Ah, October, one of the best months of the year. The month began in Madagascar with a few days in Nosy Be before flying to Prague, heading to Piemonte for a weekend, and coming back to enjoy the rest of the fall colors.
I’m thrilled to be enjoying a few weeks of quiet before I hit the road again.
Let’s take a look at the month!
Table of Contents
Destinations Visited
- Nosy Be, Madagascar
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Alessandria, Asti, Monforte d’Alba, Barolo, Bra, Alba, Castagnole delle Lanze, Biella, Occhieppo Inferiore, Baveno, Meina, and Arona, Italy
Highlights
Two bonus days in Nosy Be! Well, that came about because my flights were cancelled a third time, and Air Austral couldn’t get me on a flight until 48 hours later. More time with my friends, and two more nights at the best hotel? Sure!
After experiencing the unrest in Antananarivo, there was a lot of uncertainty in the air about what would happen next. I was incredibly relieved to land on EU soil in Réunion — not to mention getting out 10 days before there was an actual coup.
A weekend trip to Piemonte. Charlie and I went to the Italian region of Piemonte for a long weekend. If you’re looking for actual fall vibes in Italy in October, Piemonte is one of the best places you can go.
We spent two nights in Monforte d’Alba and one night in Biella, driving around and mostly exploring the Langhe region of southern Piemonte. We got to enjoy vineyards streaked with gold, pretty little towns, and copious white truffles on the menu!
I also had some wine (my first alcohol since starting 75 Hard in June) and…I don’t think I like Barolo anymore? That was my favorite!! I think I’m more into Barbera d’Alba now.
Either way, it was so nice to be in Italy (our only visit this year), soaking up the relaxing vibes. When we weren’t dealing with car craziness, that is.
Fun times in Prague. Fall is pretty gray here most of the time, but the temperatures are lovely, and it’s a great month for getting out and exploring.
I discovered two new great restaurants this month. Bistro Habibi is a cozy little Jordanian restaurant run by Jordanian and Palestinian owners. The mezze were huge, intense, and delicious — and the beef fatteh blew our minds.
(Note that there are a few places with the name Habibi in Prague — this is the one on Vratislavova.)
Mexická is a high-end and creative Mexican restaurant that puts their own spin on a lot of dishes. We had a lot of unusual tacos, but the true standout was a dessert: pineapple cooked in caramel sauce with vanilla ice cream.
I am grateful that there are a handful of great Mexican restaurants in Prague. I still love Alebrijes for typical Mexican food, but Mexická is fun for something different.
Challenges
The electric car follies. Charlie and I had QUITE an adventure with our electric car rental in Italy! We had only rented an electric vehicle for one UK trip so short that we didn’t even need to charge it. And let me say that WE WERE NOT PREPARED.
We landed at Milan Malpensa, and by the time we got to the city of Alessandria, 75 minutes away, our battery was already two-thirds depleted.
Turns out different electric vehicles handle highway driving differently — and on our Peugeot, it chewed up the battery FAST. So we decided to avoid the autostrada for the rest of the trip (sad for me, I love the Italian tradition of insulting the autostrada machine after it says “arrivederci”).
Now, this was probably naive on my part, but I assumed you could find a charging station, swipe your card, plug yourself in, and charge. It was NOT that easy. Most of the chargers require you to have an established account on their own app, and apps vary.
Additionally, it’s tough to find charging stations in Italy via Google Maps, as the information is often incorrect. So we signed up for the Plentitude app, which has a good amount of charging stations in Piemonte.
However, in a classic example of Italian disorganization, Plentitude currently can’t create new accounts with non-Italian phone numbers, and it takes about three business days to create a new account. (Amazingly, we could call in and speak to a human who told us this.)
You know how much I love Italy, but this is the kind of stuff that happens all the time and IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. Just a complete lack of efficiency.
So we were able to create a guest account that would tide us over through the weekend, but because Apple Pay was “coming soon,” (come on, Italy, is it REALLY that hard to implement Apple Pay?!), we had to manually fill out tons of personal and payment information in the app before each charge.
None of the chargers charged at a rate they advertised — if it were “up to 12 kh,” it would stop at around 6-8. That may have been an issue with our specific vehicle model. Additionally, to our consternation, our vehicle did not have a cord that could accommodate the super-fast chargers.
