Welcome to my Year in Review, in which I share stories and photos for (1) your entertainment and (2) the practical purpose of remembering what on earth happened over the past 12 months. Enjoy!
The Big Picture
January: Switzerland & Spain
I started the year by stashing my bicycle in Vienna, dancing my butt off in Switzerland, and hopping a flight to Spain to share a rental house in Valencia with two dance friends for the rest of the month.
Located close to beach and nature, yet within striking distance of the city, the Valencia house served as a delightful winter homebase and inspired a future Unschool Adventures trip. I also crossed paths with many old friends and welcomed many newer friends as houseguests.
February: Portugal, Netherlands, England
Scooting westward into southern Portugal, I joined my friend Dana (plus some of her friends) for another week-long house-share, this one with two young children. Running in the red-and-green hills with trees flowering in early February made me feel like winter might last so long.
My next destination—the Netherlands—quickly cured me of that illusion. Fortunately I wasn’t there to enjoy the outdoors, but to join another incredible fusion weekend and gave a talk for a democratic school before heading to England to see dance friends in London and Bristol.
March-April: Ireland, Scotland, Greece, Turkey
Continuing my tour of The Great Rainy North, I flew to Ireland (first time!) to join my mom for a weeklong mother-son roadtrip: seeing the sights, visiting her friends, and crafting many entertaining TikToks en route. A quick stop to visit friends in Edinburgh proceeded a longer flight to Athens, where I met the Unschool Adventures Greece & Turkey group, whom my good friend and trip co-leader, Dev Carey, had shepherded from NYC.
For the next six weeks I walked, hiked, bussed, and ferried across central Greece, the Greek Islands, and western Turkey with Dev and 13 fun-loving teenage unschoolers. It was a challenging trip for logistical and personal (body trouble / lower back instability) reasons, but overall, it was a success: my 25th Unschool Adventure, and my first visit to both Greece and Turkey.
May: France, Austria, Germany
From Istanbul I flew to Marseille to visit a friend and then dance & DJ in Toulouse. I recovered my bicycle in Vienna, joined a “contact improvisation” weekend with friends in Innsbruck, took a night train to join an epic dance weekend in Berlin (which I wrote about), and then trained/cycled my way across Germany to see friends (old and new) in Leipzig, Bamberg, Munich, Seeg, and Freiburg.
June: Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland
Another night train—oh how I adore them!—teleported me to Amsterdam where I visited my friend Anouk, gave my first private dance lesson to her boyfriend, and danced in Utrecht. Then I hopped over to Brussels to run my next Unschool Adventures program—Gap Year Launchpad—with 17 young adults.
For 10 days, my fabulous co-leaders and I trained our participants (ages 18-21, all from the US) in the art of low-budget, long-term, high-connection travel. Then we handed each one a Eurail pass and sent them out into the world to begin their first independent travels. This was more of a “teaching” program than my typical trips, but it still offered loads of free time & first-hand experience for the participants.
For the rest of the month I took my bicycle on a sweaty whirlwind train tour (there wasn’t much actual riding) through Paris, Lyon, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, northern Italy, and finally Zurich—to see friends, exploit my newly activated 3-month Interrail pass, and dance dance dance!
July: Austria + neighbors
After six solid months of constant migration, I was ready for a homebase. So I moved into a furnished apartment in Vienna (which I’d arranged in January), dropped my stuff, hosted a few friends and Couchsurfers, and turned right around to make quick trips to hike in the Swiss Alps with my friend Nate, dance “neotango” in Prague, and pop into Bratislava. (The Interrail pass meant I could take any train, anywhere in Europe, anytime—making it very hard to stay put.)
A new dance friend, Tanja, told me about “Impulstanz”—a series of contemporary dance workshops that take place every summer in Vienna—and I signed up for a wonderful week-long class titled So Let it Be Free, taught by a fellow American expat and UC Berkeley graduate. I also began swimming in an Olympic-length outdoor pool and taking long trail runs in the hills above Vienna, each a short bike ride from my apartment.
August: Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium
Peak summer! I hiked with friends in Innsbruck, intercepted my old friend Patrick in Berlin, danced in central Germany (with a highly memorable afterparty), attended lots of outdoor fusion socials in Vienna (adjacent a gothic church), went on another hut-hiking adventure with Nate in Switzerland, and finally night-trained north to Belgium to visit my friends’ communal “House of Abundance” for a five-year anniversary party.
September: UK, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Italy
From Belgium I chunneled to London (first time!) and continued onwards to rendezvous with my little sister, Olivia, for a few days of rainy hiking in the Lake District before she started a Master’s program. Olivia is a former Deer Crossing Camp camper/instructor (like me), and we met a few other OG-DCCers. Then I turned right around to dance & sauna with friends in Bristol, chunnel to Amsterdam, and then night-train back to Vienna. EXHALE. That’s a lot of travel—especially for someone paying rent in Vienna. Yet travel I must, for a traveler I am. And apparently, I’m a dance weekend organizer, too.
