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January goes to be a month of labor, I vowed. I’m not going to waste my motivation this yr.
I don’t find out about you, however I really feel SO MUCH MOTIVATION in the beginning of the yr. New 12 months’s resolutions, goal-setting, taking your online business to the subsequent stage.
January is a month once I need to buckle down, work arduous, and do little else. And I didn’t understand that till final yr, when Charlie and I spent January in Puerto Vallarta and realized that we have been spending our large work month in a rustic that’s all about play.
So this yr 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 highway once more. And the timing is ideal. By the point February hits, you’re able to get out of the chilly!
Table of Contents
Locations Visited
- Prague and Olomouc, Czech Republic
Highlights
I’ve a model new child niece! One among my greatest pals welcomed a brand new child this month, and he or she is BEYOND excellent! I’m so glad she arrived safely and might’t wait to get her a flower headband for my wedding ceremony.
Bringing dwelling a very cool classic eating desk. Final month I talked in regards to the classic chairs we discovered, and this month we introduced dwelling an superior mid-century trendy 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 buddy of a buddy, then returned the van.
However the desk is SUCH a cool piece, it was a steal of a value, and we like it!! And the cats love laying on high of it.
We rented an elliptical machine for the winter. Do you know you possibly can hire cardio machines? I had no concept that was a factor till just lately.
From spring by way of fall, I take a LOT of walks in Prague, nevertheless it’s arduous discovering the motivation to train outdoor when it’s miserably chilly outdoors. This has been an superior manner of getting low-impact cardio in 5 instances every week.
Should you’re lacking cardio however don’t need to go to a health club, you need to take into account renting one for your self.
Axe-throwing and Georgian meals. One among 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 abilities from my lumberjack day in Nova Scotia, however very quickly, my pals 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 pals and their children.
Properly, the present was positioned between two tram stops. Our pals obtained 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 satisfy them.
Charlie and I walked into the woods, down an extended, steep staircase lined in snow, holding fingers and yelping, attempting to not fall. Lastly after we obtained to the underside and walked one other 10 minutes to the sunshine present’s entrance…THERE WAS A FENCE AND A LOCK ON IT.
Seems 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 manner again with out having to climb the steps, and the youngsters had a blast and didn’t miss us. LOL.
Weblog 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 a lot better for the positioning long-term!
However listed below are just a few 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 Fb group and members get free entry to the E book Membership every month.
This month, I shared with my patrons the plan for my model new website — which I speak about additional down on this submit. It’s gone reside 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 way of creating). It’s a little bit of an ebook-like product, however can be free, and about certainly one of my favourite locations.
Lastly, the larger submit was about our large change in honeymoon plans — Charlie and I have been planning on honeymooning in Chile and Peru in December, however the political unrest in Peru triggered us to reevaluate issues. How a lot did we actually need to go to Peru?
The reply? Not that a lot. The brand new plan: Chile and Argentina! Extra climbing, extra wine.
E book Membership This Month
Our subsequent E book Membership will happen on Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 1:00 PM ET. We can be studying the brand new novel Scatterlings by South African writer Resoketswe Manenzhe.
“In 1927, South Africa passes the Immorality Act, prohibiting sexual activity between “Europeans” (white folks) and “natives” (Black folks). Those that break the draconian new legislation face imprisonment—for males of as much as 5 years; for girls, 4 years.
Abram and his spouse Alisa have their share of marital issues, however in addition they have a snug life in South Africa with their two younger women. However then the Act is handed. Alisa is black, and their two youngsters 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 women’ faculty, and their property is catalogued for potential disbursement. Abram is at a loss as to shield his younger household from the grinding equipment of the legislation, whose worst discriminations have till now been stored 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. However 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. Within the aftermath of the Immorality Act, she involves a heartbreaking conclusion primarily based on her previous and collective historical past – and he or she commits her personal devastating act, one that can reverberate by way of their complete household’s lives.
Intertwining her storytelling with ritual, delusion, and the heart-wrenching query of who stays and who leaves, Scatterlings marks the debut of a gifted storyteller who has develop into a sensation in her native South Africa—and guarantees to take the Western literary world by storm as properly.”
You can sign up for the book club here. Hope to see you there!
Facet Initiatives Replace
This part was known as “New Hampshire Approach Replace,” nevertheless it’s time for a change. Adventurous Kate might need began as a aspect hustle in 2010, nevertheless it’s my full-time job now, and new aspect tasks have come into play!
On my New Hampshire website, New Hampshire Way, I revealed just a few new posts this month that you just would possibly like:
- 30 Unforgettable Things to Do in the White Mountains — That is the submit I used to be afraid to put in writing for the longest. I’ve been touring to the White Mountains my complete life. However 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 reside, and is getting cooler by the day! Since my buddy moved there I’ve gotten to do some cool issues in Nashua.
