thehipsterdiet

Three Years Ago …

I started a blog.

A Tumblr really.

I can’t tell you how much joy and hope this forum has given me.  I try as often as possible to give back, sometimes in earnest.

Most recently with Townlow - a project born out of tons of nights throwing around ideas with some of my favorite people.  That idea however, was just an attempt to build of off some great experiences we had when we first started growing Tumblr as a community in LA.

A little more than a couple years ago, myself and Hyde got pretty tired of all our tumblr friends in NYC having all the fun, so we started tumbLAngeles and soon after had our first meetup.

This gave way to a few more in rapid succession … tumblr was taking shape in my town, but I wasn’t going to be there for the culmination of all that momentum, I soon left LA for what I thought was a few months.

I wouldn’t return for a year.

I shared my travels, loves, and life throughout that Fall.  It became clear that this silly little community was becoming more to me than I had ever imagined.  That I was carving out a place for myself in this space, and it was changing not only the way I viewed the world, but how the world viewed me.  

Emboldened, I hibernated that Winter, made sense of my life, and decided to help my family and myself.  I took a few classes on the outside chance I’d one day want to go to grad school, traveled a ton and got lucky enough to live in Italy for nearly 4 months.  

Before I left for Europe however, panic set in, I begged Meaghan, Sarah, and basically anyone I knew in NYC for a job in media or tech, but it wasn’t the right time.  I left for Italy with no idea what I’d do or where I’d live when I returned.  On a whim I reached out to two or my favorite people to see what they thought about job prospects in their cities, NYC and LA respectively.

Chris nonchalantly asked me for my resume - I quickly threw something together.

Its been almost a year since that night and I can’t believe I’ve been part of all the amazing things that have happened in the space.

I’ve got a great job and get to work with and for truly amazing, brilliant and talented people helping to navigate the waters of Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

Maybe one day we’ll even get to work with Tumblr!

Speaking of, the community in Los Angeles hasn’t stopped growing!  Exciting events have sprung up from the talents of great folks with an incredible passion for story.  Getting to work with this project has given me real hope for the direction where Tumblr and LA can help support our many talented artists.

I’m not sure the role Tumblr will play in my life from here.  I don’t know what we want to do with Townlow as a site, or how we’d like to partner with Tumblr on local projects like this.  I want to rethink community, and how we can all work together to grow our local interactions on Tumblr as well as continue to support artist’s we believe in.

I know we’re small fish and they’ve got the John Mayer’s and Huffpo’s of the world to work with, so I don’t think we’ll ever get the support needed to really make it worth the continued investment on my part.  Besides, how can we compete with the hyper hyper local space exploding the way it is :)

There is one thing I do know for certain, the team they have in place is doing everything they can to make the user experience incredible.  Its amazing how much functionality other social communities have copied Tumblr, and yet they miss exactly what makes it so very special.

Tumblr is a community in every sense of the word and I’m beyond thrilled to still feel part of it.  Its been a good few years - here’s to a few more.

Cheers,

-Will Hutson

It’s been a year …

Seeing others lists reminded me to list my year in cities again, he goes:

• Tampa, FL
• Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• St. Augustine, FL
• Orlando, FL
• NYC, NY
• Indio, CA
• LA, CA
• Florence, Italy
• Sorrento, Italy
• Prague, CR
• Rome, Italy
• Amsterdam, Holland
• Venice, Italy
• Verona, Italy*
• Bolzano, Italy*
• Nice, France*
• Memphis, TN*
• Tulsa, OK*
• Gallup, NM*

* equals only one night in this location

targets for next year:

Pacific Northwest/Canada (again!)/South America

Greetings from Amsterdam

What an awesome place! And no it isn’t all hookers and drugs - really not even close. Granted there are a lot of people HERE for the drugs, the residents are friendly, the food is much cheaper than Italy, and people are generally excited to explore and discover everything this place has to offer. I really like it. Lots of similarities to my trip to Prague, great public transport etc - but all in all I’m impressed by the city, its people, and its culture. Heading out to get a bike and see some museums now. Hopefully riding a boat tonight and exploring the rest of this place tomorrow and flying out Friday.

