AK Monthly Recap: February-March 2025

My travels in 2025 began with a six-week trip to Mexico and the US. Almost entirely to places I had visited before, with only Houston and Austin being new.

And while I’m usually able to keep up the work when traveling, it all fell apart these last two months. In part because of the turmoil in the United States, as the government fully embraces fascism, as phones are searched at borders for political opinions, as ICE kidnaps people, as many frequent visitors refuse to return to the United States, as the economy crashes while the billionaires get richer.

I know what to do as a citizen. I donate. I call my reps. I boycott. I amplify. I protest when I can, and support protestors when I can’t. I even make political travel videos on Instagram and TikTok.

But in terms of the work that actually earns me a living, I’ve felt frozen. I’ve been a professional travel blogger for 15 years. You don’t do any job for 15 years without going through tough times. But what we’re dealing with now is horrific and complicated on a level I haven’t experienced.

I’m in the middle of writing a much larger blog post about this issue, because it deserves to be fleshed out properly. You’ll get that soon.

And now that I’ve mustered up the energy to write about travel again, let’s take a look at the past two months. Under this happy-little-monthly-recap, there’s been more than a bit of screaming.

Destinations Visited

• Prague, Czech Republic
• Mérida, Dzibilchaltún, Progreso, Bacalar, Mexico City, Oaxaca, and Hierve el Agua, Mexico
• New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
• Webster, Houston, and Austin, Texas, USA
• Beverly, Gloucester, and Lynnfield, Massachusetts, USA
• Salem, New Hampshire, USA
• New York, New York, USA

Highlights

Three fabulous weeks in Mexico. If anything, I fell more in love with Mérida, appreciated that Bacalar hadn’t changed one bit, enjoyed Mexico City as much as usual, and fell a bit out of love with Oaxaca.

Has Mexico changed in the last few years? Of course. Restaurants have opened and closed. Mérida now has electric buses. American tourists on tours find ways to subtly throw shade at Trump to weed out the group, then exhale in relief when everyone else joins in.

But the biggest change across the board in Mexico was that every time we ordered a coffee at a nice cafe, the server would ask, “Leche normal?” Nicer cafes did have plant-based milks a few years ago, but servers didn’t automatically offer them to you! A subtle change that says a lot.

Some of the highlights? Swimming in wild cenotes near Mérida, returning to Los Rapidos in Bacalar, eating so much good food in Mexico City, and finally visiting the Hierve el Agua in Oaxaca.

Celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I’ve celebrated Mardi Gras once before, back in 2014, and I’ve always wanted to return and do it much better. Charlie, Nick, and I had an absolutely FABULOUS time, and I got to experience a lot of things I missed the first time around (like standing on a balcony!).

We also really loved our riverboat ride on the Creole Queen, where there were unlimited Bloody Mary’s and mimosas for just $25. A rare deal at Mardi Gras time.

After Mardi Gras, we drove to Houston for one night, just to visit the Space Center — and even took a tour of Mission Control, which is preserved to look just like in the late 60s!

Attending my first SXSW in Austin. Charlie loved attending the South by Southwest conference years ago, so when it lined up with Mardi Gras this year, we decided to do it! This conference is SO expensive, especially when you factor in accommodation, but we booked accommodation weeks before the dates were announced.

Was it worth it? I enjoyed a lot of it, but I don’t think it’s worth the investment if you’re coming here specifically to grow your business as a content creator.

(Then again, if you make that ONE magical connection that changes your life…of course it would be. But events designed around networking are rare here. If you want to network, you need to actively strike up conversations with strangers around you. Which is tough if you’re an introvert like me.)

I did go to a few useful workshops (my favorite one was about crowdfunding), attended a few comedy shows, and got to see Pedro Pascal and the cast of The Last of Us! The panels I most enjoyed were the political ones, and I got to see Elizabeth Warren, Ayanna Pressley, and Michelle Obama speak.

Also, Austin is all about the live music, which sounds good on paper…but I found all the venues to be way too loud to be enjoyable. Maybe that’s just part of getting older.

This was my first time visiting Austin, and to be honest, I waited too long. I really should have visited 10 or 15 years ago, when it was possible to earn a living as an artist and live decently. Austin’s transformation into a tech hub took a lot of the city’s character with it. (And I say this as someone who had LOTS of conversations with longtime Austin residents about how the city has changed.)

