A Special Story

👀For the biggest supporters of this publication

My new friend Matt and I’s first Zoom call March 2021

Hello! Welcome to the first special edition of the newsletter, exclusively crafted for subscribers who generously support this publication as yearly or monthly donors. Although my publication will always remain free, the support from individuals like you means a lot to me. Recently, some extraordinary supporters joined, prompting me to share a special story with them. I hope to share more of these special stories which will be about the book I am writing and other behind-the-scenes moments. For regular subscribers, here's a little preview.

PS: If you really enjoy my work and want to see special stories like this one but cannot commit to the donation at this time, I’m happy to grant you access to it, so please reach out directly to me.

I’ve been writing this newsletter for 2.5 years and getting close to hitting 3 years. When I started it, I didn’t tell anyone. I just wanted to see if I could get into a routine of writing and how it would feel to put it into the vastness of the internet. I certainly didn’t expect to have published 53 articles on Substack, a 200-page-long Word document full of blogs, and be working on writing my first book.

Today I’m sharing a story about my first subscriber. His name is Matt, he lives in England, and we met through Instagram. He was the first person to tell me my writings were impacting his life. It was quite mindblowing to tell you the truth. How could anyone care about what I have to say? Aren’t there other authors, influencers, or Youtubers whose job is to do that? What could I possibly have to say that would impact a 17-year-old kid in England? This is the story of an unexpected friend, life-changing trips, disappointments, forgiveness, and above all— friendship.

I came across Matt in the comments section of a Seek Discomfort Instagram post in 2021 during the lockdown days of COVID-19. It was a photo asking people to share in the comments something from their bucket list. It was quarantine time and of course, we couldn’t travel which made me want to travel even more. I was dreaming of bike-packing the California coast so that’s what I put in the comments.

A few hours later someone named Matt replied to my comment saying it was his dream to bike-pack across the United States. A few days later he sent me a DM on Instagram asking if I could share any tips about bike-packing in America. I said, “Sure! But it might be easier if we go on a call if you want. I’m not an expert but I’m happy to share my experiences of bikepacking.”

A little while after I sent that message, I scratched my head. “What was I thinking?! I don’t know who the heck this person is and now I’m going to go on a Zoom call with him. Geez, Maria why do you do this to yourself?”

The day of the video call came. I told myself the worst thing that could happen if he was a creep, I could just hang up, block him on Instagram, and keep on living my day. Three hours later, Matt and I were still talking. We were getting along like a pair of long-lost friends talking about cycling, travel, and big unconventional dreams.

Matt felt like a younger cousin who was at a crossroads in life and wanted to find a friend to help navigate the journey with. Someone who was excited by big ideas and building out their own path.

Matt was very open from the start and told me he had dropped out of school. He was feeling a bit lost because his parents wanted him to take a more traditional route but he had different dreams. He was also a big Taylor Swift fan which solidified our friendship. He wanted to cycle across America, cycle to Portugal, do filmmaking, and travel the world. But he wasn’t 18 yet, didn’t have a job, and didn’t know what to do.

What neither of us knew was how crazy it was that an Instagram comment would come to create new friendships for ourselves and shape our life paths, no matter how different they were.

One day on a Zoom call, I told Matt about my blog….