Let’s look at each of those individual reasons above, in more detail:

1. To help recover my server costs and annual fees (this stuff can get expensive).

At the time of writing this article, it has been five years since I started Algonquin & Beyond. That’s five years of paying for my domain, my servers, the plugins that help with backend functionality, and additional expenses related to the website. It’s worth mentioning that at the time of writing this article, there are 1,150+ pages on the website, 10,700+ images, and a decent bit of web traffic. It’s not exactly light on server resources. The cumulative cost since the start of Algonquin & Beyond is somewhere in the thousands. By monetizing the website, it will help recover some of those costs that have been required just to keep the website operating.

2. Use revenue to pay for Guest Submission reports; let’s keep growing the database and get you paid!

A few years ago I decided to allow Guest Submissions for campsite reports. At the time of writing this article, there have been 80+ Guest Submissions. A number of generous people have contributed their time and effort to submit their own campsite reports, without getting anything in return. If I can create revenue within Algonquin & Beyond, it will allow me to provide compensation for all future campsite reports. It’s a win-win for everyone; the database continues to grow, and those generous folks can start to get paid for their time and effort.

3. The content is a value-added resource; it’s like paying for a map, a book, a guided trip, etc.

There’s a preconceived notion that online content and blogs should be free. Or maybe that was just my own personal preconceived notion. But I recently started viewing the content as a value-added resource. It’s not required for your trip planning, but it sure can be helpful. It’s like spending money on a premium map, or a book about Algonquin Park, or a guided trip with experienced leaders. None of those things are required, but the people that are willing to pay for those products/services are doing so because they appreciate the value that they add, to improve their overall camping experience.

4. Compensate myself for the countless hours of work I’ve put into this site; I think it’s only fair ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have spent literally thousands of hours building Algonquin & Beyond. Website visitors only see the final product, but they don’t see the countless hours I’ve spent behind the scenes. For example, every single one of the 10,700+ images gets edited, resized, compressed, renamed, uploaded, and then gets alt text added. That’s just to get the image into my Media Library, not even on a specific page. And that’s just one small part of my workflow. My workflow for every aspect of the website (Trip Reports, Campsite Reports, Blogs) is exceptionally time-consuming.

5. Help minimize ‘bad actors’ that leave campsites in poor condition.

This is an important one for me. And I understand that it might be a controversial take on the matter. But I personally believe that the growing accessibility of information has largely contributed to the industry-wide boom since COVID began. And with more campers overall, unfortunately that means there will be more ‘bad actors’. People that leave garbage in the fire pit, that cut down live trees, that don’t put the campfire ‘dead out’, etc. My hope is that by adding a membership fee, the ‘bad actors’ that aren’t too serious about the hobby will pass on the content, while the more responsible campers will find value in paying for the membership.

6. The annual fee is cheaper than two nights in the backcountry or one night of car camping (or, to be cliche, one cup of coffee per month).

This one is pretty self explanatory. For the people that spend several hundred dollars on a tent, the annual membership fee probably won’t seem that expensive. But for the people that spend fifty bucks on a pop-up Coleman tent, they would probably answer “yes, it’s too expensive”. My belief is that there’s a correlation between people that are willing to invest in the hobby and people that act responsibly, following the rules of the park.

7. Keep this place ad-free, because that’s a win for everyone… other than the advertisers, but that’s ok.

Over the years I have been asked many times by friends and family “are you going to put ads on the website to make some money?” That has never interested me. From day one, Algonquin & Beyond has always been a passion project. I could probably make a couple thousand dollars annually, but at what cost? The user experience would be completely ruined, and I have always cared more about the experience than making a few quick bucks. If you’ve made it this far in the article, you can see that there are lots of (hopefully compelling) reasons why I’ve finally decided to monetize the website, and a membership-based model means I can do that without introducing ads to the website.