Reflecting, Refining, Refocusing

The irony of travel isn’t lost on me.  Most travel is sold or pitched as relaxing, exciting, and adventuresome and new.  I’ve never bought into this cult, I’m not really into theme parks or cruises or anything overly manufactured or manicured being the key to me getting a travel fix.  (although those hedge sculptures at Disney parks are INSANE)

What people want and eventually do versus what they THINK they want TO do is a point that isn’t lost on me as a marketer.  That said - there are triggers to making any decision - and its in that spirit that I clearly realize that I’m not being honest to myself and making the most of this experience.

Six weeks into my travels in Italy and my desire to be in my car on the open road traveling the US is piqued yet again.  My time living out of my car, sleeping on couches, going cross country this Fall showed me more about myself and my country than traveling here.  If anything there are too many Americans around me to really feel like I’m “somewhere else” most of the time.  

The police here call it the “Disney Effect” - tourists walking around Florence with other tourists staring at the statues and bridges and buildings, as if this isn’t a bustling metropolis but rather a theme park built for their leisure.  I could see a week or two of that would be magical, but after six weeks the gloss and shine wear off and you start seeing the “actors” taking smoke breaks, and the mimes ordering cappuccino and kebabs and you realize, “oh life goes on here without the tour busses and people like me.”

Travel outside of Florence has been nothing short of fantastic.  Even in the Southern part of Italy where I had some less than flattering exchanges with some locals, it was amazing.  I’ve got to shift my goals and refine them onto experiences that are unique to Italy and Europe in general.  From there I have tighten my focus and start set plans to travel, in order to bring these goals to life.  It may seem like a simple feat, but this place can put your feet in quicksand fast.  Why leave paradise?  Why leave this nice little American-ized cocoon you’ve got in Florence?  

I’m excited to push myself the next six weeks and see what results may come.  

Italy Notes

Coming up on 1 week living in Firenze’ - it feels like a month.

A few things (briefly):

• Wow, this is a fully realized city
• If you’re walking on bird poop its a sign
• People are friendlier than imagined
• Smiles and hand movements go a long way
• What would you order/eat/do? Is the  what I ask the most
• Putting together a trip to Capri this weekend
• Holy Hell its been hot, when you walk 10 miles a day, it hit you
• Ciao Ciao for now

Where Do I Begin …

I thought life in the South was slow, Italy, you win.  In life patience is a virtue, here in Firenze’ its mandatory.  My apartment has 20 foot ceilings and windows that are taller than basketball hoops.  Our instructor said that some people feel like kids in a candy store; I feel like a kid with hay fever in a antique crystal museum.  I’m a little fearful to do”anything”.

Let me qualify this, I don’t think I’m hesitant persay, just not as wreckless as usual, which is a good thing.  I’m a guest - and I am here at their discretion not mine.  I’m told this is a unique “American” point of view, but I think its how our generation works.  At least I hope that’s the case.

I’m going to Chianti this weekend and hopefully Venice next weekend for a modern art festival.  Good things abound - pictures and stories to come.

When I was flying over the French Alps a song my cousin recorded came on iTunes.  It’s a song by Robbie Seay “New Day” and it truly is.  It was sort of an overwhelming moment, as I thought of all my family growing up (I was the oldest of 9 cousins that all lived in the same town) and living great and productive lives (two of which graduated on Sunday with my brother finishing this Fall and me finishing school [READ:  Finally] in August) that life is moving on - but that’s not a bad thing.

The song basically said, it may not be the prettiest thing that you’ve ever seen (which we all can relate to) but its a new day - and that’s what counts.

I feel like I’m great at surviving life, but awful at thriving at it.  I’m ready for the latter.