Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Hello, hello, hello everyone. Welcome back to Mallory's Weird World Adventures, the podcast. I'm your host, Mallory, and I'm here to show you just how weird this world of ours really is.
Thank you guys so much for tuning in today. I kind of have a bit of a life update and recap episode here for you today for Weird World Adventures, the podcast, we just released Wanderlust, how to make money while traveling. And it is a guide that teaches people how to turn travel into their way of life and how to monetize travel.
It's primarily aimed at travel writers. However, it does have sections for everyone looking to make some money on travel.
You know, many years ago I worked for a women's lifestyle magazine and it was something that I really wanted to do to travel. And I kind of learned how to develop these relationships with tourism boards and how to be able to monetize on travel. It's a skill that I kind of learned and developed into. The book goes through that adventure and kind of talks about how that came to be, how I learned about it, and the exact how to steps that I took to make that happen.
I feel like a lot of those guidebooks that you get on Amazon that.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: Are, you know, how to do taxes.
[00:01:50] Speaker A: How to do this, a lot of them are very generic and the third of the book has information and the rest is very just, you know, unnecessary extra blog posts or content. I wanted the entire book to be relevant to the topic and to be interesting and engaging for people. So I really, really strove to make that point that I wanted the entire book to be really meticulously useful and just the how to step by step. So that's kind of what that developed into. And then Michael wrote a lovely section on taxes and being able to, you know, how to make the write off how to run your taxes as an independent contractor when you are traveling for.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: Work and how to write that off.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: So it's very interesting and practical and I think there's interesting information in there for everywhere. It's perfect for people looking to turn travel into their way of life, make.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Money off of it.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: But you know, it also is kind of just practically interesting.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: I feel like even if I was done traveling and I didn't know this information, I would still find it interesting either way.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: So please head to Amazon prime right now.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: That's where it's available.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: And prompt how to Make Money While Traveling by Mallory Mackey and Michael Maldonado.
So anyway, I had to. That's been mostly completed for quite a while now.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: It's been in the, you know, shopping for a publisher phase for at least.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: A year, but it really needed that.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Revamp and headed and some extra things put in.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: So I kind of just rushed the edit and really got that out to have in time for Con Carolinas because I was a special guest and panelist.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: This year at Concarolinas.
[00:03:52] Speaker A: It's wonderful.
[00:03:55] Speaker B: But before I talk about Con Carolinas.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: I want to talk to you a little bit about Iceland.
I am happy to say that mine is one, one short little segment. We are completed with the filming for season two of Weird World Adventures on Amazon Prime.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: Season two will release on Amazon prime in the fall.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: And as of the last year, we've basically been going around the country and the world filming the segments for the second season.
And the last real piece of the.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: Puzzle we needed was to film an.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Episode in Iceland where we attended elf school.
And we did that just this past week. Michael and I will have a whole.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Podcast about that soon.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: But it was an incredible experience.
We met with Magnus and learned how to hunt for mystical elves. We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Ranga, which is about in hour and a half out from Rezebec in the country. And it was really just one of.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: The most beautiful places I've been to.
[00:05:02] Speaker A: Well worth the stay.
Just a magical place, truly.
And then we went to the Pianist Museum, the Icelandic Philological Museum, and talked.
[00:05:16] Speaker B: With Thordur all about their museum and.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: Exhibits, all pertaining to mammal penis and.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: A few non mantle paintings.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: And then we went deep inside a volcano on a very rickety elevator key kind of setup. So we had a really, truly lovely time in Iceland. We found an old medieval fishing village. That road to get to was so.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Intense that we kind of had to actually pull over and then walk there. And that was also just a really breathtakingly spectacular place.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: Iceland is so weird and wonderful and it's a volcanic island, which I also.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: Just truly love that it is a.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Volcanic island, but at the same time it has strange green patches and there's a landscape and unlike any place else.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: I've ever been to. I'm sure everyone that has been to.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: Iceland just knows that it was magical. It was truly wonderful.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: I did a lot of driving because we stayed at.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: And I'm glad that I did because.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: Driving through Iceland itself was just a breathtaking experience.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: And we went to the Blue Lagoon.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: On the last day, which was also.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Just a dream come true, really.
The Blue Lagoon is a giant bright.
[00:06:46] Speaker B: Blue hot spring with mineral water from the volcanic activity. I guess they said that that area is actually an active volcano that regularly goes off.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: So it's an interesting experience, but a.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Beautiful saw that has, like I said, just these giant mineral pools. It has a bar.
