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This month introduced a gorgeous summer time in Prague. This yr we’ve been having a cooler-than-usual summer time, and this July was significantly pretty, with temperatures that made it really easy and nice to spend time outdoors.
Let’s check out what I bought as much as in July 2025!
Locations Visited
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Nuremberg and Frankfurt, Germany
Highlights
Seeing Kendrick Lamar and SZA stay in Frankfurt on the Grand Nationwide Tour! Kendrick Lamar is considered one of my favourite artists of all time, and I actually like SZA, too. I bought tickets to see them in Frankfurt in July and in Warsaw in August.
I LOVED THIS CONCERT. LOVED IT. A lot good music, fabulous present design and choreography, and each Kendrick and SZA had been unbelievable. And it was so good being surrounded by followers — virtually none of my mates are hip-hop followers so I’ve at all times felt a bit alone in that regard!
Fast visits to Nuremberg and Frankfurt. I’ve visited Nuremberg in December for Christmas markets, however had by no means visited throughout the summer time, and it was so nice strolling alongside the river and taking within the structure! I used to be simply there for a couple of hours every manner on the best way to Frankfurt.
Frankfurt was a brand new vacation spot for me — a giant, skyscraper-filled metropolis with a “new outdated city” constructed post-WWII. Whereas some components had been on the seedier facet, I had a good time exploring once I might — together with the brand new Kendrick Lamar mural by the river!
Enjoyable instances in Prague. I’m thrilled to share that Kasarna Karlín has reopened — considered one of my favourite uncommon issues to do in Prague. It’s an out of doors courtyard with loads of bars and meals locations and occasions. We went to an out of doors night screening of The Massive Lebowski! I went in pajamas. It felt apt.
Pizza beans. Let me simply say that that is my favourite new recipe on this planet, from the at all times glorious Smitten Kitchen, and I will likely be making it every time Charlie is out of city, as he doesn’t share my enjoyment of beans.
An important return to a daily health routine. 2025 has been tough in that regard, between six weeks in Mexico and the US (a lot of heavy meals), coping with my hip damage (powerful to do something however stroll at a mean tempo), and internet hosting family and friends for a couple of weeks in Prague in Might (a lot of lengthy days and meals out).
However I’m BACK on the mat, BACK to lifting weights and cardio periods, the numbers on my Apple Watch are bettering all time, and I’m feeling higher and sleeping higher than I’ve in months.
I additionally found yin yoga this month, which has turn out to be a weekly staple for restoration. Yin is completely different from different types of yoga — you maintain positions for 2 minutes or longer, and it targets your connective tissues along with muscle tissue.
Additionally: my hip was hurting after the July live performance, however I did yin yoga a couple of hours earlier than and the morning after the August live performance and I had ZERO ache — and I had a standing ticket at that live performance! This actually works.
Challenges
Um…the neighborhood surrounding Frankfurt’s prepare station at night time. I already wrote about this to my e-mail subscribers (not signed up? Join right here!). Frankfurt, on the whole, is a secure place to go to. However the space across the prepare station is QUITE seedy.
How seedy? There was a bunch of males smoking crack a block from my resort, day and night time. After I got here again from the live performance at night time, a number of males adopted me or approached me in an intimidating manner. It actually freaked me out, however I discovered a bunch to stroll with the remainder of the best way dwelling.
Actually, I feel that neighborhood is the worst neighborhood I’ve skilled wherever in Europe. Robust phrases? Sure. Do I imply them? Additionally sure.
Briefly, most of Frankfurt is ok — however I might solely suggest strolling alone at night time within the prepare station’s neighborhood for those who’re each street-smart and city-wise.
That’s not all of the challenges that occurred this month, however that’s all I’ll be saying at the moment.
Most Common Reel on Instagram
My hottest reel of the month was Touring with a Bestie — What’s it Like? with Cailin, with clips from our Krakow journey! Only a enjoyable and jokey reel from our time there.
However there’s one other reel I’d such as you to see, which bought ALMOST as many views — it’s me speaking about how the Irish Famine is a lot like what’s taking place in Gaza at the moment.
You’ll be able to see it right here:
The genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is an absolute nightmare, and it infuriates me that our authorities is bankrolling it and so a lot of my fellow Individuals are cheering it on.
