I’ve been on the road a lot lately, for work and non-work reasons. Last month, I went to Carmel, Indiana and to San Antonio, Texas. This month, I’ve been to Maine (with stops in Portland, Weld, Augusta, Bath, and Freeport) and to San Diego, California. I’ve seen family members, coworkers, and lots of airports.

It can be difficult to keep up with email and news headlines (and blog posts) while traveling, but there’s one resource that I manage to check regularly, even when my routines are disrupted: The Skimm. The clever and intelligent women behind this concept figured out that if you keep to the facts and insert some humor, a daily email that contains news headlines and a bit of editorial might really be appreciated. I initially heard about this fantastic concept in Fast Company, in a section where innovative people are asked to share a tip about something that’s intrigued them lately. That was two years ago, and I have been an informed and amused follower of their efforts ever since. More than a million people now receive the email, which opens with a quote of the day. Here was today’s:

The topics are broken out into conversational headlines, summarized neatly, and loaded with references. Their recent write up of the New Hampshire primaries linked directly to 13 sources, including the NBC News, the Washington Post, CNN, CBS-Boston, Reuters, and the New Hampshire Union Leader. They offer further information on particular topics in “Skimm Guides” on their website, ranging from Super Bowl 50 to The UN General Assembly. They also provide thorough and balanced election information, including their own interviews with many of the candidates, introduced with: “Heads up, you have to hire a new president.”

If you visit their website, a pop-up asks if you’d like to sign up for the email. Your other option is: “No thanks, I prefer to be miserable in the morning,” which gives you a sense of how they’re taking on the world. Both founders have journalism backgrounds, and they have been thorough and capable and hilarious from their earliest efforts, with an eye towards building a community of followers. That has worked so effectively that even though Oprah has recommended them, I still feel like I’m getting an email from some very above-average friends every morning (scheduled for my time zone, incidentally, with an option to specify my preferred arrival time).

Photo credit: mine!