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A model new 12 months and right here we’re. Let’s check out all the pieces that occurred in January 2025!
Locations Visited
Highlights
A pleasant, quiet month at dwelling with the cats. That is our third 12 months in a row of not going wherever in January (apart from day journeys) and it was SO good. The easiest way to start out off a productive 12 months.
A month of Dry January. I do a sober month yearly and extremely suggest it! It’s reminder to try how a lot alcohol can permeate our lives — and bear in mind socialize with out defaulting to ingesting.
Getting again into power coaching. Considered one of my objectives has been to get again into power coaching and really be in step with it. I used to be within the gymnasium six days every week once I lived in New York, however I haven’t been capable of preserve that degree of consistency in Prague.
Truthfully, there have been a number of matches and begins in resuming lifting weights over the previous few years. This time, I feel it’s working as a result of I began slowly and am including to it little by little.
I’ve a Peloton subscription (simply $12.99 per 30 days) and some units of weights. First, 10-minute power exercises thrice every week. Now, 15-minute power exercises 4 instances every week. I do know I’ll continue to grow from there.
Past that? Not quite a bit occurred this January!
Challenges
A scary near-accident on the tram. I used to be sitting in a seat on the tram and abruptly the motive force hit the breaks HARD to keep away from hitting a automobile that pulled out. It was so abrupt, I flew onto my toes and smacked onerous into the plastic divider on the aspect of the doorways.
I used to be effective, however in ache the remainder of the day — and thought to myself, “If this occurred in America, somebody could be suing town.” That stated, we really get healthcare lined right here, and I’m grateful that the motive force was capable of cease so rapidly and keep away from an precise accident.
Tons and many vet visits. After Murray’s many medical problems with December, this month was all about Lewis. He damage himself within the eye in some way, and whereas the primary spherical of meds helped initially, his eye acquired a lot worse after we completed them.
Lewis is now on completely different meds, prescribed by a special vet, and I actually hope that they work this time. I need my candy little bear to be again to his ordinary self.
And giving a cat two units of eye drops — 10 minutes aside, 5 instances a day — is a ache, particularly when he was at his sickest and wished to cover beneath the mattress. At one level I needed to lay on a blanket and drag myself beneath the mattress, seize Lewis, and have Charlie pull me out by my toes. Enjoyable instances.
Weblog Posts of the Month
Most In style Reel on Instagram
My high reel of the month is which metropolis NOT to go to in 2025. I don’t do a lot of this anti-influencing, however right here it’s warranted.
Town is Rome. 2025 is a Jubilee 12 months for the Catholic religion, which is able to preserve town additional crowded and further costly all 12 months lengthy. In case you’re trying to go, I’d counsel ready till 2026.
You possibly can watch the reel right here and comply with me on Instagram at @adventurouskate.
What I Listened To This Month
I’m listening to all 500 of Rolling Stone‘s 500 Biggest Albums of All Time, which I’m having fun with immensely. I’m loving discovering new artists and listening to albums I’ve in some way missed my whole life till now!
This month, I listened to albums 479-436. Listed here are the highlights:
Favourite discovery: Eli and the Thirteenth Confession by Laura Nyro. WHAT A STAR. I had by no means heard of Laura Nyro — she was a WILD singer and songwriter, insanely gifted, with a stunning soprano voice, and songs that change tempos and melodies wildly, that may be at dwelling on Broadway.
In reality, Laura Nyro impressed a LOT of main songwriters, together with Elton John and Stephen Sondheim, and he or she wrote songs for artists like Barbra Streisand, Three Canine Evening, and Fifth Dimension.
She died younger of ovarian most cancers, as did her mom. It hurts realizing that if she have been born a number of many years later, she might have taken motion to forestall that. I’m grateful that extra choices, together with genetic testing, exist at present. And now I need EVERYONE to know her.
Different favourite discoveries: #1 Report by Large Star, 3+3 by The Isley Brothers, Near the Edge by Sure.
