Ohio Trip Recap

WORDS WITH A WISEGUY # 30 ...

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2027 CALENDARS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

Last year I sold calendars for the first time, and people seemed to like them, so this year I’m selling two! One is similar to last year with each month being from different parts of the country, and one is of my current home state of Kansas. They’re available on my website now for a discounted price of $21 until October 15 and then the price will go up to $23 after that. Shipping is included in the price and there are no international orders this year. If you are international and really want one, email me separately and we can work something out. You can pay online or through Venmo, or if you’re old school you can send a check in the mail (John Wise, PO Box 2793, Wichita KS, 67201). I think you’ll really like the calendars this year!

Calendar info link: https://www.travelwithawiseguy.com/shop

RECENT OHIO TRIP RECAP – UPCOMING VIDEOS

I was in Ohio for 10 days and it was great to go back to the state I lived in for my first 30 years! Besides exploring all around the Buckeye State, I went back to my alma mater (Kent State) and spent some time with family and friends in Brown County (where I grew up). I flew there from Kansas and drove 1664 miles while making 9 different videos. Overall I had a blast, and I hope you enjoy the content coming out this month!

Here’s a TENTATIVE October release schedule of videos. W1 = main channel, W2 = Wiseguy TOO!:

10/1 – Weird Ohio – W1 (already released)

10/4 – US Hwy 6 in NW Ohio – W1 (already released)

10/6 – Wyoming Territorial Prison – W2 (already released)

10/8 – Needles Hwy & Custer Wildlife Loop, SD – W1

10/11 – 10 Smallest Towns in Ohio – W1

10/13 – Ohio State Capitol Tour – W2

10/15 – Small Town Downtown Ohio – W1

10/18 – McPherson County, NE – W1

10/20 – TBA – W2 (probable KS video)

10/22 – Brown County OH P1 – W1

10/25 – Brown County OH P1 – W1

10/27 – Halloween special – W2

10/29 – Behind-the-scenes Ohio – W1

One other video I filmed and will probably release in November on W2:

--Elyria OH dead mall

THOUGHTS ON OHIO

I go back to Ohio often to visit family, but this was the first time I went back to focus on filming for YouTube. It was a lot of fun because it forced me to go to places I haven’t been before (even in my home county). I’ve spent a lot of time in NE and SW Ohio, but not a lot in NW and SE Ohio, so this trip was interesting to spend significant time in those places. The difference in the “10 Smallest Towns” from the western part of the state to the eastern part was significant as well. The eastern towns felt older with more abandonment, while the western towns were closer to population centers and felt more modern. A highlight was going to the state capitol in Columbus. Spoiler alert – of the seven capitols I’ve toured so far, this one is the best. Their museum was great and all-around it was a fantastic capitol to visit. One of the more eye-opening parts of the trip was exploring my home county in detail (Brown County). I realized there was a lot of it I had never been to, which might sound strange. But when I think back, I went off to college at 18 and didn’t really return much except to visit family during holidays, so I only had a couple years to drive around there. I’m sure I was in the backseat for trips with family to different parts of Brown County, but as a kid who really pays attention to that? It made for a unique return home! And of course it was great to stay with family for a few days!

NEXT BIG TRIP – NEW MEXICO

I have a couple of “local” weekend trips coming up and then I’ll be heading to New Mexico for 7-10 days. I’ve only done 5 videos on The Land of Enchantment previously, so I’m excited to explore it in detail. New Mexico is a curious state. Route 66 runs through it as well as the Extra Terrestrial Highway. I’ve done the Enchanted Circle Byway, but plan to go back this time to see all of the state’s smallest towns. All of the “10 Smallest” are on the eastern half of the state, so that’s interesting. I don’t have everything planned yet, but I don’t think it will be tough to find content in New Mexico. Send suggestions if you have any!

STOLEN CONTENT

I’ve become YouTube buddies with Joe Evans from Joe & Nic’s Road Trip (terrific channel), and he sent me a text saying someone is stealing my content and posting it on TikTok. And sure enough he was right. I’ve had people “steal” short clips here and there and use it on their videos before, but not an entire channel devoted to ripping off my content. Joe has had major issues with this as his channel is 10x the size of mine and he’s gone through all kinds of things to try and deal with it. Believe it or not, it isn’t illegal to use someone else’s footage if you create a unique video – that’s call fair use – but you can’t just copy and clip it up and post it to your channel without editing at all. Anyways, what can you do? I reported a handful of the hundred or so videos as well as the overall channel to TikTok through their automated system. I also posted a few comments on a few videos saying, “Thank you for stealing my content”. Lately there hasn’t been much posting on the account, but we’ll see. I think it’s part of the price of doing business when you get to a certain level of popularity. I still have a medium sized channel, so I can’t imagine what the big channels have to deal with. If you see anything suspicious definitely let me know!

THE BUSINESS OF YOUTUBE – THREE MONTHS INTO A NEW STRATEGY

I’ve been a full-time college track coach for most of my adult life and this summer I decided to pull back from coaching and focus more of my efforts of a career in YouTube. I’m still part of the Wichita State coaching staff, but it’s certainly less than previous years and I hope you can see the difference on my channel(s). This new plan has me taking a significant trip to a new state each month, while also still exploring around places local to where I live in southern Kansas. It’s been a full three months into this transition, and I can say it has been an overall positive. I’m working harder than ever, and every minute of my workdays are filled with traveling, filming, editing, or thinking about what’s next. I’ve gone through different phases of this “YouTube thing” in the past six years and it’s nice to feel like I am finally getting to a point where I can pay my bills with it. It’s a grind, but a fun one. I hope this is just the beginning of better and more interesting entertainment for you! Thank you for your continued support!

WANT EVEN MORE CONTENT? BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

If you’re not aware, I also have a member section of the channel where you can get extra behind-the-scenes content every week. We call it Member Mondays! We’re up to 253 members, and they’re the first to know about what’s going on with the channel, where I’ve been exploring, and where I’m going next. We have fun with these videos, and I like to show a lot of sneak peek clips. I do a ZOOM call once a month for $5 and up members. The support goes a long way in helping the channel continue to grow! If you are interested you can learn more on my website: https://www.travelwithawiseguy.com/membership

WANT TO SEND ME SOMETHING?

Sometimes I get asked for my address so you can send me something. I always show my gifts in the member videos. If you want to send something my address is: John Wise, PO Box 2793, Wichita, KS, 67201. My t-shirt size is XL.

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!

If you enjoy my channel and want to help it grow, feel free to share videos to your friends and/or family! I also have Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X (Instagram is probably the best to follow). Oh yeah buy some merch! (but only if you want). Info for everything can be found on my website: https://www.travelwithawiseguy.com/

Thanks for all the support and we’ll see you down a backroad!

John Wise