AK Monthly Recap: June 2026 – Adventurous Kate

Summertime is here — and a busy travel season begins now! June kicked off with a two-week trip to the US, visiting my family in Boston and New York.

In that time, I welcomed half of Scotland to Boston for the World Cup, met my favorite internet cat, ate lobster, and did two epic long walks.

Let’s get into it!

Destinations Visited

• Prague, Czech Republic
• Beverly, Gloucester, Swampscott, Lynn, Boston, Brookline, Salem, Revere, Reading, and Lynnfield, Massachusetts, USA
• Portland, Maine, USA
• New York, New York, USA

Highlights

A great trip home to my family in the US. Honestly, this is probably the best visit home I’ve had since moving to Prague. I need to make more of an effort to visit in the summer months, because they are SO GOOD!

An unforgettable time in Boston. When I booked my trip home, I wasn’t thinking about the World Cup, but it was in full swing, and Boston was amazing. People from all over the world rocking their football jerseys and flags.

Best of all was the Tartan Army, who were all over Massachusetts, dressed up in their kilts, playing the bagpipes, drinking all our beer, and marching to Fenway Park! I cannot tell you just how much joy they added to the city.

While in Boston, I walked the Emerald Necklace in its entirety. The Emerald Necklace is a chain of parks and green spaces running from Franklin Park to Boston Common.

It took me about four hours altogether, and I was happy to see so much of Boston in a single day. I do wish I had done it on a cooler day, though — it was hot and humid and that really got to me by hour three or so.

On top of that, I had a lot of good times in my home region of the North Shore, from walks to the beach to lobster rolls, museums, and the good pizza.

I met Baby Corn! Baby Corn is my favorite cat on the internet, and I was stunned to see one morning that he was doing a meet-and-greet in Boston. I have never booked a ticket so fast!

A great day in Maine. I went up to visit my friends in Portland, and surprise, surprise — the Tartan Army was there, too!

Best of all was that they took over the pub where we were having lunch, and my three-year-old niece asked to go inside to hear the music — so I offered to take her. Cool Auntie Kate took her to her first wild Scottish pub! (Her verdict: “Too loud.”)

New York was SO great. I went to stay with my sister and brother-in-law in Harlem for a few days. We spent some good times hanging out at their new lovely place.

My big adventure was walking the entire length of Broadway in Manhattan! It took about five hours and the distance was 13.76 miles, not counting breaks and detours. I love a long walk, and this really takes you to so many difference neighborhoods in Manhattan.

Also — this was my first time taking a bus to the new-ish bus station at the George Washington Bridge. I highly recommend getting a bus here if your final destination is in Upper Manhattan!

When I lived in New York and took the bus back from Boston, I hated that we literally drove through my neighborhood and went another 100+ blocks to midtown. This station, at 178th and Broadway, is SO much more convenient for Harlem, the Heights, even the Upper West Side.

I also did some walking in Central Park, met up with friends, ate delicious food I can’t get in Prague, and did a lot of shopping in SoHo.

Good times in Prague. Charlie and I tried out the paddleboat on the river, we ate a lot of good food, and one night my trivia team came in first place! All exciting.

Challenges

An awful heat wave throughout Europe. Record-high temperatures that lasted for awhile, which made it tough dealing with the heat in our home without air conditioning.

Air conditioning is a tough subject for us because our apartment has freakishly tall ceilings, and combined with the square footage, the strongest machines on the market here don’t have enough power to cool either the bedroom or the living room.

For the toughest two days of the heat wave, we decided to stay in a hotel and bring the cats. Their first hotel stay ever! We stayed at the Hilton Atrium Prague, which allows cats (1000 CZK fee, or $50, for up to two small animals) and has good air conditioning.

And while it was a bit of an adjustment for the cats — they growled and hissed at each other for the first 24 hours, probably because they were stressed — they ultimately mellowed out and had a great time.

We think this was an important step to take to get them used to travel, and we can’t wait to bring them on another trip!

I got locked in a tram! The craziest mishap of the year so far. I got on a tram and I had my AirPods in and didn’t hear the announcement that it was going out of service. It pulled underneath a nearby bridge, the doors were locked, the driver got out, and it was getting hotter by the minute.

Nobody could hear me and the doors wouldn’t budge. After calling Charlie in a panic, I found the emergency door release, which doesn’t open the doors, but makes it possible for you to push your way out with all your might. I pushed like crazy and made it out.

I have no idea how this even could happen — aren’t drivers supposed to check the cars before they leave, just in case? Someone could have died in that heat.

Ricky Martin canceled his concert. Sigh. I was looking forward to this! They were clear that it was NOT due to Ricky or the production company, so I think it was because of the heat wave, even though it was an indoor event.

Most Popular Reel on Instagram

An Open Letter to the Tartan Army. After the Scots left Boston, I was so heartened and moved by the whole experience that I wrote a letter telling them how much it meant to me.

And this was my most viral post in a long time! I’m glad it reached so many Scottish people. Oh, and they now want to have us over in Scotland. LET’S DO IT!! It’s been too long since I visited Scotland, a country that I love so much.

What I Watched This Month

I really enjoyed the second season of The Four Seasons. Especially the summertime episodes set on the Jersey Shore.

It’s just nice to watch a comedy where the stakes aren’t super high, it follows a group of couples long-established in their relationships, and the jokes are funny and fast. Definitely watch it if you haven’t yet!

