AK Monthly Recap: September 2024

Ah, September — one of the most beautiful months of the year, and one of the best months to travel. I definitely put this month to good use.

This was a busy September for me, beginning with my getaway to South Moravia in the Czech Republic, with a 12-day trip to the Basque Country and La Rioja later in the month.

Let’s take a look at September 2024!

Enjoying the view in San Sebastián, aka Donostia, in the Basque Country

Destinations Visited

• Mikulov, Lednice, Valtice, and Prague, Czech Republic
• Bilbao, San Sebastián, Samaniego, Haro, Logroño, Eltziego, Guernica, and Lekeitio, Spain

Lednice Castle — I wouldn’t even redecorate if I moved in!

Highlights

The month began with the getaway Charlie and I took to South Moravia, in the southeast of the Czech Republic. We based in Mikulov and Valtice and also visited the town of Lednice.

Lednice is home to a chateau — and what an impressive castle it is! I’m not a big castle fan in general, but I absolutely LOVED the decor of this castle, with so many turquoises and dark mahoganies, and the grounds that included canals and an actual minaret that you can climb.

Next up, we went to Valtice, home of the national wine cellars. Famously, they have more than 100 wines, and you can taste all of them (quite quickly) in a two-hour period! Yes, we did it. We pulled off 100 tiny tastes in 120 minutes.

Overall, I really loved South Moravia, and it’s now one of my favorite parts of the Czech Republic.

Lekeitio — a perfect Basque seaside getaway.

This month, Charlie and I also had a trip to Spain with our friends Nick and Jack, planned around the San Mateo wine festival in Logroño.

We began our trip in the Basque Country, visiting Bilbao and San Sebastián. I really loved Bilbao — it just felt so pleasant and livable! Nice walks along the river, beautiful bridges, excellent pintos bars, and of course the Guggenheim Museum!

San Sebastián is a place I’ve wanted to visit for more than a decade, and it was worth the wait. There is SO MUCH AMAZING FOOD HERE, and the pintxos bars turn out so many creative dishes. The beaches and the views are nice, too. I found the old town to be a bit hectic but really loved the Gros neighborhood across the bridge.

Next up was La Rioja. The San Mateo festival was in full swing, and it was WILD — everyone wearing wine-red bandanas around their necks, loud music everywhere, parades and statues and huge crowds on the tapas streets.

Statues in Logroño, Spain

Honestly, the festival was a bit much for me — but I would love to come back to Logroño when it’s quieter. This city has several tapas streets filled with unique tapas bars, some of them only serving one dish. And Logroño is SO cheap, in part because it’s a bit out of the way.

We visited a few wineries and a cheesery in the area, then we made our way via Guernica to Lekeitio, a seaside town on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, for the last few days. This was just so calm and chilled and lovely — the perfect ending to a busy trip.

Overall, I really love the Basque Country — it is so different to the other regions I’ve visited in Spain in terms of geography, temperature, culture, and food. It’s nice to go somewhere in Spain that is green everywhere instead of overly brown.

Beyond that, this month I finalized my Czech permanent residency paperwork. I have my new ID and everything. And I’ve enjoyed two benefits already!

First, we renewed our apartment lease and I didn’t have to go to the foreign police to file paperwork, which I’ve always had to do before! And I got my new health insurance card, and it’s blue instead of green and it’s valid for TEN years instead of one!

Sweet little Murray bear, my daily work companion.

Challenges

Flooding hit Central Europe very hard this month, and water levels rose significantly in Prague. However, due in part to protections taken after major floods in Prague in 1997 and 2002, damage was minimal.

Unfortunately, other parts of Central Europe did not fare so well.

Feeling sus with Lewis.

Blog Posts of the Month

• 18 Fun Day Trips from Rome
• Guide to the 5 Towns of Cinque Terre
• Cavtat, Croatia Guide: A Quiet Alternative to Dubrovnik

Most Popular Post on Instagram

When my friends and I were in Scottsdale this summer, we ordered an Uber and got an unexpected message — “Would you like to try a self-driving vehicle?” Um, sure! For a five-minute ride through Old Town Scottsdale, why not?

