On my recent road trip, I randomly took a turn into a place some describe as ‘Old Florida’ - Micanopy, which I couldn’t pronounce but was every bit the fairytale.

Not only that, it was a perfect contrast to the modern concrete, flash and dazzle around the Orlando theme parks I’d visited in the previous days.

Founded in 1821, Micanopy is one of Florida’s oldest inland towns and feels like it has barely changed with the passage of time. Named after the Seminole chief Micanopy, the settlement grew during a time when Florida was still a frontier territory, long before Disney moved in a short drive down the road.

Many of the buildings lining Cholokka Boulevard, Micanopy’s main street, date back to the 1800s, and today the entire downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Live oaks draped in Spanish moss form a natural canopy over the streets, while antique stores, old general stores and weathered wooden porches create the feeling that you’ve wandered onto a Hollywood film set rather than into a real American town.

Everything felt unhurried. In a state synonymous with rollercoasters, six-lane highways and ever-expanding suburbs, Micanopy almost feels like an act of quiet rebellion. There’s no rush, no flashing billboards, no towering hotels. Just a place where the loudest sound is the breeze moving through centuries-old oak trees. If you want to understand what people mean when they talk about “Old Florida”, this little town is probably as close as you’ll get.

Indeed, as I walked in to some of the local cafes, the atmosphere was extremely laid back. No sense of hustle and bustle around these parts. And with bluegrass banjos playing on a nearby patio deck, it truly felt like another world to the Florida I was used to seeing.

There’s actually a bunch of places like this in the State, and load of nature. I love it!

This is what fascinates me about America. Everywhere you go, separated by just a few miles sometimes, there is contrast and stories.

It makes me eager to see more.

Slainte,
Shaun

P.S. - my new vlog from this very trip is out now:

Over the past couple of months, one of the main feelings I had while traveling the US was the sense of rapid achievement.

Not because it was anything super special about me, but because of the moment, the enthusiasm surrounding the World Cup, and the opportunity for Americans to see many foreigners enjoying their country at the same time.

And I couldn’t help but think: is this the American dream at work?

And if this many cool things could happen to me in such a short amount of time, what could happen if I come to actually live in the US?

I know not everyone agrees with this, but it does feel like the US is a place where you can chase your dreams with at least a reasonable chance of them coming true.

So I’ve been in a process of constant thinking about how I document all of this, and take it forward in to something perhaps more substantial.

Enter Project Dreamland.

I’ve never been delighted with the branding of my newsletter, but this gets pretty close to what I want to share in this space.

And yes, I took inspiration from the Dreamland BBQ in Montgomery. It was while editing the video about this place that I decided this would actually be a great name for the newsletter, and perhaps a media brand and podcast in future too. Watch this space.

So I will continue to use this newsletter to share all the great things I come across in America, documenting my visa journey, and telling stories of some of the inspiring characters, everyday people and entrepreneurs I meet along the way.

So that’s it. Another rebrand. Forgive me, things have moved so quickly and it’s taken me a while to wrap my head around it all.

Shaun

I think a lot of people are going to be slightly disappointed by this, but I only had four hours to explore Montgomery. In fact, we were in and out of the entire state of Alabama in less than a day.

That wasn’t by design. We were driving from Florida to Atlanta for the World Cup, and Alabama was in between. With such a tight schedule, four hours was all we had. It certainly wasn’t enough to do the state justice.

Spoiler alert though: it was enough time to get a very large rack of ribs at Dreamland BBQ. More on that in a minute.

The first thing I learned was that Montgomery, on a Monday evening, is a ghost town. I’m not sure if it’s always like that, or maybe something common throughout the South, but when we were there, almost nothing was open.

Thankfully, we did have time to visit one of the city’s most important historic sites at Montgomery Square. Montgomery played a pivotal role in the American Civil Rights Movement. It was here that Rosa Parks sparked a protest movement that led to the national leadership of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and a permanently altered civil rights landscape in America. Standing there, even briefly, was a humbling experience.

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Afterwards, we wandered through downtown, past the central fountain towards the Alabama State Capitol, before walking down to the riverfront and the statue of country music legend Hank Williams. We also passed the historic building where one of the first telegrams relating to the outbreak of the Civil War was received. Yet despite all that history, the streets themselves were deserted.

It felt like I was on the set of one of those post-apocalyptic films where all humans had either died and their corpses vanished, or where everyone had left on a spaceship to Mars.

