June 25, 2020

Black Lives Matter

Rather than feeling powerless in a country that has fostered racism and systemic inequality for centuries, including the heartbreaking and unwarranted deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain and Ahmaud Arbery in recent months, I have been seeking out ways to make an impact in the Black Lives Matter movement as one of the only Black founders in tech history to raise $5 million without institutional VC firms.

I recently had a phone call with a fellow Black founder in tech. It was really cathartic. At one point, we laughed about how there are only about 20 of us whom have made it as far as we have. I guess it was one of those situations where you laugh because the alternative is to cry. We talked about the experiences we’ve found ourselves having over the years fundraising while Black and leading startups in industries that statistically and systematically has put founders like us at a disadvantage. Two things stood out to me from the call:

1) We understand that we have a duty not only to our own companies, but to our communities to get as far and high as we possibly can despite the obstacles, and

2) We know we are every bit as talented and capable as the founders whom are afforded the opportunity to pursue their ventures with fully-funded business plans.

My hope for the near future is that investors learn to place greater value on these two realities for Black founders and treat our unique lived experiences and community-mindedness as value-adds to their investment portfolios. To that effect, I’ve done several interviews this month to share my thoughts on how white entrepreneurs, CEOs and investors can improve racial equity and equality.

Inc. Magazine “Turning Virtue Signaling Into Actual Virtue”

NPR “Shopping in Solidarity: Can Companies Participate in Social Justice?”

Crunchbase “Localeur CEO Discusses Hurdles Black Entrepreneurs Face”

Austin Business Journal “What CEOs Serious About Racial Equality Should Do Next”

-Joah Spearman

June 2, 2020

A word from our CEO

I've spent nearly every waking hour of the past several days thinking about George Floyd, offering support for fellow Black people, writing thousands of words online educating others, doing interviews with outlets like Inc. Magazine (which you can read here and here), and helping my non-Black friends in cities around the world better understand what is happening in America right now. I'm tired. But I decided we should still launch the new Localeur because racism existed long before Localeur did – and I started this company knowing that I was attempting to be successful in a country that goes out of its way to make that impossible. As a Black founder, it's not just my job to be a part of the #blacklivesmatter movement as an advocate; it's also my job to keep climbing up the steep hill that is being Black in America when there are people intent on ensuring my failure. So this is me staying committed to both fronts: the movement and my role as one of the best-known advocates for Black people in the tech and travel industries. I hope you join the movement. I also hope you check out our new site.

Introducing the New Localeur

A pillar of Localeur's framework is its commitment to diversity in all things, including travel. Exploring the world beyond our own backyards helps us all to feel connected to one another; travel challenges humankind's selfish tendencies and its most deep-seated prejudices. To fortify our commitment to our diverse, talented, thought-provoking community members and the places they help us experience, we've created a new Localeur.

Imagine your first trip post-COVID-19. It may be next month or next year, but it will happen. Regardless of what destination you have in your sights, beach town or a big city, I believe Localeur can help you. Today, I’m proud to introduce the new Localeur.com. It isn’t what you’re used to, but it’s what we are confident you’ll grow to love. 

For seven years, we’ve made it our business to help travelers experience local by giving them access to a global community of local tastemakers and the local spots they love. We’ll keep doing that, but in a slightly different way; we're leaning into our knack for curation and going to remove any and all attempt to focus on things that turn travel and local into tourism and gentrification. Our goal is to bring out the best in the cities you visit by bringing out the best in our community. 

That community has always been the best part of Localeur. The DJs and designers, the musicians and marketing execs, the creatives, the entrepreneurs, and, of course, the foodies. They live in over 130 cities – among over 40 countries – and they have raised their hands and said, “I want to tell you where to go in my city.” They’ve given us all a gift and we intend to pass it onto you; their love for their own cities is part of what makes your love for the cities you visit possible.

