Howdy Traipsers,

Bend is a full-on snow globe today! Winter...finally.
Let's jump right in:



That quote is a touchstone of mine for major life decisions, but also for how I choose adding or subtracting activities from my life. Will another bike ride do more for me than sitting down to practice piano or draw?
SnowGlobing About, Edition 88 features:

-The power of sharing online

-The best of the world

-Backyard adventuring
-A T. Rex Christmas tree


Onward!
Dakota

The power of sharing

Tying into the enlargement theme, have you ever considered sharing your thoughts publicly via a newsletter, blog, podcast, or vlog? Based on my experience doing so, I can heartily say make. it. happen.
Why? Well...
Publishing Traipsing About for the past eight years has added so much richness to my life. Almost 100 newsletters and 200+ blog posts in, things just keep getting better. (By things, I mean my T. Rex drawings, not my jokes.)
I have good friends who initially found me through Traipsing About. A cousin I'd never met randomly read my Italian citizenship blog post and I discovered a whole side of my family I didn't know existed! (Pretty sure they're New Jersey Italian mafia.)
An extra bonus: it keeps me connected with friends and family. They witness my antics and keep tabs on me even when kids and jobs make staying in touch difficult. It sparks email exchanges and connection. Sure, Facebook and Instagram kinda work, but it's not the same depth as longer-form media.
There's power in putting thoughts down and sharing them publicly. It clarifies things in a way that a private journal doesn't.
I've gained so much from following others who also share their thoughts and struggles, so it's cool to be part of that great internet diaspora and pay it forward.
I also love getting random emails from you when I share things I've screwed up learned. It fascinates me how my personal experience with money, travel, relationships, or social media use can impact someone if it hits them at the right time


People want to hear what you're thinking. Put it out there! Substack has free newsletters, podcasting can be done with a $40 microphone, YouTube only requires a smart phone, Twitter takes 37 seconds to sign up...
What better time than now?

Every country is best at something

How about this: a world map showing what each country is best at. Some are cheeky, some are serious. All reveal some aspect of culture.

A few that caught my eye:

Russia: best at dashcams
Nigeria: Scrabble players (whaaat?)
Paraguay: Positivity, Costa Rica: Wellbeing, Colombia: Happiness (#winning!)
U.S.A.: Spam emails (sigh, it's true)

Check out the full map to see where you land! (Spoiler: Canada's is doughnuts.)




 

Pure backyard adventure enthusiasm

Winter is here and I'll hop on my bike trainer occasionally for the next few months. Sometimes I read a book or flip through Italian flashcards, but obviously YouTube is WAY more fun.

For my first ride this season, the effervescently enthusiastic Beau Miles provided all the YouTube entertainment. He's all about backyard adventures, i.e. close to home exploits of all shapes and sizes.

His "marathon" of a mile each hour while also doing a bunch of projects is amazing.

I also dug his film Run the Line about traversing the 43km defunct railway line by his house in Australia. He even chats with the cops about hopping fences...

Ok, ok, one more: planting a tree per minute for a day. What a cool guy.


Enjoy! (H/T to Alastair for his excellent adventure newsletter where he linked to Beau.)

Thanks for sneaking in the theater for this edition of Traipsing About.
 

Unsolicited advice won't fix your life, but it can at least provide some options to assess.

This week’s advice: share your thoughts publicly and never, ever drive in Russia without a dashcam (or at all?). And to my friend in China: quit that job and hit the road!

P.S. Good. Grief. The Beatles were so good. Loving this Spotify playlist of their best songs.