Spring 2023 in Review

I’m sure when May 2023 came to an end and you didn’t see a monthly recap post from me, you were thinking, “Riana, where the heck is your monthly review? I live and die for that post!” But have no fear, my new regular recap post is here!

I started doing monthly reviews when we lived abroad in Prague. It was a great way to catalogue all of the travels we were doing and remember that exciting time in my life. When we returned to Vancouver in March 2020, I paused the monthly reviews as it would probably be a bit depressing to hear how I spent yet another month baking, colouring and doom scrolling. I pivoted to sharing my monthly reads instead, launching the book blog part of this website.

And then in August 2021, when the world was starting to open up again, I decided to restart my monthly review series. While I wasn’t travelling as extensively as I had been when we lived in Europe, there were still exciting things happening each month. However, I have found in the almost 21 months since then, that sometimes it’s a struggle to put these monthly posts together. Sometimes, I just don’t do that much in a month!

All that to say, I wanted to revamp my recap posts and make them more exciting for me to write. So instead of recapping each month, I think I’m going to recap each season. That way I can gather a few more stories and adventures. And I’ll be sharing some new things, like updates on my freelance work and social media posts.

Will I stick with seasonal reviews from here on out? Probably not. In the 11 years that I’ve been blogging at Teaspoon of Adventure, the site has grown and changed a lot. Through all its iterations, I’ve always valued having a space to share what’s going on in my life and a record to look back on in the years to come. So for now, that’s what my seasonal reviews will be.

Okay, enough rambling! Here’s what happened in spring 2023:

Highlights

I already shared some of my early spring highlights in my March and April in review posts – before I had the idea to write seasonal posts – but the biggest highlights definitely were celebrating Easter with our families and our big trip to New Zealand! From spending a day in Auckland, exploring Hobbiton and seeing geothermal activity in Rotorua to overnight cruises and mountain hikes, our time in Aotearoa (the te reo Maori word for New Zealand) was amazing!

Back home, we were treated to summer weather in May which meant we got to set up our patio. When we left our Yaletown apartment, we assumed our next place would have a postage-stamp sized patio, if we got one at all. But we are so lucky to have a pretty huge patio and that it doesn’t get any direct sun (no sunburns for this pale gal!). Having it all set up meant I got to host my friend and her son for a playdate and allowed Colin and I have to have a few late night dessert dates out there.

In May we also had a nice night out with Colin’s mom and her friend having dinner at Fanny Bay Oysters and seeing a Whitecaps soccer game. I had never been to a Whitecaps game before but loved the relaxed atmosphere, especially with the sun setting over the open arena. I’d love to go again!

Colin and I also went out to our local dog park on a beautiful June day where Ellie had a blast running around. She was (mostly) nice to the other dogs, so we’re counting it as a win.

Lowlights

After April’s lows of a leaking ceiling and some travel sickness, May and June weren’t too bad for us. We came home to beautiful summer weather but it’s been a bit erratic since then. After a few weeks of sun we had rain, hail, wind and temperatures from 12-28 in the same week. I’ve appreciated the break from hot days, but do hope the weather can stabilize a little bit.

In early June we discovered a couple of bumps on Ellie. One seems to be a scab from a cut she got, but the other is a little strange. So far it doesn’t seem to be bothering her, and is shrinking, so we’re just keeping an eye on it. Fingers crossed it’s nothing serious and won’t end up in an expensive vet bill!

Apparently June is the time of year when everyone you know goes to Europe. At least four of my friends are currently in Italy! While I know we just got back from our own huge trip, I can’t help but feel the travel FOMO when I’m sitting on my couch at home while everyone else seems to be sipping Aperol spritzes in the sunshine!

Freelance life

April was pretty quiet for me work wise. I didn’t quit any freelance jobs but I did decide to be mostly offline and off work for our three weeks in New Zealand. It was nice to take a break like that. But it did mean May was busy as I dove back into my client work. I’ve gotten to work on some new projects that have allowed me to take on some copywriting and project management tasks, which has been fun. Otherwise, things are pretty steady with my regular client work!