Starting today, these local perspectives are available via subscription. For $8 a month or $100 lifetime, you’ll not only get exclusive access to Localeur recommendations, you’ll also get weekly emails packed with insight and info on various cities, a monthly podcast available to subscribers only, and a semi-annual magazine that sets the bar for travel inspiration. Most of all, you will get something we’ve been dying to provide for years: personalized itineraries for up to three trips a year. You give us the city and any pertinent details, we’ll help you plan the perfect trip. This could be a weekend in the city to make the most of your business trip or a weeklong vacation with the family for the holidays. We can offer this for 130 cities and counting, and we’re eager to help you experience local wherever you go. And hey, 2020 is not the year for spontaneous travel or immediate gratification – but we’re going to make sure your wanderlust goes to good use.

- Joah Spearman

May 31, 2020

How to approach travel, right now

Travel restrictions are incredibly fluid, so Localeur will continue to keep an eye out for meaningful updates on how cities and countries are responding to COVID-19 (regardless of whether their airports and borders are open). In addition, we strongly advise you to keep up with public health guidance from the World Health Organization and your country's public health/disease control agency, such as the Center for Disease Control in the U.S. For specific travel restriction information, check with your state/province or country's embassy or tourism authority to better understand how to prepare for visiting these cities. 

Each country – and in some cases, each city – has had wildly different responses to COVID-19. Colombia has, along with other countries in Latin America, had a slow response thus far, so we encourage Medellín as a bucket list-type destination rather than a near-term trip. In contrast, Vancouver and Seattle have responded more aggressively to the pandemic and, as a result, each report fewer active cases and deaths than other major cities in North America. Once border crossing and quarantine restrictions are lifted in the coming year, this is a trip we think you could consider taking. Air Canada is not currently accepting two-way international flights, but when they do, consider it a good sign.

Both Copenhagen, Denmark, and Tel Aviv, Israel, have had even more aggressive responses than cities in the U.S. and Canada, resulting in both higher test rates than the U.S., England, Germany, and Canada (a good thing) and lower death rates than the aforementioned nations (a very good thing). Whenever Denmark and Israel open themselves back up for foreign visitors and lift their current 14-day quarantine requirements, these are better positioned as great destinations for summer 2021.

- Joah Spearman

May 25, 2020

A day of remembrance

On May 1, 1865, just weeks after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the effective end of the American Civil War, African Americans only recently freed from the shackles of slavery held a parade in Charleston, South Carolina, with a reported 10,000 people attending to honor 257 Union soldiers who’d lost their lives fighting for an America that would ultimately abolish slavery. President Lincoln had, only years before this parade, famously stated, “I believe [the U.S.] cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect [the U.S.] to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided.”

I believe that parade was not just a time to honor the soldiers who’d fought and died in battle, but also to bring together those who believed their cause was worthy; that America could no longer go on divided. This fateful war was the result of millions of people making decisions and choices, some good and some less so.

Today, amidst a global pandemic that has already led to the deaths of upwards to 350,000 people, including nearly 100,000 Americans, we are at a similar crossroads in our collective history. Does the world rush to get itself back to “normal” by ignoring the guidance of medical and scientific experts and hurriedly filling bars, restaurants and shops, cramming onto transcontinental flights, and giving in to a temporary sense of security for fear of boredom? Or do we heed the public health experts’ advice and history’s lessons that instruct many of us to remain in shelter, self-quarantining ourselves despite harrowing economic indicators? We are at war with a pandemic that has no face and no country, yet the weapons are just as lethal as those of any geo-political conflict and the propaganda – be it a conspiracy theory or a YouTube video – is just as powerful in causing apathy and disarray.

Unlike in previous wars, though, our best defense is not to incite fear and misery in our opponents, but instead to inform ourselves. A well-informed person is far better equipped to practice decency, empathy, humility, integrity, and sound judgment. In this time of both unprecedented oddity and public health concern, choosing to inform ourselves in order to make better decisions about what to do, what not to do, and how to live our lives is the most important move we can make.

That’s why, as the founder of Localeur, I had to be honest about what small role play we play in helping people make better choices about travel. With a tireless focus on local, a renewed sense of purpose, acareful eye toward sustainability, and a full heart, we look forward to doing our small part in this journey into the unknown. That’s why, starting June 1, 2020, we’re getting rid of our old website full of thousands and thousands of recommendations on where to eat, drink, and play; full of what life was like before COVID-19. Instead, we will significantly pare down what we are offering to distill only the most valuable content. One week from today, we will debut the new (and improved) Localeur.com and offer a preview of things to come via our soon-to-launch subscription service. Clearly, the world was different when we started in 2013 than it is today, and we realize we need to be a little different, too.