A nice quick trip back to Massachusetts. For lobstah, chowdah, family, and friends. My new home base has been in Beverly since my dad sold our home in 2023, and this time Charlie and I visited a lot of Beverly’s downtown shops and the library. It’s such a nice town!

My return to New York for the first time since 2020. Yes, seriously. It was weird staying away for five years after living there for four years!

The biggest highlight was seeing Tituss Burgess star in Oh, Mary! The funniest and strangest show I’ve ever seen. His engagement is over, but I highly recommend you go and see Cole Escola and the original cast!

Other first-time highlights were visiting the Museum of the Moving Image, finally visiting Roosevelt Island, and comparing the two burgers at Minetta Tavern. Of course we visited some of my favorite spots, from Harlem Public to Caveat, the Union Square Greenmarket, and Katz’s Delicatessen.

And again, we spent time with family and friends. We also celebrated a big milestone birthday for Charlie!

Good times in Prague. Honestly, there’s nothing like the first sip of a pilsner after a trip overseas because NO BEER IN THE WORLD EVEN COMES CLOSE.

Challenges

I injured what I thought was my hip while we were in Mexico. Between the on-and-off pain, the fact that I could no longer do a figure-4 stretch on one side, and that at one point I jumped off the bed, landed weirdly on my foot, and screamed in pain for about 30 seconds straight — I was terrified that it was the arrival of arthritis.

Thankfully, I saw the doctor in Prague and learned that it’s not arthritis or a bone issue — just a muscle issue that can be treated with a month of physiotherapy sessions. I’m grateful that it’s not anything worse than that.

That, and I had two separate colds, one at the beginning and one at the end of March. And because I’m still upset that one of my colleagues got me so sick at a conference in 2024, I masked at the conference. I was one of very few people wearing a mask. Not fun, but I’m glad I did it.

Also — you may remember from a few years ago that I had a gum infection while in Mexico City and struggled to find an emergency dentist who could take me. Well, this year the same painful symptoms arrived the morning that we were flying to New Orleans.

But three years older is three years wiser — so I bought some hydrogen peroxide and began rinsing my mouth with it. The pain went away within a few days! I’m so glad, because I did not want to pay through the nose to see a dentist in the US.

However, this is making me think that I shouldn’t brush my teeth with the water in Mexico, since this has happened twice. I never drink the water, but I brush my teeth with it. Maybe I should stick to purified water for that.

Oh, and finally, I got a nosebleed on the streets of Austin! My first nosebleed since I was a kid, and HOLY CRAP WAS THERE A LOT OF BLOOD. Two strangers offered me napkins and wet wipes, which was so kind of them.

Blog Posts of the Month

10 Fab Things to Do in San Teodoro, Italy — If you want a beach vacation in Italy, forget the Amalfi Coast — San Teodoro in Sardinia has exactly what you want.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kate McCulley | Travel Blogger (@adventurouskate)

Most Popular Reel on Instagram

I relaunched one of my most popular reels of all time — Where Italians Actually Go. The first one got 7.5 million views. And yes — the second time was the charm. Despite not using a trending audio like I did the first time, this one got 1.9 million views, and quite a few sign-ups for my mailing list.

I need to do more of these.

For more updates from my travels, follow me on Instagram at @adventurouskate — you can also follow me on TikTok at @adventurouskate!

What I Wore This Month

Last year I started transitioning my wardrobe to natural fibers — mostly wool, which I now wear a ton of. My time in Mexico, especially blisteringly hot Mérida, gave me a chance to test-drive which of my new items would work best in summer heat.

And my absolute favorite is this dress from Wool&. Wool& uses several different kinds of wool in their clothes, but this material is their lightest and thinnest — the Signature 160 — and it’s a nice, loose, comfortable swing dress. You can wear it loose, but it looks fancy enough for a night out when you belt it.

I am going to live in this dress all summer. And Wool& just added a bunch of new colors — so I had to grab it in teal as well!

What I Watched This Month

The Pitt. This show is utterly outstanding. The Pitt is a medical drama on Max starring Noah Wyle as an attending physician in the ED of a trauma center in Pittsburgh. Each episode is one hour of a 15-hour shift, shot in real time like 24.

What makes this show so great? Medical professionals are saying it’s the most realistic medical TV show they’ve ever seen. No soap opera drama — just people doing their often-impossible jobs. (And because it’s on Max, it’s a lot gorier than network shows. I hate gore, but I just look away at those brief moments.)