Dreamland

We did find one restaurant that was open: Dreamland BBQ. Founded in Tuscaloosa in 1958, Dreamland has become something of an Alabama institution, famous for one thing above all else - its ribs. As soon as I saw the menu, I knew what I was ordering.

Before tasting the food, though, I was just glad to see other human beings. Being the only place open, it was actually quite busy.

The ribs arrived with fries, mac and cheese, and generous helpings of Dreamland’s famous barbecue sauce. Before I even tried the ribs, I dipped a chip into the sauce and immediately understood why people rave about it. As a vinegar fan, I loved the sauce.

Unlike the sweeter barbecue sauces I’d had elsewhere, this one had a sharp, tangy vinegar base that really stood out. America’s barbecue culture changes from state to state, and while Texas still takes the crown for me overall, this may genuinely be one of my favourite barbecue sauces I’ve ever had.

The ribs themselves were good. They were tender enough and came away from the bone nicely, although perhaps just a little dry. I assume this is a symptom of it being a Monday, and typically a cooks’ weekly rest day. Once covered in that sauce, though, they became something completely different.

The mac and cheese was excellent, the staff were brilliant, and despite much of Montgomery seeming closed for the evening, Dreamland gradually filled up with locals looking for dinner.

Looking back, the meal summed up my time in Alabama perfectly. It was only a small taste. Perhaps a Monday evening is not an ideal time to visit, or to find an open restaurant. But that’s all we had, and we made the most of it.

Four hours isn’t enough to judge a state with such a rich history and culture. I’ll need to come back properly and spend the time Alabama deserves.

Slainte,

Shaun

Call me crazy, but something feels a little suspicious.

Just a couple of weeks after America enjoyed all the feel-good factor of the World Cup, and after hundreds of thousands of tourists like myself spent weeks traveling around the country talking about all the incredible things we experienced, one of the poster boys of Americana ‘discovered’ by World Cup tourists has come under mainstream attack. That place is Buc-ee’s.

To note that this business was specifically celebrated by World Cup tourists in several viral videos, making international news headlines, seems important to this story.

If you’ve never heard of it, Buc-ee’s is a chain of enormous gas stations that began in Texas and has expanded across much of the American South, with more locations opening around the country. Calling it a gas station doesn’t really do it justice, although it does literally have hundreds of gas pumps at every location.

To foreign visitors, it’s one of those uniquely American places that you simply don’t find anywhere else. If you’ve followed my travels over the years, you’ll know I’ve stopped at plenty of them and I am a fan.

So it caught my attention this week when John Oliver dedicated part of his weekly show to going after Buc-ee’s. His criticism centred on the company’s history of aggressively defending its trademarks, and suing smaller businesses into submission if it believed they infringed its trademark name and its famous beaver mascot logo.

Now, I completely understand why people instinctively don’t like the idea of a huge company taking legal action against smaller businesses. Nobody likes the image of David versus Goliath, especially when Goliath is an ultra-wealthy corporation. But, equally, I couldn’t help thinking...

Isn’t this just standard corporate America?

Large American companies have been fiercely protecting their trademarks for decades. Whether it’s fast-food chains, supermarkets or global brands, this isn’t exactly unusual. It’s part of doing business in one of the most competitive consumer economies in the world. Whether Buc-ee’s has gone too far, I don’t know. But the idea of a successful American company protecting its brand isn’t exactly groundbreaking.

John Oliver unveiled his own parody version of the Buc-ee’s mascot and challenged the company to sue him. It made for funny television and will resonate with his audience. Of course, the company will not sue him because what he has produced falls under the protection of parody.

Maybe it’s nothing, and maybe it’s simply a comedy show doing what comedy shows do. Or maybe it’s another example of how almost everything now seems destined to become political.

These feelings were solidified after I posted about Buc-ee’s in several videos. A number of people replied saying Buc-ee’s, in their words, is “MAGA-coded” - whatever the heck that means.

As someone who’s spent countless hours inside Buc-ee’s stores, I’ve never once felt politics enter the experience. Nobody has pushed politics on me, nobody has tried to sell me an ideology and nobody has made me feel unwelcome. I’ve simply experienced a brilliant place to stop while on long American road trips.

America in a box

To me, Buc-ee’s is America in a box. It’s bright, colourful and fun. It’s unapologetically American. The merchandise is everywhere, the food is excellent and the brisket sandwiches 100% deserve the hype. The bathrooms are probably the cleanest you’ll ever find at a roadside stop.