It has a face mask bar so you can go get your face mask and massages in the water.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: It's a truly, truly cool place somewhere.
[00:07:26] Speaker B: I definitely want to go back to.
Me and my cousin were just talking about that potentially being the next trip place because it's such a wonderful, wonderful location.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: And we stayed in a bubble. And I know it's probably not the.
[00:07:42] Speaker B: Right season to stay in a bubble because while we were in Iceland, it was, you know, the full bright daylight, 24 hours a day.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: It wasn't quite the midnight sun, but it got a little bit dusky around 11pm and then the sun came back.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: Out around 3, and it never actually got dark. It got a bit dusky.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: So it was in the season where.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Never quite gets dark. So the blue was a choice. But it was beautiful. We were very excited to stay in the bubble for a night. It was very cool. And just this random patch of blood wilderness in Iceland. It was very cool.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: So he really just truly had a.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: Wonderful experience driving around Iceland, getting to go inside a volcano, go to the.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: Venus Museum, go to Elf School, find.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: A mythical fishing village, go to the.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Nice Blue Lagoon Spa.
It was great. It was truly great. So we finished filming season two of.
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Weird World Adventures on Amazon.
[00:08:55] Speaker A: Hi. Yay.
And we got back from filming, I want to say, Thursday night around 11pm.
[00:09:07] Speaker B: Maybe got situated at home at midnight.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: And then I had to leave the.
[00:09:13] Speaker B: Next morning by 10am to head to Charlotte, North Carolina, for Con Carolinas.
I picked up my friend Callie from the airport, and we had just a fantastic time together. It was a really wonderful experience. I'm going to have her on here to talk about that further.
[00:09:32] Speaker A: But it was very much a Comic Con, but mixed with kind of a writers convention.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: There were many writers. There were many people that were there to sell books.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: A lot of the panelists were authors, and they had different tracks. They had geek life tracks, where I.
[00:09:51] Speaker B: Got to be a panelist on a Buffy panel which secretly made all my childhood dreams come true, and a vampire.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Panel and then a paranormal and skeptic.
[00:10:05] Speaker B: Science track, which is also very cool.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: So it was a little bit of everything nerdy.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: And I really liked that. We made really good friends with Megan Mackey, who is a writer and shares.
[00:10:18] Speaker A: My last name, but spelled differently.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: She's going to come on my podcast here with me at some point and.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: It was like a really fun girls trip.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: Me, her and Kelly had a great time together.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Kind of nerding out, but then also, you know, getting to promote Weird World Adventures.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: I. I was able to promote the TV show, promote the podcast, and speak on topics that I really appreciate, all.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: While selling Wanderlust, how to make money while traveling. And the reason that Wanderlust was pushed out and edited when it was finally was to get it out in time for Con Carolinas and author news. I returned back from the convention and immediately had a deadline.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: Haunted Hikes to the Great Smoky Mountains, which me and Michael are working on together. You guys know we've been to the Great Smoky Mountains national park twice now, once in December and once in April. So you got to experience both seasons.
[00:11:24] Speaker A: And conduct a total of 40 hikes.
It is a guidebook to the wonders.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: And haunted legends of the Great Song Mountains. We've talked about that endlessly, I'm sure, so I don't need to expand too much on that.
[00:11:40] Speaker A: But the book is completed.
[00:11:43] Speaker B: Yay.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: All of the hikes were written out.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: And Michael edited all of the pictures and they're beautiful.
[00:11:53] Speaker A: And we have those done and turned in.
And I think the post process for this publishing house is a little bit.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Slower, so it'll take about year for.
[00:12:04] Speaker A: Them to edit the book and, you know, put it together and design the concept. So it'll be about a year and then Haunted Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains will be available. And I'm very excited to see one of those.
And over the next week, I am now finishing the Goth Atlas, 500 usual.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: Places around the world.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: I've been 2/3 the way done with the book.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: I'm on batch three now, so there's about another 140 of the 500 locations.
[00:12:42] Speaker A: That have to be written that I.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: Am going to knock out in the next week.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: And then the book will be turned in and done by June 9th, right after my birthday. And then I am free for a while for the writing. So we will have three books turned.
[00:12:59] Speaker B: In and completed within a month's time, which, let me tell you, was not an easy task. But I'm very proud to say that.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: I wrote three books within the last six months and had them turned in.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: Published and completed in that time.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: The Goth Atlas should be available this Halloween, so I'm really excited about that. There's going to be some edits to.
