🎁 Wrapping up 2023; all the best bits of a big year
It's like Spotify Wrapped, but with more words
Hey there,
It’s that most wonderful time of year where we all tip-toe around our friends, family, and colleagues who are looking more than a little frazzled (I ranted about how we do the same thing year after year here). I hope you’re somewhat winding down and spending more time having long lunches than long meetings.
I’m in the midst of final planning for the kick off of Steph on Tour ‘24, which starts with three weeks in the US in January doing a variety of both interesting and fun things. (If you know interesting and/or fun people in Houston, NYC, or New Jersey, let me know).
Also bubbling away on the planning stove is a six days of hiking and camping with some friends between Christmas and New Year, which feels like the perfect antidote to a rather big year that didn’t include anywhere near enough time hitting the trails.
This month, I’ll once again be working my way through the Year Compass (and trying to find where I put last year’s to make a comparison). If you’re looking for a tool to prompt some reflection, I recommend printing it off, grabbing your favourite pen*, and finding yourself a quiet corner for a couple of hours (with a good playlist) to fill it in. I do mine with a friend, we send each other the photos of our completed ones and have a debrief call / series of WhatsApp voice notes and messages to discuss them.
Spotify Wrapped day (my favourite holiday) is always a signal to start thinking about the ‘best bits’ of a year. And this newsletter is no exception. Below I’ve stitched together all of my favourite things I’ve enjoyed the most in 2023; books, music, podcasts, films, travel tools, and much more.
Hit reply or comment below with some of your best things of the year, I’d love to know what I missed.
Steph
PS. To borrow from Austin Kleon, this newsletter is 'free but not cheap'. If you’ve enjoyed the bookmark this year, you can support its ongoing creation and keep me in books by buying me a coffee as a 'thank you', recommending it to a friend, or using one of the affiliate links in the email.
*everyone has a favourite pen, right?
The 2023 it list 🔥
All the best bits.
👩🏻🏫 Books
I’ve only read 29 books so far this year (and have a couple in progress). With a bit more non fiction, and more audiobooks than previous years. The split was 7 on Kindle, 11 hard copies, and 11 audiobooks. Here’s the best ones…
Book: Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott.
Audiobook: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.
🎧 Music
Whilst I didn’t have a record breaking reading year, I did knock it out the park with my music listening. I hit almost 97,000 hours, which is significantly more than my next closest year (83,000 in 2021). I also did pretty well with gigs this year, going to 19 concerts across three states and two countries (I wonder if I can sneak in one more in the next two weeks to make that a nice round 20?). Unusually, I saw two bands twice this year (Alt-J and IDLES). Here’s some of my other favourite music picks…
Song: An impossible and ridiculous question. Pass.
Album: Arlo Parks’ My Soft Machine is probably my album of the year. The much-awaited (by me, anyway) new release from Bombay Bicycle Club, My Big Day, is also a highlight.
Playlist: A bit of a cheat, but I am loving the new Daylist feature on Spotify. I’ve also enjoyed Glass Beams International Soundsystem playlist.
Gig: A tie between Los Bitchos, who took the roof off The Soda Factory as part of SXSW Sydney, Bon Iver at the Myer Music Bowl in the rain, and IDLES and Pulp, both at Finsbury Park in London (which obviously had the best crowds). It was also quite emotional to see Foo Fighters back on stage last week and having a bloody good time touring again after Taylor Hawkins’ death last year.
🫛 Podcasts
Podcast: I’ve been enjoying Search Engine and Hard Fork the most this year. Hard Fork is the one podcast I listen to religiously every week. I was also delighted that Schmeitgeist returned for a second series in the middle of the year.
Episode: The Maintenance Phase episode about Ozempic is such an important conversation about the current narrative about weight stigma, and the reporting / zeitgeist around the drug. All of the (sadly) short-lived Louis Theroux Podcast episodes were brilliant, but I particularly loved the Nick Cave, Craig David, and Tan France episodes.
👀 Things to watch
Music documentary: The Wham! documentary, with tissues at the ready. And not strictly a documentary, but the remastered footage of Stop Making Sense by The Talking Heads was a fun throwback of creative mastery.
Dramatised documentary: a bumper crop this year; Air, Dumb Money and Blackberry were all great.
Film: Barbie? Oppenheimer? Barbenheimer?? Also, Past Lives.
🔨 Tools, travel, and tech
Tools: Airalo eSims have been SO useful for various trips this year. No more fiddling around with that silly sim card tool and trying to find a mobile operator stand at the airports. (Here’s a USD$3 discount if you want to try them on your next travels).
Travel - hardware: I invested in a full set of July luggage this year (in the limited edition red, of course) and am never looking back.
Travel - hotels: I splashed out and stayed at the Mondrian - Shoreditch in London earlier this year and I. Loved. It. Beautiful design, big posters of Bowie all over the place, perfect location for the best bits of East London, and excellent service. 🧑🏻🍳💋 (This was also close to Dishoom, where I put the best thing in my face this year; their basmati kheer. Bury me in a vat of that please.)
Places: Only managed to tick off a measly one new country this year (Portugal), where I visited Sintra, Lisbon, and Porto. I also went to Montréal for the first time and thought it was a very cool city.
Tech - hardware: Still a big fan of my Oura ring and whilst it wasn’t new this year, the extra features they’ve added in 2023 mean I get so much more from it. (If you’ve had your eye on one for a while, here’s USD$40 off for you).
Tech - software: I’m loving the features and usability of Capacities, and after using it for a few months, I can confirm I prefer it to Notion.
Tech - app: I am very late to the One Second Everyday party but am a total convert. I love seeing the little monthly videos at the end of the month. Also, the Opal app has been such a useful tool for managing my screen time and automating which apps are allowed at what time of the day.
🧠 Best of the rest
Event: I’ve been to so many things this year this is also a hard question, but Less Like More Like, hosted by Mykel Dixon is absolutely up there as a highlight. Amazing people, a stunning location in Warburton, lots of music, fires, and a sleepover. What more could you want?
Person to follow on the internet: Munya Chawawa consistently wins the internet for me with his super quick turnaround of sketches about the hellscape that is British politics.
Journal: I’ve loved using the Jumbled x Emma Kate Co diary this year for my daily captures. Each day I write down three things that went well that day, and give the day a score out of 10. This diary is laid out perfectly for this, and it’s beautiful, bright, and excellent quality.
Fa-shun: Kowtow are a new addition to my wardrobe that I am enjoying very much.
Thing: After going to so many gigs this year, my ears are extra grateful for my Loop earplugs. (Get 15% off your own pair).
Person: Lol, jk. That would be quite a lede to bury wouldn’t it! Whilst I won’t pick my favourite person, I will say that this year has felt like a great one for friendships. I’ve met a bunch of new people that have quickly become good pals, I’ve rekindled my love of hosting, and I was able to spend more quality time with people I don’t usually see very much. So a big 10/10 for friendships.
Some places I popped up recently 👋🏻
Article - SmartCompany: Why scenario planning today can help SMEs perform better tomorrow
Podcast - Ways to Change the Workplace with Prina Shah: Why we all need to think like Futurists
Podcast - This Working Life: "You are surrounded by your worst triggers" - the sounds that drive you up the wall at work (I contributed a small rant as part of this episode on misophonia)
App - The People Spot: Each month I’ll pop up in the audio tracks of the People Spot app sharing some interesting signals about the future. These audio clips are included in the free download (iPhone only).