That was the headline of a story I wrote in 2015. As the Travel + Leisure editor at The Fiscal Times, I spent a summer pitching ideas and chasing down leads about luxury goods, travel, the economy, and consumer trends. It was hardly the stuff of Nellie Bly but suddenly the single mother with a non-existent travel budget was turning her daydreams into cash, typing articles about how to buy a private island and cool airports where you wouldn’t mind waiting for hours. The headlines chided you, screamed at you, and screeched (anything for attention) with “What Your Smartphone Knows That Your Mother Doesn’t” and “You Won’t Believe What Some Job Seekers Are Putting On Their Resumes.”

Naturally, the morning meetings unnerved me, as we were expected to rattle off dozens of topics in a matter of minutes, and then race to write the ones that had been approved. I loved how random the subjects were. I’d get ideas from recent studies (“They’re Leaving Las Vegas: Fewer I Do’s in the Last Decade“) or friends’ dilemmas (“If You Can’t Afford Good Daycare, Here’s Why“). Sometimes I sat at my desk and pondered the deep challenges that could be answered in 500 words or less, such as “The Hole Truth and Nothing But the Truth: Celebrating the Doughnut Hole.”

Then there were the listicles, articles that included a long daisy chain of trivia and numbers. These covered sticky subjects whose appeal melted overnight, from watermelons to Converse sneakers.

Today the articles stand as a time capsule, a testament to my willingness to try something new and keep dreaming up new topics. I covered social security tips for the retired and advice for newly minted college grads (“Looking for a Job? 7 Deadly Cover Letter Mistakes).”

That fall I moved on to a new job, writing emails for the 650,000 subscribers of American Express Travel.

The writing pace at the new office was more leisurely, almost genteel. I found myself missing the delight of finding an arcane nugget or detail that could be spun into a fetching story by 3 pm. The goal at the Fiscal Times had been to deliver three to five stories a day. Now the project managers at the agency were giving me three days to write a single email and asking me if that was enough time.

I was entering a new phase: customer relationship management. Along with the emails, there were landing pages, banner ads, A/B testing and subject lines to write. “Happy stays are here again!” I thought to myself, indeed.