First, the boring but important part…
Everybody hates admin, I know. But don’t skip this part this time. Your access to the good stuff at the bottom (like supper club and our very first test trip) depends on you knowing what’s happening in this space.
So we've moved.
Unfiltered & Fed is no longer on Substack. We've grown so much that we needed more room and better features to give you the experience you deserve, and thankfully this switch was simple.
What does that mean for you? Practically, very little. Everyone has been migrated over already.
Bookmark this new home and click the button below to join the community space. Think of it like a Discord or Slack just for us. Introduce yourself, trade recs, ask the hard questions, and find the people you'll actually want to travel with. I may be sharing some more critical looks there about places I’ve visited lately that won’t make it to the ‘gram 👀
Also, prices are going up next month.
I've put this off for a long time, but costs have risen everywhere and we feel it too. So starting next month, paid subscriptions will cost more. If you're already paid, don't worry, you're grandfathered in at your current rate. And if you've been thinking about upgrading, this week is the time to lock in the old price before it changes.
And paid subscribers are getting more benefits.
Supper club will only be accessible to paid subscribers in the future.
This is the biggest change. After this month, Supper club access will be for paid subscribers only. It's one of the most joyful things we do, and it's also one of the most resource-heavy to plan and pull off. Making it a paid benefit is how we keep it going, make it better, and eventually bring it to cities beyond DC.
Introducing Live Q&As.
I'm rolling out monthly live Q&A sessions for paid subscribers as well, hosted virtually, where we go deep on whatever you want. This is designed to be a really fun way for folks who maybe aren't based in DC and have trouble making it to the separate clubs to connect and dive deeper together.
Our first live Q&A will be next week to chat about Our Block!
The first episode of the Black food and travel series I’m hosting focuses on Baltimore and debuts this Thursday, August 6th. Then, the following week, we'll get on live and dig into it together. Paid subs, come ask me:
What was crowdfunding actually like?
How did we find a crew?
What did I learn, and what did I hate?
My favorite spots, and what didn't make the episode?
we can also chat about anything else: dating, my new apartment in DC, creator tips…
I'll send the webinar link later this week once the episode is live.
And founding members you keep your benefits!
You keep everything in the paid tier. Plus you get early access to every group trip and founder-only discounts on our experiences (like Supper Club below).
That's the admin. Now let's get into the good stuff.
Between Us: Multiple Things Can Be True At Once
Attractive, charming people can be terrible. And is it the consequences of our actions or ruining someone’s life? Because the commentary I’ve seen about a certain famous chef with a restaurant in DC is ridiculous.
Plugged In: 5 Things I’d Text You In The Group Chat
No one is funnier than Black folks I swear. Because why are we infiltrating a whites only group just to clown? I love it and I need more of this in my life.
Have you tried not living in a sea of beige? I went to Crate and Barrel the other day, and I swear they didn't have a single color in that entire place. Absolutely not. Enter Clare Paint. Paint is one of the most affordable ways to make a space feel like your own. A good can of paint is less than $100 and then you just need some rollers and some time to get it on the wall. Every room of my new place is seeing some color that I got from Clare, which is also Black-owned. They sell paint samples in the form of sticky tiles that you can stick and unstick on your wall to see how the color looks. I even had my friends vote on the colors they prefer during my housewarming party.
Sometimes the outfit is titties, and this is in fact the titty top we need. Manners London makes clothes for real bodies, stretchy and supportive even without a bra, and so so cute. And I need the entire polka dot set.
She just doesn’t want to be his mommy! This one had the group chat in shambles. We’re renegotiating what it means to be in a relationship, including who is supposed to do what. I actually think that’s a good thing in some ways, even though it can be painful af. We should be free to define what we want our relationships to look like and yes, to ask for more from our partners.
And our August Supper Club is now live! We’re gathering for a very special evening at Marcus DC for a collab dinner featuring some of my fave food folks from Maryland. Get your tickets for August 11 before it sells out.
Now For Our First Test Trip
You asked, and we listened.
When I sent out our trip survey this year, Vietnam came back number one. 59% of you voted for it as a future destination. And honestly, you have good taste.
I LOVED my time in Vietnam last year and even got to bring my friends and family along, plus one of the Unfiltered & Fed bbs (who won our Vietnam trip giveaway). The food is as good as they say, the history rich, and people so kind and open.
So it's time for our first ever test trip!
After we had to cancel Jordan, I had to make some hard decisions. That's where this test trip concept was born.
When I build a group trip, I usually spend ample time on the ground to get it ready to launch. Multiple multiple weeks. The route, the hotels, the experiences I already know will land.
But then there's destinations like Vietnam. Places where I have reliable on-the-ground partners I trust and have spent time there, but not enough to get us to where I usually would like to be before I launch. A place where I'd say we're 80%-90% of the way there on the itinerary rather than 100%.
But instead of waiting to get all the way there, we're running test trips.
So let’s go to Vietnam!
One of the many many coffees I had in Vietnam last year!
You'll move through the whole range of the country: the colonial-era streets of Hanoi and Hoi An, the quiet of the countryside, and the chaos of Ho Chi Minh City. And it's like every other Unfiltered & Fed trip, with hands-on experiences, cocktails, and the kind of moments you'd have a hard time planning for yourself.
And because it's a test trip, you're getting it at the best rate we'll ever offer it. Unfiltered & Fed is taking a lower margin, in exchange for your feedback along the way. And yes, I'll be asking you a lot of questions along the way. What you tell me will shape every Vietnam trip we run after this one.
A few things to know:
There are no discount codes for this departure.
It travels in September of next year, so there's plenty of runway to set up an interest-free payment plan and go at your own pace.
There are only a select few spots left, as prior travelers and founding members got early access and they were serious.