The first month of 2025 is over. And it was a bumpy start. Let’s have a look.

As I mentioned at the beginning of 2025, I’ve decided to try and take a more measured approach, especially to hiking, with not as big focus on pushing myself to hike every weekend. This was to let me rest a bit more and avoid the burnout I faced a few times last year. That said, I still managed four hikes, even if they were easier and shorter – as I mentioned a week ago.

When it comes to reading, I started the year by finishing a book I started in the last days of 2024 and then continued the re-read of the series with the final book. I downloaded a couple of samples of other books and chose one of them to read after I finished this long-awaited re-read. It had left me with mixed feelings – but that’s something for the next post.

Meanwhile, January and February are typically flu season here, and a couple of coworkers were out at once, so I had one week terribly busy at work (which, I guess, contributed to me reading more to relax).

Meanwhile, I’m thinking more in-depth about some topics I’d like to eventually cover on this blog, each of them probably in a handful of installments. One of them is inspired by my October trip to the USA – given the major differences, I’m thinking about sharing how the hiking trail system in Central Europe works. The other two ideas teach topics bridging fiction and reality – a personal analysis of the relationship between men and romantic fiction, and the “strong female hero” archetype.

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So, that’s a quick retrospective of the first month of this year. I hope that the next month will be kind to you and you avoid any seasonal sickness.