Localeur will, of course, continue to be the best place in the world for you to find out how and where to experience local in 130+ cities around the world, but we’re going to do it in a way that respects the unique times we’re living in and the invaluable insights our global community of locals provide. Of course, changing a website is nothing compared to the kinds of decisions brought forth during Lincoln’s lifetime, and it pales in comparison to of the impact of a pandemic. But this shift is our way of adapting to a new reality and looking ahead rather than fighting to claw back to the past. More importantly, it’s our way of choosing which side of this battle we intend to be on.

Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor our fallen soldiers. I believe this can also be a day to remember why all of our decisions and choices, however small, have consequences, and why our choices – from how we treat our neighbors and strangers to how we travel and see the world – require us to be informed and act with both judgment and prudence.

- Joah Spearman

May 18, 2020

I think we're all going a little stir-crazy…

Typically, when I start to feel this kind of anxiety, I'd be able to meet up with friends at one of my favorite local bars here in Austin or see whichever superhero movie is playing at the Alamo Drafthouse. Maybe I’d check out a concert at Mohawk or a play at ZACH Theatre. Better yet, I'd take a flight somewhere like Mexico City, Chicago, or Madrid to break the monotony. My girlfriend, a musician, was supposed to start a North American tour two weeks after COVID-19 forced a shutdown of all music venues, and we had a month-long trip to Europe planned for this summer that'll have to wait at least another year. But we know we're fortunate; we are healthy and have had lots of great home-cooked meals during all this.

I saw it coming, of course. I'd been reading dispatches and news articles about Coronavirus since early February and by mid-February was convinced things were about to get really scary; I told my employees to stock up on Amazon before things got really severe. Then the City of Austin cancelled South by Southwest Festival and we were forced to cancel Localeur's seventh birthday party with it. Ever since, things have been a bit… odd. Thus, the stir-craziness. But I have mostly found myself counting my blessings not only for my good health – and that of my loved ones – but also for a job and a business that has been remote for years and continues more or less similarly.

Still, though, the travel bug is buzzing in a major way right now. Imagine running a travel company without travel? I imagine it's similar to how restaurant owners who can't feed people feel, or musicians who can't see their fans beyond Instagram Live. This is the longest I've gone without a trip in close to a decade, and I'm desperate for an adventure. Thankfully, more help in restoring my travel-heavy way of life is on the way. I'm already starting to see unprecedented deals for flights, hotels, resorts and bubbling enticement to take a trip somewhere, anywhere. The travel industry, which accounted for something like 15% of the global economy before COVID-19, is just as desperate for a change of scenery as I am, it seems. But despite my eagerness for an adventure, I know to be weary – very weary. Because not all travel is the same, and all it takes is one false move to put myself or others at risk of falling ill. 

Road trips > cruise ships. Restaurants with spacious outdoor seating > restaurants with white tablecloths. Romantic getaways > bachelor parties. 

Here are a few more things I find myself thinking as I navigate travel plans and the industry at large in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic:

1. More local. I’ve written for years that the future of travel is local; we’re about to see it in full force now. Local businesses – music venues, restaurants, nonprofit theaters, among others – hold communities and cities together far more than chains and tourists hotspots do. As a result, I'm anticipating road trips will be more common than fly-in trips as gas prices remain low, particularly in the U.S. and Europe. 

2. More consolidation. We're likely to see mergers and acquisitions of a number of travel companies, along with the biggest travel companies making somewhat permanent cuts to their staffs and ambitions a la Airbnb's and TripAdvisor's recent 25 percent layoffs. 

3. Fewer in-office workers. With companies likely to spend less on long-term office leases, we can expect a growing market for travel as people are no longer tethered to a desk as they work. Remote work was already on the rise, but COVID-19 will speed things up considerably.

4. More travel. There is a lot of pent-up demand already and more to come in the next several months. Should early trials for a COVID-19 treatment prove viable at scale in the next year, the summer of 2021 could be the biggest travel season ever.

- Joah Spearman