Welcome to RTatW Summer update report! A little series where, every now and then, I share with you some personal info, updates on my life & on RTatW of course, as well as sneak peeks…
First of all… Thank you
Since the beginning of this Blog update series, I have been felling weird about it. I thought: Why would anyone want to know what is going on in my personal life?! RTatW is about traveling smart, discovering places and leaning new things. It’s not about me.
But time and stats seemed to indicate that you were enjoying this series, at least a little, so I kept going. With some of my latest updates, you showed me support beyond what I could dream about and I’m so thankful and humbled by the messages you sent. Thank you.
So I’ll keep writing these little updates and will try to stick to a somehow regular schedule. Let’s say quarterly or something like that.
I lied in my last update… Hibernation season wasn’t over!
In my last update, I said hibernation season was almost over and that was a lie! I just didn’t know it, at that time so I guess, technically I didn’t lie?! I don’t know? Maybe I should consider hibernating for the whole of 2018. All problem solved!
At least I got to work on my latest map you can see below!
Travel updates: nothing exotic
I recall writing somewhere, that 2018 would be the year of uncomplicated travel. That’s one thing I have managed so far!
Paris, London, my father’s place. Rinse and repeat. That’s it.
It still has been, somehow pretty cool, to just take it easy and make the most of these trips.
On one of my trips to Paris, I was travelling by train and got stuck there, because of the strikes. At first I was very frustrated. Then I just embraced it and the World didn’t end. So I finally got to visit, amongst other things, the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine. I also got to be with my favorite cousin and spent quality time with her, which was absolutely fantastic. We drank, redid the World, had good laughs and started planning our girl trip to Kenya! yeah!
I also had a wonderful week-end in London with one of my dearest friend and her family. I used the below picture to summarize such week-end 😎 but really it was so much more than this. My heart felt fuzzy and warm from all the love and I’m so grateful to have her in my life.
My latest trip to my home town didn’t start too well. I was overly stressed by some of the things I had to handle there. Stressed isn’t even the right word. It was more like absolutely miserable. But then my dad and I spent the day playing with his vintage motorcycle and somehow, nothing else mattered. Somehow it also felt so right to be on his motorcycle! It’s a beast, it’s so heavy, I’ll have to get some additional muscles! 😉
To be fair, I’m not quite sure the plan that is running in my head, is really sound? I’ve never been a motorcycle type of Gal, it’s quite scary. There’s the weight issue as well as the mechanical issues, the safety issues… Aaaahgrhrrr…. Oh, well, who knows, maybe I’ll change my logo from a Defender to a motorcycle in 2 or 3 years time! Then again… maybe not!
All in all, hibernation and travel don’t really go hand in hand but all those trips were worth it.
Oh… just one more thing: You have nothing to worry about for the continuation of RTatW. I could stop traveling for a full year, even maybe 2 and I would still have enough pictures to document articles about places I want to write about! Yes, that’s how late I am.
This leads us to the next point.
Slowing down?
I don’t think I can slow down more than I have?! I’m sorry about this and a little ashamed actually. I used (a while back) to publish 2-3 times a week and now sometimes 2 weeks go by, without any new content.
Another reason is that it is quite therapeutic to blog. Diving in history a place, spending time selecting the pictures, being so focused on writing that my brain can’t wander on other stuffs. Same thing with drawing. It has helped me a lot to spend time drawing and seeing places, like the 7 wonders, come to life. So the worst case scenario is that I’ll produce a lot of new maps if I don’t travel!!
Enough about me, what’s new on RTatW?
What’s new? Not as much as I hoped but I did share with you my visit to the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine and I managed to publish 2 other pieces about France. One about the Chateau de Pierrefonds, a château that deserves more publicity. And one about the Strasbourg Cathedral. I told you in my last update France was coming! It’s just coming slowly.
Not to mention, that my piece about why there are so many castles in Europe is also partially about France. One of the next one I should probably write is about why so many castles have disappeared or are in ruins.
One thing I really wanted to get out of my system was this piece about the BEST Road Trips in the World. If you read it, you’ll understand!
What else?
What you didn’t notice??
There is a new map!
It’s not a road trip map nor a city map but I hope you’ll like it. It is the map of the New 7 wonders of the World.
The version below isn’t finished yet but there are others that are now available. You can download those, print them etc. As usual, if you have subscribed to RTatW newsletter you can also download the drawings, in various other formats. You just need to visit the postcard page.
Other news?
There has been no further progress on my destination pages! I know I said I would, sorry!
Forget about VERO, I can’t even deal with Insta at the moment.
As for my UPGRADE series, you can maybe consider that my last post is part of it?! It’s a self-help book after all. Self help is important to business… OK, OK, just trying. I’ll admit then, there has been no progress on the UPGRADE Series. Sorry again.
That’s it really. There is a bunch of things I want to do but it’s not getting done.
What’s coming?
Spoiler alert, I’ve started working on a new mini guide!
My remaining optimistic side, thinks it won’t take me that long to finish. Partially because the drawings are not as big as the ones I create for maps, partially because I’m going to “recycle” a few I already have.
My pessimistic side things that I shouldn’t sell it before it’s done because I have a bunch of things planned in June and early July. Don’t get too excited for me, it mostly includes plans for Paris, London and my home town! 😉
So yeah, anyway, my next creation, if all goes well, is going to be a mini guide. If you read my last newsletter, you’re going to be a bit disappointed, I’m sure. I swear I changed my mind just after pushing the send button.
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I wish you a bright and happy Summer! And lots of road trips of course!
xox