I hopped another train to help run Creme de la Connection: a dance weekend with a special focus on “connection,” held at a riverside monastery in Germany, which my friend Flouer Evelyn (dancer/teacher/organizer extraordinaire) and I had been scheming for two solid years. With the assistance of three fusion friends from Vienna—Dana, Eli, and Andy—we finally brought it to life. For four nights we hosted up to 80 people for social dancing, connection games (run by yours truly), workshops, discussions, riverside lounging, and loads of delicious food. This was a MASSIVE effort, and one that drew up all my skills as an organizer, facilitator, high-volume cook, dancer, friend, and ex-boyfriend (😅). Long story short, it was amazing! Photos here.
The month concluded with a quick trip to hang with Tanja on the Italian Riviera and dance my butt off (can’t stop/won’t stop) at another fusion weekend near Torino. Then back to Vienna, for real.
October: Austria, Poland, Czechia
I really, truly, mostly spent October in Vienna! Roy, a friend from California (and the dad of my long-time friend Vince) crashed with me for a few nights. I spent more time with Vienna friends, hosted Couchsurfing friends, and made trips to Krakow (to dance) and Prague (to teach dance connection).
November: Austria, Denmark, Switzerland
November brought the first printed test copy of Dirtbag Rich, the book I’d been working on all year. I visited old friends (with a new child) in Denmark, danced at a big microfusion event in Copenhagen, organized little microfusion socials in Vienna, and spoke for teens at a new alternative school in Zurich.
One cherished memory involves a certain trail run in the hills above Vienna. This lollipop loop—a ~2-hour run with a ~40 minute roundtrip bicycle approach—was my constant companion in the year’s final quarter. I relished the changing of the leaves, the cooling air, and ultimately, the crunch of snow under my feet.
People ask how I feel “connected to place” when I move around so much. Here’s one answer: I find a piece of nature to connect with, and I return over and over again. So much good thinking, relaxing, and emotional processing happened on this loop! I felt immensely grateful for living smack-dab between this quiet forest and the bustling center of Vienna.
December: Austria & Switzerland
In the final month of 2025 I was mostly in Vienna: putting the final touches on Dirtbag Rich, hosting visitors and group dinners, touring the beautiful Spittelau waste incinerator, and dancing+DJing at a new weekend (organized by some of my Creme de la Connection collaborators). I also made quick trips to Graz, Innsbruck, and Brno to see important people.
The holidays were quiet, with lots of reading, writing, and running. On the 29th I leave my Vienna sublet, return to Switzerland to celebrate the New Year and join the same dance weekend that kicked off 2025, stash my bicycle with a friend—and then return to life on the road!
Here’s what I’m up to in 2026—and where we might cross paths.
Behind the Scenes
Condensing each month into a few paragraphs is painfully difficult, as I skip so many important moments, names, and internal journeys. (If you weren’t mentioned, don’t take it personally—you are not forgotten!) Here’s a bit of what was happening behind-the-scenes in 2025.
💖 Romance
My romantic life in 2025 involved less pain and more clarity than 2024, thankfully. The year started with a hopeful connection in Vienna that crumbed (respectfully) some months later. Spring brought lightness and surprise. Summer brought deeper connection. And Autumn brought a delightful synthesis of surprise and depth. (I’m keeping it abstract—that’s all you get, until we meet in person!)
🫂 Friends
My European friendships deepened immensely this year; I fear I’m now bi-continental by default. I maintained my North American friendships decently well over the past year, but I’m also starting to feel the friction of 2+ years abroad—and I’m absolutely looking forward to returning next year to reconnect IRL with many important people .
It wasn’t all roses. Going from “romantic” to “just friends” continues to be tough, and I struggled to support a friend facing a major depression. But overall, I feel friendships are what I continue to get right, year after year.
💡 Creativity
SUCH A GOOD YEAR! In January, the “dam burst” for writing Dirtbag Rich, and by summer, I had a first-draft manuscript in hand. Some excellent peer+professional feedback polished it up, by October I had a final manuscript—something I believe to be really, truly different from other books out there.
I also managed to read a bunch of books, write a bunch of articles, and make time for podcasts, reading longform articles, and watching good movies. This is a big part of why I’m self-employed, and why I prefer paying myself in time more than money.
🤸🏼♂️ Body
Beyond the aforementioned lower back issues, the body is working great! I’m running, swimming, cycling, and dancing to my heart’s content. My eyes, lungs, and thighs hunger for more wilderness, deserts, and high mountain air—but I know I’ll get that soon.