We survived — and we also had a very nice weekend! Let’s not forget that! But I’ve learned a lot of things going forward that I want to share with you.
1. If you’re renting an electric car, have a way to charge it overnight. Whether that’s accommodation that has a charger (if you can reserve it, even better!), or staying in a big city with lots of chargers, it will make your life far easier if you can charge overnight. Our first two nights were in a small town with no chargers, which meant we had to charge by day.
2. Heading somewhere busy? Say, Alba for the white truffle fair? You’re not getting a charger. They will ALL be taken. Don’t bank on being able to charge near a popular event.
3. Do your research on electric vehicles and choose one that is suited for your kind of driving, especially if you plan on doing lots of highway driving. Then again — the car rental people will give you what they give you, so sometimes you can’t plan for that.
Let me be clear that I am so grateful that electric cars have become popular, and they are much better than gas vehicles in the long run. We hope to get a plug-in hybrid when Charlie is ready for his next car.
But at this point in time, the infrastructure is not quite where it needs to be in some areas. It will be someday. It isn’t yet. Definitely not in rural Italy.
Pushing it too hard with fitness. My biggest personal mistake of the month was jumping back into my usual strength routine, no modifications, after nearly a month away.
It felt good in the moment. Then I was in INCREDIBLE PAIN for about five days. Let this be a lesson to you — if you’ve taken a break from strength training, lift lighter than usual on your first day back and see how your body takes it!
I also had to deal with a cold for about a week of the month. Fun times.
Blog Posts of the Month
The Truth About Visiting Paris in Winter (Good and Bad) — Paris is one of my favorite cities to visit in the winter — and now, more than ever, considering that it’s the only time you can have a peaceful environment at the Musée d’Orsay.
26+ Fun Things to Do in San Sebastián, Spain — This little city in the Basque Country is one of the best food and drink destinations I’ve ever visited — but even if that isn’t your thing, there’s plenty for you to enjoy!
19+ Cool Things to Do in Bilbao, Spain — I was shocked at how much I loved Bilbao, and how livable I found it as a city. Here are some great ways to spend your time here.
Most Popular Reel on Instagram
I went to Mauritius for a three-day taster trip — and I’m perfectly fine if I never return. Is that a sign of a bad trip? Not at all — I think my trip was a big success.
You can see this video on Instagram or on TikTok about what happens when you realize a certain destination is NOT for you.
Fashion Moment of the Month
I don’t think I’ve shared my beloved raincoat here before — and I’m wearing it a lot lately because, well, Prague in October.
This raincoat is from Rainsisters, a small company run by three sisters in Latvia. They make the most beautiful raincoats you’ve ever seen.
I won’t lie to you, they’re pricey. But wearing this amazing, purple flower-covered coat brightens my days SO much, and I’ve had it for more than a year and the cost per wear is down to $7.24, and I know it has at least a few more years of wear ahead of it!
A few of my friends have asked if they should get one, and I’ve told them all the same thing: get one in a cool pattern. Don’t get a plain black coat that goes with everything. The cool patterns are what make these coats head-turners.
And as a Latvian American, I’m happy to support a small business in Latvia!
What I Watched This Month
Platonic Season 2! I love this Apple TV show so much and I feel like so few people watch it or talk about it! This is a comedy starring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne about two best friends in their 40s and the various hijinks they get up to.
This is one of the funniest comedy series out there, and I love how there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO romantic tension between the two leads. Just taking that completely off the table opens it up for more plot lines.
Also enjoying Great British Bake Off this time around. Though I wish there weren’t such an obvious front-runner. It’s more fun when it could be anyone.
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 October, I listened to a smaller number than usual — albums 227-210. Here are the highlights:
Favorite Discovery: Ray of Light by Madonna. It seems odd to include it here as a discovery because it came out when I was in high school and I can sing along with three or four songs.
But listening to the album in full for the first time, I appreciate it so deeply. Every song has this underwater/electronic feeling, and these are some of the best vocals she’s ever recorded. It’s a really nice combination. It made me wish I had actually picked this up in high school.
While going through this challenge, I’ve come to appreciate a small collections of albums that sound perfectly from a specific moment in time, but also are so timeless they could be from today. Ray of Light is one of those, along with The Diary of Alicia Keys, Rihanna’s ANTI, Mary J. Blige’s What’s the 411?, Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1841.
