of money from no views on youtube, email me and i will send you gallons of water and pounds of stale cherrios.
SANspotter
What about toilet paper? That stuff is really hard to come by these days. 🙂 Anyway, you’re too kind Eben! Let’s just hope things don’t get so bad that I have to take you up on your offer…
Luke
Hi Scott, I’ve been following your videos for a while now. Enjoy the content and the edits. You’re also very quick to respond to comments, I appreciate that. With the quality of your work, I was actually expecting a lot more views and subscription.
Keep uploading, and don’t stop. Maybe most of your viewers will skip your non-review videos, but at least they know the channel is still active. Once you go back to it when the pandemic is controlled, your viewers will come back. It’s also good to look back at what you’ve created in the past few years, and do a few “Top 10’s” or story telling. You already have a lot of raw footage, don’t be afraid to re-use them. Looking forward to your next videos, and hope you’ll get back into the sky again.
SANspotter
Thanks for the support and words of encouragement Luke! It’s definitely a weird (and challenging) time to be a travel blogger / vlogger, but it pales in comparison to the struggles many others in this world are going through. I (we!) will definitely get through this.
Anthony
Dear Scott,
I am sorry about the “coronavirus” outbreak.But I have been watching your humorous and fun videos.I hope you are good and make more blogs even though you are not traveling.Keep up the good work and don’t forget to add the Restroom selfies LOLOLOL.
SANspotter
Thanks Anthony! I’m fine and still chugging along, and of course there’s lots more content to come (maybe even a bathroom selfie or two lol). Stay safe!
Andrew Oriez
If anyone asked questions…or you have any questions in regards to disability… I know a former San Diego residing Navy Brat who had an unfortunate experience with a mountain topped with a large telescope…..
It’s something different at least…. And I’m getting over my own (highly suspected but not tested) Corvid-19 experience…. I’ll be able to answer….
SANspotter
I’m still waiting for you to submit that article Andrew. 🙂 It’s a very interesting topic that many would enjoy learning more about. Hope you get better soon – and get tested if you can!
Anthony Panick
Hey Andrew,
This is Tony from Portland, and I’d definitely love to hear what you have to say!
Dean
I have a trip planned to Italy and the Uk. Then take a transatlantic on the Queen Mary 2. This is all in August. I hope the virus is done but then because I love to travel. And I already bought a tuxedo. lol
SANspotter
Worse case: you’ll be the most fashionable person in quarantine ever. Ha! I hope things are better by then as well – my hope are high that it will be, considering the progress being made in China right now. It’s almost back to normal there!
Dean
Cunard has made it easier for me. They have reduced the final payment from 120 days to 60 days. So I have until July 7 to decide if I cannot take cruise. And you are so right I will be the sexiest bitch in quarantine. LOL
Robert
Hi Scott,
I’ve been following you for a year now and all your articles and videos have been very interesting. I check regularly once a week if there is something new published. No matter what will you be publishing in future, I’m sure it will be the same pleasure to watch and read. I’m sure this nasty virus thing will be all over soon and we’ll be back in the sky again. Stay well! All the best from Croatia!
SANspotter
Thanks for the support Robert! Things aren’t as bad here in the US as they are in Europe (yet), so I hope you’re staying safe over there. I also hope you’ll keep checking back for new content because I don’t have any plans of slowing down even though I’m temporarily grounded… 🙂
Aless D’Paola
Hi Scott,
Big fan here in Los Angeles. Keep doing what you love and what we love about your blog. Be safe, we want you back as soon all this mess is over.
SANspotter
Thanks so much for the encouragement! Guess I have no choice but to continue pumping out content now with this California lockdown in effect – hope you’re staying safe up there in LA as well!
Ryan
It’s been brutal for us in the airline industry, too. I went from flying 90 hours a month to fewer then 20 hours. Imagine my surprise when I saw a few new videos of yours: it makes sitting at home wondering if my days of flying jets is over more bearable. Keep up the good work and stay healthy.
Randy Preising
People may not be looking at airline reviews … right now. That will change. We are in a period of high weirdness. I live near the arrival/departure routes for YYZ. Almost nothing going on. We just cancelled a multi-leg western Canada trip on AC, but that’s just a postponement.
I think there’s a lot you can talk about outside the actual airline reviews …
More gear reviews!
Getting through security more efficiently
Any aircraft you haven’t flown on that you’d like to?
Your most obscure aircraft travels (for me, an Air France 707 and Caravelle)
Your top 5 airports? Top 5 worst?
Why Rouge is the worst airline in the world
While you may not be comfortable talking about the coronavirus stuff, is there anything you’d like to see come out of all this? Smaller planes and more direct flights? Passengers not being packed in so tightly? I wonder about this last point.
SANspotter
Thanks Randy! Yeah, things are likely to change here on the blog if this global shutdown lasts more than two months. My current plan is to rip through the rest of my backlog of trip reports (six more to go), and then…I’ll be venturing into more broad(ish) travel topics. I’d rather not be posting the latest airline/travel news, since that type of content has a very limited shelf life and will be irrelevant within just a few weeks of posting. Evergreen content is more my style, so that’s what I’m gonna stick to.
Thanks for the ideas! I quite like some of them, and I’ll be sure to give you credit for the ones I might end up writing about.
Edison
Hi Scott, love your videos and cannot wait for you to share your travel experiences (not just flights and service, but actual in destination experiences) once the coronavirus threat is over.
In the meantime, I wonder if you’ll do a video on your travel gear and clothes? Traveling is such an uncomfortable experience these days so I’d like to hear more on how you stay comfortable during long haul flights in economy.