Hi everyone, here is my obligatory – and characteristically late – New Year’s update. This one’s different though, because this might be the last New Year for The Jaguar and Allies.
Now that I’m no longer confronting constant emergencies, I’ve been able to put more thought towards next steps. Some of those steps are quite drastic, such as phasing out this blog.
Long-time followers will know that I’ve been trying to reconcile the demands of this blog with “real life.” The problem is that the time I spend on this blog is essentially lost time.
In The Jaguar’s heyday I committed at least two hours a day to reading and commenting on other people’s posts, and roughly 15 hours per week generating my own content.
In other words, I was working a part-time job – for free.
In years past that didn’t bother me, because I considered the time I spent on this blog to be a donation to conservation. However, following my experiences last year, I’m no longer willing to work for free unless I feel like I’m benefitting from it.
Furthermore, after considering many options, I’ve decided that there’s no way to monetize this blog that would have a sufficient payoff in terms of time spent vs. money earned.
The Decision
Thus, when my WordPress plan expires in May, I’m not going to renew it.
This is a shame. Since I launched this blog in July of 2015, it’s been viewed 126,736 times (as of January 11, 2022); and, while many of those views are from repeat visitors, that still amounts to a lot of people being exposed to information that they otherwise may not have.
What’s truly remarkable is that The Jaguar’s performance actually improved during my misadventures in Montana – when you consider effort invested vs. views earned.
To give you an idea of what I mean, I’m going to use some very problematic, mathematics. This blog’s best ‘normal’ year was in 2018, when it earned 24,374 views with 129 new posts. That amounts to roughly 189 views per post.
Conversely, in 2021 The Jaguar logged 20,630 views, even though I only published six posts. That’s approximately 3,438 views per post: a massive increase.
There are (significant) issues with the numbers I entered above, but they demonstrate that this blog is gaining popularity despite my time away from it. Some of that growth is due to the fact that universities seem to be using some of my posts for coursework, judging by traffic patterns I’ve observed, which brings up a problem…
Next Steps
Even though I’m not going to renew my WordPress plan, I’m also not going to immediately remove this site. Apparently people are finding some of my content useful, since I’ve been receiving considerable traffic from university-affiliated websites.
As such, I’m going to switch to a cheaper WordPress plan in May, and make a horrible, rushed conversion to a free layout for The Jaguar and Allies. I’ll then leave the site up in this broken form for at least a year, so that people using it professionally have time to find other sources.
I’m not sure if I’ll start a new site or not, but if I do I’ll transfer my most popular posts from The Jaguar and Allies to my new platform.
This means that this might be the last year that most of you hear from me. I appreciate the fact that so many of you have followed The Jaguar and Allies for so long, but it’s time to move on.
The Jaguar 
Hello Josh,
Happy New Year, and thank you for this update.
I can completely understand your decision, and wanted to let you know you have my best wishes always.
Take care, and stay safe!
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Thanks Takami! I’ll keep you in the loop about any new platforms I launch.
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Hey Josh! It is sad to hear this. But I wish you the very best for your future endeavours. Thank you for offering us such well researched and written content on wildlife and conservation. It has been a pleasure reading your work. Have a wonderful 2022. :)
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Thank you! As I’ve been telling people, I’ll let you know if I launch a new platform. In fact, if I do so I’ll try to transfer my current subscribers over there.
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I shall miss dipping into your blog when you go, but as time goes by, circumstances change. I wish you the very best of luck and thanks for some interesting and informative posts.
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Thanks David, I’ll let you know if I start a new blog. The problem with this site is that I didn’t set it up for success, so I couldn’t keep up with it in a way that wasn’t detrimental to me.
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Hey Josh how have you been? I logged in today after such a long time and its rather unfortunate the first post I read is about you quitting blogging. Your blogs have been a constant inspiration and excitement for me over years. I remember your Belize expedition, I still tell my friends about it. I’m just feeling so nostalgic about it all! I hope you figure something out to stay a bit longer.
