This is our last day here in Show Low, Arizona, so today we’ll be taking care of some last minute details like filling the gas tank for our generator, saying goodbye to our friends here, and mailing out some orders that just came in.
We have really enjoyed our time here in our old hometown, and we know there will be a lot of tears all around when we say goodbye to my daughter Tiffany and her family. Leaving the people we love is always the hardest part of the fulltime RV lifestyle. I know Tiffany would love to have us stay here forever, but she understands how much we love our life on the road, and how much we long to be on the move again.
We have found over the years that sitting still is always expensive for us. Not just in terms of camping costs, but also in terms of lost revenue. When we are moving around the country, vending at RV rallies, and dropping off bundles of sample issues of the Gypsy Journal at RV parks, we see a steady flow of orders coming in for new subscriptions, books, CDs, etc. But when we stay in any one place for a while, that drops off significantly.
We’ve been in Arizona since January, pretty much in three places all of that time, and while our subscription renewals are steady, orders for new subscriptions and our other products have suffered.
Speaking of subscriptions, here is the announcement many of you have been waiting for. We are now offering the Gypsy Journal online, as many of you have requested.
As you know, we have been experimenting with several different options to make this work, and thanks to my pal Chris Guld (who from this day forward shall be known as Mama Geek) of Geeks on Tour, we finally have a solution that will work.
The full paper, in PDF format, will be available online, and you can either read it online or download it to your computer for later reading at your convenience. Readers who subscribe to the online edition will be e-mailed a user name and password when a new issue is uploaded, and a link to the new issue. Readers can search for keywords, and zoom in and out to read a page easily. I’m excited about this new option for our readers, and I know many of you will be, too.
If you are already a Gypsy Journal subscriber, and would like to convert your subscription to the digital edition, just send me an e-mail at editor@gypsyjournal.net and I’ll make the necessary changes in our records. If you are not already a subscriber and would like to subscribe to the digital edition, you can click this link Digital Subscription. A one year subscription is $20, and a two year subscription is $35. New subscriptions to the digital edition will begin with the next issue of the Gypsy Journal.
Someone asked how we can control readers who would share their user name and password with others to cheat us out of subscription costs. We can’t, but I believe that most people are basically honest, and I have too many real things to worry about in life to lose much sleep over the few bad apples that may exist.
To see how the new digital edition will look, go to the top right side of this page and you will see a tab that says Digital Edition. Click it and follow the instructions provided.
And for our readers who do not want to go digital, don’t worry, this WILL NOT replace our normal printed edition of the Gypsy Journal. For you, everything will remain the same.
Thought For The Day – Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway!
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Nick:
I just read your digital version of the Gypsy Journal. Nice but included quite a bit of what is in your daily blog. I noticed that you would sell prior years copies on a CD for $15. It seems like that should be the price for a digital monthly subscription since you don’t have to pay for shipping or do any handling.
Wow Doug, how cheap can you get..complaining about $20 for a full year subscription! I very much like the digital version and have just subscribed. I have been a subscriber of the paper version and my subscription just ran out. Doug, I guess you don’t read the paper version. It is the same. Lots of interesting stories and information from and about the rv world and life on the road. For several reasons I cannot travel as much as I would love to do, so reading Nick’s blog each day brings me fun and joy, as well as educating me about travel and exploring our great country. Nick and Terry, keep up the terrific work and don’t listen to the Doug’s of the world. You have to make a living like everyone else and I consider $20 for a full year to be a bargain!
Doug,
There is much that is in the printed (and now digital) edition that is not included in my daily blog. The in-depth features are not in the blog, nor our our readers comments, Terry’s recipe column, and the lists of free camping places, dump stations, and much more.
I’m sorry you don’t see the value. But as a business, we must price our products at a rate at which we can make enough money to continue to travel and seek out new stories. Profit is not a four letter word.
Nick
Subscribe for 2 years and it’s only $17.50 per year. Or look at it this way. 1st year is $15. $5 is for set up and $15 is for 2nd year. That way it is $15 per year, the price you think is fair.
I agree with Doug. Its fun to read, but there is nothing in the printed or digital paper I’d pay money for. I’ll pick them up for free once in a while if I see one but I’m not paying for them. I looked at the books they do on free camps and stuff and there is nothing there I can’t find online with a few hours research so why give my money away? Same with his rallies. Why pay good money to go park at a fairgrounds when there are plenty of Wal-Marts and truck stops I can stay in? Nick makes enough money as it is and I dont want to pay for his new bus.
Richard DeShane,
You sound like the guy at work that just before it was his turn to buy a round of drinks always had to go to the bathroom then snuck out the back door.
Nick, we’ll probably keep the paper copy for awhile, but wondered if print subscribers would have access to the online version (free or fee-based). How often do you update your archive CD of past issues? Love to re-read feature articles when we reach new traveling areas you’ve written more about.
Judy
Here is just one reason why a Gypsy Journal Rally is better than free parking at Wal-Mart:
Those who attend Nick’s rallies are either friends or soon become friends and it is unlikely you will enjoy the camaraderie of friends at Wal-Mart, but you will save a few bucks.
I’d rather spend the money on rallies and on the Gypsy Journal and add to my family of friends.
I agree with CoolJudy, it would be nice to have access to the digital version as an option, but we will stick with the print version. As Nancy says, “Are you going to take the laptop to the beach? I like a piece of paper in my hand that won’t be a disaster if it gets something spilloed on it.”
Richard – hey, don’t let the door hit you in the backside! Most of us enjoy Nick’s turn of prose, even when he is talking about something we already are aware of. $20 a year is a bargain! And many of us get to live life on the road vicariously.
A note to Richard DeShame:
Please stop wasting your valuable time reading Nick’s blog and/or “free” Gypsy Journal when you can pick it up. Instead, please spend this time policing the Wal-Mart parking lots of the country. They can use your valuable insight and obvious talents.