Hi! Welcome! Here’s a little more about this newsletter, and a little more about me.
What is Curious About Everthing?
I’ve always read a ton, and even back when I had a more normal day job in the early 2000s, I would send out emails of recommendations that I hoped friends and family would enjoy and learn something from like I did.
When I quit my job in 2008, to travel for what I thought would be a year, I kept up those emails but in the form of a newsletter for anyone, not just friends and family. Links I Loved was the name of that newsletter.
I started Curious About Everything as a successor to Links I Loved. In 2017, my life changed dramatically — see below for more on that. Though I am mostly bedbound, I’m still reading, still curious, still learning.
CAE is my love letter to that curiosity, a free monthly compendium that allows me to spotlight whatever I found most compelling and share it with the world.
Each month you’ll get an email with:
A short personal update section about what’s been going on in my life;
A “start here” section with the articles that stuck with me the most, and editorial about them;
A “best of the rest” section with other longform pieces that I found interesting and worth reading;
A “quick links” section with shorter pieces that I had to share; and
A featured artist whose work moved me.
A little more about me
I’d long dreamed of seeing the world, so in 2008 I quit my job as an attorney to take a one-year sabbatical. I started a site, Legal Nomads (temporarily nomadic lawyer lawyer and all that) to document my travels.
I never went back to lawyering.
What began a personal blog morphed into an award-winning travel and food publication that organically supported my unconventional life. At the time, there were very few travel bloggers. I wanted Legal Nomads to be an in-depth resource and motivation for travellers explore the world meaningfully, through long-form storytelling and photography. I kept Legal Nomads ad free (and still do), and instead turned to my community to tell me what they needed so I could build it. Their feedback led to public speaking, a book about food, gluten free translation cards for fellow celiacs, hand-drawn maps of food for 8 countries, and more.
In 2017, everything crashed to a halt.
A lumbar puncture derailed my life and left me disabled with a chronic spinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak. Four attempts at repairs have failed, and I am mostly bedbound. I can’t travel or live with full independence.
I can’t tie my own shoes.
And I can’t work the way I used to. I get about 2-3 hours a day where I can work before the downward traction on my brain from the spinal CSF leak blots out cognition. It's a few hours of concentration amid a world of pain.
After a few years of staring at Legal Nomads wondering if I’d ever get back to traveling, the reality set in. The slogan used to be “Telling Stories Through Food” but now it’s Curious About Everything, the same name as this newsletter. After a much-needed redesign to reflect my reality, it now houses my former travels, current and newer celiac guides to countries I’ve visited, but also documents a journey with loss and identity change.
I’ve also built a second, personal site to share my writing about health and chronic pain, meditation, and living with a spinal CSF leak.
My health doesn’t allow for much writing, but I’m grateful that it’s there as an eternal balm for when I can.
How often do you send Curious About Everything?
I send it out once every month.
Is Curious About Everything free?
Yes, it is free! I hope to keep CAE free, with my monthly membership elsewhere supporting me by providing a consistent income, alongside my celiac translation cards and food maps. If I do need to turn on paid subscriptions, I plan to do so as ‘support only’, since I don’t have enough brain juice to send out more newsletters each month.
Why did you start CAE?
Email is still one of the best ways to maintain a connection with my community of readers around the world. During the course of these tough last few years, readers have continuously written asking if I’ll keep sending newsletters as a means to update them about what is going on.
Social media is so fast and furious. Newsletters allow people to digest tidbits — but at their own pace.
(Newsletters also take less overhead than a blog in terms of my pain levels, and are an easier way to stay in touch monthly even if I’m not outputting longer-form writing or audio.)
How can we support you?
The best way to support me is by sharing CAE with people you know, and if you have the means, by joining me on my monthly membership site. This will ensure that I can keep CAE free. On the membership site, I share video AMAs, meditation techniques, ways to sleep better and stay grounded, and longer life updates.
Thank you for subscribing!
If you have any questions, please send an email to jodi[at]legalnomads.com or reach out to @legalnomads on Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, or Xwitter,
-Jodi