And when you’ve been driving for hours across America, it’s exactly the sort of place you hope appears on the next exit sign. It’s no surprise tourists love it, and content creators make videos about it. It’s also no surprise the company has become enormously successful.

Something else struck me on my most recent trip: outside one Buc-ee’s was a recruitment board advertising salaries. I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was reading. Store managers can reportedly earn more than $200,000 a year. Coming from the UK, where even managers of large retail stores would earn a fraction of that, it was astonishing. Again, that’s another reason Buc-ee’s stands out.

Now, to be fair, if you research the company, you’ll find the controversies. There have been disputes over environmental issues surrounding some developments - in Colorado, for example - and there have been the aforementioned trademark lawsuits.

To be frank though, if you want to take a political stand on businesses out there based on which politicians they fund, or their environmental credentials, there would be nowhere left to shop or enjoy.

Are we just sucking the fun out of everything based on culture wars? Next I’ll be told not to shop at Bass Pro.

That’s not to say I’m ignorant, but politics is messy and certainly isn’t as black and white as people try to make out. I just don’t think we should put everything, or everyone, in neat little boxes, which only serves to divide.

I don’t come to America looking for politics, but because I love travelling here and I love meeting Americans of all kinds. I also love discovering little (or large, in this case) pieces of Americana that simply don’t exist back home.

As a visitor, Buc-ee’s is one of the most enjoyable roadside stops I’ve ever experienced anywhere in the world. Maybe Americans see it differently from the way foreign visitors do, so I’d genuinely love to know your opinions in the comments below.

I’ve included one of my Buc-ee’s videos below if you’d like to see what all the fuss is about.

Slainte,

Shaun

To begin, a quick note. The name I’d originally given this weekly Substack newsletter felt a bit lame, so I’ve changed it to... well, my own name. I’ve even got a domain now: www.shaunvlog.com. I don’t love it, and I don’t hate it. But it’s something. Self-branding is hard.

I want to reflect on a crazy night among the long list of crazy nights I’ve experienced in America since the World Cup began in June.

It was June 14th, and I was staying near Foxborough, Massachusetts, the day after Scotland’s opening World Cup match against Haiti. I happened to catch a news report saying the Boston Red Sox were playing the Texas Rangers that evening at Fenway Park, and that the Tartan Army would be there in force.

That was enough for me.

I posted on X saying I’d love to go, and within minutes someone very kindly offered me their season tickets as they were out of town. Not only that, I also received a message from a guy called Kevin, a lifelong Red Sox fan who wanted to show my wife and I the best of Fenway.

Like most of the Scots heading to the game, I had absolutely no idea what was going on in baseball, so I gladly accepted. We met in Boston before heading to the ballpark together.

Kevin was joined by his mother, Marianne, another devoted Red Sox supporter. Before entering the famous stadium, we walked all the way around Fenway Park, stopping at some of its legendary bars and landmarks. We also grabbed a hot dog from The Sausage Guy, which Kevin assured me was an essential Fenway tradition.

He was right. The hot dog was a good call.

@shaunvlogI tried the Sausage Guy outside Fenway Park for the Red Sox game ⚾️

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We made our way into Fenway and up to our seats. Kevin and Marianne immediately pointed out the famous Green Monster - the towering 37-foot left-field wall that has become one of the most recognisable features in all of American sport.

And in what is apparently an incredibly rare event, the Rangers batsman smashed the very first pitch clean over the Green Monster and into the streets of Boston for a home run.

Looking around, though, something else stood out even more. Fenway wasn’t just full. It was full of Scots.

This Red Sox game fell perfectly between Scotland’s first two World Cup matches, so many of the estimated 30,000 Scotland supporters in Boston were looking for something to do. America’s national pastime turned out to be the perfect answer.

It’s estimated that around 10,000 members of the Tartan Army packed into Fenway that night. I even heard it was one of the biggest crowds of the Red Sox season so far.

The club embraced it completely.

They organised a bagpipe parade to the stadium, produced a special Scottish-themed Red Sox jersey, and even dressed their famous mascot, Wally the Green Monster, in a kilt.

It was impossible not to smile.

Many of you won’t need an introduction to either the Red Sox or Fenway Park. But if, like me, you knew very little beforehand, it’s difficult to overstate their place in American sporting culture.

