I wanted a home for my amateur radio stories that was:

  • Fast and simple
  • Text-first, with a few photos
  • Version-controlled like code
  • Cheap and low-maintenance

So instead of spinning up WordPress or using a hosted blog platform, I went with a static site stack:

  • Hugo as the static site generator
  • PaperMod as the theme
  • GitHub Pages for hosting
  • Git as the publishing workflow

Why Hugo?

Hugo is a static site generator written in Go. It takes Markdown files and template files and turns them into a plain HTML site.

What I like for this use case:

  • Content is just Markdown files in a repo.
  • Builds are fast.
  • It handles sections nicely:
    • /dxpeditions/eleuthera-2026/
    • /posts/
    • /about/
  • Easy to keep things organized by trip, date, and type.

Why PaperMod?

PaperMod is a minimalist Hugo theme with:

  • Clean typography
  • Simple, readable post layout
  • Light theme that feels optimistic and uncluttered

I didn’t want a heavy “portfolio” theme or a dark, terminal-like look. PaperMod is right in the middle: simple, modern, no nonsense.

Why GitHub Pages?

GitHub Pages gives me:

  • Free hosting for a static site
  • Automatic builds via GitHub Actions
  • A natural workflow:
    • git commit
    • git push
    • site updates

There’s no database, no patching, no admin UI to babysit. Everything that matters lives in the repo.