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New Season, New Blog Design, New EVERYTHING!

I don’t know what it is about the change of seasons, but no matter how hard I try to resist it, each season brings in its own onslaught of changes. I don’t usually resist change, but sometimes I need a breather! Yet with the leaves changing and winter on its way, I’ve actually never been more scared or anxious about the future than right now. There is so much happening in my life and I don’t know how to embrace it all. Carefully and slowly, I guess.

Oh how I would if I could! Rather, these changes have crept up on me like a freight train barreling down the tracks. Sometimes you just have to grab on and go go go. So, in the middle of too-much-going-on, I find myself suddenly overbusy, tired, stressed and anxious. But also excited, eager and—importantly—ready! Bring it on, world!

What’s got me all riled up? October has never been so difficult and yet it’s brought on a lot of new things…

Autumn in Berlin

New Blog Design!

At the beginning of October I quietly launched an entire new design for this blog. I started travelsofadam.com over five years ago one late night while I was living in Boston. It started as a place where I could start writing again, having written several (embarrassing) blogs throughout high school and college. With this year marking five years of travel blogging, though, I wanted to do something special. So with the help of a local designer and developer, my blog’s got a whole new design!

Travels of Adam

You’ll notice the homepage is much more exciting, with more features on the huge variety of content that already exists on the blog. I’m still trying to select the perfect photo (which has been a challenge when I’ve got hundreds of gigabytes of photos from the past five years!). But the one currently featured on my homepage is from last winter when I hiked up toward Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland.

With the new design, I’m still not shying away from the fact that this website is very much a blog. I love blogging; it’s my favorite form of publishing. And I take no shame in calling myself a blogger! In fact, you might find more frequent personal update posts now – and if you’re already subscribed to the email newsletter (sign up here!), you’ll probably have noticed my emails have already become more personal. I’m always happy to communicate with readers via email, so just make sure you’re subscribed to get my contact info!

The new blog design also makes it easier to find my older, but still relevant, content. I’ve written and published over 600 blog posts in the past 5 years! Plus you can browse my 11 hipster city guides, search by destination (over 80 places!) or view blogs by certain themes like hotels, fashion or gay travel.

Launching a redesign for the blog has been quite the endeavor and it’s one of the bigger changes I experienced this month. Plus it’s not over yet — there are more photos to sort, more stories to share… But if you’re following close, I just might have something exciting to share to celebrate the relaunch. Stay tuned :-)

Adam Instagram

First photo with my new Huawei Honor phone #accidentalselfie

New Phone!

To cap off a stressful month, in the past week my iPhone has started giving me troubles. Selifes were already impossible with the iPhone 4 because the front camera has been broken for months (except for the occasional spurts when it did decide to work!). But just as I was planning to call the phone quits and make my way to the bank to pay for an upgrade, a new phone seemingly landed in my lap!

I managed to snag one of the world’s newest smart phones: the Honor from Huawei. I was a bit skeptical at first, because I’ve been loyal to iPhones for a few years already, but as soon as I took this thing out of the box, I knew I’d like it. It was so light The phone is bigger than I’m used to but it still fits in my pockets (of my skinniest pair of jeans, no less!). And once I got used to the Android operating system, downloading my favorite apps has been easy peasy. Plus it’s damn fast. I’m not joking! Using it while I’m outside, disconnected from wifi, has never been easier. Uploading to Instagram has never worked so well for me — I even managed to do it half-drunk at a wine festival yesterday.

The phone is available in Europe next week, but if you sign up at hihonor.com in the next TWO DAYS, you can also try to get your hands on one of these–for free! They’re giving away 50 of them to celebrate their launch in Europe :-)

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Win a free Honor smart phone!

Want your own free smart phone?! Win one of 50 phones for FREE by clicking here! EASY! You just need to enter your email address before Tuesday for your chance to win: hihonor.com

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autumn in berlin

New season!

Autumn. I love it. No complaints here. But with the change of season, I’ve got several other bigger changes in the process. Least of all is the fact that I turn 30 in just a few short weeks! I’m not actually nervous about that…just ready to get it over with already. Especially because my 30th birthday coincides with moving into a new apartment which is exciting and fun, though that means a whole new set of challenges. I’ve already been scouring Pinterest for home decorating tips. I’m so excited to finally have some extra space so I can start buying vintage maps and globes!

Autumn has always an exciting time of year for me. Probably because as my birthday approaches each year, I sit down and reevaluate my goals for the past year. I look to see what I’ve done and what I still want to do. I make lists. Lots of lists. And then I start preparing for the next year. I’ve got big plans ahead and, at this point, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything to stop them from happening. Watch out world! I’m coming for you…

  1. Paris Marx says:

    The new blog design looks great, Adam! I’m not sure I’d be able to make the switch from iPhone to Android. All my devices are Apple. I’m simply trapped in their world (but I’m not complaining). Enjoy the new phone though, sounds like it’s working well for you.

    Best of luck with everything, and I’m looking forward to what you have coming in the future.

    • Adam says:

      Thank you Paris! So far, so good with the new Android phone. There have been some challenges, but the phone itself is really great and takes amazing photos, so I’m pretty happy about it overall.

  2. noel says:

    Great job and look Adam, it looks fresh, sleek and easy to maneuver….congrats

    • Adam says:

      Thank you Noel! I didn’t mention it above, but a lot of the design was actually under the hood. The site’s now responsible and very mobile-friendly :-)

  3. Beth says:

    Loving the new look!! And Android?! Not sure I could ever recover from my Apple addiction, but I’m glad you’re enjoying your new phone so far!

  4. rebecca says:

    love the new design!

  5. Lily says:

    Hey Adam, dunno if you remember me, I’m the CSer whose room came to view an apartment out in East Berlin in winter 2012… anyways just want to say it’s inspiring to see all your progress since then :) Your positive attitude is contagious! Keep it up! xoxo

    • Adam says:

      Hey Lily! Thanks – you’re the one who reminded me about going to the Dong Xuan market, I think! Hope you’re well :)

  6. WilburStitt says:

    Pretty nice post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wished to mention that I’ve truly enjoyed surfing around your weblog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing on your rss feed and I’m hoping you write once more very soon!

  7. Wow, that’s what I was exploring for, what a material! present here at this website, thanks admin of this website.

  8. tony says:

    Great to see your new design and good luck with the new phone.
    Looking forward to your 2015 blogs and travels

  9. nice design. Thanks

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