Dear Spanish customs (Aduanas), Thank you so much for holding onto my backpack for a month and a half. Silly me—I just wanted to ship a small box to myself from Switzerland. A few clothes, headphones, and a little backpack: some things to make my life easier after a 10-day hike in Portugal (when I [ ] The post Do Not Ship a Box to Yourself in Spain from a Non-EU Country appeared first on Blake…
Here are my favorite quotes from Rhaina Cohen s 2024 book, The Other Significant Others. It s a long, dense, and fairly academic read—not one I d recommend to most casual readers—but it s punctuated by brilliant observations and summaries. Compulsory coupledom Challenging these social norms is not new, nor are platonic partners the only dissidents. People who are feminists, [ ] The post The Other…
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 [ ] The post 2025 in Review appeared first on Blake Boles dot com .
Here are my favorite quotes from Skye Cleary s 2022 book, How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment. If you like them, buy the book! A Rebel for Freedom So how can you become authentic in Beauvoir’s existential sense? Strive to be a creative rebel with a cause. The cause is [ ] The post How to Be Authentic appeared first on Blake Boles dot com .
I just finished reading this dense, excruciatingly philosophical, and occasionally brilliant book. It s one part sociology, one part memoir, and one part feminist literature review, topped with a heavy dollop of climate anxiety. I wouldn t recommend this for a general audience—it s written by, and for, high-flying literary types—but I ll happily share some quotes. Bold indicates my [ ] The post…
Ever since I was a teenager, I ve hated advertisements. They feel like an assault, like someone dumping mental garbage in my backyard. Maybe chalk it up to reading Adbusters magazine as a teenager, but I don t believe it s normal or okay to regularly ingest ads. Whenever possible, I resist. Here s how I block most digital [ ] The post I Hate Ads, and You Can Too appeared first on Blake Boles dot…
Welcome to my Year in Review, in which I share photos and stories for (1) your entertainment and (2) the practical purpose of remembering just what on earth happened over the past 12 months. Enjoy! January: Carretera Austral When the clock struck midnight I found myself on a long-anticipated bicycle adventure with my friends Vince and Hannah. Over the [ ] The post 2024 in Review appeared first on…
Over the past six years, I ve spent increasingly more time in Europe. But there has always been a limit: U.S. citizens can only stay in the Schengen Area (the visa-free European travel zone) for 90 days out of any 180-day period. This means you can stay for three months, but then you need to leave [ ] The post How to Stay in Europe for 2 Years with the DAFT Visa appeared first on Blake Boles dot…
The Carretera Austral is a partially paved highway in Chile (Route 7), extending from Villa O Higgins in the south to Puerto Montt in the north. Between December 23rd, 2023 and January 29th, 2024, two friends and I cycled most of the Carretera Austral northward, with the addition of El Chaltén (Argentina) in the beginning and [ ] The post The Carretera Austral, South to North appeared first on…
Welcome to my Year in Review, in which I share photos and stories for (1) your entertainment and (2) the practical purpose of remembering just what the hell happened over the past 12 months. Enjoy! At 12:01am on January 1st, I was dancing my butt off at a fusion weekend in Toulouse (France). A week later, [ ] The post 2023 in Review appeared first on Blake Boles dot com .