Couchfish: A Quick Administrative Note

Moving house is never easy

Happy New Year all!

As readers who also receive the Travelfish newsletter might already know, last Monday I announced plans to move both the Travelfish newsletter and Couchfish off of Substack. I won’t get into the reasoning again here, and instead ask those who are not aware of the pending move to please take a look at the Travelfish post here.

Feels like 8,000 years ago. Two weeks ago on Ko Kut, Thailand. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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While both moves are complicated and labour intensive, this is more so the case with Couchfish as there are both free- and paying readers here, so I thought it was important to explain what is happening. I planned to get this email out last week, but it just got away from me—my apologies.

So, in summary, here is the plan in six main points.

1. All billing through Substack was paused last week. This means regardless of if you are a month-by-month or annual subscriber, the time that passes from when I suspended billing does not count towards your subscriber period.

2. Once the move is finished, all paying Couchfish readers will receive an additional three months added to their Couchfish subscription free of charge. So, if you had a month or a year left on your subscription, once I finish the move and turn payments back on, you will have that same month or year, plus three more months from me.

3. My timeline is currently to finish moving the Travelfish newsletter this coming weekend, and I’m hoping to have Couchfish moved by the first week of February, though it could slip a little. If it is going to be delayed, I’ll let you know.

4. Once the move is finished, both the Couchfish and Travelfish newsletters will be better integrated into the main Travelfish.org website. This has long been a point of confusion for readers and frustration for me, and I’ll be very glad to have them all under the one banner again—and off of Substack. Hopefully, for you as a reader, the change will have as few—if any—speed-bumps as possible

5. The existing archives will be replicated onto a new home on Travelfish eventually, but this will take time. For the time being, the archives will also remain accessible via Substack, so you can access any old posts you want to read as you would normally.

6. Regular posting on Couchfish will resume after the move.

I’d like to apologise for the inconvenience this whole thing has caused—believe me it wasn’t on my dance card a month ago! I’m working as quickly as possible to get all my ducks in a row, but I’ve also got an already overdue thesis proposal, a house with exploding plumbing, and two dogs that bark really loud, so your patience is very much appreciated!

If you have any questions about the move, please feel free to comment below or email me directly at stuartmcdonald@travelfish.org

Cheers and good travels

Stuart