BIG NEWS! I'm gonna go travel the world

And there will be TONS of content coming from it

Beginning in January, I’ll be traveling the world to experience all of the geography I already talk so much about. And you’ll be able to join me either through YouTube, Instagram, or right here on this Substack newsletter. I’ll be creating content through all three networks so you can follow along to your heart’s content. So first, before anything else, here are the links to my new YouTube and Instagram account:

• 🎥 https://www.youtube.com/@geolex.travels

• 📸 https://www.instagram.com/geolex.travels/

If you want to go ahead and subscribe or follow on either of those, you’ll be able to interact with us and get that kind of content right through those apps. YouTube will be primarily for long form videos and Instagram will be primarily for photos and short form videos so… pick your poison really! And Substack? Well, I’ll be writing about my experiences about each place, right here. So, if you’re already subscribed, you’re already set! And this Substack will remain completely free. I don’t need or want to monetize it.

Now let’s get to some questions.

Why travel?

I’ve been incredibly lucky and privileged to make my living talking about the world on YouTube, here, and through other social media networks. This took a long time to build up but it’s something I’m very passionate about. But as I began 2024, I realized that, while I talk about places all around the world, I’ve not really experienced most of it first hand. And so, I’m gonna do just that.

My hope is that it makes me a better geographer and a better human being. Someone who can speak to the experience of different places and cultures rather than just about them. Though I don’t want, nor expect to speak FOR those places or cultures (key difference!).

How long are you traveling for?

About a year. The goal is to be done with the non-stop travel sometime around spring of 2026. But who knows where this will take us? That said, at some point we’ll want to start a family so there has to be an end point.

Where are you going?

We’re gonna start in Japan! We have some fun activities and content already planned. Plus it made for a pretty easy launching point for us since we live in Portland, Oregon. From there, we'll slowly work our way south through Asia and Oceania. While not everything is planned, we know we want to visit Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Palau, and other countries.

After Asia we’ll head to Europe, then South America (and hopefully Antarctica!) and then Africa.

Our goal isn’t to hit a set number of countries though. Instead, we want to find interesting places with interesting stories to tell. That will largely be what dictates where we ultimately go.

What’s gonna happen with Geography By Geoff?

Business as usual! I’ll still be working on and making videos for that channel weekly. I’m privileged enough to have the support of editors and animators who help me pull my videos together each week. And while it’s still a lot of work, I feel confident I can continue to create fun and engaging content while abroad. Though my background for my talking head portions will certainly be different.

What’s GeoLex mean?

GeoLex is a simple combination of my name Geoff and my partner’s name Alexa. Alexa will be joining me on this trip and will feature prominently in all the content on both YouTube and Instagram. Because of this, we decided to combine our names into one short portmanteau. 🤓

She may become a part of this Substack as well in the future, but not anytime soon.

When does the first video come out?

Technically, it’s already out! We released a trailer for our channel on Friday, December 27th. You can watch that if you want to get a feel for what we’re doing. But our first FULL video will come out on January 4th.

While we haven’t started our long global trip yet, we have been making smaller trips to different places since August of 2024. The goal of these trips was specifically to learn videography and storytelling in person. It’s been incredibly challenging, but also very rewarding. Our first few videos will be about these trips.

Got other questions? Leave em in the comments below and I’ll try to answer as best as I’m able.