Australia Entry #24 - January 11th, 2026 - February 21st, 2026

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A Calm Birthday Month

Typically, with the last few New Years, I’ve tried to use the month of January as one of reflection and as an opportunity to look into the future and try to plan out what I want to focus my time and energy into. I think last year I made big stries into understanding what it is that I want to be focusing my time on, but I hadn’t been the greatest at changing my habits into bringing that goal into reality. I think both at work and at home I’ve struggled with committing to a larger, more fulfilling way to use my time during the lulls between big trips. I think my biggest issue on both sides has always been that I get comfotrable in the day to day that I am used to and don’t like adding the friction temporarily to make my day feel more fulfilling. I fall back on putting a sports game or tv show, or even reading a book for entertainment instead of pursuing my interests in things like whittling an geography and architecture. I don’t want to put too rigid of a schedule onto myself, but also recognize that if I don’t push myself, I fall into bad habits that I don’t like about myself, like eating less healthy or wasting time away on things that ultimately don’t matter a week later.

Though the lulls are still some parts that I have to work on, I do find myself proud of the bigger events that I plan and put energy and thought into making as enjoyable and productive as possible. Over the month of February, one of those trips was a flight out to Tasmania with my coworker Matthew to do a road trip around the Bay of Fires and some hikes around Freycinet. It even turned out later in March that another coworker asked Matthew and based his trip to the same area on the one we did and enjoyed his time as well. It felt wonderful after all of that planning, then, for all the little pieces to all fall together to make a great extended weekend. I also think I got better at finding and just going with the flow on picking restaurants to eat at while we were out and about. That never ends up finding it’s way to the top of my mind when I travel alone, as I always think of the road trip itself and the destination at the end of the trip, but I was able to focus more on just enjoying the time passing by on this trip. We walked around a few beaches (some of the softest sand I have ever felt!), and just generally took things slow, which for me is a great change of pace. That’s not to say we didn’t get a ton done, though!

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