We're Brent and Michael — a longtime couple — who decided in 2017 to sell our house in Seattle and travel the world as “digital nomads.” That means we move to a new country every few months, supporting ourselves by working remotely.
So far, we’ve lived at least a month in more than thirty countries — and briefly visited dozens more.
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we’ll take you along to the places we’re going next!
Our digital nomad experience has already been featured in other media, on CNN.com and CBS Sunday Morning, and in Forbes and the New York Times.
So far, leaving America to travel the world feels like the smartest thing we've ever done. We’re spending way less money than we did living in Seattle, and we’re seeing more fascinating places and meeting more wonderful people than we ever imagined.
Why a newsletter?
Frankly, because people wanted to know more details about our lives, and we wanted to provide a much deeper perspective than what you might see on social media.
We send regular updates about our weird life and lifestyle, and insights and observations about travel in general. And — especially for “paid” subscribers — we include lots of specific, money-saving travel tips and hacks.
Sometimes we’re fun and funny, sometimes we’re thoughtful — and we’re always very personal.
Here’s a list of almost all the content we’ve ever published.
And here are some representative articles:
How Two Gay Guys Sold Everything, Left to Travel the World…and Lived Happily Ever After Our origin story.
Here’s What We Spent in 2024 (While Traveling the World). People think we must be rich, but this lifestyle costs half what we spent in Seattle.
This is Not Another Terrible Travel Toilet Story Or, wait, maybe it is.
Want to Lose Fifty Pounds by Doing Almost Nothing? Leave America The secret every expat quickly learns.
My Sarcastic Gay Camera Takes You On A Tour of Italy's Cinque Terre His name is “El Divo.” You’ll soon see why.
What I Learned From Getting Stuck in Some Mud as a Kid Are freaked out Americans reacting to real concerns? Or did they just never learn how to manage stress?
We currently have both free and paid subscriptions.
Here are some reasons we hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription, either now or at some point in the future:
You’ll have access to all our content — currently, half is paid-only. Recent paid posts include:
I Went to Istanbul for Medical Tourism! It didn’t go the way we expected.
Want to Cut Your Travel Costs in Half? Consider the Hand-Holding Principle Travel advice that other writers won’t tell you.
How to Pick the Perfect Airbnb! It’s an art and a science.
What’s It Like to Stay in a Hotel for Two Months? Many famous writers have lived indefinitely in hotels. Why couldn’t we do it too?
That Time Our Plane Caught Fire Over the Atlantic What Brent realized when he thought we were going to die.
What Happens at the End of a Lifetime of Travel? Are we doomed to end up huddled and alone in a chilly apartment in Tangiers?
You’ll have exclusive access to audio versions of most of our posts, read by the two of us.
We have two regular, paid-only columns with detailed travel info and money-saving tips: Brent and Michael’s Secret Travel Hacks and Ask Us Anything.
You’ll have the option to have personal access to our travel and nomad expertise. As a paid subscriber, you may ask us questions via email or the “direct message” feature in the Substack app.
You’ll simply be supporting us. Frankly, we aim for a very high level of quality in our content, and that means this newsletter is a lot of work. It simply isn’t possible without financial support.
Take a look at all our back posts to see more of the kind of things we write.
Incidentally, if you’re a journalist, blogger, influencer, or just can’t afford a paid subscription right now, please let us know the details, and we may be able to waive the subscription fee. We’re always looking for folks to help spread the word about our newsletter (though, of course, you’ll be under no obligation to actually write about us).
Again, free or paid, subscribe to the newsletter here.
You can also support us with a one-time donation of any amount here:
Also, feel free to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Notes (Michael), or Bluesky (Michael) or Bluesky (Brent)
Looking to advertise with us? Check it out here.
Goodbye until our next hello!
Brent & Michael
P.S. Who are we exactly?
BRENT HARTINGER is an author and screenwriter. He's published fourteen novels, including the classic gay young adult novel Geography Club (2003), which was adapted as a feature film in 2013. Brent is also a screenwriter, and ten of his screenplays have been optioned for film; five are currently in development, including a romcom about digital nomads. He has another newsletter, about his books and movies, here. Email Brent at brenthartinger@gmail.com.
MICHAEL JENSEN is an author and editor. His novels include Man & Beast and Man & Monster, part of The Savage Land, a series of historical fiction that combines gay romance, supernatural, and horror. For eight years, Michael was the editor of the entertainment website AfterElton.com, which he co-founded with Brent. The site, devoted to covering gay and bisexual men in popular culture, eventually grew to more than a million unique visitors a month, won several GLAAD Media Awards, and was later sold to Viacom/MTV. He also has another newsletter, which includes more photos from our travels. Email Michael at michaeljensenwriter@gmail.com.
Hey there! Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom of this page. If you’re still on the fence about upgrading to a paid subscription, here’s a secret discount coupon of 40% off an annual subscription (only $30 USD a year, or $2.50 USD a month, for as long as you choose to subscribe!).
You can still pay the full price too!