Each character is fleshed out SO beautifully over the course of this 15-hour shift. Some you adore, a few you can’t stand, but each of them are drawn out so richly. I especially love one doctor who is a realistic neurodivergent character — not a savant or someone with no social skills, but someone who steps aside to stim and is sensitive to patients in the way others don’t get.

And overall, it’s a fast-moving show, which makes it perfect for watching while on the elliptical, and the episodes go by so quickly.

What I Listened To This Month

I’m listening to all 500 of Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, which I am enjoying immensely. I am loving discovering new artists and listening to albums I’ve somehow missed my entire life until now!

In February, I listened to albums 435-401, and I took a break from the list in March but picked it back up in April. Here are the highlights:

Favorite Discovery: Risqué by Chic. I’m a big disco fan ordinarily, and think the genre doesn’t get nearly enough respect as it deserves. Because when disco is good — and this album is as good as disco gets — it’s transformative.

I love this album for its detailed musical arrangements with a full orchestra. Give me all the strings and the horns. This is the late 70s personified, dancing all night.

Other Favorite Discoveries: Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny, Supreme Clientele by Ghostface Killah, Arular by M.I.A., Everybody Knows This is Nowhere by Neil Young, That’s the Way of the World by Earth, Wind & Fire.

Favorite Revisited Album: Confessions by Usher. Honestly, I’m still salty that this album didn’t win all the Grammys — because Ray Charles happened to release a duets album and die the same year, and therefore he swept everything and nobody else had a chance.

Confessions is such an awesome album, so emblematic of a specific time (my college years!), with a great mix of dance tracks and ballads, all with the same message: “I’m bad but I’m also a lot of fun.”

Favorite Songs: “All About U” by 2Pac feat. Yaki Kamari, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Fatal; “Yo No Soy Celoso” by Bad Bunny; “Nutmeg” by Ghostface Killah feat. RZA; “Standing in the Shadows of Love” by the Four Tops; “Open My Eyes” by Nazz; “That’s the Way of the World” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

Get the playlist: I’m creating a playlist of my favorite songs from the 500 albums — maximum one per album — on Spotify. You can listen to it here.

Lowlight of the Month: New Day Rising by Hüsker Dü. (Say it with me — more like Hüsker Don’t!) Mediocre punk with voices you could barely hear. I have no idea why this album is lauded.

Random Thought: This is the first month I recognized one of the songs from this challenge on the radio: Paul McCartney’s “Monkberry Moon Delight”! I’m retaining what I hear!!

Also, this was the third month of the challenge and the first month that I listened to artists’ second albums on the list: Bad Bunny, Marvin Gaye, and Al Green. There will be far more in the future.

And sadly, this was the first month when an artist I had listened to passed away — Roberta Flack. RIP.

What I Read This Month

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (2025) — THE NEWEST HUNGER GAMES BOOK!! I have been waiting for this book for SO long, read the whole thing within 24 hours, and have been thinking about it and talking about it ever since.

This book is the story of the 50th Hunger Games — the story of Haymitch, Katniss’s mentor. Haymitch’s games were a Quarter Quell and had a twist — double the usual number of tributes were reaped, 48 in total.

The theme of this book is the power of propaganda. This book, more than the other Hunger Games books, goes into depth about how the Capitol only shows the story they want told — everything else is kept hidden.

While Katniss and Peeta watched a video of Haymitch’s games, there is SO MUCH MORE that the world never saw because it was kept hidden. And you find out EVERYTHING that happened in this book. Katniss didn’t start the revolution. She was just the first attempt that succeeded.

As always, this book is very useful for understanding the political environment we’re living in today.

One last thing: a lot of people have asked if it’s necessary to read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the first prequel about President Snow as a teenager, before Sunrise on the Reaping. A lot of people didn’t read it because they didn’t want to get into his twisted, evil mind. I didn’t read it until this past fall, and I really enjoyed it as a world-building story (and the movie is one of my favorite casts in quite some time).

My recommendation? You can technically read Sunrise and understand the plot without reading Ballad, but you will get SO much more out of it if you read the book first. The people saying, “I didn’t read it and I was fine!” have no idea what they’re missing.

Coming Up in April 2025

This is a month with zero travel on the schedule! Spring is my favorite time of year in Prague, and I love the official swapping of winter coats for trench coats, the reopening of outdoor dining, and the way flowers burst into bloom everywhere.

Do I have any tangible plans? Nope, and I’m happy for it.

What did you get up to in February and March? Share away!

The post AK Monthly Recap: February-March 2025 appeared first on Adventurous Kate.