year in review: 2012

● Where was I? Argentina, Portugal, UK, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy & Uruguay.

Seems like I say the same thing every year, but where the heck did 2012 go?? Lots of guide releases (shown by asterisks above) took up time but so did travel. Below are some major events from this past year:

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JAN ● Over a week in Puerto Madryn with Darío’s niece & nephew… great fun & a much-needed dip in the Atlantic, released a 32-page Plaza de Mayo guide + a Plaza de Mayo-Recoleta Cemetery combo.

FEB ● Filmed a GlobeTrekker episode in Recoleta Cemetery, prepped for extended travel & future guide research.

MAR ● 3 months in Europe begins, lots of tile guide footwork in Lisboa, a few days in Glasgow, one week in Bucharest & a couple days in Rousse (Bulgaria), Kindle Fire delivered by Mike & Terri!

APR ● Tiles & more tiles! Caught up with Rick Steves in person in Lisboa, began working on Kindle e-book versions of my Buenos Aires guides, two side trips to Évora & Coimbra.

MAY ● Quick trip to Milan, a visit to one of the most spectacular cemeteries I’ve seen to date, Moo business cards arrived, let my Flickr pro account expire for good, Lisbon weather finally cooperates so it’s one long photo day after another, back to BA with a cacerolazo!

JUN ● A bit of rest… catching up on movies, seeing sites in BA still on the list, then drawing maps & redesigning what was back then a separate business website.

JUL ● Tile guide to Lisbon released, Darío gets a job at the British Council so we look for a new apartment, NYU wants me to do tours for them, investigating a 100-year old suicide in BsAs for a family descendant.

AUG ● Long weekend in Córdoba, pack & move to the new apartment, Plaza de Mayo Kindle Fire e-book released, began a Lisboa tumblr photoblog (now offline).

SEP ● 2-page spread for tile guide published in Time Out: Lisboa weekly magazine, memorable trip to San Martín de los Andes.

OCT ● birthday #42, long weekend in Montevideo, Once/Calle Paso Kindle e-book released, GlobeTrekker episode aired in Europe then later in the US.

NOV ● second Lisbon guide released (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos), Kindle e-book version finished a couple weeks later, website for Darío’s journal complete.

DEC ● begin work on Buenos Aires Art Nouveau guide, prepping tours for NYU, Christmas in Gualeguaychú with Darío’s family, & a fractured humerus as I write this.

While it may seem like I wasn’t so busy this year, I spent countless days scouring Buenos Aires & Lisbon for guide info. Not to mention computer time writing, researching, designing, refining the business plan & learning how to program an e-book. Stars in the graphic above represent guide releases… Whew! At times it was too much to deal with, but somehow I pulled through. I managed to perfect my tortilla española & a tasty rabbit dish. But I quit working out, so that’s a priority for the coming year. Speaking of which…

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What’s coming in 2013?

Tons. I’ll be moving to Esquel permanently in March… hello Patagonia! I’ll be spending more time in Europe because Darío is finishing his PhD, & I’ll guide a few tours for Rick Steves plus return to book research. How will this effect Endless Mile? Difficult to say but probably for the best… more on that in a future business post.

Without question I’ve missed reading Argentine classics like I did in 2011, so that’s definitely making a comeback. And I should write more for this blog if at all possible. I’ll have to find time to review some French since I’ll be working a bit there (c’est comme faire du vélo, non?). I might find myself in Poland & Serbia with Darío. I’ll definitely return to my dear Lisboa… if only for a short while.

Of course there are tons of little things I should focus on, but to be honest, it’s all about personal growth. This sounds corny, but when I’m doing what I love it energizes me & I transmit that happiness to others. At least that’s the idea. I hope everyone has a fantastic beginning to 2013 & a wonderful year!