Hello from Phuket, Thailand on the last day of 2023! 🇹🇭👋
2023 was quite the year for Oscape; I’m grateful for your regular readership and support. It has been quite an undertaking to put this together.
2023 Travel Summary
2023 was one of my most incredible travel years. Largely as a result of my many Asia-North America trips, I flew more airlines and miles than any time before in my life.
- Miles Flown: ~150,260 miles ( km)
- Airlines Flown: 24
- Most Common Aircraft: Airbus A330
- New Countries & Places Visited: Paraguay; Singapore; Hokkaido; Thailand; Hawaii, USA.
- Cash Spent: an unreasonable amount, but great value for the products I used.
- Most Common Points Used: Air Canada Aeroplan, Delta SkyMiles, Alaska Miles, Air France KLM Flying Blue
2023 was our Launch Year
The most important aspect of 2023 for us was that we launched this year.
Oscape began as an idea in 2018, when I first started understanding business class and first class experiences, and also traveling over 100,000 miles a year. While enjoyable, the journeys lacked purpose, and I launched this to make these trips more useful for others seeking the same experiences. Most importantly, people should know what they are getting for their money spent.
Oscape was also an experiment to market my photography. The site began as a primary photography website, but by demand has morphed into primarily a travel content website.
The results have been mixed, but one thing is for sure – we have consistent organic traffic that has been stayed quite stable through most of this year, which is a very good thing.
Site readership has grown slowly since we launched. We started at under five users per day, but has now grown into an average of 10 to 20 users per day, with sometimes peaks of upwards of 60 users per day. Although that is far below the desired metric, it is a promising start for being live less than half a year. It definitely shows that people appreciate at least some of the content.
The Difficulty of Running a Travel Website
I completely underestimated how difficult it would be to run a website focused on travel, photography, and experiences. Some will read this and say that’s not surprising at all. After all, in 2023 it seems everyone and their mother and their grandmother has a travel blog. The market for these is very competitive, and the threshold for getting to revenue is quite steep.
Readers should know that Oscape is not a travel blog, although journalism is a core part of the brand.
After many, many deliberations, and meetings with business coaches and consultants, I’ve seen enough encouragement from experts to keep going, and honestly, we have a fantastic team. It’s clear the site needs more investment and time to grow, and I think we’ll make it.
Changes in 2024
This does mean that you’ll see quite a few changes in 2024 as we begin to add revenue systems into the platform. To date Oscape has been accepted by over 30 affiliate advertisers, and we will be soon bringing these into the site.
Additionally, I’ll be offering additional photography sales with easier ordering options, additional collaborations on whiskey, and also bringing on illustrations and other services into the mix.
We may also add a subscription model for some premium offerings.
Gallery Sales
Although the gallery has been quiet as we focus on the content side, I’m also happy to report the first Photography sale. We sold an 8×10” Glass Print of White Sands By Night to a buyer in Texas, USA.
“I would like to send a thank you to Oz. David and Linda just received the White Sands photo and absolutely love it. They will hang it in their art gallery at the entrance to their home.”
This is the first official revenue for the business! After spending multiple five figures on development this is nothing glamorous – I could have bought a house instead! But how would that serve the world and purpose? I’m grateful for the support and glad to hear the art is appreciated.
A Thank You to Agents Everywhere
Finally, it goes without saying that I owe a great many thanks to the many agents, customer service representatives, agents and staff at airlines, hotels and lounges, flight attendants, pilots and captains, and front line agents all across the travel industry that I’ve had the wonderful pleasure of engaging with this year.
You all have been mostly wonderful. Some of you have been truly exceptional in the quality of service and care that you’ve given me on some of the most exhausting journeys of my entire life. Because nobody else might say it, I really want to thank you for making it a real pleasure to fly and travel in 2023.
Upcoming Content in 2024
To give you an idea of what’s coming next year in 2024, we have over 50 reviews in processing from October thru December 2023. These include journeys to:
- Istanbul, Cappadocia and Bodrum, Turkiye
- Germany and France
- Hawaii, USA
- California, USA
- Japan
- Thailand
I have an extensive update on my points and miles strategy for 2024, which is radically different from what I pursued in 2023 and earlier.
In time and with revenue streams beginning, I am excited to bring forth another year for Oscape!
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