Forever Tourist Update
UPDATED JULY 2, 2024
Hey everyone!
I wanted to post an update here on what’s happening with the Forever Tourist project. As some as you may know, I had some major ‘real life’ events that have happened that have taken up a large portion of my time. My father passed away at the end of February and my mother (who is the caregiver for my elderly grandmother) discovered almost immediately after his passing that she has Stage 4 colon cancer. To say that I haven’t had time to focus on anything other than my basic day to day responsibilities over the last few months would be an understatement.
Months back, you might remember that I was working towards trying to make Forever Tourist profitable. I wanted to be able to pay Bloggers (like anyone would for advertising), and to do that I had this plan to make a series of interactable adventures that people could purchase and play, etc. But when I found out about my dad, and then literally my mom the next day, I knew that I wouldn’t have the kind of time I wanted to be able to dedicate to long, in-depth, involved ‘murder mystery’ style games.
At Least not for some time.
I’ve never had anyone close to me die before, and I’m glad that I had the wisdom then to ‘assume that I wouldn’t be able to keep up’….. because losing a parent is hard. My ‘dad’ was actually my Step-dad. He’s raised me since I was in diapers and I adored him. He was a confidant for me and the ‘ever encourager’; I never felt like I had to be anyone else other than myself, and he loved me all the same. Losing him was a bigger blow that I anticipated; the world is a little ‘sucky-er’ without him in it.
One night in early March, I logged into Second Life and just set everything to ‘free’. I’d mentioned it to my bloggers that I was considering doing it before, but after doing enough testing to be sure that I could offer the ‘location registration’ for the new version of the game without putting myself in financial trouble, it just felt like is was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to make a big public display out of making everything free, especially with everything happening with my personal life, so I just did it - like a ‘soft product opening’. Other basic info?
Is Forever Tourist still running? Yes.
Everything is free - the Location kit with all the different ‘sensor’ options, the two different ‘stamp display’ options, and everything else. Yay free! :)
I’m still listing my own locations and managing the list as other people list their locations - some weeks we have a bunch, and others, not so much. This week for example - we should have more than 5 new Locations on Friday. (Don’t forget - the list ‘cleans itself’ on Fridays too - taking off Locations that aren’t there in world anymore!) You never know with Forever Tourist and how fast the grid changes. :)
I’ll continue to use the list myself to explore new locations that are listed. I’m a machinima maker, and Forever Tourist has been one of my favorite ways to find new places to film in and explore.
I have loads of ideas on how to use the ‘Engage’ tool - but I’m being kind to myself and will work on that when I have time to make scavenger hunts across the grid. (I want to do my own little tribute to the ‘Linden’ stories of old with some sort of adventure using the Engage tool to hunt out clues.)
When I have time, I’ll go through and hunt out new locations like I did last year, taking pictures and offering a sensor if they are interested in playing.
But for now, I’m just taking it one day at a time.
I’ve been enjoying making machinima in my spare time - my dad was a huge movie buff and he thought it was ‘tuff’ that I could ‘make little movies like that’. It’s been bringing me joy these days and helps me feel close to him. It’s also been super challenging and has allowed me to focus on something else.
Tomorrow starts my first day of a desperately needed vacation, and I’m going to soak in every minute of it.
And in case you were wondering, my mom is doing great with her chemo, by the way! She’s half way through the treatments and she is a BEAST!)
Thanks for reading and hug the people you love! <3
-Fe
