For some people, it is a regular occurrence. But for us, getting the opportunity to speak with Calum Marsh for a piece he was working on for the National Post was a true honour. When we began on this journey - to travel and chase the world in pursuit of fashion and luxury - so many years ago, we had no idea where we would go. When we moved from Calgary to Berlin, it was always to chase adventure. But now, to read about our adventures from 2019 in print, it really validates the career we have chosen.
Written by Calum Marsh
Published on August 02, 2020
Full Article Here
"Over the course of 2019, Jeremiah and Monika went to New York, Milan, Morocco, Thailand, Bali, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Mykonos, Barcelona, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Barbados, as well as, more locally, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, and Lake Louise. Since March — excepting that excursion to Mexico — they haven’t left home. “We had an even crazier and more ambitious plan for 2020, as our profiles have grown,” Charles says. “We had a half-dozen major trips that were just shy of having the flights booked for us. Some of them were already booked. They were all just kiboshed that week in March.”
It all happened suddenly. The week lockdown began, Jeremiah and Monika received a deluge of emails from clients with the same basic message: “That campaign we talked about, it’s on hold, or it’s cancelled, or it’s not happening anymore.”
The tourism boards they worked with were halting operations. Beauty and wellness brands they’d partnered with on promotional campaigns were pulling out. Marketing budgets were being slashed. Work was drying up, and there seemed no apparent point in the immediate future when it might start up again. “April, May, June, there was just nothing, nothing, nothing,” One of the first photos Jeremiah posted on Instagram under quarantine shows him in bed, reading a magazine. “I’m so grateful that my @endy mattress and pillows arrived last month,” reads the caption, tagged as an ad in partnership with mattress company Endy. “I didn’t expect to be using them as much as I currently am (in self-isolation) but I definitely have no issue lounging this comfortably.”"
Influencers such as Jeremiah and Monika offer their followers a kind of aspirational glamour. Their frictionless glide through five-star hotel rooms and across exotic vistas are designed to arouse awe and envy, and to make you feel, scrolling through your feed from the confines of your office or apartment, that you’re experiencing a little vicarious elegance and excitement. Amid the pandemic, though, Jeremiah and Monika looked a lot like everyone else. “A lot of people follow us to see where we’re eating, where we’re flying off to next, what new pair of shoes we bought,” Jeremiah concedes. “In lockdown, we were doing none of those things.” In the absence of haute cuisine, haute couture, and far-flung locales, they just had normal lives.
Do you still ready newspapers? Or do you prefer everything on digital screens?
