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January goes to be a month of labor, I vowed. I’m not going to waste my motivation this 12 months.
I don’t find out about you, however I really feel SO MUCH MOTIVATION initially of the 12 months. New Year’s resolutions, goal-setting, taking what you are promoting to the subsequent degree.
January is a month after I need to buckle down, work onerous, and do little else. And I didn’t understand that till final 12 months, when Charlie and I spent January in Puerto Vallarta and realized that we have been spending our huge work month in a rustic that’s all about play.
So this 12 months we determined to remain put — and it labored. We stayed in Prague, leaving solely to choose up our new classic desk in Olomouc. We cuddled with the cats, tried out axe throwing, went out for some good Georgian meals, went on a stroll in a snowstorm.
And with that month of labor behind us, we’re able to hit the street once more. And the timing is ideal. By the time February hits, you’re able to get out of the chilly!
Destinations Visited
- Prague and Olomouc, Czech Republic
Highlights
I’ve a model new child niece! One of my greatest buddies welcomed a brand new child this month, and he or she is BEYOND good! I’m so glad she arrived safely and might’t wait to get her a flower headband for my marriage ceremony.
Bringing residence a very cool classic eating desk. Last month I talked in regards to the classic chairs we discovered, and this month we introduced residence an superior mid-century fashionable desk, additionally designed for the 1958 Brussels Expo.
Getting the desk was a little bit of an ordeal. It was positioned in Olomouc within the Moravia area of the Czech Republic. So we rented a van, drove three hours to choose it up, loaded it up with bungee cords, drove three hours again, introduced it upstairs, disassembled our present desk that weighed one million kilos, introduced all the way down to the van, delivered it in items to a pal of a pal, then returned the van.
But the desk is SUCH a cool piece, it was a steal of a worth, and we find it irresistible!! And the cats love laying on prime of it.
We rented an elliptical machine for the winter. Did you’ll be able to lease cardio machines? I had no concept that was a factor till not too long ago.
From spring by fall, I take a LOT of walks in Prague, however it’s onerous discovering the motivation to train outside when it’s miserably chilly exterior. This has been an superior approach of getting low-impact cardio in 5 instances per week.
If you’re lacking cardio however don’t need to go to a health club, it is best to contemplate renting one for your self.
Axe-throwing and Georgian meals. One of our most enjoyable nights this month was going out axe-throwing at a brand new spot in Prague, The House of Axes, plus Georgian dinner beforehand at SUN.DAY terrace.
I introduced my axe-throwing expertise from my lumberjack day in Nova Scotia, however very quickly, my buddies have been wonderful at it. And the Georgian meals was SO GOOD. It was so good to eat actual khinkali once more.
Challenges
Getting trapped within the snow. We had an enormous snowstorm in Prague this month — one which I had hoped for! — and that night time, Charlie and I had plans to go to this out of doors Alice in Wonderland-themed gentle present in Prague with our buddies and their youngsters.
Well, the present was positioned between two tram stops. Our buddies acquired off at cease 1. We have been there early, so we determined to get off at cease 2, have a chew to eat at a pub, after which stroll from cease 2 to fulfill them.
Charlie and I walked into the woods, down a protracted, steep staircase coated in snow, holding arms and yelping, attempting to not fall. Finally once we acquired to the underside and walked one other 10 minutes to the sunshine present’s entrance…THERE WAS A FENCE AND A LOCK ON IT.
Turns out the “entrance” wasn’t an entrance — and also you couldn’t get there from cease 2.
So the present was a bust. The excellent news was that we discovered one other approach again with out having to climb the steps, and the children had a blast and didn’t miss us. LOL.
Blog Posts of the Month
This month I targeted on updating tons and tons of posts fairly than creating new ones. Not probably the most thrilling stuff, however significantly better for the location long-term!
But listed here are a number of new ones:
This Month on Patreon
On the Adventurous Kate Patreon, I publish unique content material and never-told tales which you could entry for $6 monthly. We even have a personal Facebook group and members get free entry to the Book Club every month.
This month, I shared with my patrons the plan for my model new website — which I speak about additional down on this publish. It’s gone stay this month and already has 13 posts up!
I additionally shared a preview of a brand new free product I’m introducing (and are partly by creating). It’s a little bit of an ebook-like product, however will likely be free, and about certainly one of my favourite locations.
Finally, the larger publish was about our huge change in honeymoon plans — Charlie and I have been planning on honeymooning in Chile and Peru in December, however the political unrest in Peru precipitated us to reevaluate issues. How a lot did we actually need to go to Peru?
