Month in Review: August 2019
Welcome to my month in review! I thought it would be fun to add in a little monthly review and roundup post, at least for this next year while we’re in Prague, to document our new adventure. So without further ado, here’s the month in review for August 2019!
If you missed it, here’s June and July.
Travels
This month I went to…
- Stockholm, Sweden
Like July, August was pretty slow travel-wise. But that’s because we’re gearing up for a pretty huge September! So while I wish we had fit in another weekend trip, I’m excited about the travels we do have coming up.
Highlights
The biggest highlight of August for me was definitely my solo trip to Stockholm. This was my first visit to Sweden and I totally fell in love. I had the best time in Stockholm and I hope I can bring Colin back one day as I know he would love it too.
Back in Prague, we headed out to do some local sightseeing at the National Museum. This was really fun because the main buildings of the National Museum are just a 5-10 minute walk from our house. And they’re beautiful! We also went to the beer train restaurant which was fun, but not something I need to do again.
Other highlights of August include a board game pub night with some of our friends and some big news on the job front for Colin (coming soon in a TOA post near you!).
Lowlights
Like July, my biggest complaint of August is the lack of travel. I’m sad we weren’t able to fit in a bit more, like a weekend or even a day trip near Prague. I know we still have a lot of time here but it does feel like it’s slipping away quickly. There’s so much more I want to see and do!
But part of the reason why we didn’t do as much travelling this month is because we were so busy! Seriously, it has felt pretty non-stop on the work front and with errands around the house. A lot of this is in preparation for our September travels, but it has made this month a little cabin-fevery for me.
And lastly, our strata decided to drop a special levy on all owners to pay for some exterior upgrades or something. Not sure of the details, but all I know is our strata payment essentially just doubled. The joys of being an international landlord!
Posts from this month
Here’s what was published on Teaspoon of Adventure this month. If you missed any of my posts, click below to read them (and add your email to the subscribe box on the right or at the end of the page so you don’t miss anymore!).
7 Mistakes I Made in Vienna – So You Don’t Have To
How to Spend 24 Hours in Tokyo
The Best Place to Go for Your First Solo Trip
17 Things I Didn’t Know Before Living in Prague
The Pros & Cons of Travel with a Dog
11 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Moving Abroad
7 Things You Need to Know Before You Visit Stockholm
Whew! It really looks like a lot of posts when I list them out like this 🙂
What I read this month
Below are the books I completed reading in August. If you want to check out my reading and reviews on these books, visit the Story Highlights on my personal Instagram @rianaautumn or @ebookadventures.
- The Silent Patient
- Conversations with Friends
- Naturally Tan
- The Killer Across the Table
- I’ll Be There For You
Best reads/listens/watches
Reads: I really enjoyed reading The Silent Patient, which I actually picked up on a book club recommendation. I don’t usually read thrillers, but I gave this one a try and it really hooked me! I’m hoping to try out some more thrillers in the future, but ones that are a bit more psych than scary. If you have any recommendations, let me know!
Listens: I’ve gotten back into a podcast I used to listen to called, Not Another True Crime Podcast. It’s true crime meets comedy (which isn’t as inappropriate as it sounds). The two co-hosts rehash the details of a true crime movie and you’ll find yourself giggling to yourself about a serial killer in the park (which, oddly enough, makes YOU look like the serial killer!).
Watches: I have a confession. I’m obsessed with shows that were popular in the 2000s. And I’ve dragged Colin along with me. But even if you’re not a 2000s TV lover like me, you should be watching this season of Survivor Australia. It’s amazing! There are amazing characters, insane challenges and really solid strategy and gameplay. I’m all about it!
Best and worst meals
Best: I had some delicious Swedish meatballs in Stockholm. They were so good! I usually don’t like meatballs but they do something special with them up in Sweden. I had them with gravy, potato mash, pickled cucumbers and ligonberries and it was amazing. As a runner up, Colin and I had sushi in Prague for the first time and I was so scared it would awful like the sushi we had in Munich. But it was actually pretty good!
Worst: A couple times this month, I picked up fruit from our potraviny (local convenience store). And every time, the fruit was bad! It was moldy and gross, but in convenient spots that you can’t see until you get it home and open it. We had to throw out a couple of boxes of berries and a pepper before I learned my lesson.