[00:13:22] Speaker B: Do afterwards, so it won't be completely, but it will be very exciting to have the bulk of the work completed.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: Then from June until September, I will be deep in edits for Weird World Adventure Season 2. I'm going to lay in the groundwork.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: For our editing to get it sent out and polished. Yay.
[00:13:45] Speaker A: And Weird World Adventures Season 2 or.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: Release on Amazon like I said in September 2025. So this September, out for Halloween.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: And I'm sure we've also talked at length about this next season, but just.
[00:14:02] Speaker B: In case you haven't heard, it will feature Dracula's castle and our road trip throughout the Romanian countryside.
It will feature the Voodoo and New Orleans and the Seven Gates of Guinea, the Fairytale route through Germany, the great Milky Mountain national park, fallout shelters and maker spaces.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: Some really cool and unusual places in.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: Virginia, including the Edgar Allan Poe Museum.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: And many other fascinating places. So we have a really diverse and exciting season.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: Iceland obviously is included in there and.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: That will take you all over the.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: World, showcasing some of the strangest places. So I'm just honestly, truly, really excited because season two of Weird World is.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: Everything I wanted this show to be, really. I mean, there's a few episodes that we've been excited about and talking about.
[00:15:01] Speaker B: For a while, but most of the.
[00:15:03] Speaker A: Things that I dreamed about having on.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: The show have happened here for season two.
So I'm really excited to share it with you guys.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: So we have quite, quite a busy.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: Year with the three books finishing up.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: And releasing and season two finishing filming just this past month, minus the filming of the Fallout Shelter, which will be done soon.
And then.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: We will edit the show like I said and have it released.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: For Halloween time along with the Goth Atlas. So be sure to pay attention to.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: Our content during the fall. We have a lot of amazing things coming out for you guys.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: And then, wow, I can't believe I'm not done here.
Secret Virginia, A Guide to the Weird.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: Wonderful and Obscure will be turned in March of next year to be released shortly afterwards. That's the last book project we have immediately in the works which will talk about 50 unique and bizarre places specifically in Virginia.
[00:16:14] Speaker A: And I'm really excited for that as well.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: It's been a really surreal and wonderful year to have so many places reach.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: Out to me, to work with me.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: On the things that I love doing.
Because the Goth Atlas, they sought me out and wanted me to write a book on the bizarre places around the world. And I am really just forever grateful that the show did well enough and I guess our brand has been built well enough to have them reach out to us to write the book.
It's been truly exceptional.
[00:16:55] Speaker A: And the same thing with Secret Virginia.
[00:16:57] Speaker B: You know, they came to me and said we have quite the so it's.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: Been just a complete blessing to be.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: Able to write about weird places around the world for multiple publishers and outlets.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: You have that reputation that I'm the.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: Weird girl because that's really what I value and wanted out of my career. I'm very happy about that.
[00:17:17] Speaker A: And I guess that in a nutshell.
[00:17:19] Speaker B: Is the life update of where we've been.
[00:17:21] Speaker A: So we will have a full, maybe.
[00:17:24] Speaker B: Even two podcast episodes with Michael talking about Iceland because it deserves a lot of our attention. It was a truly incredible experience. What a weird and wonderful place.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: Truly.
I'm definitely going to go back.
[00:17:39] Speaker B: We're talking about going back with family.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: Me and my cousin were ready to have a girls trip out that way.
[00:17:46] Speaker B: It's going to be wonderful.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: And then Con Carolinas is worth the mention.
[00:17:54] Speaker B: It was a wonderful experience getting to be a panelist and talk at a comic Con. So I'm going to have my friend Callie hopefully come on with me and talk about that as well.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: And then there'll be many, many updates.
[00:18:08] Speaker B: From shore following the release of Weird World Adventure Season 2 on Amazon prime for the fall, the Goth Atlas will release around then followed by Hampton Tike, the Great Smoky Mountains and then Secret Virginia. A guide to the weird, Wonderful and obscure Things are great over here. Very happy building the Weird World Adventure. Mallory's Adventure. Right.
[00:18:34] Speaker A: Thank you guys so much for tuning.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: Into our podcast all the time. I'm excited to bring you more in depth updates on all of this. Thank you for my fun little life update right now.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: Thank you guys for tuning in. And again for those who don't know.
[00:18:48] Speaker B: Weird World Adventures shows you just how weird this world of ours really is. We are a podcast.
[00:18:56] Speaker A: A television show on Amazon prime.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: So please check out season one, which is available now if you have not, and Mallorysadventures.com which is our blog format of all of this content.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in. And until next week, everybody stay here.
