HeyJaredNot Optimized
Not Optimized is a newsletter by writer and photographer Kelsey Glennon. It's a travel writer's notes on life, love, work, and seeking out simple, off-line beauty around the world.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 3
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- Jul 20, 2026
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- Jul 4, 2026
Latest issues
The Collector's Atlas: Porto, Portugal (opens the original)
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Every time my feet land in a new place, I’m already on my way to a concept store, artisan workshop, antique market, boutique, or even thrift store. Surely I can’t be the only one who travels for the thrill of the shop (and no, I don’t mean at the H&M in Barcelona).Shopping when I travel is about more than the dopamine hit of a new purchase. In the age of generic AI travel recommendations and the influencer effect of “checklist travel,” I keep coming back to what makes travel human. For me, I fin
The Decisive Writer #7 (opens the original)
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The Decisive Writer is a section of Not Optimized, inspired by Henri Cartier-Bresson’s idea of the “decisive moment”—the art of noticing, waiting, and capturing a moment in time, just as all its elements align. I try and do this as a writer with pieces of interesting ideas I pick up in life from different worlds and niches. Combining ideas into new novel concepts is what the human brain does best (and AI is terrible at)! This quick newsletter is my effort to de-program my brain from thinking lin
I'm a Travel Writer Who's Had Enough of Euro Summer (opens the original)
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As I headed overseas to live in France last summer, I intuited a sardine summer. This year, I’m loving the ethos behind Hot-Divorcé Summer, which took off when declared it so, with empowering descriptions of big hats, caftans, and the lack-of-fucks given by a woman with multiple ex-husbands. There’s something silly and satisfying about givi
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