I made this in hope that the various Individuals who assist the destruction of Gaza and likewise occur to carry Irish ancestry take a second to suppose, “Hey, that actually occurred to my household. And it was unhealthy. And possibly I shouldn’t need that to occur to anybody else.”
And possibly in the event that they’re up for some important considering, possibly they’ll notice there’s an excessive amount of AIPAC cash in our authorities, possibly the Israeli authorities has been the unhealthy man all alongside, and possibly we have to make some adjustments in who represents us in Congress.
Excited about Gaza and feeling so helpless makes me really feel like I’m wrung inside out. My coronary heart is shattered for the Palestinians who should stay in peace and security, in addition to victims of battle in Sudan, in Congo, in Haiti, in Myanmar, and in every single place.
What I Watched This Month
I’m not a horror film particular person within the least — however my mates wished to have a 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later double function one night time earlier than watching 28 Years Later that weekend.
These are zombie films — however actually, they’re unbelievable. Days and Years, particularly. You’ll be able to skip Weeks if you wish to.
28 Years Later picks up after the Rage Virus decimated Britain, and focuses on a small group dwelling in peace on an island off the coast of Scotland. And I’m shocked how deep this film bought! It made me suppose a lot about isolation, about demise, about group. Exceptional, actually.
What a shock that my two favourite films of 2025 are each horror films: Sinners and 28 Years Later.
Oh, and we additionally noticed the newest Jurassic Park. Me, primarily for Jonathan Bailey, whom I like. However I remorse to tell you that an American accent does NOT go well with him. The one second within the film I used to be interested in him was when he briefly lapsed into his personal accent whereas saying, “No, I’m saying it’s a sin to kill a dinosaur.”
What I Listened To This Month
I’m listening to all 500 of Rolling Stone‘s 500 Best Albums of All Time, which I’m having fun with immensely. I’m loving discovering new artists and listening to albums I’ve in some way missed my complete life till now!
In July, I listened to albums 318-286. So loopy to suppose that I’m now 200+ albums in since December!
Listed below are the highlights:
Favourite Discovery: Tales from the Metropolis, Tales from the Sea by PJ Harvey. She’s an artist I’ve heard talked about over time, however I’ve by no means listened to her music till now. And WOW — she is unbelievable!
The songs on this album are dynamite! Love her songwriting, voice, and instrumentation. There are some good collabs with Thom Yorke on right here, too, which I respect, having turn out to be a Radiohead fan on account of this problem.
Different Favourite Discoveries: Random Entry Recollections by Daft Punk, The Velvet Rope by Janet Jackson, Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty, Tonight’s the Night time by Neil Younger, Speakerboxxx/The Love Beneath by Outkast, El Mal Querer by Rosalía.
Favourite Revisited Album: Californication by Purple Sizzling Chili Peppers. One factor that stunned me at the start of my long-term travels was the pervasiveness of this album throughout Southeast Asia! You couldn’t go wherever in Thailand with out listening to “Californication” or “Scar Tissue” or “Otherside.”
This album has all the enjoyable and California-ness of the Purple Sizzling Chili Peppers, however I felt just like the songwriting goes a bit deeper on this album and really feel like a wild, cohesive journey. Such as you’re being shot into the solar.
Favourite Songs: “The World Has Turned and Left Me Right here” by Weezer; “Hyperballad” by Bjork; “Cranes within the Sky” by Solange; “Good Fortune” by PJ Harvey; “Received ‘Til It’s Gone” by Janet Jackson, Q-Tip, and Joni Mitchell.
Get the playlist: I’m making a playlist of my favourite songs from the five hundred albums — most one per album — on Spotify. You’ll be able to hearken to it right here.
Lowlight of the Month: Nearer by Pleasure Division. I do know, photographs fired, Gen X individuals are going to come back after me for this. I didn’t hate it, however I didn’t take pleasure in one single side of the album. It felt aggressively meh to me.
Random Music Ideas: It’s so unhappy that that is solely the eighth month I’ve been listening to the highest 500 albums, but the third month that an artist I listened to on this problem handed away. This month, it was Ozzy Osbourne. I listened to Black Sabbath’s self-titled album (#355) and two extra of their albums are arising.
It was so good seeing how the world got here collectively to honor Ozzy. How wonderful was it that he was capable of have that ultimate live performance together with his followers? What a particular present.
