Just waiting to put in some proper homework on a paid relays. Also want to have a try at running a private relay.
Discussion
The two I recommend the most are eden.nostr.land (run by #[2] who wrote the server) and nostr.wine (run by #[3] and coded by #[4]) who've done a ton of innovating with their relays.
I’ve also found one for #AUStriches run out of Sydney
relay.nostr.com.au
Really want to see if I can get the global feed to be useful with only paid relays
If you use NostrGram and only have paid relays in your list you can use the Friends+ feed to see who you're following *and* who *they* follow in one feed. It widens the graph so you get a lot more interaction without the spam. On the Following feed there's also a "Follow Suggestions" button that loads the people most followed by the people you follow. Gives you lots of good ideas for new folks to follow.