A two-year trek down I-95

A couple of months ago I picked up a terrific book titled “Blood and Treasure.” It’s a biography of the great American frontiersman and explorer, settler, etc. Daniel Boone.

Something that I read in this book that really stuck out to me was how Boone’s family relocated from Pennsylvania to North Carolina when he was a child. There was no interstate, no national highways, no semblance of any paved roads at all in the 1700s. So because of this, it took them two years to travel from the Philadelphia area down to approximately Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Not the exact locations, but you get the idea. 

In other words, what is today a roughly 7 hour drive down I-95 took them two years because of the lack of reliable transportation, paved roads, hostile territory where they were liable to be attacked by natives who were hostile to white people encroaching upon what they viewed as their own land.

Something to think about next time you’re stuck in traffic, or your iPhone doesn’t immediately play your kid’s YouTube of Crazy Frog because the 5G is a touch slower than usual. 

We often marvel at the modern technology and the conveniences they provide, but in some ways we lose a lot of the intentionality in our decisions, our actions, etc. If you’re going to move from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and you know that it’s going to take not seven hours, not even seven weeks, but two years, you don’t just do it without really meaning to do it.

It reminds me of the stat that I shared on this email newsletter a short time ago about how many podcasts there are on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, but in actuality not even 10% of them are actively churning out episodes on a consistent basis. Sure it’s easy to do, but that is also the Achilles’ heel of the medium. The fact that it’s technically easy means that technically anyone can do it.

It’s why when someone contacts me about doing a podcast of their own, I don’t beat around the bush in qualifying, or should I say, disqualifying them from working with me. I don’t want to work with people who are going to haphazardly dive into the craft, only to quit after a couple of weeks when they realize that there’s actual work involved in producing episodes. 

Let’s just say I’ve swallowed more than a few bitter pills in getting to this point 🙂

So if you or someone you know is thinking about getting into the podcasting craft and wants to build not just a hobby, but a real show that will reflect your unique personality, and more importantly will be built to last, check out what we have to offer at Podcast Artistry. 

Here’s the link to see what it’s all about: https://podcastartistry.com

James Newcomb 
james@jamesdnewcomb.com