I made a reel about our first self-driving car experience, and it was SO fun and SO wacky! Waymo is now operating in certain neighborhoods in three metro areas — Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco — and I would totally ride with them again!

For more fun videos from my travels, you can follow me on Instagram at @adventurouskate.

What I Watched This Month

Will & Harper on Netflix was such a great watch this month. If you’ve been living under a rock, Will & Harper is a documentary about Will Ferrell and his close friend, comedy writer Harper Steele, taking a US road trip together after Harper’s transition.

Harper used to solo road trip the US constantly before she transitioned, and she loved dive bars and truck stops and diners — but she didn’t know if she would be safe doing this post-transition.

I love movies that are about two regular people and their relationships. That’s what this is about. But it’s also an education that cis people need to see about just how dangerous it is to be a trans woman in the US.

(Also, it was awesome to hear that Harper wrote the sketch “Oops I Crapped My Pants.” My friends and I quoted that constantly in high school!)

Below Deck update: This month, Charlie and I watched Below Deck Season 11: the latest season, and the first season featuring Captain Kerry.

And can I just say that CAPTAIN KERRY IS THE BEST CAPTAIN YET. Charlie and I are constantly exclaiming about what a great boss he is. He has high standards, expects the best from his crew, handles thorny issues skillfully, and makes himself a constant presence around the ship.

After watching way too much Captain Sandy lately, this season was a great watch, even if you started being annoyed by most of the crew by the end.

Another thing: I noticed this season that you almost never see any crew members smoking. Most of the crew smoke constantly on their nights out on earlier seasons — I wonder if Bravo is making an effort to cut it out.

What I Listened To This Month

Someone on Threads was talking about Willow’s song “Symptom of Life,” mentioning that part of the song is in 7/4. I love weird time signatures, so I gave it a listen — and holy hell, this song is by Willow as in Willow Smith?!

Honestly, I never paid much attention to Willow. Mostly because of the nepo baby thing, and the Smiths being a bit exhausting lately, but you know what? She makes incredible, genre-defying music.

I listened to this song over and over, then to Willow’s latest album, Empathogen. It’s wild and funky and jazzy and futuristic and ethereal and smart. A hell of an album that should be topping the charts and winning the awards.

Turns out when you’re a very talented musician who happens to be a nepo baby, you have the freedom to make unusual music that might not sell super well. This is a great album. Give it a listen.

Punakha Dzong in Bhutan, via Shutterstock

Coming Up in October 2024

Here comes a big solo adventure to three new countries! I’m heading to Nepal, Bhutan, and Qatar!

The plan is to spend two nights at a resort outside Kathmandu before flying to Bhutan for just over a week. You need to work with a tour company in order to visit Bhutan, and I’m traveling with Bhutan Travel Center, who are hosting me as their guest. They’ve planned a fun week with lots of culture, hiking, and scenery.

After that, I fly back to Kathmandu and spend the night in an airport hotel before flying to Pokhara early the next morning. I’ll spend one night at a mountain resort and three nights in Pokhara before flying back to Kathmandu for one final night, then I’ll fly to Doha, Qatar, for two nights, then fly back to Prague.

I booked my flights on Qatar Airways using my British Airways Avios (it was actually much cheaper with BA Avios than QA Avios!), though to get to Bhutan you need to fly one of two small airlines with limited reach.

You should know that I came close to canceling this trip due to the horrible flooding in Nepal, especially the Kathmandu Valley. The damage is extensive and so many lives have been lost.

Then once I saw Kathmandu airport was fully operating as normal, I decided just to do two nights in an airport hotel, then Bhutan (which is unaffected by the flooding), then fly back to Qatar.

Then I talked to a lot of people on the ground in Kathmandu and Pokhara, as well as staff at all of my hotels. The verdict: life is normal in all the areas I’m visiting, my travel plans won’t be impacted (particularly since I’m flying between Kathmandu and Pokhara), I won’t be impeding any rescue work, and local small businesses will need my money.

In short, after extensive consideration, I decided to proceed with the trip as planned and make generous donations to local organizations I find on the ground here.

I can’t wait to share this trip with you.

What are you looking forward to in October? Share away!

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