Other Favorite Discoveries: “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” by Derek and the Dominos, “Definitely Maybe” by Oasis, “Wild is the Wild” by Nina Simone.
Favorite Revisited Album: The first album I ever bought for myself was TLC’s CrazySexyCool. I was 10 years old. And I’m so proud of my musical taste as a 10-year-old, because it’s number 218 on the top 500 albums today!
And while this album might sound a little bit dated today, it’s an incredible force. These girls were absolute magic together, and this album paired them with the best producers that made them such a big part of the 90s. A great mix of R&B and hip-hop. I will never forget the weird “Sexy” interlude.
RIP, Left-Eye. I can’t imagine what she would have given us in music if she hadn’t died so young.
Favorite Songs: “Live Forever” by Oasis; “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?” by Derek and the Dominos; “Glaciers of Ice” by Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and Masta Killa; “Friend of the Devil” by Grateful Dead; “Oh Yoko!” by John Lennon; “That’s All I Ask” by Nina Simone.
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: I’ve talked a few times about how New Wave is the genre that just irritates me every time I hear it. And one of the bands I enjoy least in the genre is Joy Division (including back when they were New Order). This month I listened to their album Unknown Pleasures and it gave me…absolutely nothing. It’s rare for an album to give me nothing.
Also, I love Ray Charles and appreciate his influence, but putting on a 53-song compilation album on this list and it doesn’t even include “Hit the Road, Jack” or “Georgia on my Mind”? Come on!
Random Music Thoughts: This month I listened to John Lennon’s Imagine on October 9 — what would have been his 85th birthday. What a coincidence. I had no idea until I saw Paul McCartney post about it on Threads.
Other great music this month: This month a new album came out that blew me away: Lily Allen’s West End Girl. THIS ALBUM IS FUCKING STUPENDOUS. I have been yelling at everyone I know to listen to it.
It is a chronology of everything that happened after she caught her husband cheated, and it’s so vulnerable, so raw, something that so many women can relate to — yet the songs are ABSOLUTE BOPS. Just so much fun and a pleasure to listen to.
Give this album a listen. It’s SO good.
Coming Up in November and December 2025
This month, it gets exciting!! Charlie and I spending the first few weeks of the month at home, then making a quick weekend trip to London to see his family and hopefully some of our friends, too.
And at the end of November, we will be off for a month — starting with four weeks in the Caribbean! Charlie has a tough time with the dark days of December, and suggested we spend the month somewhere sunny.
We are flying into Curaçao for a few days, then heading to Barbados for a few more.
Next up we are doing a weeklong small ship cruise with Star Clippers, who are hosting us. I am not a large ship cruise person, but I have loved the small ship expeditions I’ve done to Antarctica and Eastern Canada, so I’ve been eager to try a small ship in the Caribbean.
This is an amazing little ship that can sail with real sails — and you can even climb up to the crow’s nest! And the best thing about small ship cruises in the Caribbean is that you can visit the less-visited ports that aren’t big enough to accommodate megaships.
Our cruise itinerary starts in Barbados and visits Tobago Keys and a few random islands in the Grenadines; St. George’s, Grenada; Kingstown and Bequia, St. Vincent; Fort-de-France, Martinique; and Marigot Bay and Soufrière, St. Lucia, before returning to Barbados.
After the cruise, we will fly to Dominica for six days, followed by St. Martin (the French side) for three days before catching a flight home to Boston for Christmas. We’ll be spending time with my family and friends in Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont.
All of the Caribbean destinations are new to me except St. Martin (and even then, I only saw the Dutch half of the island on a brief shore excursion years ago). Countries number 92-96 will be Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Lucia, and Dominica. Closing in on 100!
I’m pretty sure that I will be skipping the November recap due to my busy schedule, and instead doing a joint November-December recap, so don’t expect to see it until January. Same with the “best of the year” posts this year.
And of course, since this is a long trip, our beloved cat sitter will be returning to live at our apartment and take care of Lewis and Murray. All three of them adore each other.
Have a great holiday season!
What are you planning for November and December? Share away!
The post AK Monthly Recap: October 2025 appeared first on Adventurous Kate.
