Newsletter

Need a jolt of jocularity? Then subscribe to travel writer and humorist Steven Frederick Shundich and his Where’s the Funny? (WTF?) Travel newsletter over on Substack. Every week of the year, you will get one (or more) issue(s) delivered straight to your in-box. Here’s why you want to subscribe:

  1. It’s full, of travel insights as well as utter nonsense from a man who has been to 45 countries and all 50 U.S. states.
  2. It’s fair, meaning content is devoid of all advertising, sponsorships and other sources of bias.
  3. It’s funny, written with satirical wit and a sense of wonder. 

Where’s the Funny? is a reader-supported publication. If you want to help me on my mission to create, inform and entertain, please consider a paid subscription. This is hard work, and you’re support goes a long way. Plus, it’s super affordable. And all paid subscribers get a 20 percent discount on any product or service I offer. There also a free option that won’t cost you a dime. See the chart below for the basics:

DEFINITIONS:

  • WTF? TRAVEL NEWS (W):  Weekly curated, aggregate travel news from today’s headlines, useful information with a twist and links to the source.
  • WTF? TRAVEL ON THIS DATE (W):  A weekly trip back in time for a look at people or travel-related events that made an impact.
  • WTF? TRAVEL STORY (M):  A personal essay or original travel humor piece, from the United States or anywhere on the globe.
  • WTF? TRAVEL PHOTOS (M):  A photo essay with in-depth captions from a single location near or far.
  • WTF? TRAVEL REWARDS (M):  A review of a specific travel-related credit card or reward program based on firsthand knowledge.
  • WTF? WHO WERE THEY THEN (O):  Ever wonder how your favorite TV / movie stars got their start? Me too!
  • WTF? TRAVEL QUOTE (O):  An inspirational quote from a famous traveler. Or some nonsense I heard on TV.
  • WTF? TRAVEL BLIP CARTOON (O):  The most obtuse cartoon you may never understand.
  • WTF? TRAVEL PODCAST (P):  YES – I record while I travel, too!
  • WTF? TRAVEL ROAD TRIP (P):  Personalized advice on where to go and what to see on your next road trip across the USA. If I’ve been there before, I am happy to help.

NOTE: W = Weekly; M = Monthly; O = Occasional; P = Paid only

Subscribe to the Where’s the Funny? (WTF?) Travel Newsletter on Substack. Or check out the pre-Substack newsletter archives below:

Newsletter Archive

2021

Librarian, biologist and tech educator Amy Maggi holds a dragon made with the 3-D printer in the Boundary County Library's Fab Lab

WTF? NEWSLETTER, Volume 9, March 2021: From the editor: The (COVID) Road Less Traveled • Cartoon: BLIP • Article: LIBRARY 3.0: Fab Labs + Maker Rooms Spark Young (and Old) Minds • Listicle: COVIDETOUR2020 Fun Facts • In Practicum: New Balance X-Wide Trail Runners: My Feet Thank You • Quick Spins: PORTABLE POWER: A Cure for the Camping-with-Sleep-Apnea Blues; WEARABLE WORKHORSE: Garmin’s Solar-Powered Instinct Series Watch • Photstic: The Hiawatha Trail, near Wallace, Idaho

2020

WTF? NEWSLETTER, Volume 8, June 2020: From the editor: Murderland: Why does Australia want to Kill Me? • Cartoon: BLIP • Listicle: 5 Things I Will Never Eat (Again) • In Practicum: Road Trippin’: There’s an App for That • Quick Spins: DIGITAL NOMADS: Barbados and other cures for COVID-19; Travel in Turmoil: The latest … ; and, Birders go berserk for watch data website • Photos: Old City of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Israel

The author with a cutout of Swedish hero Sven-Göran Eriksson, ironically coach of England's national team

WTF? NEWSLETTER, Volume 7, May 2020: From the editor: (Inappropriate) Laughter is the Best Medicine: 50 Minutes on a Jam-Packed Train from Tokyo • Cartoon: BLIP • Listicle: Favorite Beach to Swim While Surrounded by a Raging Inferno … and 3 more … • In Practicum: Future of Travel: Curated COVID-19 News from (So-Called) Industry Experts • Quick Spins: Walter De Maria’s world and It’s a Wrap: Christo is Dead • Photos: Edinburgh, Scotland

A closer look at one of the enormous Andean condors from the Cruz del Cóndor overlook at Colca Canyon

WTF? NEWSLETTER, Volume 6, April 2020: From the editor: Anxiety Arc: 30 Steps to Wellness (Right) • Cartoon: BLIP • Listicle: 5 Free Things in Chicago • In Practicum: Airlines 2.0: Carriers do what they do best – make air travelers miserable • Quick Spins: Turrell’s Roden Crater in Arizona; “Hotel of Doom” in Pyongyang; and, Unfinished Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota • Photos: Colca Canyon, Peru

Giant and rare, intact petrified log at Blue Mesa inside the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona.

WTF? NEWSLETTER, Volume 5, March 2020: From the editor: Travel and Fear • WTF? in Chanute, Kansas • Meet Osa and Martin Johnson: The first travel influencers • 10 Things: From a 4,983 mile road trip • 10 Things: From Arizona • In Practicum: Why I still bother to carry a real camera • Quick Spins: The America the Beautiful annual pass; Hotel Rez Redux: Is anything better than Booking.com? • Photos: Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Penguin and chic at Stony Point in South Africa

WTF? NEWSLETTER, Volume 4, February 2020: From the editor: Destination woo-WHO Wuhan • WTF? in Corruption: 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index • Listicle: Things to do in Québec City • Trip Planner: How to rent a minivan … for a month? • Presto Christo: Art on a grand scale • Airplanes / helicopters vs Cars: Transportation mode death index • Live like Royalty: Rent a Scottish castle • Photos: Jackass penguin colony at Stony Point in South Africa

Overlook of Squam Lake, New Hampshire, from the Armstrong Natural Area trail

WTF? NEWSLETTER, Volume 3, January 2020: On the road: Never be afraid to ask questions • WTF? in Plymouth, New Hampshire • Holiday listicles from the Queen City of Charlotte (and Cincinnati) • Rental car credit card insurance 101 • Where the wars are: Your guide to global conflict • My airline favorite: Stroopwafel Dutch treats • The second most expensive spice: Vanilla beans • Photos from Fish Creek, Wisconsin in Door County

2019

Montmorency

WTF? NEWSLETTER, Volume 2, December 2019: Essay from Uruguay 1989 • What else to do in Cooperstown, New York • How to apply for a Real ID driver’s license • InterNations expat best/worst place survey results • Reader’s Digest’s worst tourists behavior • Vintage See the USA and new Little Passports games • Photos from a bike ride to Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, Québec, just outside Québec City

Rooftop view of San Miguel de Allende

WTF? NEWSLETTER, Volume 1, November 2019: Inspiration for the WTF? travel blog newsletter • La Catrina, life and death in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico • Redux: the Global Entry Trusted Traveler program • UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the USA • Author Paul Theroux’s On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey • Insta-DAMNED spousal bullying from Instagram influencers • Photos of fabulous San Miguel de Allende