This one is very influencer-talk heavy and a bit more political, but we think you’ll appreciate our takes.

A few links:

Hotel group Courtney references

Taylor Lorenz piece on dark money dem influencers at Wired

Courtney’s favorite post from her Country Inn sponsorship

I’ve been asked for timestamps, so enjoy these AI-generated notes, -C :

00:00 Hotel Breakfast Preferences

03:23 Family Travel Dynamics

06:19 Hotel Design and Aesthetics

08:56 Experiences with Hotel Chains

11:44 Social Media Influence on Travel

14:47 Comparing International Hotel Standards

24:28 The Rise of Hipster Hotels

27:11 The Dichotomy of Influencer Life

30:26 Influencer Ethics and Transparency

34:26 Political Influencing and Messaging

46:37 The Need for Cohesion in Political Messaging

47:58 The Evolving Landscape of Political Influence

51:13 Leveraging Influencers for Political Messaging

54:30 Challenges of Coordination on the Right

57:13 Monetization and the Influencer Economy

01:00:52 Building Networks for Conservative Voices

01:05:31 The Power of Non-Traditional Influencers

01:09:03 The Need for Self-Identification as Influencers

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com

Courtney is heading to Europe for September, and we chat about random continental quirks, as well as other nonsense like naming kids weird names, Costco rotisserie chicken, and Lee telling his wife to calm down.

After recording, I found a route to avoid the pride of Ireland, so hold your prayers for me for now.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com

Yes, Coloradans do really call the Cache le Poudre River “the pooder”.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com

We got super political on this one, sorry. And we again completely got off track from some interesting things we’re watching in America’s travel market… but we’re going to keep trying to do these more often!

I’m also going to find a better mic for when I’m traveling, sorry.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com

We’re trying to record more often now that we have more subscribers - we got a bit political on this one, and have a much more detailed episode planned for later this week. Enjoy!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com

We tried to actually focus for an episode and went on even more tangents, so that’s quite on brand for us… but come join as we talk the downturn in US tourism and what the media is saying about that (and why we think it might not be accurate), Lee makes the most unflattering comparison he could think of for me, and we talk about more US and EU differences.

A note on sound: towards the end lee gets up for a break and I had to cut out me calling my son so when we start talking about him that’s why.

Don’t worry, I’ve already told Lee he’s not allowed to have a pen he can click next time, and I am trying to mute my mic more during my morning asthma attacks and maybe yell a bit less… we’re trying.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com

…and other topics as they popped up, including travel ideas and what we like to bring kids to

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com

…and other things

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com

This post was a week late because my satellite internet provider (yes, that one) decided to go to war with me. Months of wrangling and I finally can upload things… sorry!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com

I think I edited out all the times I was badgering Lee over the sound of his microphone - which was actually being caused by feedback in MY headphones because MY audio was messed up - so if there’s any bit of that, that’s what I’m complaining about :)

Someday I will learn how to operate a computer.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ithinklessofyou.substack.com