The reply? Not that a lot. The new plan: Chile and Argentina! More climbing, extra wine.
Book Club This Month
Our subsequent Book Club will happen on Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 1:00 PM ET. We will likely be studying the brand new novel Scatterlings by South African creator Resoketswe Manenzhe.
“In 1927, South Africa passes the Immorality Act, prohibiting sexual intercourse between “Europeans” (white individuals) and “natives” (Black individuals). Those who break the draconian new regulation face imprisonment—for males of as much as 5 years; for ladies, 4 years.
Abram and his spouse Alisa have their share of marital issues, however additionally they have a snug life in South Africa with their two younger ladies. But then the Act is handed. Alisa is black, and their two kids at the moment are proof of their involvement in a union that has been criminalized by the state.
At first, Alisa and Abram query how they’ll be affected by the Act, however then officers begin asking questions on the ladies’ faculty, and their property is catalogued for potential disbursement. Abram is at a loss as to defend his younger household from the grinding equipment of the regulation, whose worst discriminations have till now been saved at bay by the household’s financial privilege. And with this, his hesitation, the couple’s bond is tattered.
Alisa, who’s Jamaican and the descendant of slaves, was adopted by a rich white British couple, who raised her as their baby. But as she grew older and realized that the prejudices of British society made no allowance for her, she journeyed to South Africa the place she met Abram. In the aftermath of the Immorality Act, she involves a heartbreaking conclusion based mostly on her previous and collective historical past – and he or she commits her personal devastating act, one that can reverberate by their complete household’s lives.
Intertwining her storytelling with ritual, fantasy, and the heart-wrenching query of who stays and who leaves, Scatterlings marks the debut of a gifted storyteller who has change into a sensation in her native South Africa—and guarantees to take the Western literary world by storm as nicely.”
You can join the e book membership right here. Hope to see you there!
Side Projects Update
This part was once referred to as “New Hampshire Way Update,” however it’s time for a change. Adventurous Kate might need began as a facet hustle in 2010, however it’s my full-time job now, and new facet initiatives have come into play!
On my New Hampshire website, New Hampshire Way, I printed a number of new posts this month that you just would possibly like:
- 30 Unforgettable Things to Do within the White Mountains — This is the publish I used to be afraid to put in writing for the longest. I’ve been touring to the White Mountains my entire life. But I’m VERY happy at how this got here out and the way private it’s!
- 28 Fun-Filled Things to Do in Nashua, NH — Nashua isn’t an enormous journey vacation spot, however a spot the place lots of people stay, and is getting cooler by the day! Since my pal moved there I’ve gotten to do some cool issues in Nashua.
- New Hampshire Winter Festivals — Just like my Christmas in NH publish, this publish comes with a calendar which you could get at no cost while you join the mailing checklist!
But it’s not nearly New Hampshire. This month I began publishing on a model new website.
Why one other website? I’m thrilled (and nonetheless in disbelief) at how briskly New Hampshire Way has grown, however actually, New Hampshire is a small, principally rural state, and its affiliate potential is very small. There’s solely a lot it could possibly develop till it hits a wall.
I feel I can moderately triple what New Hampshire Way is incomes now with Mediavine and associates, and that doesn’t embody the earnings potential of merchandise (which I need to do!), however New Hampshire shouldn’t be Paris, or Hawaii, or New York. I can’t develop it at this fee perpetually.
So I’ve determined to create one other destination-based website. A vacation spot that I do know nicely and is under-represented within the journey content material creation world (so…not Mexico), however has a lot higher long-term development potential than New Hampshire.
My Patreon individuals already know all in regards to the vacation spot.
So this month I began publishing, and MAN, it’s been humbling! Its first 13 posts are up, and at first most of them weren’t even rating on web page 10 of Google. YIKES.
But I did get it from a DA of 0 to a DA of 4! Yay! (For comparability, Adventurous Kate is 74 and New Hampshire Way is 25.) Baby steps. Let’s stick with it.
What I Watched This Month
Station Eleven — After studying the e book, I needed to watch the critically acclaimed HBO collection. And it’s FANTASTIC. They took a beautiful e book and turned it into a fair higher collection, fixing so many components of the novel that didn’t work and constructing the world into one thing stunning.
It’s not good — the plot across the Prophet is odd and doesn’t make sense — however every part else is great.
