8 things I’ve learnt in 2013

As 2013 draws to a close, I thought I would take the opportunity to look back over this last year. It’s been quite an important year for me in some ways: the first full year out of full-time education and in full-time work (at times I’m not sure which I liked more); my first trip back to both Germany and Russia since living there, and of course, starting this blog.

When I began to look back over the last year, it occurred to me just how much this year seems to have taught me, and so in a horrifically clichéd way, I decided to sum up the highlights and low points of my year in 8 lessons I learnt along the way…

• 1.       Writing is easy. Blogging is hard.

I think probably the most important thing I’ve learnt this year is that blogging isn’t easy. I love writing and always have done – I write a lot at work and am always eager to come home and carry on for hours when I have a good idea in mind.

But writing isn’t blogging. Or at least not just writing. Blogging means finding a balance between what you want to say and what your audience want to read. It means building relationships, thinking about search engines and analysing statistics. It’s been a massive learning curve in some ways, but a hugely enjoyable one!

• 2.       Going away costs money

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  Euro monument

Despite being a very obvious fact, this was something I learnt the hard way in 2013. Having very excitedly booked almost a trip a month from January til June, I suddenly found myself effectively grounded due to finances and remaining days of holiday (or lack thereof). Though I have a few trips potentially pencilled in for 2014, I am going to be far more careful when planning, to spread out my trips abroad.

• 3.       Business trips aren’t a holiday, but they are an opportunity

2013 introduced me to a whole new way of travelling: the business trip. Along with using my languages on a daily basis, the ability to travel is one of my favourite things about my job. I was hugely excited about my first trip (and my second, and my third…) but there is a very obvious truth about business trips: going to Munich doesn’t mean you’ll actually see Munich. But there is a great opportunity to tag a few days of holiday onto your trip to see some of the city and its surrounds, which allowed me to explore Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Munich this year.

• 4.       Germany is amazing

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  Castle courtyard, Heidelberg

I absolutely love Germany, which is just as well as I went three times this year. The occasions were for work purposes, but all three trips took me to a city I hadn’t visited before, and I managed to tag some days of holiday onto two of them. To date, I’ve now been to 8 of Germany’s 12 biggest cities and 12 of the 16 Bundesländer (Federal States).

• 5.       I love instagram

After finally upgrading from my Blackberry (never again), I installed what has since become (rather depressingly) the love of my life. While my own photos aren’t amazing, it’s incredible to see the fantastic photos people have taken in and around Manchester.

• 6.       Places can surprise you

Kos’ old town

Ok, I definitely knew this before 2013, but two places in particular really surprised me this year: Frankfurt and its beautiful skyscrapers, and Kos town with its hidden traditional teasures.

• 7.       You can’t control how people find your blog

One thing I discovered this year was that despite your best SEO intentions, you can’t choose why people find your blog. In around October, I realised that daily views for my post on a trip to Venice had risen dramatically. I checked the Google search referrals and saw quite a few searches for “prostitutes in Venice.” (My hostel was located next to a street well known for them).

The blog has since become so popular for this search that it now ranks 4^th on Google. This makes the title of my blog – chosen for our experience of the acqua alta – all the more unfortunate: “A wet weekend in Venice.”

8.       There are padlocks everywhere

Though this fad may have its origins in Belgrade (who knew?!) and was made popular by an Italian book, I can confirm from trips this year that this trend has spread to a bridge crossing the Main in Frankfurt, as well as railings along the river Mersey in Liverpool, where we actually witnessed a couple affix their lock on what was their 15^th wedding anniversary. This genuinely sweet moment was somewhat ruined when a woman walked past moments later and remarked, “Yeah, it’s what they do in Benidorm.” Call me a cynic, but I really, really hate these padlocks.

Iron footbridge, Frankfurt

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!