Adventurous Kate contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks!
If you’re going to be in northern Europe in December, you need to be prepared for the darkness. Every day gets darker than the last, and by early December, you’ll find yourself wondering just how bleak it can get.
But that’s where the Christmas lights come in. And the markets. And everything becomes a little more bearable.
Destinations Visited
- Prague and České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Heidelberg, Germany
- Strasbourg, Colmar, Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, and Kayserberg, France
- London and Coulsdon, England
Do You Want to Move Abroad in 2025?
I know a lot of you have considered living outside the United States. Maybe it’s something you’d do “someday” — and someday hasn’t arrived yet. Maybe your job, your kids, or your pets kept you from thinking it was a possibility for you.
This month, my friend Richelle is opening up the Move Abroad Escape Plan Boot Camp, a four-day event from January 25-28, where Richelle helps you figure out a specific plan to move abroad.
In four days, she helps you figure out what kind of lifestyle you want, how you’ll make money, which country to focus on — and a DATE. And yes — even if you have kids. Even if you have pets, a partner, a condition that requires medication, a career you love. There’s a plan that will work for you personally.
Richelle is very good at what she does, and she’s helped quite a few people move overseas already, as you can see from her many testimonials.
This four-day boot camp only costs $37 — which I think is outstanding value for money. You can learn more about it here.
Highlights
I wore the same dress 30 days in a row! Seriously. I have discovered the brand Wool& and their marvelous wool dresses, the softest things you can imagine. And because wool is a fabric that doesn’t hold onto body odor, you can wear it tons of times without washing it.
(That doesn’t mean I didn’t wash it at all! I washed it twice — on day 11 and day 24.)
Wool& does 30-day dress challenges — if you wear the dress 30 days in a row and take a photo each day, you’ll get $30 or 30 EUR. (They also have a 100-day challenge with a $100 reward.) But I was more in it for the fun than the money.
I chose the black Chloe dress, a fitted dress with short sleeves and an above-knee hem, which is probably the easiest, most basic dress you can imagine — it’s light enough to tuck into jeans, or you can throw a sweater or skirt on top of it.
So yes — I enjoyed my 30 days immensely! I enjoyed the “uniform” aspect of wearing the same dress every day, and I loved dressing it up with accessories. And if you don’t like wearing dresses in the winter, having thick tights and good leggings makes such a big difference.
You’re going to see me wearing a LOT of Wool& in future posts. Once you wear good wool, you won’t want to wear anything else. Stay tuned for more.
Clothes featured above:
- Image 1: Dress, sweater (color sold out), belt (similar), tights, shoes
- Image 2: Dress, thrifted Anthropologie skirt, belt (slightly different color), tights
- Image 3: Dress, wrap dress worn as duster, belt (similar), jeans, belt (slightly different color), slippers
- Image 4: Dress, blazer, belt (similar), tights, shoes
A lovely Christmas markets trip. After spending last December in South America, this year I was eager for Europe’s Christmas markets season. Charlie and I decided to do a long weekend road trip to several we hadn’t visited yet.
We drove via Rothenburg to Heidelberg, where we spent the night; drove first to Strasbourg, then Colmar; and spent a day on the Navettes de Noël Christmas shuttle in Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, and Kayserberg, before one more night in Colmar and driving back to Prague.
Overall, it was fun! The two major highlights were Heidelberg, which has such a great vibe, delicious food, and busy but not overly packed markets; and Ribeauvillé, an incredibly detailed medieval market in arguably the most beautiful town in France.
I’ve been writing a bit about this, but the Alsace region of France is so crowded during Christmas that I wouldn’t advise visiting during the weekend AT ALL (except for Ribeauvillé, whose market only takes place on two December weekends). Basically, all of France’s Christmas tourists get dumped into one tiny region and it’s super, super busy.
But we had so much fun, ate a lot of good food, and enjoyed Christmas cheer in some beautiful places.
We also did a day trip to České Budějovice in South Bohemia, two hours from Prague by train. I’m not big on Prague’s Christmas markets, which are super commercialized, but České Budějovice has a really wonderful market with vendors who are actually local, an ice skating rink, a ferris wheel, and a beer hut.
And České Budějovice is my final new Czech destination of the year! I actually visited at least one new destination each month of 2024!
Christmas fun in Prague. We had a fun Christmasy day out going to a roller derby — my first ever — that was Santa vs. Grinch! Super fun! We topped it off with the Krampus parade in Prague.
Also, this year, we got a Christmas tree — which is a big deal, because I’ve never had a Christmas tree in my adult life. It always seemed like there wasn’t a point when we have to travel for every Christmas. And honestly, I kind of felt like I didn’t deserve one — until this year. It was time.