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 June, I listened to albums number 50-13. My most prolific month yet. And I AM GOING TO FINISH NEXT MONTH!!!

Favorite Discovery: The Beatles by The Beatles (aka The White Album). Now, I know it’s weird to put an album this well known on the list — I have never sat down and listened to this album start to finish, though I know almost all of the songs.

But after listening to so much of the Beatles in this challenge, both in the band and their solo efforts afterward, it really makes you realize what a crazy moment this was for them. That each of the members were pushed to the edge, making some of the most diverse and wild work of their careers.

It feels like this was the album where they were the most creatively fractured apart, but then they pulled it together and came back for Abbey Road and Let It Be.

And now I need to watch the Peter Jackson Beatles documentary, because everyone is saying just how good it is.

Other Favorite Discoveries: OK Computer by Radiohead, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie, The Chronic by Dr. Dre, Lemonade by Beyoncé, Tapestry by Carole King.

Favorite Revisited Album: There were so many albums I love featured this month that I’m going to talk about two of my all-time favorites.

Off the Wall by Michael Jackson is my favorite Michael Jackson album of all time — not only because I love disco so much, but because I think this is his most stylistically cohesive album. I actually don’t love the genre-hopping on his later albums Thriller and Bad.

This is one of the most danceable albums of all time. And so much of the credit goes to Quincy Jones for building such a gorgeous album around Michael’s strengths. The beats, the strings, the horns. A truly magnificent album, and when people claim there is no good disco album start to finish, SHOW THEM THIS ONE.

To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar is one of the great hip-hop albums of all time, and honestly, that still feels like insufficient praise once you listen to it. This is an album that I still marvel at, over a decade and countless listens later.

This album is about Black liberation, and it simultaneously tells the history of Black music. It’s dense. It’s vibrant. It’s protest music. It’s jazz and poetry. It ends with Kendrick interviewing a long-dead 2Pac, using audio from a past interview.

If it were up to me, it would be ranking much higher on the list than number 19.

Other Favorite Revisited Albums: Innervisions by Stevie Wonder, Back to Black by Amy Winehouse, Voodoo by D’Angelo, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles.

Favorite Songs: “Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream” by Aretha Franklin, “POWER” by Kanye West, “He Can Only Hold Her” by Amy Winehouse, “King Kunta” by Kendrick Lamar, “Golden Lady” by Stevie Wonder, “C.R.E.A.M.” by Wu-Tang Clan, “Gloria: In Exelcis Deo” by Patti Smith, “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones, “Nuthin’ but a G Thang” by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, “Starman” by David Bowie.

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: Ready to Die by the Notorious B.I.G. Did not expect that — “Big Poppa” was one of the first hip-hop songs I ever loved, at the age of 10, and I enjoyed his album Life After Death.

I just found Ready to Die so incredibly crude and immature, and a chore to listen to for that reason. Unfortunately his song “F*ck Me” now eclipses Suicide’s “Girl” as the worst sex simulation song on the list. Dude, I really don’t need to know what you do with food.

*Disclaimer: QUITE A LOT of the musicians featured on this list are problematic in various ways — there are even two murderers in the mix. I’m looking at their music solely from an influential perspective.

What I Read This Month

Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash (2026) — This novel tells the story of the Flynn family: two parents with a dysfunctional open marriage, and three teenage daughters whose issues range from dating a much older “War Crimes Wes” to attempting terrorism on an airplane. Soon, the family becomes ensnared in a saga involving a local billionaire.

Now. I felt like I was going to love this book, and some of my friends love it — but it really didn’t do much for me. I found all the characters trying so hard to be quirky as possible, nearly all of them speaking with identically witty voices. I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes.

And while there is some seriously dark stuff in the novel, I felt like it was barely touched upon and then wrapped up neatly with a bow. It would have been a harder and braver choice to go deeper into the darkness. Oh well.

Coming Up in July 2026

Last year was a quiet summer for travel. But this year is a VERY busy summer for travel, and July is kicking off with a few fun trips.

This month, Charlie and I are road tripping from Prague to Provence and back! Our friends are getting married at a chateau in Provence (!!), so we decided to turn it into a big trip.

Some of our destinations include Lac Sainte-Croix and the Gorge du Verdon; the lavender fields of Valensole (which should be at their peak in July!), the coastal town of La Ciotat; and the cities of Arles and Nîmes.

It’s a LONG drive from Prague to Provence, so we are stopping in Germany on the way there and Switzerland and Liechtenstein on the way back. (Charlie has never been to Liechtenstein and is keen to finally visit. I haven’t been since my three-day stay in 2011, but it’s my favorite of the microstates!)

Later in the month, we’re going to Dublin for the weekend to celebrate my brother-in-law’s 40th birthday with a big group of friends. Dublin is a city that I’ve never really connected with, but Matt loves it and has planned a lot of fun activities, so I think this trip will turn me into a Dublin fan!

Shortly after that, a few of my blogger buds are coming to Prague — we’re going to see Pitbull in concert! YES, IN BALD CAPS!!! This has been my dream for so long!!!!!

And at the very end of the month, Charlie and I leave for my birthday trip. We’re going back to one of my favorite summer destinations — the island of Ischia in Italy.

What are you up to in July? Share away!