I shared a few months ago that I had pitched some travel stories and two were accepted. The first one has been published and I’m excited to share it with you. I wrote this post about the SWEETS hotel in Amsterdam for Going (FKA Scott’s Cheap Flight). It’s up on their blog and was sent out to newsletter subscribers.

I’ve also been experimenting with some new affiliates and some sponsored posts here on Teaspoon of Adventure. Excited to grow that part of the website more!

Binge watches

As you can imagine, Colin and I watch a lot of TV. It would probably be scary to list every single thing we watched this spring, so instead I’ll just name a few highlights.

• We finished the final season of Ted Lasso (or so we think!). It was incredible and I cried during almost every episode. I’m already looking forward to rewatching it from the beginning.
• On Netflix we watched the latest season of Queer Eye (excellent as always) and the How to Get Rich series with Ramit Sethi. I’m a big fan of Ramit’s podcast so it was fun to see him host that show.
• We picked up a few new series this spring that we completely loved: Schmigadoon and The Traitors. Schmigadoon is a parody series that focuses on different ages of musicals in each season. It’s hilarious and a lot of fun for musical fans. And The Traitors is basically a reality TV version of the game Werewolf. We watched the US, AU and UK versions!
• As usual, we’re watching whatever season of Survivor that’s on. Survivor US wrapped up this spring and it looks like we might be on a Survivor hiatus until the fall. Luckily we have our other favourite, Masterchef Australia, to keep us going for a few more weeks.
• And in between all that, we’ve started rewatching Parks n’ Rec. I’m embarrassed to admit how far we’ve already gotten!

Memorable meals

A few of my favourite meals from this spring were:

• Mother’s Day dim sum with both of our moms at a local dim sum place in Chinatown. I love dim sum!
• Cactus Club dates with my friend Emilie and then with Colin. It’s been fun eating out on the patio of our local Cactus Club.
• Vegetarian lunch with my friend Cathy and then meeting up with my mom for passionfruit lemonades on a nice sunny day.
• Colin and I tried a few local places around us this spring: Salmon n Bannock and Pizza Rubato Napoletana. Both were delicious!
• Colin made an incredible Greek meal for us last month that I’m still drooling over. Hopefully he makes it again soon!

Book club

I won’t repeat the books I reviewed in March and April, but since then I’ve finished reading:

Lights to Guide Me Home by Meghan J. Ward
I really enjoyed this book by a Canadian travel writer who falls in love with the mountains and sets out on a life of adventure with her husband and kids in tow – and all the challenges that entails. I actually started reading it while in Aoraki Mt Cook, New Zealand and the book opens with Meghan and her family in Aoraki Mt Cook!
4/5

The Godmother by Barbie Latza Nadeau
This book about the first female mafia boss started strong but ended up being such a slog to finish, despite only being 187 pages. While there were some interesting stories, I didn’t think the overall theme of women running the mafia was strong enough and there were way too many names to keep track of.
3/5

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
It took me a couple of chapters but then I was totally hooked on this book about Sam, Sadie and Marx in the world of video game creation. I’m not into video games at all but it was the characters and writing that had me so invested in this book.
4.5/5

Waco by Jeff Guinn
I’ve read Guinn’s other books about Charles Manson and Jonestown, so was excited for this one about the Branch Davidians in Waco. While it was interesting to read more about how the Branch Davidian cult started and the ineptitude of the ATF/FBI that handled the siege, the book itself felt a little long and like there was a lot of not super relevant info to get through.
3.5/5

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
After watching the trailer for this movie that’s coming out in the fall, I realized I never read the Hunger Games prequel so corrected that this spring. Just like when I read the original trilogy, this one also kept me up late turning pages in equal parts horror and fascination. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending, but I did really like this book and I’m excited to watch the movie!
4/5

