The Desk

The Desk — Edition 89

Welcome to the 89th issue of the Desk. The Desk is my weekly newsletter covering newly published content and project updates.

Brandon Himpfen

23 Feb 2026 — 5 min read

Photo by Mia Baker / Unsplash

Welcome to the 89th issue of The Desk — my weekly roundup of newly published content and project updates. Whether you’re following along for tutorials, blog posts, GitHub projects, or curated reads, there’s something for everyone building or exploring in tech, content, and open source spaces.

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📝 New Blog Posts

In case you missed last week's The Desk edition:

Digital Marketing

Recent analysis and reporting from Bold Outlook, covering search, platforms, and AI in digital systems:

The Difference Between Innovation and Implementation: An analytical examination of the structural differences between innovation and implementation in technology, and why sustainable digital progress depends on both novelty and operational discipline.

Travel Intelligence

New work from Brandon Travel, focused on how travel systems, constraints, and incentives actually function:

The Solo-Friendly Itinerary Template I Use for Any City: An analytical look at the solo-friendly itinerary template I use to understand any city through pricing, infrastructure, regulation, and risk.

Travel Blogging

Recent articles from Travel Bloggers Network, exploring sustainable growth, structure, and long-term publishing strategy:

The Hidden Cost of Too Many Monetization Methods: Too many monetization methods can quietly undermine travel blog sustainability. Explore how complexity, burnout, and fragmented focus affect income stability and long-term credibility.

Solo Travel

New posts from Solo Traveler, centered on solo-first travel realities, safety, and independent decision-making:

Here Are the Five Fundamentals of Solo Travel Safety: Five practical fundamentals that shape solo travel safety, from situational awareness to financial boundaries and cultural respect.

Solo Travel Society

Community-driven reflections and analysis from Solo Travel Society, grounded in lived experience and shared insight:

What Solo Travelers Wish Non-Travelers Understood: A reflective exploration of what solo travelers wish others understood about independence, solitude, and self-trust.

Substack Newsletters

New Substack posts published across my personal, travel, and technology newsletters:

My Curation Rules: What Gets Included and What Gets Cut: Standards, signal, and stewardship in an age of infinite content.

🚀 New Projects and Initiatives

This week I also pushed forward on a few new projects and initiatives. These are early-stage launches, new reference hubs, or first public versions that expand the broader content and open source systems I’m building across tech, travel, and publishing.

DestinationGuides.ca: A clean, publication-grade destination reference for Canadian travelers — optimized for planning, not selling.

🌱 Project Updates

This section tracks ongoing work across my projects. Some updates are small and structural, others are visible improvements but all of them reflect where time and attention went this week as the broader system continues to take shape over time.

Solo Travel Society now includes six themes: Confidence, Fear, Freedom, Independence, Loneliness, and Returning Home.
SoloTraveler.org now includes the following six pages: Advocacy, Toolkit, For Solo Travelers, Methodology, Research, and Contribute.
SoloTraveler.org has also built two AI tools: Solo Traveler Assistant and Single Supplement Trip Analyzer.

🤝 Community Updates

A few updates from the communities I’m building and supporting, including new spaces to connect, contribute and collaborate.

New LinkedIn Groups

Applied AI & Automation: This community exists for professionals who are implementing AI and automation in real systems.

New Code Snippets

As mentioned last week, I'm aiming to publish, on average, two code snippets per week. Here are this past weeks code snippets:

python-sqlite-helper.py: Basic SQLite helper for Python: connect with sensible defaults, execute/query helpers, and dict-like rows (no deps).
python-sqlite-migrations-no-deps.py: Dependency-free SQLite migrations for Python: migrations table + apply migrations in order with transaction safety.