[theme tune of Wild for Scotland]
Hello there and welcome to Wild for Scotland!
I have some exciting news to share with you today and also a little bit of an outlook on what to expect from Wild for Scotland this year.
[theme tune fades out]
But first, if this is your first time listening to Wild for Scotland - welcome! This is a podcast all about Scotland and I'm your host, Kathi Kamleitner. I’m a travel writer based in Glasgow, I run my own Scotland travel blog, plan bespoke itineraries and on this podcast I take you with me on immersive audio journeys to some of my favourite places all over Scotland. My stories feature fascinating places to visit that are a little off the beaten path, and I hope to inspire you to also look beyond the highlights, and explore Scotland more in depth. I also interview interesting people who call Scotland their home and are passionate about sharing their slice of paradise with others.
If you're looking for a great episode to start, I recommend going back a few to the one called ‘Where it all began’. It's one of our most popular episodes and tells the story of the time and place my love story with Scotland began. Or you could listen to the episode ‘Creature of the Sea’ - we won an award for that one, so I'm really proud of it.
Our most recent series was all about Water and features travel stories, conversations with conservationists and my personal reflections about how to best experience our Scottish waterways from the mountains to the coast.
And now back to the news:
I have spent some time working on new perks for our Patreon community and they are now live! If you’re not sure what Patreon is, it’s a platform that allows podcasters and writers like myself to build a community with their listeners. It's like a membership platform where in exchange for a small monthly contribution, you get exclusive access to more of my creative projects and community events. Some of the perks include short audio stories or travel videos, I'll be hosting exclusive member video chats and we’re starting a private Facebook group to make it easier to meet other members of the community as well. So if you're a regular listener of Wild for Scotland, Patreon allows you to get even more of the stories, travel inspiration and tips for Scotland you've come to enjoy. And what I love most about our Patreon community is that I just get to be me and connect with you rather than worrying about trending topics or social media algorithms.
With this in mind, I am launching three new membership categories that give you varying access to exclusive content and community events.
The first category is called ‘Caraid’ which is the Gaelic word for ‘Friend’. This gives you access to our private Facebook group for members and also exclusive behind-the-scenes content from my travels around Scotland, trips for the podcast and other adventures. All of this costs as much as buying a coffee once a month.
The second member level is called Merry Dancer. That’s an Orkney term for describing the northern lights and it costs the same as 2 pints of beer in a pub. You get everything from the Caraid level but also an exclusive bonus episode every month, that is either in audio or video format. You’ll also get a discount towards my Scotland itineraries and you can join our quarterly Zoom hangouts where you can ask me questions and I can share stories.
The third category is called Unicorn because I just love that that’s the national animal of Scotland. This membership gives you a bigger discount on my Scotland itineraries and if you ever find yourself in Glasgow, I’ll come and meet you for a coffee or a short walking tour of the city at no extra cost.
So, just to repeat, if you're a new listener, you may want to dive into a few episodes first, to see if this show is your jam. But if you're already a regular listener and you want to hear many more episodes of Wild for Scotland, now is a great time to join our Patreon community.
I started the Patreon right at the start when I launched this podcast and the contributions members have made to the show so far, have been absolutely instrumental. I could never have made it this far without them.
At the moment, we have enough to cover the platform fees to host the podcast and our website, and just enough to cover about half a day for Fran to edit episodes for the main feed. Whatever is left over is used to pay contributors, to go on trips to record interviews on location, or to buy new equipment to make the show sound better. We get some additional support from sponsors, but it’s the regular contributions from listeners that really allow me to produce the high-quality immersive audio journeys you love to hear. But it’s not just about the financial support, my Patreon community is first and foremost a place where I can connect with my people, far away from all the toxicity of social media.
My goal is to have 100 members in our Patreon community by the end of the summer. This would ensure that we can raise the support needed to produce our next season, and I think it would also be amazing to bring together such a big group of people who care about Scotland and my stories. We’ve already got 25 members so you’ll be joining good company!
I’m already planning all the bonus content I want to produce for our members this year, so if you want to get your ears and eyes on it, join our community now.
At the moment, I’m also working on two new episodes that should drop on our main feed in the next couple of months. One of them is a travel story about a winter trip to Fife and in the other one, I’m taking you on an archaeology-inspired tour to the Scottish Borders.
After that, I’m taking a wee break from the podcast. At this time of the year, I am super busy helping lots of clients with bespoke itineraries around Scotland, I’m running trip planning workshops and I’ve also just signed two contracts for travel guidebooks that will keep me busy for a wee while.
I do have lots of trips planned for the first half of the year though. I’ll be going to Orkney and Shetland, spend some time in the south and also multiple trips to the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond National Parks. Hopefully, I will be able to turn many of these experiences into new podcast episodes for our next season, which I’m planning to release in autumn.
In the meantime, I will spend some more quality time with my Patreon members, so if you start missing my voice and re-runs of old episodes just don’t cut it anymore, you can always join me there for some fresh stories.
One of the things I love most about making Wild for Scotland is that I often get to speak to listeners, people like you, who’ve felt inspired by my stories, or have learnt something new from one of our interview guests. That’s the main reason why I make this show. And that’s also why building this community is a priority for me this year.
And to show that I’m serious about this, I wanted to thank all my current Patreon members for their support:
Karen
Jennifer
Liz
KJ
Sean
Adam
Beth
Milan
Mary
Francesca
Debi
Alice
Sarah
Mary
David
Sara
Matthew
Andrea
Tess
Petra
Elisabeth
Thomas
Henar
Frida, and
Arnaud
Thank you so much.
[theme tune of Wild for Scotland]
And that’s it for now. I’ll be back soon with my travel story from Fife, so make sure you’re subscribed on your podcast app, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media @wildforscotland so you don’t miss it.
Until next time, when travel to a new place in Scotland.
[theme tune ends]