Favourite revisited album: BLACKsummers’night time by Maxwell. That is one among my all-time favourite albums — it helped me get via 2010. I hated my job then and took an extended stroll throughout my lunch on daily basis whereas listening to it.
My favourite factor about this jazz-influenced R&B album is how intimate it sounds — you’ll be able to inform it’s a small band, everybody enjoying off one another completely, and you may hear all of the individuality of the musicians. Extremely suggest giving it a hear.
Favourite songs: “Donde Quiera Que Estés” by Selena and Barrio Boyzz, “Ghetto Youngsters” by Juvenile, “Lu” by Laura Nyro, “You Must Be with Me” by Al Inexperienced, “Why Ought to I Be Unhappy” by Britney Spears, “Bother within the Message Centre” by Blur.
Get the playlist: I’m making a playlist of my favourite songs from the five hundred albums — most one per album — on Spotify. You possibly can hearken to it right here.
Lowlight of the month: Ege Bamyasi by CAN. This German band apparently pioneered Krautrock — that’s a factor! A lot of the album was fairly listenable, however within the center they made this AWFUL cacophony stuffed with noises like nails on a chalkboard, however turned as much as 11 — why put that on an album?!
Random thought: The proper size of an album is 35-45 minutes or so. When you transcend an hour, it begins dragging. A LOT of artists wanted to be edited down — significantly hip-hop artists from the 90s (and I say this as a HUGE 90s hip-hop fan). Some albums begin out SO nice and find yourself turning right into a drag as a result of they’ve to incorporate all the pieces.
What I Watched This Month
It’s formally Oscar season! The completionist in me tries to see all of the Greatest Image nominees and all the pieces nominated for the key awards.
The spotlight of the month was positively Conclave — a wonderfully plotted, twisty, tense political thriller concerning the cardinals selecting the subsequent pope. And maybe essentially the most completely solid film I’ve seen in fairly a while. I hope Ralph Fiennes wins the Oscar.
I additionally loved A Full Unknown, which made me wish to dive into Bob Dylan’s and Joan Baez’s music (there’s a LOT of that approaching the Rolling Stone checklist!). Anora was a enjoyable nail-biter of a film, with an unimaginable efficiency by Mikey Madison — although I want the movie have been a bit much less male gaze-y.
This month we additionally watched the second season of The Diplomat. A GREAT drama on Netflix, starring Keri Russell because the US ambassador to the UK, appointed after an act of terrorism, who uncovers quite a lot of Actually Unhealthy Stuff and has a husband who is an excellent former ambassador himself, however the type of man who makes me yell, “HER HUSBAND IS A DING-DONG!” on the display screen as soon as per episode.
They actually need to do extra episodes, although! The primary season has eight episodes and the second season has six. It has been renewed for season.
Coming Up in February 2025
Again to Mexico, child! I like Mexico SO a lot and it’s now been three years since I’ve been there — it’s time for a return.
Charlie and I, together with our buddy Nick, will probably be visiting 4 locations: Mérida, Bacalar, Mexico Metropolis, and Oaxaca. 4 of my 5 favourite locations in Mexico! (Sorry, Guanajuato, we’ll miss you.)
Our agenda? Having fun with all our favourite Mexican issues, from a day at Los Rapidos in Bacalar to an evening out at Lucha Libre in Mexico Metropolis. And dealing on my Mexico content material, in fact.
(I took a break from writing about Mexico after COVID hit and one million journey bloggers moved to Mexico and began area of interest Mexico blogs, making it onerous for my content material to rank — however now that just about all of these blogs have been hit onerous by Google updates, I really feel like I’m prepared to leap again in, particularly when including high quality movies on Instagram and TikTok.)
And as ordinary, our pricey buddy and cat-sitter, John, will probably be shifting in to care for Lewis and Murray in our absence. They could love him greater than they love us.
Any plans for February? Share away!
