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Version on YouTube: No More Reviews...
I am not someone who usually shares information about my private life online. My social media accounts are relative to headphones, plus a couple of other forums for other hobbies, and I really don’t have a habit of posting anything really private.
However, as this does affect my reviews and especially my YouTube channel(s), I thought I would at least give a reason as to why things are going to change drastically, at least for the foreseeable future.
A few months ago I was diagnosed with cancer and now I am getting to the point where I will (hopefully) be operated on soon and then start chemo and radiation treatment. Apart from the fact that I will obviously need to spend time recuperating, as the cancer is on my throat, it is going to affect my voice and most probably my hearing, at least in the short term.
I have been politely declining review samples from companies since before my summer vacation, except for a couple of things I had already agreed to, blaming it on the fact that I had accumulated too much and wanted to get through it first. This is actually true, I do have quite a backlog of items that I am trying to get through while I still can but I don’t have any intention of accepting any more items for review after those, at least until I am recuperated and am sure that I have my hearing (and voice) in the condition it needs to be to be able to pass judgment on audio related things.
I also want to obviously spend time with my family. This is the main reason that I disappeared this summer and went camping with my wife and youngest son (along with a couple of very close friends). It has honestly been years (over a decade) since I disconnected totally from the outside world, especially work, which is why I chose a place to camp that had no cell phone or internet coverage.
Let me be clear, reviewing has never been a job for me, it is a hobby and something that I enjoy. However, for the past 4 years I have been publishing at least one review per week on my YouTube channel (sometimes more), along with written versions in Spanish and English on my blog and on the forums, also adding an English channel more recently. Again, I do this because I enjoy it, if not I wouldn’t do it. Yet, this does take at least 8 dedicated hours (usually more) of my time per week to put the reviews together and, to put it bluntly, at the moment I would rather focus that time on family.
That doesn’t mean that I won’t be doing any content for the foreseeable future, maybe I can use this time to work on my video and photo skills, instead of posting the same single camera angle of my hands :) However, it will not be consistent, it will be when I feel like it, and that is another reason that I am declining all review units from people, it is not fair for me to accept something to review and then sit on it for who knows how long.
Anyway, for now, I am going to keep working through what I still have pending and try to get the reviews out before taking a break but if there is anything I don’t get to before then, my apologies. I will of course be reaching out to the people that so kindly send me items and let them know the reason I am declining their offers (and apologize to them directly if there is anything that I end up not managing to review).
All I can say is that I am very grateful for all of the support I have had over these 4 years reviewing, it has been sometimes stressful but always enjoyable, and I sincerely hope to return to reviewing things in the future!
