Updated on February 4, 2024 by Angelika
After creating a good foundation for my blog in 2024 with over 20 blog articles, some of which are really extensive, I want to expand my contacts with other bloggers in the new year and take my blog to the next level. I prepared a lot for this in January. I also had some great experiences and new adventures.
Starting the Second Year of Blogging!
My membership in the annual blogger program The Content Society I have extended it for a year and am already looking forward to the topic suggestions and challenges from Judith Peterswhich is a source of inspiration for me. In February, for example, the blog decade is coming up - 10 blog posts in 10 days - and this time I want to take part. I can't yet imagine how this will work, but I'm going to try. After all, you grow with your tasks!
In January, I deepened my contacts with other travel bloggers and am delighted that I was able to work for WE TRAVEL THE WORLD to write a guest post. This will be my biggest (and favorite) project in February. In preparation for this, I wrote my post about the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Germany revised and for each federal state a Google Maps map in which all World Heritage sites for the respective federal state are marked.
My Pinterest account I have neglected it criminally over the last few months. To be honest, I didn't seriously stick with it after I created the first pins. That's set to change in 2024 and I've already started pre-planning pin graphics for February so that they are automatically published on Pinterest on the specified date.
In order to start my second year as a travel blogger with fresh energy, I had to work through a few things that had been left behind - for example, my tax return for 2022 (the year I registered as a freelancer). I still had a lot of receipts to enter into the Excel spreadsheet before I could send it to my tax advisor. I've now been able to tick this box and have my head free for blogging.
From Podcasts to Audiobooks
At the end of last year, after listening to podcasts since the pandemic, I also discovered audiobooks. I've hardly read any novels in recent years. When I wanted to read a few pages before going to sleep at night, my mind would drift off and I couldn't concentrate on the content of the book. In the middle of last year, I had a Audible subscription* without actually using it. That's why I wanted to cancel it in November, whereupon I received a message from Audible saying that I could still use my existing credit until the end of January. Luckily, I got my act together and decided not to let the credit expire, but to listen to a novel instead of an info podcast while doing housework or showering and getting ready in the morning. I realized that I can concentrate much better when listening to a novel than when reading it myself before going to sleep, where my eyes often fall shut after just two pages. I hadn't finished a novel for months and now I'm on my fourth really thick book in two months. I started with Ken Follett's three-volume saga of the century* (Fall of the Titans, Winter of the World and Children of Freedom)which is over 3,000 pages long in book form - I finished it in one month as an audiobook! Attention, high addiction potential! Embedded in exciting and interwoven family stories that take place in England, Russia, Germany and the USA, the reader or listener is chased through wars, crises and great moments of the 20th century in typical Follett style. From the First World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall, everything is included. These entertaining history lessons alone are worth the read.
At the moment I'm having speech artist Ulrich Noethen read to me Light Show*, language artist Daniel Kehlmann's latest novel. What a masterpiece! The then famous Austrian silent film director G.W. Pabst, who had actually already immigrated to Hollywood, returns with his wife and son to his Nazi-annexed homeland in 1939 to look after his sick mother. He is unable to leave due to the outbreak of war and a chain of adverse circumstances. The borders are closed and the Reich needs entertainment films for the people. The scene in which propaganda minister Goebbels uses promises and threats to persuade the now unemployed director to make a film with Leni Riefenstahl is great cinema in the truest sense of the word. It's hilarious how Kehlmann portrays Riefenstahl as an untalented pain in the ass. I haven't finished it yet, but one thing is already clear: this book will stay with me for a long time.
Excursions and Activities in January
12 out of 12 is a blog post that I write every month: In 12 pictures, on the 12th of the month, I take you to an interesting place in Baden-Württemberg that is within 1.5 hours' reach for me. On January 12, I visited Rottweilwhere there happened to be farmers protesting in the city center on the same day. I also took a look at the TK Elevator test tower for high-speed elevators.
