Welcome to My Coffee Chronicles

Hello and welcome! Whether you know me from my newsletters on Substack (The Planet, Screen Skills, and Daybreak Notes & Beans), my social media presence (with close to half a million followers combined), or my various speaking engagements around the world, I'm delighted you've found your way here.

Over the years, I've built a community of readers who appreciate my perspective on sustainability, climate change, global politics, and the impact of technology on our world. Your support keeps this work going.

Why Buy Me a Coffee?

Many of you have asked how to support my independent writing and analysis beyond subscribing to my newsletters. Buy Me a Coffee offers the perfect solution; it’s a simple way to say "thank you" for content that resonates with you.

Each coffee you buy fuels not just my actual caffeine intake (which is substantial), but also the time and research that go into creating thoughtful, nuanced content in a media landscape often dominated by sensationalism and superficial analysis.

How Your Coffee Support Evolved Into Something Bigger

Here's where it gets interesting. When I started this Buy Me a Coffee page, I planned to write exclusive "Café Chronicles" from cafés around the world for supporters. Simple idea: share the behind-the-scenes stuff that felt too personal for my regular newsletters.

But Buy Me a Coffee proved technically challenging for this kind of content creation. Limited font options, nightmare photo uploads, and a platform simply not designed for blogging made those café chronicles more frustrating than inspiring.

In May 2025, with 15 loyal supporters here, I decided to try something different. I launched a new Substack newsletter called "Daybreak Notes & Beans" (keeping the coffee connection!) and gave all my Buy Me a Coffee subscribers free access to this new platform.

What happened next is an amazing story. I casually allowed others to subscribe, and within days, people started joining. What began as an alternative for 15 supporters rapidly grew. Within two months, Daybreak Notes & Beans became a Substack bestseller. As I write this update, less than three months after launch, it sits at #32 on Substack's list of new bestsellers.

What This Means for You

Your coffee support didn't disappear; it transformed. Instead of struggling with limited café chronicles on this platform, your support now reaches you through a thriving daily newsletter that delivers hope over despair, progress over panic, and thoughtful analysis alongside stories of human ingenuity that mainstream media often overlooks.

Those spontaneous café scribbles? They still happen, but they've found a new home on my Patreon site – that's a story for another day.

My Current Journey

I continue my international travels, which inform and enrich my writing, allowing me to bring diverse perspectives to my analysis of our rapidly changing world. Your coffee makes these journeys possible and keeps me writing through long travel days and cozy café mornings.

Thank you for being part of this journey from café chronicles to a bestselling newsletter. Your early support helped build a popular newsletter.

With gratitude, from the Dutch island where I love to write,

Alexander Verbeek, August 2025