What I Learn This Month
After a yr of barely studying, this month I learn a ton of books — principally within the self-improvement class, as a part of a problem I’m doing. I’ll inform you extra about that in subsequent month’s recap.
The Forgotten Women: A Memoir of Friendship and Misplaced Promise in Rural America by Monica Potts (2023) — Monica Potts and her greatest pal, Darci, had been two of the neatest ladies rising up of their rural Arkansas hometown. Monica bought out, went to varsity, and constructed a profession. Darci fell into drug habit. This memoir tries to determine what went fallacious and what few choices there are for rural American girls at the moment.
There’s a lot that I favored about this e-book — I at all times devour items about poverty in rural America. And its premise sounded rather a lot like a feminine/white/rural model of Wes Moore’s The Different Wes Moore, which I learn lengthy earlier than he turned governor of Maryland!
However this e-book additionally made me uneasy. It made me really feel because it Potts was exploiting Darci, who was within the throes of habit and will not have understood how public this is able to all be (and that it might embrace her actual title). And Potts railed towards her hometown for many of the e-book, then casually dropped that she and her associate moved again and she or he didn’t wish to share why — actually? Simply unusual.
Give up Like a Girl: The Radical Selection To not Drink in a Tradition Obsessive about Alcohol by Holly Whitaker (2019) — It is a e-book for any girl who’s contemplating reframing her relationship with alcohol. A lot of the alcohol trade and restoration trade is geared particularly towards males, and this e-book is radical in aiming towards the particular wants of ladies.
Holly Whitaker is a unbelievable author, and that’s what introduced this e-book to the subsequent stage. It’s half self-help e-book, and half memoir — oh, and her life was a HOT MESS earlier than she bought sober. It’s entertaining in that side, in a little bit of a horror film manner.
I did discover within the Goodreads critiques that a number of individuals identified that her strategies had been most accessible to girls who’ve extra money to spend. She writes from that viewpoint. And I do suppose they’re proper (although I additionally suppose none of these reviewers notice that you are able to do yoga is just not costly — you’ll be able to actually do it without cost on YouTube).
She additionally writes WAY an excessive amount of about her journeys to Italy, and as somebody who writes about her personal journeys to Italy for a dwelling, you’ve bought to know when to share and when to drag again on that type of stuff.
Both manner — for those who’re contemplating consuming much less or giving up alcohol altogether, I strongly suggest studying this e-book.
Can’t Harm Me: Grasp Your Thoughts and Defy the Odds by David Goggins (2018) — Okay, this was my hate-read of the month! David Goggins went from an abusive childhood to changing into a Navy SEAL and ultra-endurance athlete, and he shares how he pushes himself into doing probably the most troublesome bodily challenges.
I’ll hold it easy — this can be a man that shouldn’t be emulated. He’s a deadbeat dad and four-time divorcee who always places himself in peril due to not making ready appropriately for these bodily feats. He ran an ultramarathon with no prep, solely drank protein shakes, and put himself into kidney failure.
This man wants remedy, not devotees. He’s additionally extremely sexist and the e-book is stuffed with sexist language that infuriated me.
Micro Expertise: Small Actions, Massive Affect by Adaira Landry and Resa E. Lewis (2024) — It is a assortment of broad however shallow tips about easy methods to carry out higher at your workplace job. I didn’t discover this as useful for a solopreneur like myself, and I are likely to want books that go deep on one subject versus making an attempt to cowl slightly little bit of all the things.
Methods to Do Nothing: Resisting the Consideration Economic system by Jenny Odell (2019) — This e-book was NOTHING like what I anticipated it to be. Much more philosophical and tutorial about getting your self to do nothing relatively than one thing actionable.
Learn Folks Like a E-book by Patrick King (2020) — Uh, this e-book may be very, very unhealthy. Don’t even hassle with this one.
Coming Up in August 2025
August started with me and Charlie touring to the Excessive Tatras of Slovakia for my forty first birthday! This was precisely what I wished this yr — a peaceable location in nature, a simple journey by prepare, and staying in a unbelievable resort. We had a blast and wish to do extra journeys like this.
The one different journey this month will likely be a fast journey to England for our pal’s bonfire celebration, which we attend yearly.
Apart from that, I’ll be chilling out in Prague as I prepare for the BIG journey adventures of September.
What are you getting as much as subsequent month? Share away!
