Pre-Internet, if I was going to another country, I bought two things: a Let’s Go guide or similar book and a phrase book. I needed the Let’s Go guide to find places to stay and know what to do, and I needed the phrase book because I was going to try as hard as possible to at least start the exchange in the other language.

I stopped getting the Let’s Go guide when we could book everything before we left the country. But I also let the phrase book go at some point. The internet and apps have made it easier than ever to learn another language. Or, at least, the basics provided by those old phrase books. And instead of learning more, I learned less.

I saw a great list of “side quests” you can do if you feel stuck on a project to get yourself out of your head, and one of the options was to learn 10 words in another language just because. I kind of love the idea of returning to this tradition, if not with a whole phrase book than at least with a phrase sheet. 10 words before the next trip.

I’m doing nothing for this weekend. I’m not going downtown to whatever is on the Mall. I’m not watching fireworks. I’ll read a book and bother the guinea pig, but that’s about it for this holiday weekend.

Do you have any plans?

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

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But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

A Half-Baked Life has a post about abiding. Being present and supporting a person is something that happened via her blog. She writes: “This space and the community I found through it have been so important to me for over fifteen years that it’s hard not to acknowledge; it’s also shaped the person I’ve become far beyond the page.” It’s a gorgeous post about how writing and reading can change who you are.

The roundup to the Roundup: No weekend plans. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between June 26 – July 3) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

I don’t usually reflect on items I’ve purchased as I’m using them, but these three things made the trip so much better that I feel like I need to put it down here, too.

Tom Bihn Side Hustle

This bag fit so many things, hugged my body, never got in the way as I walked, and was accepted as a bag in all museums. It got soaked in the rain, and everything inside stayed dry. It never felt heavy on my shoulder. It really is the perfect bag.

Alpha Keeper Belt

I am someone who stresses a lot about my passport due to too many friends/family members having their passports stolen. I could barely feel this belt the moment I put it on. I sometimes forgot to take it off when we got back to the room. It was that unnoticeable. It made me feel super safe.

New Phone

I agonized over getting a new phone. Did I really need a new phone? My other phone hadn’t died yet, and I usually only replace a phone when it becomes literally unusable. As in, it won’t turn on. But I decided that life was short, and I was going to get a new phone before we left. I didn’t get something super fancy, but the photos were definitely higher quality, and it made such a difference to not have emails take a minute to load.

This is a monthly series, published near the end of the month summarizing what I found, ate, watched, googled, and felt this month. New categories added from time to time.

Books Added to My TBR (e.g., books I just learned about that I’m excited to read… maybe)

• The Lowe Job (Grace Alexander)
• Valley of the Moms (Hannah Selinger)
• An Unlikely Visitor (Joanna Cannon)
• I Love You, I Love You, I Love You (Laura Dockrill)
• Alan Opts Out (Courtney Maum)
• The One Day You Were My Husband (Rosie Walsh)
• Fruit Fly (Josh Silver)
• Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger (Kazuo Ishiguro)
• The Ballad of Ronan McCoy (Colin Morgan)
• Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil (Oliver Darkshire)
• Mr. and Mrs. Dixon Hide a Body (Jennifer Holdich)
• A Planet Called Happy (Riley August)
• That Night (Gillian McAllister)

Notable Meals (new recipes, old favorites, and restaurant items we ate this month)

• Gnocchi alla Sorrentina at Da Mario.
• A vegetarian fry-up with potato bread.
• Fusilli pastore (pasta, pine nuts, spinach, cream sauce).

Television, Movies, and Music (watching and listening)

• We finished Last One Laughing UK, season 2, and it was fantastic. We missed the comedians from the first season, but we welcomed the new ones. Favourite moments: Jimmy’s prank on Romesh and the animal head-to-head session.
• We started Taskmaster, series 21. Delightful discovery: competitor Joanna Page is Just Judy from Love, Actually. We laughed hard every time Kumail Nanjiani left the room during a task, and Amy Gledhill and Joel Dommett would whisper to each other, “He’s so famous!”
• We watched so many episodes of The Chase while in the UK. I wish we could watch it here. Also Four in a Bed, which is on Tubi over here.

Added To My Ongoing Mix Tape

• “The Feminine Urge” (The Last Dinner Party)

Tabs I Left Open (things I Googled and left up on the screen)

• An article from 2019 about “Soviet Soldiers Dancing” from Twitter because we were talking about it.
• A menu for Honey & Co in London.
• A map of the ice cream trail in Maryland.
• The website for Hypnos mattresses.
• Jeremy Lee recipes on the BBC.
• The Wikipedia page for The Famous Five.
• A website about chalk horses in Wiltshire.

Micro-Joys

• Getting caught by the tide in St. Ives and running through the water back to land.
• Going to the amusement park with my nephews. I got dizzy on a ride, and my 7-year-old nephew said he would protect me by not having it spin, but then also let me know that because this was going to be less fun, he would like to go on the ride again. I love that kid.
• Talking to the kids at night and hearing about their travels.

Mood

• Trying to lean hard into only happy things.

What about you? Let me know what you’re eating, seeing, listening to, googling, feeling this month.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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Landmarkr has become a new joy because it’s not only a fun game, but it has given me travel ideas. The idea is that you’re given a picture of a landmark, and you need to name the country or city (it tells you which one). If you guess the correct continent but the wrong country, it will tell you that you’re at least in the correct general space. And then it gives you another landmark and another until you guess correctly.

The landmarks get increasingly obvious as you move through guesses. For instance, if the city were Paris, they may show you an obscure statue for your first guess, but by the time you get to your sixth guess, they’re showing you the Eiffel Tower. Landmarks can be buildings or items or natural formations.

Enjoy!

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.