The Year in Numbers
- Adventures of Blake published: 22 (most popular: Avoiding the Cult of Retirement)
- Dirtbag Rich interviews: 29
- Dance weekends attended: 12
- Microfusion socials organized: 7
- Distance traveled by train between Jun-Sep (with my 3-month Interrail pass): 13,700 kilometers on 82 trains
- Most popular FB post: 1000+ likes, 90+ comments, 400+ shares
- Piercings received: 1
- New dance videos recorded: 1
- Books sold as of February (numbers I compiled to pitch an agent)
- 34,000+ total books sold (including paperbacks, digital editions, and audiobooks)
- 6,400 via my traditionally published first book (2009)
- 27,600 via my three self-published books (2012-2020)
Books I read: 27
Philosophy, Intellectual History, and Social Issues
- The Practice of the Wild (Gary Snyder)
- The Ape that Understood the Universe (Steve Stewart-Williams)
- How Much is Enough? (Robert Skidelsky & Edward Skidelsky)
- A World After Liberalism (Matthew Rose)
- Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind (Tom Holland)
- Vienna: How the City of Ideas Created the Modern World (Richard Cockett)
- At the Existentialist Café (Sarah Bakewell)
- How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment (Skye Cleary)
- We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience (Lyndsey Stonebridge)
- A Thousand Small Sanities (Adam Gopnik)
- The Tao of Pooh (Benjamin Hoff) re-read
- Moral Ambition (Rutger Bregman)
- On Freedom (Maggie Nelson)
- On Settler Colonialism (Adam Kirsch)
- Of Boys and Men (Richard Reeves)
- What Are Children For? (Anastasia Berg & Rachel Wiseman)
Memoir & Biography
- Being Ram Dass (Ram Dass & Rameshwar Das)
- Dirtbag Billionaire (David Gelles)
- Delusions and Grandeur (Mark Sundeen)
Adventure & The Outdoors
- A Walk in the Park (Kevin Fedarko)
- Powder Days (Heather Hansman)
- Into the Wild (Jon Krakauer) re-read
- What Happens if You Keep Going? (Tim Mathis)
Fiction & Literature
- Children of Ruin (Adrian Tchaikovsky)
- Mickey 7 (Edward Ashton)
- The Secret Commonwealth (Philip Pullman)
- A Distant Episode (Paul Bowles)
- How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone (Saša Stanišić)
New favorite quotes: 9, all related to freedom:
“Freedom is the process by which you develop a practice for being unavailable for servitude.”
—Maggie Nelson
“Comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, then a master. And then it becomes a tamer, and with a hook and whip it makes puppets of your larger desires.”
—Kahlil Gibran
“Every society needs anarchists, because they are like ‘canaries in the coalmine’ for freedom. An anarchist sees violations of freedom even in situations where other people do not sense anything wrong. An anarchist has a hyper-sensitivity to unjust hierarchy.”
—Nathan J. Robinson (about David Graeber)
“Some people do not find—indeed, cannot find—refuge where others imagine they could or should find it; some forgo anchors for lines of flight; some instinctively spurn moralistic edicts set forth by others; some find—or are forced to find—solace or sustenance in nomadism, cosmic hoboism, unpredictable or uncouth identifications, illegible acts of disobedience, homelessness, or exile than in a place called Home.”
—Maggie Nelson
“Our lives are not as limited as we think they are; the world is a wonderfully weird place; consensual reality is significantly flawed; no institution can be trusted, but love does work; all things are possible; and we all could be happy and fulfilled if we only had the guts to be truly free and the wisdom to shrink our egos and quit taking ourselves so damn seriously.”
—Tom Robbins (RIP)
“You do not possess any other human being, no matter how closely related that other may be. No husband owns his wife; no wife owns her husband; no parents own their children. When we think we possess people there is a tendency to run their lives for them, and out of this develop extremely inharmonious situations. Only when we realize that we do not possess them, that they must live in accordance with their own inner motivations, do we stop trying to run their lives for them, and then we discover that we are able to live in harmony with them. Anything that you strive to hold captive will hold you captive — and if you desire freedom you must give freedom.”
—Peace Pilgrim
“This capacity to wonder at trifles—no matter the imminent peril—these asides of the spirit, these footnotes in the volume of life are the highest forms of consciousness, and it is in this childishly speculative state of mind, so different from commonsense and its logic, that we know the world to be good.”
—Vladimir Nabokov
“Don’t touch money, it’s the worst thing you can do. . . . That’s the most important thing, never to be owned. Keep free. Money is the cheapest thing. Liberty, freedom is the most expensive.”
—Bill Cunningham
“Nobody has the right to obey!”
—Hannah Arendt
Articles I adored: 8
- There are no pure cultures
- Strangers: America’s “stranger culture” changes your personality
- Chattel Childhood
- Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College
- My Students Use AI. So What?
- How progressives froze the American dream
- My Job as a Parent Is to Make My Kids’ Lives a Little Harder
- Fear is the Heart of All Bad Things
New favorite documentary: 🐦LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching
Thanks for reading.
♥ Blake
(See also: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011.)
