No Spring in This Step

Time change, finally; following in Bridget Jones' footsteps; recent clips

Yes, we’ve had flowers and mostly good weather. No, I’m not feeling especially sunny.

I thought about opening this week with a rah-rah-yay-spring-is-here-with-sunshine-and-flowers-zippity-do-dah intro, but y’all, I’m just too damn tired to sugarcoat my blah mood. I’ve been traveling a lot (probably too much), working too hard, and just generally feeling anxious and overwhelmed by the state of the world (read: headlines coming out of the US) these days. This weekend marks when most of Europe springs forward for daylight savings time, which means I’ll likely be feeling even more out of it starting Sunday morning, after I’ve been robbed of an hour of much-needed sleep.

And for now, since I honestly don’t even feel like I have the bandwidth to come up with anything remotely interesting, funny, or insightful here, let’s just cut bait and move on to something I can muster up some energy for: a long overdue Subject Line Smackdown! (For new subscribers, this is where I take a snapshot of a few recent subject lines that have appeared in my inbox and quickly analyze them.) Thanks for your understanding (and if you have any helpful hacks about how you’re coping with these crazy times, please drop a comment below).

Subject Line Smackdown

Moving forward, I’ve decided to remove identifying info to (hopefully) avoid potentially ruffling any feathers. (Pro tip for fellow Substackers: There’s a handy redactor tool in the photo editing option, which creates those cool pixelated blocks you see below. I’m feeling overly proud of myself for discovering it on my own, huzzah!)

1. Media briefing, as in a webinar format, I’m guessing? Timely topic and one I’m interested in, but since I’m based in Amsterdam, the timing of these often falls into dinner and/or bedtime around here. Also, truthfully, I still have Zoom fatigue from the pandemic, and my appetite for online gatherings like this one hasn’t really returned.

2. What’s the compelling angle here? Unless these reservations sell out in days (or minutes), this isn’t news; in fact, it’s a non-story altogether.

3. Interesting news, and 100 is a mighty big number. But this SL would be even better with a more precise angle, like TK new countries, or how they are able to scale in such a way (like with new funding? Record profits?). But still pretty good, precisely because it’s short, sweet, and straight to the point.

4. If I was working on a MD story, this might work, but it’s a bit generic. I’d love to see a new angle or hook for this destination introduced in the SL.

5. I’ve said it many times before, and I’ll say it again, I don’t cover golf.

Recently Published Stories

My first piece for Tripadvisor: a fun assignment involving a Delft blue tile painting workshop in Amsterdam

A roundup for Afar about the best countries for raising a family

A story for CNN about the best countries for US retirees

Source Requests

As always, for pitches, please do not reply to this newsletter, as your response will inevitably get lost in the shuffle. Instead, send me a separate email with the subject line [TK PITCH] to blanebachelor[at]gmail[dot]com.

For KAYAK, I’m looking for destinations that are perfect for babymoons. If you rep one, please send me a quick graf or two with some key details by Friday, March 28.

This is a bit of a long shot, but I’m headed to London this weekend for a last-minute trip inspired by one of my favorite characters of all time — Bridget Jones! — so if you have any connection to the book/movies/filming sites, etc., in the London area (say, a bar that does a Bridget-inspired Chardonnay tasting), please send me an email ASAP with details. Thanks!

And That’s a Wrap

Thanks, as always, for reading, sharing, commenting, and putting up with my (hopefully) occasional whining. I’m glad you’re here.

Optimistically,

Blane