Fenway Park opened in 1912, making it the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball still in use today. Despite countless modern stadiums being built across America, Fenway has remained remarkably unchanged, giving it a character unlike anywhere else.

The Red Sox themselves are one of baseball’s most historic franchises, synonymous with Boston and beloved throughout New England. The club’s history is packed with iconic players, heartbreaking defeats, and unforgettable triumphs, making it one of the biggest brands in American sport.

Many of the Scottish fans had taken over the famous cheap seats beyond the outfield, known as the bleachers.

For one night, they truly became the Bleacher Creatures. And wow, did they make themselves heard.

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There was singing, dancing and chanting from first pitch until the final out. Every time something happened on the field that they barely understood - much like me - the noise somehow got even louder. Scottish football songs echoed around one of America’s most historic sporting venues.

Hearing the name of Scotland midfielder John McGinn repeatedly ringing around Fenway Park was one of those wonderfully surreal moments you simply couldn’t invent. I’m sure plenty of the locals had absolutely no idea who he was.

But they certainly knew his name by the end of the night.

As for the baseball itself? It was brilliant fun.

The Red Sox, unfortunately, weren’t. They lost to the Rangers in what Kevin assured me had become something of a familiar story this season.

Thankfully, Kevin and Marianne spent the evening patiently explaining everything - from balls and strikes to innings, home runs and double plays. I still wouldn’t claim to understand baseball completely, but I understood a lot more by the time the final out was recorded.

Kevin is also the founder of Fanalyticshq.com, a sports content and analytics platform that will soon launch as an app. As he described it, it’s “a first-of-its-kind sports enablement platform that lets users connect, create and build.”

Alongside explaining the game, Kevin and Marianne shared story after story about Red Sox history, the club’s famous successes and failures, and what the team means not just to Boston, but to New England as a whole.

In fact, they live in New Hampshire and regularly make the hour-long drive into Boston simply to watch the Sox.

Towards the end of the game we made our way down into the bleachers to join the most raucous Scotland fans.

Kevin remarked that it might be the best atmosphere he’d ever experienced at Fenway.

One particular highlight was thousands of Scots belting out “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys. Another was when Scotland fans launched a ‘Wave’ - which lapped Fenway Park at least a dozen times. It briefly paused, prompting boos from the Scotland fans, and then restarted. The whole thing was good-natured, and hilarious.

And then there was the constant chant of ‘No Scotland, No Party’ - enthusiastically sung by not only Scots, but our gracious hosts.

After the game, supporters took almost an hour to leave, gathering beneath the stands and filling the concourses with song long after the final pitch had been thrown.

At that point in the tournament, Boston was only just beginning to realize something special was happening in their city.

This evening, though, felt like the moment the relationship between Boston and Scotland truly came to life.

Just days later, Boston and Glasgow formalized a friendship agreement between the two cities - a fitting reflection of the warmth that had developed throughout the tournament.

The whole evening was surreal, unforgettable and thoroughly enjoyable.

The Red Sox supporters welcomed the Tartan Army with open arms, and the Tartan Army repaid them by turning Fenway into one of the loudest, happiest places in America for a night.

A huge thank you to Kevin and Marianne for their kindness, hospitality and brilliant whistle-stop introduction to Fenway Park and the game of baseball.

I’ll definitely be back.

Shaun

@shaunvlogScot’s joined in with singing Shipping up to Boston by Dropkick Murphy’s at Fenway for the Red Sox game. #redsox #noscotlandnoparty #tartanarmy

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It’s been a remarkable month in America.

Not only have I had the once-in-a-lifetime privilege of seeing my country compete at a World Cup, but I’ve also had countless incredible experiences and met so many kind, generous and welcoming people.

On top of that, my social media content has been viewed more than 120 million times over the past month. For a content creator, that’s genuinely life-changing. I am truly grateful for every single one of you who has supported my journey so far.

With that attention has also come a darker side.

Around 99.9% of the interactions I’ve had have been wonderfully positive. Unfortunately, the remaining 0.1% seem to consist of a particular breed of internet sleuth who have convinced themselves that I must either be a CIA asset (please...) or some kind of scammer.

So, for the sake of having one place to point people in future, I thought I’d address it properly here.

I arrived in America in mid-June for the World Cup full of excitement, but also carrying a fair bit of anxiety.

Normally, when I travel, I have a reasonable idea of what things will cost and whether I can comfortably afford them.

This trip was different.