Expat life
One thing I love is travel planning! Well, I love travel planning all of the time but it’s especially exciting right now. This month we booked flights to Rome for November and we’re planning to head to Oktoberfest in October. Plus, our big moms trip is coming up next week!
One thing I hate is that it’s still HOT. I thought we were done with the hot weather but apparently, I was wrong. I’m sure I will regret all of this complaining when winter comes.
One thing I’m learning to live with is the fact that we haven’t seen enough locally. This makes me sad for us, because I want us to get to know our city. And it also makes me feel a little fraud-y because we’re going to have visitors soon, and I want to be a good tour guide for them. But I’m learning to accept that we’ll never see absolutely everything and that we’ll have to go on tours with our guests instead of leading them.
Coming up next
I am so excited for September! I’ve been looking forward to September since March 20, which is when our moms booked their flights to visit us in Europe (note that this was a month before we received our visas to live in Prague!). We’re meeting my mom in Copenhagen, Colin’s mom back here in Prague, and then we’re travelling through Austria and Italy together. I’m so excited to see our moms and to explore more of Europe together!
So, that was August! What did you get up to this month?
Owwwwww that strata doubling is a bummer! Hoping it’s just temporary and goes back down again soon!
I’m still finding new things and experiences in the town I’ve lived in for most of my life – don’t feel guilty for not knowing everything about Prague!
I hope that September is superb for you!
Thanks so much! Yes, the strata thing is a huge bummer. The extra fee is for the next year which is when we’ll be abroad, so it seems especially cruel. Yes, so much to discover in our own backyards!
So exciting! Can’t wait to hear about your September travels!
Thanks so much, Stephanie! I’m really looking forward to September!
You beat me to the monthly roundup post! Stay tuned for mine sometime this upcoming week. (Let’s hope I manage to get it written tomorrow, as planned…)
You know, I purposely avoided doing most of the most attractive tourist things in Lausanne and this part of Switzerland because I knew I’d have visitors who would want to see them–and seeing tourist sites more than a couple of times gets mind-numbing (as I learned from previous stints in London, where everyone wanted to visit!). Possible consolation for you ahead of the moms visit! You can get all the local tips on the awesome things to do–and then do them for the first time with them, which will make it more fun for all of you!
Haha thanks, Leslie! Will stay tuned for your round up. To be honest, I usually start writing mine in the last week or so of August so I don’t have to do it on the last day. And thanks for your tip about tourist attractions! You’re so right. When I lived in Amsterdam, I went to the Anne Frank House like five times. And it was very moving and impactful, but not to the point where I could remember the audio guide by heart. Love your perspective on this!
I was going to say the same thing Leslie did; you don’t have to actually do the visits before your visitors and can experience it with them. I am so looking forward to seeing you guys in just 3 days, and it would be very exciting to experience parts of Prague with you that’s new to you too! Love these quick updates! 💕
I’m thinking you two are definitely right about. It would be boring (and expensive!) for us to keep going out to the same tourist sights. It will be very fun to do it all with you and Margie. Right now it’s looking like rain but let’s hope that doesn’t last! See you so soon!
I want to go to Stockholm so bad! And of course, visit northern Sweden to see the Northern Lights…I like Swedish meatballs too but have only eaten them in the IKEA cafeteria, how sad is that?!
I find those who live in Europe are SO lucky to be able to travel to other countries easily via plane or train. I want to travel overseas more, but all the tickets are so expensive coming from the US. I want to eventually transition my blog into a lifestyle/travel one, but I’ve only been to 7 countries (including the US) going on 8 (I’m going to the UK for the first time next month!!!)
Thanks so much for reading and commenting! I hope you get to Stockholm because it’s such a cool place. And the meatballs are so much better there than at IKEA 😉
Europe is definitely such an easy base for travelling around. We’ve only just moved here in June and will be leaving again next June, so we’re trying to make the most of it. Definitely harder to get here from the US, more expensive and more time spent in the air, but not impossible! Check out Scott’s Cheap Flights and Secret Flying (if you’re not already) for awesome flight deals.
I am happy to see travelers going through and spending some time in my homeland, I hope you enjoy your stay and write about many more wonderful experiences.
Thank you so much! We’re really enjoying Prague 🙂