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Hi Mithai, it’s great to hear from you! You’ve always been one of my favorite people on WordPress, because you’re fun to talk to.
Thanks so much for the compliments on my blogs, I had no idea they meant so much to you!
I don’t want to quit blogging entirely, but I need to step away from my current site to develop something that’s more sustainable in the long run. Right now I’m doing a lot of reading to work out a new concept, so I might create a new platform in the future.
What’s the best way to keep in touch with you when I’m not blogging, though? You’re someone that I want to keep in the loop about what’s going on.
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I hope I’ll get know more about your research on Instagram. I’m was feeling really sad with the thought that we won’t be able to connect again, so glad I found you on Instagram. Its very true, you need to invest a lot of time on blogs. Glad you continued it for so long, but also very excited for all your Instagram content!😊
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Hi Mithai, thanks for looking me up on Instagram! I plan to start using that platform more once I decide on what I want me next big project to be…I’ve got some ideas but I need to spend more time researching and thinking to refine them. Like I said before, though, I’ll keep you in the loop!
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Absolutely Josh. Waiting for them!😊
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Hi Mithai! Sorry to keep you waiting, but right now I’m focusing on developing healthier habits and deciding what to do next, after I’m done with my blog. So I probably won’t be posting much on IG in the near future, because I need to distance myself from social media to figure out my own goals.
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Absolutely Josh. Wishing you all the best!
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Hi Josh
The internet is a funny place and a thing I have realised about blogging is that something you might post might not be immediately beneficial to people but in the long run it becomes an interesting resource. The other day I was surprised to find that a long-forgotten post from a few years ago was suddenly gotten notice, I was even a bit perplexed about it till someone reached out to me asking me about an article I had written on why Africa is called Africa apparently for black history month some students had been asked that question.
Another article was on the naming of cyclones and hurricanes which accounts for a significant amount of my views for last year yet its a four year old article.
I guess sometimes we are far ahead of our time.
One of the reasons for my blog is a form of digital immortality.. I want the stuff I share there to be always there even when I know longer update it.
I always feel a pang of sadness when fellow blogging connections from way back announce that they are stopping or going on an indefinite break.
Whatever you do decide, I hope you won’t totally delete your site you could even leave it as a digital archive such that even in the event that you start something new we will always have Belize!!!!
Here is to serendipity and wherever the future will lead cheers 🥂🥂🥂
~B
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Thanks for the kind words, B!
I’m rather amazed at how some of my old articles are getting views, too. If I don’t transfer the content of The Jaguar to a new platform, then I will leave it up, just in a ‘reduced’ form since I’ll have to go back to a free plan.
I’m still hoping to start a new site and migrate my most popular posts from The Jaguar to the new platform, though, but I’m finding that I’m too exhausted to be creative right now. So, I’m gonna give myself more time to rest before I make any big decisions.
Cheers!
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Hi, Josh! Long time since we last talked. I was feeling nostalgic today so decided to visit your blog first and foremost as soon as I opened WordPress. I hope you are doing well as your blog suggests, you’re doing an amazing job being a wilderness freak. Attaboy! Keep slaying the safari blogging world. <3
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Hello Zarbakht, it has been a long time! I’m doing pretty well, just really tired from the last two years, so I’ve been taking time away from the internet to reprioritize my life. I did just release a new post though!
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Ah! Also, I shifted my old website data to this new site. Hope you check it out and share how you like this one as I experimented a bit with a customized Vincent Van Gogh theme and all. :)
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Hi Zarbakht! Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond to you! I’ve been feeling a bit burnt out lately and haven’t been online as much, but I’ll check out your new site as soon as I can! I’ll respond to your other comment soon, too :)
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I hope everything goes well for you, Josh! Best wishes 😊
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Same to you, Zarbakht!
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I’m excited for you Josh and wish you happiness and success in your future endeavors. I have every confidence in you. Happy Holidays my friend and take good care.
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Hi Cindy, and thanks for your support! Unfortunately the Ph.D. program didn’t work out too well…more on that later. Happy Holidays to you, too!
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