Before I’d even stepped foot on American soil, I’d already put an eye-watering amount on my credit card. At the time, I genuinely thought it might take me years to pay back.

But I pressed the YOLO button because opportunities like this don’t come around very often.

Thankfully, thanks to those 120 million views - and thanks to all of you watching -everything has worked out.

More than that, this trip has reignited a dream I’ve held for years: to one day move to America permanently, build a life here, contribute in whatever way I can, and pursue my own version of the American Dream.

Now, about the trolls.

I’ve always been fairly good at ignoring them.

Years ago, there was a guy absolutely convinced I’d secretly had a botched hair transplant and I had colluded with the surgeon for other imaginary nefarious purposes. I actually miss this troll a little as he’s been gone for a few years. I hope he’s okay. For the record, I have never met a hair surgeon, nor have had a hair transplant. Perhaps I need one now though!

Back then, I could laugh it off because the negative voices were tiny in number.

This time feels different.

The reach I’ve unexpectedly had seems to have attracted some of the internet’s darker corners. People who believe everything must be a conspiracy, that nothing good can happen organically, and that every positive story must have some hidden agenda.

Some are simply looking for attention.

Others, I suspect, are just determined to prove they’ve uncovered something nobody else has.

Normally I’d ignore it, but I’ll admit something.

Over the past week it’s genuinely caused several sleepless nights.

Not because strangers disagree with me - that comes with putting yourself online - but because people began digging into my personal life.

They’ve trawled through more than fifteen years of YouTube videos searching for “gotcha” moments. They’ve looked into where I live, my family, my personal life and even my day job.

The fact they also started investigating my family and my clients - where I work as a fractional marketing director - crossed a line for me, and ultimately led me to shut down my LinkedIn account.

I have nothing whatsoever to hide, but that doesn’t make it pleasant.

So the sleepless nights end here. Whenever this drama inevitably resurfaces, I’ll simply point people to this newsletter.

These are the two main accusations that keep getting repeated.

1. “This isn’t your first time in America.”

No s**t, Sherlock.

I’ve had a public YouTube channel for well over a decade documenting my travels, including multiple trips across America. I was even publicly made an Honorary Citizen of San Antonio, Texas, for goodness sake.

If you Google my name, you’ll probably find those videos before you find anything else.

While I was flying to America for the World Cup in early June - literally on the plane - I edited and reposted three of my favourite videos from an old Texas road trip.

I thought they might warm up my audience before the tournament started. I also used admittedly loose language that tied into the excitement surrounding the World Cup, and perhaps this is my greatest Sin through all of this.

Did I think any of those videos would explode and end up being shown on national television? Absolutely not.

What conveniently gets ignored is that the 50-plus videos I posted after arriving for the World Cup were all brand-new, original content documenting this trip.

Apparently, because those first three videos were reposts, none of the rest counts.

If that’s the biggest “gotcha” people can come up with, I think I’ll survive.

Interestingly, this wasn’t even hidden. During my first week in America, a reporter from one of the world’s biggest news organisations specifically asked me about those videos, and I explained..

2. “The GoFundMe is a scam.”

No.

I’m incredibly grateful that people have supported me. In fact, several viewers encouraged me to create the GoFundMe page in the first place.

Long-time followers will know I’ve spoken for years about my ambition of obtaining an O-1 visa so I can live permanently in America.

The process is expensive.

You need an experienced immigration attorney, and even then there are no guarantees. Yes, you can find lawyers who advertise lower prices that what I’m targeting. Somehow, the trolls believe this is reason alone to discredit me.

Equally, there are highly regarded firms with strong track records that charge significantly more. Once legal fees, filing fees and other costs are added together, the total can realistically reach $15,000–$20,000 or more. Be assured that I’ve investigated this, thoroughly.

Even after spending over $700 on initial consultations with different attorneys, I still don’t know exactly what my final costs will be.

Yet somehow these people - none of whom are actually supporters of mine - expect a penny-by-penny budget before the process has even begun.

Ironically, none of the people who have actually donated have demanded that.

Another accusation is that because I flew back to America shortly after returning home, I must have spent the GoFundMe money to do this.

That simply isn’t true.

For the record, I haven’t yet withdrawn a single cent from the GoFundMe, and I will use the GoFundMe platform functionality to provide updates to backers.

Every penny will go towards my visa application.

There are also parts of content creation that people simply don’t see. When your content reaches a certain scale, opportunities start appearing. You’re invited to events. Brands invite you to experiences. Sometimes those invitations include travel or tickets.

