One writer, one desk, one obsession.

Hi — I'm Samantha “Sam” Hollis, and this journal grew out of a simple observation: almost everything written about travel is about destinations, while almost everything that decides how a trip feels happens somewhere else. In the seat map. In the layover. In the suitcase. In the timing of the return flight.

I've spent years refining that unglamorous layer of travel into systems that can be written down, tested, and repeated — and this site is where they get published. The name is exactly what it sounds like: I'm Sam, I travel, and I write it up.

What this journal covers

Departures is the storytelling half: essays on flight timing, connections, short-trip formats, shoulder seasons, and the odd poetry of transit spaces. Kits is the engineering half: packing systems, seat-selection frameworks, arrival protocols — pieces designed to be used, not just read.

You will notice what the journal deliberately avoids. There are no airline reviews and no carrier names anywhere on this site — partly because the systems here are meant to work on any airline, and partly because independence is easier to keep when you have nothing to gain from naming brands. There are no "top 10 hidden gems" lists, no press-trip write-ups, and no sponsored content of any kind.

How it is written

Every story is long-form on purpose, drafted from my own travel notes and checked against public, primarily official sources — transportation agencies, health authorities, statistical bureaus. Each article ends with source notes so you can verify the factual claims yourself. When something in a story is opinion or personal practice rather than checkable fact, the writing says so plainly.

When I get something wrong, I correct the story and note the correction. The fastest way to flag an error is the contact page.

How it is funded

The journal is reader-first and independent. It may carry clearly-labeled display advertising, and that is the extent of its commercial life: no company pays for coverage, supplies free travel, or sees stories before publication. The full version of this is on the standards page, including the advertising disclosure.

Why Madison

Because it's home — and honestly, because it's a good laboratory. A mid-size Midwest city teaches you connection math, multimodal routing, and early-departure discipline better than any coastal hub, since almost every trip starts with getting to somewhere bigger first. The systems on this site were built by someone whose journeys always have one extra leg in them.