With my daughter (who traveled all the way from Innsbruck for the weekend), my sister and my niece, I was in the immersive Tutanchamun exhibition in the Schleyer Hall in Stuttgart. It was a new and exciting experience for all of us. As I was only in Egypt in October, where I was able to marvel at the burial chambers in the Valley of the Kings live, it was particularly interesting for me to be able to explore Tutankhamun's tomb together with his discoverer during an augmented reality experience. Howard Carter virtually. My daughter made sure that I didn't completely lose my bearings by leading me by the hand. On the last adventure - the rapid flight into the realm of the dead - we both had to take off the VR goggles because we were getting dizzy. My sister and niece were tougher and kept going until the end. After the immersive exhibition experience, we ate at the Restaurant Ackerbürger for dinner in Bad Cannstatt. The herb-crusted rack of lamb with ratatouille and potato gratin was delicious!
Vacation Planning 2024
January is already over and so far I've only booked a week in Berchtesgaden for the end of May/beginning of June, where I'd like to go with my friend Jutta from northern Germany. I'd like to add a few more days in the Allgäu - that would be nice road trip.
I usually travel abroad with Paula from Australia, but due to her job she doesn't know when she'll be able to go on vacation this year. All sorts of destinations have already crossed my mind: Brazil, Sicily, the Amalfi Coast or South Africa again ... many things are still on my wish list. I'd rather do most of them with Paula than alone. So I'm postponing Brazil and South Africa until later and I'm fantasizing about a road trip that I can do in my own car - in a country that can be reached relatively quickly from my home near Stuttgart. It's no problem for me to go on such a road trip alone. Paula can book rooms that can be canceled as a precaution and decide at short notice whether she wants to accompany me. In preparation, I ordered the book Roadtrips Europa* travel bloggers Caro and Martin from WE TRAVEL THE WORLDwhich presents 20 fantastic round trips off the beaten track. The tour through western Slovenia really appeals to me. It takes you from Lake Bled via Triglav National Park, Tolmin and the Brda wine region to Piran on the Mediterranean and then on to Ljubljana. That sounds like a nice mix of nature and cultural experiences and I would love it. But the tour through Flanders also sounds great and would be feasible for me from home in my own car. I will decide in February!
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I would also like to travel with my sister again for a few days. It will probably be Regensburgthat my sister doesn't know yet and that I fell in love with almost two years ago at a Road trip through northern Bavaria fell in love 😍. Such a beautiful city!
My Blog Posts in January
2023 Year in Review: Kicking off My Blog Adventure
My comprehensive review of my first year as a travel blogger.
My trip to Rottweil in 12 pictures.
UNESCO World Heritage in Germany - All 52 World Heritage Sites at a Glance
In my article on Germany's 52 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, I have included an overview map for each federal state.
Outlook for February
- I'm writing my first guest article for the travel blog WE TRAVEL THE WORLD.
- I will be taking part in the blog decade of The Content Society participate.
- I'm still working on an epic blog post that has been on hold for a while: The 50 most beautiful regions in Germany
- I'm planning a road trip through a European country.
- I'm going on an interesting day trip at least on February 12.
And how was your January?
My year 2022 ended with Judith Peters' annual review challenge and subsequent registration for The Content Society's annual blogger program for 2023 read more
Wow! This summer just flew by! It's already fall again and I haven't written a single monthly review. Before read more
For 12 out of 12, I am once again exploring a town that I don't know myself. Although Rottweil is only just read more
Welcome to my last "12 out of 12" for 2023. Unbelievable that the year is almost over again ... Since read more
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Yay! Great that I found you via Judith's monthly review. I particularly enjoy networking with travel bloggers. Your January sounded like a wonderful month, I hope February will be just as nice... Greetings from Vienna, Gudrun
Dear Gudrun,
Thank you very much for your nice comment. I'm glad you found me, because of course I also like to network with other travel bloggers. I'll pop over to your blog right away.
Love,
Angelika