the actual 500th post: a look back (& survey)

even though i already celebrated a bit with the wood watch giveaway going on right now (have you entered yet?), you know i have to do a little look back on the blog for my five hundredth post. which is this one. right here.

from the very first post to this one, adventurings has always been an output and record for what happens when two people quit their jobs in the united states, buy a one-way ticket for glasgow, scotland, go on a couple-month long vagabonding adventure (no address! no belongings!) until they wind up in prague, czech republic with no money and ready to study how to make more of that.

those two people who learned how to become teachers and discovered that they really loved it and wanted to keep doing it for longer than a year. who unexpectedly ended up in a small czech city, two hours south of prague and thought they’d stay for a year. maybe they’d like to move to warsaw or santiago and teach there afterwards? (and now they’ve stayed, got a dog and a garden and are going on year seven)

from learning all those peculiarities of moving to a country you don’t speak the language of (not even a bit), and moving to a new city, sight-unseen, there’s been a lot to talk about over the past seven years!

there was 2012-2013 when i dutifully recorded all of our trips and new circumstances….

when we got a visa in bratislava only by the skin of our teeth (and have been lucky ever since!)
when we were unemployed in prague and did a scavenger hunt
when our decision to move to europe was totally affirmed
that several day power outage & all we had was each other

the 2013 is by far the most interesting archive to pick through because it is truly a full year of adjusting to a new country and continent….

to 2014 when i immersed myself in the beautiful expat blogging women community and got more serious about the blog…. and met some lovely friends in budejovice. this was the year we thought we might be leaving the czech republic to try our hand teaching somewhere else…

recording daily life things more often
realizing how i’d already changed, or at least what i do differently
struggles with budgeting + summer travel
still feeling like i am adjusting to life here after how many years

…to 2015 when i think i hit some sort of writing stride and my old posts crack me up… this was the year when we decided we were going to give living in budejovice as a permanent base a big go.

every expat can relate: panic at the supermarket

thoughts before heading to the USA for the first time since the move
thoughts after the USA trip and where to go from there
the shock of returning from paris after the terrorist attacks

…to about 2016-2017 when i stopped caring about getting serious with the blog and just blog for the joy of it… (i feel like most of the bloggers who lost the original joy of blogging have long since burned out!)

on reacting to political criticism we received
when i finally put all my prague recommendations in one spot
the realization of achieving your dreams
my first and only youtube video (one month in iceland)
what i’d learned from years of language learning
recreating a decade-old photo in bamberg, germany

…to 2018-2019 when life and social media began getting in the way of blogging, and i had less ‘living abroad’ topics to report on, so i began forging a different path..

navigating the unknown holiday that is the czech “name day”

remembering i’m still not a travel expert and not every trip goes to plan
one of my many beloved recipe posts! this one for a wild garlic pesto.
nailing down into 11 points why exactly i live in the czech republic
having my first every language study holiday in my favorite city
meeting my family in the middle of the atlantic for the best trip ever

my posts began to become fewer and further between, but i like to think, more substantial or at least higher quality both in writing and in photography.

this blog has seen me through phases. of being angry with berlin, of loving it again, of making new memories there…

of getting engaged, married, and already celebrating our fourth anniversary….

it’s truly been the interaction and community i have found through this little space that has been my favorite part. i have no plans to stop blogging, although i could see in the future switching servers or taking on a new focus, but for now, adventurings is plodding on! the title of this blog really has been about this adventure, whatever shape of form it ended up taking on.

survey

i’d love to hear your voice and what you have liked (or not liked) about adventurings. if you wouldn’t mind taking this little survey (just a couple minutes) it would be really wonderful.

thank you for being there, my friends and readers.

…….