- New Hampshire Winter Festivals — Similar to my Christmas in NH submit, this submit comes with a calendar which you could get without spending a dime once you join the mailing record!
Nevertheless 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 Approach has grown, however truthfully, New Hampshire is a small, principally rural state, and its affiliate potential is particularly small. There’s solely a lot it could develop till it hits a wall.
I feel I can moderately triple what New Hampshire Approach 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 isn’t Paris, or Hawaii, or New York. I can’t develop it at this charge ceaselessly.
So I’ve determined to create one other destination-based website. A vacation spot that I do know properly and is under-represented within the journey content material creation world (so…not Mexico), however has a lot better long-term progress potential than New Hampshire.
My Patreon folks 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.
However I did get it from a DA of 0 to a DA of 4! Yay! (For comparability, Adventurous Kate is 74 and New Hampshire Approach is 25.) Child steps. Let’s stick with it.
What I Watched This Month
Station Eleven — After studying the guide, I needed to watch the critically acclaimed HBO collection. And it’s FANTASTIC. They took a beautiful guide and turned it into a good higher collection, fixing so many components of the novel that didn’t work and constructing the world into one thing stunning.
It’s not excellent — the plot across the Prophet is odd and doesn’t make sense — however all the pieces else is great.
What I like about this collection is how uplifting and hopeful it’s, even after the world falls aside. I like considering that a spot just like the Severn Metropolis Airport might exist after a pandemic kills off a lot of the world.
Extremely really helpful.
The Bear. I heard a lot buzz about this present happening in a Chicago restaurant, nevertheless it took me a while earlier than I obtained into it.
And I’m glad I did — as a result of episode 8 of The Bear, the penultimate episode of the season, is among the greatest episodes of TV I’ve ever seen. Sure, it’s up there with Ozymandias. It’s astounding.
And also you received’t understand what’s totally different about this episode instantly — till you’re a number of minutes in and it hits you. “Wait, is that this episode…are they really doing this…WHAT?!?!”
Watch it for that motive. Although in case you’ve labored in eating places, as I’ve, you might need bother watching it. It’s SO disturbing!!!
What I Learn This Month
This yr, I’d at the least wish to get again to ending one guide per week. 52 books in 2023 looks as if an affordable purpose to hit!
Spare by Prince Harry (2023) — Properly, I don’t have to offer this one an introduction — you’ve heard a lot from Prince Harry over the previous couple of months. That is the memoir that covers his life from the dying of his mom to the delivery of his daughter.
I preferred it. And I like Harry and Meghan very a lot. I’ve adopted them within the information for awhile, however I believed this guide particularly illuminated how the Royal Household 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 guide membership that this guide exhibits how a top quality ghostwriter may be transformative. Harry’s ghostwriter, J.R. Moehringer, is the best paid ghostwriter on the earth and wrote Andre Agassi’s Open, amongst different books. He made it incredible and introduced the right quantity of Harry’s humorousness into the guide.
And it made me understand that this guide might have simply gone the route of Matthew Perry’s memoir and develop into a bitter, immature mess. This guide was so properly performed 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 like Abdelmahmoud’s voice — my favourite new author for positive! He truly works for Buzzfeed, which makes a lot sense — he’s so enjoyable and vibrant and humorous, and I like the best way he sprinkles humor and popular culture into all the pieces. He has extra books coming, together with a memoir, and I can’t wait to learn them.
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (2022) — This guide is about all the pieces 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 Conflict Z, telling various, inventive tales about pandemic survivors within the centuries that observe.
A few of my pals adored this guide. I didn’t go fairly that far. As a dystopian novel, it was nowhere as uplifting or peaceable as Station Eleven. Nevertheless it was so extremely unique, and once more, inventive. Who else goals up an amusement park the place terminally in poor health youngsters are despatched to die joyfully whereas driving 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 quite a lot of finance books and take heed to numerous cash podcasts, together with Tori’s. Numerous the knowledge is identical in all these books (Easy methods to get out of debt! Easy methods to make investments! Easy methods to negotiate the next wage!).
However what I appreciated about this guide is how political it’s, always displaying concrete examples of how the monetary world is constructed for white males, how girls and other people of coloration are always put at an obstacle, and the way we will struggle again.
One factor, although — that is going to sound prudish, however I didn’t love how typically she swore on this guide. I like profanity. I take advantage of profanity. However I really feel like the purpose of profanity is to make a well-timed affect — and once you use it always, properly, it loses that energy.
Coming Up in February 2023
Greetings from Palermo, Sicily! As I write this, I’ve been right here for just a few 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 head; 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 quite a lot 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 highway 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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