What I really like about this collection is how uplifting and hopeful it’s, even after the world falls aside. I really like pondering that a spot just like the Severn City Airport might exist after a pandemic kills off many of the world.
Highly really useful.
The Bear. I heard a lot buzz about this present happening in a Chicago restaurant, however it took me a while earlier than I acquired into it.
And I’m glad I did — as a result of episode 8 of The Bear, the penultimate episode of the season, is likely one of the greatest episodes of TV I’ve ever seen. Yes, it’s up there with Ozymandias. It’s astounding.
And you received’t understand what’s totally different about this episode immediately — till you’re a number of minutes in and it hits you. “Wait, is this episode…are they actually doing this…WHAT?!?!”
Watch it for that motive. Though when you’ve labored in eating places, as I’ve, you might need bother watching it. It’s SO nerve-racking!!!
What I Read This Month
This 12 months, I’d no less than prefer to get again to ending one e book per week. 52 books in 2023 looks as if an affordable aim to hit!
Spare by Prince Harry (2023) — Well, I don’t have to present this one an introduction — you’ve heard a lot from Prince Harry over the previous couple of months. This is the memoir that covers his life from the dying of his mom to the beginning of his daughter.
I favored it. And I like Harry and Meghan very a lot. I’ve adopted them within the information for awhile, however I believed this e book particularly illuminated how the Royal Family normally and Charles particularly have stepped on everybody they’ll, together with Harry, for the sake of excellent headlines. Even once they’re conscious of the tales being false.
I additionally talked about to the e book membership that this e book reveals how a top quality ghostwriter might be transformative. Harry’s ghostwriter, J.R. Moehringer, is the best paid ghostwriter on the planet and wrote Andre Agassi’s Open, amongst different books. He made it incredible and introduced the right quantity of Harry’s humorousness into the e book.
And it made me understand that this e book might have simply gone the route of Matthew Perry’s memoir and change into a bitter, immature mess. This e book was so nicely carried out by comparability.
Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces by Elamin Abdelmahmoud (2022) — Elamin Abdelmahmoud immigrated from Sudan to a really white city in Canada when he was a teen. This memoir is about his household, his struggles to slot in two totally different cultures and by no means fairly becoming into both, and a few incredible popular culture tangents.
I really like Abdelmahmoud’s voice — my favourite new author for certain! He really works for Buzzfeed, which makes a lot sense — he’s so enjoyable and vibrant and humorous, and I really like the best way he sprinkles humor and popular culture into every part. He has extra books coming, together with a memoir, and I can’t wait to learn them.
How High We Go within the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (2022) — This e book is about every part that occurs after a local weather change-induced pandemic hits the planet. It’s one half Station Eleven, one half Interstellar, and one half World War Z, telling assorted, artistic tales about pandemic survivors within the centuries that observe.
Some of my buddies adored this e book. I didn’t go fairly that far. As a dystopian novel, it was nowhere as uplifting or peaceable as Station Eleven. But it was so extremely unique, and once more, artistic. Who else desires up an amusement park the place terminally ailing kids are despatched to die joyfully whereas using a curler coaster?
Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy’s Bullshit to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love by Tori Dunlap (2022) — I’ve learn lots of finance books and hearken to a number of cash podcasts, together with Tori’s. Plenty of the knowledge is identical in all these books (How to get out of debt! How to speculate! How to barter the next wage!).
But what I appreciated about this e book is how political it’s, always displaying concrete examples of how the monetary world is constructed for white males, how girls and folks of colour are always put at an obstacle, and the way we will battle again.
One factor, although — that is going to sound prudish, however I didn’t love how usually she swore on this e book. I really like profanity. I exploit profanity. But I really feel like the purpose of profanity is to make a well-timed influence — and while you use it always, nicely, it loses that energy.
Coming Up in February 2023
Greetings from Palermo, Sicily! As I write this, I’ve been right here for a number of days and have actually been having fun with it. My largest takeaway to this point is that Palermo isn’t as wild and hectic as I anticipated. Naples is the top; Palermo isn’t extra excessive than Naples.
It’s not fairly the hotter getaway we had in thoughts (seems locations can really feel a lot colder when buildings aren’t constructed for cold climate!), however there was lots of good sunshine, I purchased a cool Italian coat for a steep low cost, the meals is wonderful, and I’m trying ahead to our agriturismo keep and mini street journey across the west.
After that, it’s again to Prague for the remainder of February.
What are your plans for February? Share away!
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