Blog posts

This spring on Teaspoon of Adventure I published:

• Travelling Alone for the First Time? 11 Solo Travel Tips
• Traveller of the Month: Riana from Teaspoon of Adventure (It’s Me!)
• The 38 Best Travel Books for Readers with Wanderlust
• Traveller of the Month: Adrienne from Destinations & Desserts
• How Much Does a Trip to New Zealand Cost?
• 19 Things to Know Before You Plan a Trip to New Zealand
• Is the Set Tour of Hobbiton Worth It?
• Traveller of the Month: Vanessa from Turnipseed Travel
• Which Rotorua Geothermal Park Should You Visit?
• The Best Places I’ve Stayed Around the World

Check out any of the posts you’ve missed!

And my most popular post of spring 2023 was Is the New York Cafe Budapest Worth It? I updated this post in March so I’m happy to see that my update has been paying off!

As seen on social media

Because I’m an elder millennial, I have profiles on Twitter and Pinterest for this blog. But it’s a lot of fun over there! I promise Travel Twitter is a lot better than regular Twitter. Come follow me @tspadventure on Twitter and @teaspoonofadventure on Pinterest.

My most popular tweet this spring (with over 21,000 impressions!) was…

I was listening to a nomad podcast and they played a game I’d love to play here on #TravelTwitter.

Name a place you’d love to live for:

a) 1 week
b) 1 month
c) 1 year
d) 10 years

I’ll put mine in the comments!

— Riana | Teaspoon of Adventure (@tspadventure) March 20, 2023

And my most popular pin this spring was:

Travels

This spring our big trip was to New Zealand and it was INCREDIBLE! New Zealand has been on my bucket list for a long time and it completely lived up to the hype. We had an amazing three weeks in Aotearoa and I’m excited to keep sharing our adventures on the blog.

Favourite travels from springs past:

• In May 2014, while I was studying abroad, my mom came out to Amsterdam to visit me. We saw my cousin in London, I hosted her in Amsterdam, we drove across Germany, and then we flew to Croatia and enjoyed exploring Split, Dubrovnik and Herceg Novi in Montenegro. It was such a fun trip and I hope we can revisit those places together one day!
• In April 2018, Colin and I went on our first big trip together to Ireland. I had scored an awesome flight deal and we visited Dublin, Belfast, Galway and Cork in a whirlwind 10 day Ireland visit (without a car!). There’s so much more of Ireland to see so I’m excited to go back and explore more – maybe with a side trip to Scotland?
• And of course, a very memorable spring trip was our move to Prague in June 2019. We set off from Vancouver and spent a few days in Paris and Munich before settling into our new home in Prague. Life changing doesn’t begin to cover it!

Top 5 of spring 2023:

I thought it’d be fun to end this post with a few things that made me smile this season, without repeating anything I’ve already mentioned above. So here are 5 little things I’ve been loving this spring:

1. Shiny Happy People: This documentary on Amazon about the Duggar family and their IBLP religion cult is incredibly fascinating and utterly terrifying. A must-watch!
2. Did You Pack Snacks?: This new travel podcast by some of my favourite travel vloggers has been a fun listen. They only have a few episodes out but I’m excited to tune in each week as their show grows.
3. The new AMEX cards that Colin and I got in June. Finally getting started on the travel hacking game!
4. Our New Zealand photo book! Almost as soon as we got back from New Zealand I started putting together a photo book from our trip. It’s so nice to have those tangible memories in my hands to look back on.
5. The fact that our apartment stays pretty cool in the heat! Unlike past apartments, we don’t get any direct sunlight in this one, so our patio is shady and our home stays cool even on hot days. Such a win in Vancouver where central AC is almost unheard of.

Coming up next

This summer I’ll be heading on a few camping trips, celebrating my 31st birthday, flying to Toronto to meet my best friend’s baby, making the most of patio days and trying not to get a sunburn!

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I hope you had a wonderful spring 2023 and a great summer coming up!