Hi! It’s been a while! After setting up this Substack with gusto late last year, when my work life was super exciting (I was researching a guidebook) and thinking I wanted to share my career musings with the world, I ran out of steam. But I love writing and connecting with people, so rather than forcing something that still feels like work, I want to take this newsletter in a more fun direction…
52 New Things
I have a regular dinner date with a group of women friends. Every time, the person organising the dinner proposes a toast, and each of us gets a turn to speak to the topic of that toast. The toast comes with some type of question or food for thought or word of the day. Last time, my friend Vix asked “What lights you up?”
Call it a rut or comfort or pending mid-life crisis or an attempt to ward off dementia or ennui or the need for self care after some challenging times, but I’ve been actively seeking out activities that spark joy. New experiences, just for fun, not because they’re part of my career. I spent my 20s and 30s focused on building my career and the skills and experiences I needed for that, that somewhere along the way I forgot to do things just for fun. Activities or the acquisition of new skills that I won’t sell or that have any purpose in my career, but that I do for the pure fun of them: things that light me up.
So I’ve set myself a challenge, which I hope will really just become a way of life. I’m going to actively seek out something new in my life each week (and there are 52 weeks in a year, hence the title “52 New Things”). I don’t mean just eat at a new restaurant or to try a new flavour of chip. I mean a new craft or method of meditation or exercise activity or philosophy or language or… anything that gets me excited to try. Maybe some things will stick and become a regular hobby, and maybe others won’t. That’s not the point.
I live in a small city so the possibilities aren’t endless, but on the other hand they are everywhere once I go out looking for them. I’ve already made a list of about 30 things I’m wanting to try, and I’m sure that’s just scratching the surface.
I hope my musings might be inspirational or introduce you to something new that you might like to try. Perhaps you could join me on the challenge? Let me know if you do.
So, first up…
52 New Things #1: Hot-Air Ballooning in the Hunter Valley!
I travelled to Australia last month to visit my brother, who loves in Newcastle, a city in New South Wales north of Sydney. My dad also came on the trip and it was his 70th birthday, so my siblings and I planned a surprise hot air ballooning flight in the Hunter Valley, a wine-producing region inland from Newcastle.
I’m not exactly scared of heights, but I didn’t quite know what to expect. I thought the experience might be a little scary, but it wasn’t at all. It was just really calm and peaceful. The weather was absolutely perfect, a still and slightly foggy mid-autumn morning. We started just after sunrise (which had meant a 3.30am wake-up in Newcastle; luckily we were still two hours ahead on NZ time!) I had no idea how big hot-air balloon baskets were but there were about 15 passengers in ours.
We floated for about an hour, watching the fog roll out of the Hunter Valley and even spotting some kangaroos fighting in the fields below us. We also had to have a couple of attempts at landing to avoid landing on a herd (is that the right word!?) of kangaroos hanging out having their breakfast. I only mention the kangaroos to this extent because it’s been almost 10 years since I left Australia (I lived there for around four years) and I’ve clearly lost my blasé attitude towards them.
So as far as new experiences go, this was a pretty special one. I thought it might be something to tick off, like, been there, done that, but I can definitely see myself wanting to go ballooning elsewhere in the world, for different views. Ten-out-of-ten recommend.
Oh, and the flight was followed by breakfast at a winery and a few early morning wines. Which meant some major afternoon napping that day.
Have you been hot air ballooning? Where do you recommend doing it!?
Love this idea Elen! A friend wrote ‘52 Things to Do in Basilicata’. It seemed a tall order for such an isolated region of Italy (and mine here in Irpinia) but I may just have to challenge myself with your idea to regularly move past the local & out into the beyond.