We bought our first stockings and decor, our friend generously gave us some ornaments and lights, and it was so nice not only having decorations, but giving the kitties a special Christmas. Lewis was SO excited to get the toys out of his stocking!
Christmas in England. This year, Charlie and I celebrated with his family in London. It was great spending time with all of them, enjoying the over-the-top Christmas decor at my sisters-in-law’s house, and eating the fantastic meal Charlie cooked.
New Year’s at our place. We had friends over for New Year’s Eve, we drank the wines we had bought on our trips over the course of the year, Charlie made beef Wellington, and of course our friend Klara brought her tiramisu.
Challenges
We had a tough time illness-wise with our Murray Bear this month. Murray peed in a few places where he shouldn’t have — and once we realized it was a pattern, we took him to the vet.
That started a waterfall of events — Murray peeing on the bed, multiple visits to the local laundromat because it’s the only washing machine that can fit our duvet, Murray and his brother Lewis suddenly not eating (that might be due to several days of New Year’s fireworks scaring them), Lewis recovering and Murray refusing to eat anything but Churu, Murray getting constipated, Murray and his brother violently attacking each other all afternoon long after a vet visit.
After some meds and a few changes at home, Murray is doing SO much better. He hasn’t peed anywhere he shouldn’t for weeks now. (I just knocked my wooden floor.) And he’s been extra cuddly, snuggling up to me when I go to bed most nights.
Blog Posts of the Month
Most Popular Reel on Instagram
My reel about the Ribeauvillé Christmas market in France went crazy! And deservedly so. This truly is a special market unlike any other I’ve ever visited.
You can watch the reel here and follow me on Instagram at @adventurouskate.
What I Listened To This Month
This month, my friends, I began a VERY big challenge. I’m listening to all 500 of Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Why do this? I want to broaden my musical horizons, and finally listen to so many musicians I’ve never listened to before.
This seems like a well-structured way to listen to new music, and use it as a starting point for deeper musical exploration. (It’s also worth noting that the list has been redone several times since the first list in 2003, which was heavy on white dude rock of the 70s. Today’s list is much more diverse.)
I started this project on December 17, and I ended up listening to albums 500-480 in December.
Favorite discovery: Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde by The Pharcyde. WHAT AN ALBUM. The Pharcyde is creative, bouncy, super-danceable early 90s hip-hop with so much humor. (They all started as dancers before they became rappers.) This is some of the most joyful hip-hop I’ve ever heard.
Other favorite new discoveries: Ask Rufus by Rufus, If You’re Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian.
Favorite revisited album: II by Boyz II Men. This was the second album I ever bought myself, when I was 10 years old. It’s still fantastic. Though I have to say “Khalil” hit me a lot harder as a 40-year-old with a knowledge of police brutality than it did 30 years ago.
Favorite songs: “Soul Flower” by The Pharcyde, “Daydreaming” by Harry Styles, “Like Dylan in the Movies” by Belle and Sebastian, “TV Party” by Black Flag, “Getaway Driver” by Miranda Lambert.
Get the playlist: I’m creating a playlist of my favorite songs from the 500 albums — maximum one per album — on Spotify. You can listen to it here.
What I Watched This Month
Bad Sisters Season 2. I absolutely loved Season One of Bad Sisters, a dark dramedy set in Ireland where four sisters conspire to murder their sister’s abusive husband. I think it’s one of the best programs Apple TV + has produced.
Season 2? While I loved the scenery and the cinematography and the costumes and the warm, lived-in relationships the sisters have…this season wasn’t the same. It was darker, felt hopeless, and the humor didn’t really appear until the final episode.
That said, I appreciated what Sharon Horgan did — she wanted to show that life doesn’t suddenly turn to rainbows once an abusive partner is out of the picture.
Aside from that, Carry-On was basically the movie Phone Booth updated for the 2020s, and Gladiator II was a movie that really didn’t need to be made. I did convince Charlie to come see Wicked with me, though, which feels like a huge triumph! He enjoyed it.
Coming Up in January 2025
January is going to be a quiet month, something I’ve grown to value and cherish. Charlie and I are continuing our tradition of a January with no alcohol, no sugar, no travel, and kicking up the exercise a notch or two. It sets a good example for the year to follow.
I’ve traveled during some Januaries (most recently, spending January 2022 in Puerto Vallarta), but I find that in January I am so motivated to work hard. I’m better off using that work-work-work energy when I have it. Plus, January is a pretty big month for the travel industry with people realizing they really need to plan some trips!
Charlie and I also have a tradition of a hotel stay somewhere in Prague, taking advantage of the lowest hotel rates of the year — but that’s as much as we have on the calendar.
What are you looking forward to in 2025?