Sometimes you’re paid to attend. Whenever I enter into commercial partnerships, I disclose them exactly as required by the platforms.

I always have, and I always will.

Several of FIFA’s corporate partners have hospitality allocations and tickets.

When I was offered opportunities to attend later stages of the World Cup through commercial partners, why would I turn down a genuine once-in-a-lifetime experience?

In the end, I couldn’t make the Quarter Finals because of logistics, but I will, of course, disclose any relevant invites when the content is published, just as I always do. I will be attending the Semi Finals, and potentially the Final as well.

Similarly, Icelandair kindly partnered with me to provide flights between Scotland and America on this trip.

There’s another side to this world that I’ve almost never spoken about. As your audience grows, a tiny percentage of your viewers turn out to be incredibly successful people.

Occasionally they reach out with astonishing acts of generosity - offering accommodation, inviting you onto boats, recommending places to visit, or simply helping make your trip easier. I think they do this mostly because they want to show me the best bits of the places they live.

Most of them ask for absolutely nothing in return. In fact, many specifically don’t want any recognition or public acknowledgment, for obvious reasons. It feels crass to share these details, so I don’t

The trolls are demanding a cent-by-cent breakdown of my expenses. To be honest, I already know that NOTHING I say will satisfy them, and they’ll want to keep the clicks going for as long as they can. One of them has literally gone viral on the back of my name, which is astonishing to me, but is part of my new reality.

And as a side note, most of these trolls are not American. I’m looking at you England flag man!

To be honest, I already feel I’ve shared far more than I normally would and feel that I need to. I don’t believe I owe anonymous people on the internet an audit of my life.

But when people start questioning my character, investigating my family and clients, and building viral content around my name, I felt it was worth putting everything in one place.

I’m enormously grateful to every single person who has watched a video, left a comment, shared my content or supported me over the years.

America and Americans have been incredibly good and kind to me.

The people I’ve met here have changed my perception of the country in the best possible way, and I hope I’ve managed, in some small way, to show another side of America to the rest of the world too.

That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.

My promise is simple: I’ll keep telling honest stories.

I’ll keep celebrating the people and places that make this country special.

And, wherever possible, I’ll keep trying to put a little more positivity into the world.

Yours truly,

Shaun

I’ve never been good at birthday messages on cards. “Hope you have a great day” is about all I can usually muster.

But in this case, I’ll try to do better…

I’m relaunching my newsletter - now called Also, America - in homage to you, and want to share my extraordinary past couple of weeks.

I travelled to the US to watch my country, Scotland, play at the World Cup. We went to Boston and Miami, and had the time of our lives - even though Scotland were rubbish.

For me, personally, it was a life-changing experience. Here are some of the crazy highlights from the past fortnight:

• I had over 90 million views on my social media content

• I was interviewed on several mainstream live TV broadcasts, including Fox (several times), CNN, Inside Edition and several more

• I also appeared in the New York Times, New York Post, Boston Globe and others

• Was invited for a non-political meeting with the Governor of Florida

And this is a tiny snapshot of the insane couple of weeks I’ve had. There’s a lot more.

I feel totally and utterly inspired. So much so, that I am now taking steps to get a visa to live in and contribute to America, and have already spoke with two lawyers this week. A huge thanks to those who have donated to my fundraiser for this cause.

The US has made a huge impression on me, for one reason more than any other. There are obviously a lot of cool things I love about the place, but the main thing is absolutely the amazingly warm and kind people I’ve met.

I’ve been fortunate enough to meet people from all walks of life, from different political backgrounds, and who live in different States. Despite what the media shows us, the vast majority of people in America are fundamentally good, kind and honest people.

And as I reflect on why some of my content has gone viral over the past few weeks, and why I’ve gained attention from some of the top TV outlets in the country, I think it’s this…

Over the past few years, Americans have been fed a constant stream of rage bait - both on social media and in the news. It seems like every piece of content has been specifically designed to get people angry and hate one another. It has worked, but people are also tired.

My content has focussed on the many positive things about the country, and folks have told me this has been cathartic.

And so I launch Also, America as a sort of antidote to the news - a carved out section where I share those positive stories that the media on both sides of the pond refuses to cover.

So thank you for being here and all the support. Thank you for all the memories. Thank you for being incredible World Cup hosts. And a huge happy 4th of July. I hope you and your families have the most wonderful weekend.

Shaun