The Alarming Cost Of A Travel Blog Turning Political…

It’s time for a Live And Let’s Fly family meeting. This post is directed toward my core group of regular readers and the topic is politics on this travel blog and an alarming trend I’ve witnessed over the last several weeks.

The Consequences Of A Travel Blog Dwelling On Politics

After my kids discovered the concept of a “family meeting” on Bluey, we’ve been having them regularly on Saturday nights. It’s a great way to reflect on the week and to discuss whatever is on the mind of my children. Today, we’ll have a “family meeting” concerning this blog.

I’ve written this blog for 16 years and I know a few of you have been with me from the very start, going back to my UPGRD days. Live And Let’s Fly has certainly evolved in many ways over the years.

Early on, I would not dare stir the pot by posting anything political or religious. I also would not post any pictures of myself (beyond that James Bond-esque banner I had at the top of the page…).

While my intention was not to be a chameleon, I deliberately wanted to leave people guessing as to my political leanings and have been amused at people placing me all over the spectrum from a MAGA disciple of Trump to a left-wing communist (to everything in between). I recognized that in a divided nation, holding your political cards close was good business.

The Pandemic Years Brought Change

That changed during the pandemic…and perhaps as a function of me just getting older. The blog morphed from a focus on miles and points to more clickbait (which underwrites everything else I do on this blog) and current events. The pandemic changed the world and forever changed travel…and I felt the need to cover the more political aspects of travel. And of course, I had opinions on that.

Even then, I was still guarded…though I made the conscious choice not to moderate comments based on content, removing comments and banning commentators only for egregious vulgar language, spam, or personal attacks.

Thus, my blog became a repository for those who did not find a home on other travel blogs which took a more active role in moderating comments. During the pandemic, that manifested itself in a lot of skeptics over the government’s handling of the pandemic and skeptics of vaccines. Unfortunately, it was also mixed in with a lot of racism and xenophobia as well. As I’ve said repeatedly, I prefer to leave overtly racist and hateful comments as a reminder that such racism and hate still exists…we should not bury our heads and pretend we’ve fully moved past it.

But concerning COVID-19, I think time has proven many skeptics correct…not fully, to be sure, but I hope that as we look back on the pandemic years we can learn lessons including the acknowledgment of how politicized the pandemic became, how US officials and major social media networks attempted to squelch dissenting views on public policy and vaccines, and that we overreacted by closing schools for so long and introducing blanket lockdowns instead of focusing on the most vulnerable.

During that time, I know I lost a few of my “lefty” readers who were incensed that I did not moderate comments and could possibly leave such disgusting rhetoric. But most stuck around…and I’m grateful for that.

Readership In The Next Era

Now we are in a different time and I’ve made crystal clear over the last 100 days my disdain for so many of the policies embraced and implemented by the new administration. Who would have thought it would be countercultural to be for Ukraine, free trade, respect for our allies, and a global order built on US strength? All of that impacts travel in some way…and not just tangentially. And yes, I want to discuss it because I see it as critical to our nation and world and far more important than the latest credit card sign-up offer or even the new Air France First Class.

I would have thought  that my “conservative” readers who ridiculed the “snowflakes” who complained about commenting in the Biden years and heralded my “free speech” policies would not turn into the “ewww, isn’t this a travel blog?” readers who are dropping like flies in the face of a new critic from what they thought was a “safe space.”

Readers come and go over the years and I’m not worried about the long-term financial success of this blog…but I do love the Live And Let’s Fly community and the diversity of voices here, at least historically, in what tends to be a (leftward) slanted sphere (I think Mark Twain was quite right when he said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”)

I am disappointed… disappointed that so many folks live in echo chambers (which our online world makes so easy) and refuse to even engage any longer. That’s true for both sides of the aisle, but more recently for the Trump side, which seems hellbent on dismissing those who disagree with them as simply suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and then refusing to even engage any longer.

Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?

I’d like to think I’ve built up a little built of credibility over the years by approaching things thoughtfully such that I’ve earned the right to disagree with you respectfully. After all, there are 4-5 stories a day on Live And Let’s Fly and the majority are still non-controversial, like flight and hotel reviews. But you mean to say you won’t read my trip reports any longer because I oppose some of the policies of the current administration?

Really?

I’d be interested in hearing from some of you who may have stopped commenting but still read the blog on why it is so hard for you to accept that I don’t like the trajectory of the US government. Or why it is so hard for you to read comments from those you disagree with? As best as I can tell, that does not make me left-wing or all that partisan at all…in fact, I’m happy to count up what I’m “for” rather than “against” and I suspect there is an immense amount of common ground.

In the meantime, I am re-considering the comment policy on this blog and also re-considering how political I wish to be at all. It’s very concerning to me that so many are warning me now, after years of support, that they will stop reading if I continue to voice my thoughts on the politics surrounding travel.

Ultimately, I am not going to write anything in order to please others. This blog has been successful because it is my own voice and it has matured as I’ve also matured. I still write to myself and will continue to write to myself…but I sincerely appreciate the daily readers who, like a big dysfunctional family, all bring to the table their unique humanity. Please don’t be afraid to engage with those who see the world differently from you. That’s what travel is really all about and that is how deeper levels of understanding and respect are fostered.