Checking in from Koh Phangan; the island where 45% score 100 on the woo-woo scale, 45% are backpackers getting trashed at the full moon parties, and the rest are just here to work in peace while enjoying sun, beach and coffee. Guess which category I'm in. I've been coming to Thailand for years by now, but every time I arrive it still surprises me just how _good_ it feels to be here. My body relaxes and even the most boring tasks are easy enough to tackle. Happy places! Plus a padel court, which is not a happy place, but it's fun to learn something new. ## This week **... I'm focusing on** client work and getting my new website up and running. Learning Framer at the same time, which is a bit of a learning curve. **... I'm reading** Body Work, by Melissa Febos. About the art and benefits of writing personal narratives. **... I'm looking forward** to getting back into a workout routine. Holidays and travels makes consistency hard and Strava was kind enough to highlight that my workout effort is "below average". Thanks, Strava. ## Last week **... I was in Bangkok** for a few days. Always a delight. **... I arrived in Koh Phangan** ,**via Koh Samui airport**. It's the cutest. I almost didn't mind having to wait two hours for the ferry, since we arrived at the absurd time 7am. Guess what time we had to get up for that flight. 🫠 Airports, what's stopping you from looking like this? **... I celebrated New Years Eve** , tropical style. Honestly a pretty lame party, but the company was great. **... I posted a****Year on Books here****** and on Instagram. More for my own amusement than anything else. **... I did my second padel class.** One more, and Tom says I'm allowed to play with other people! **... I finished the last episode of Pluribus.** Many opinions on this show! I end up in a philosophical discussion anytime I talk about it, which honestly might be the best review a show can get? The main character is painfully annoying though. Happy Monday!

I was quite proud of how many books I read last year, until I realized my Goodreads challenge page had somehow counted several titles twice, and instead of finishing with 36 books, I only had 32. Oh well. I did an export from Goodreads to be able to follow up more accurately, and while I was at it, I fed it into Claude and asked it to give me a reading wrapped. Sharing here, with some creative liberties taken (Claude would obviously never be this judgy). Let’s take a look! I aimed for 40 books. Note that I don’t take this too seriously, but having a higher target always pushes me to read a bit more than I would otherwise. Helpful for me, might not be for everyone. Good job, me! Rough estimate. For context, I’m a mood reader and if it doesn’t resonate at the time, better put it away and try again later. This surprised me. For some reason I thought I read more male authors, but that was definitely not the case this year. Let me expand: ### The Empusium: A health resort horror story Taking place at a health resort 1913, this book hits the sweet spot of both tickling my brain and being highly entertaining. ### Fierce Intimacy The only audiobook I listened to this year (and I did it twice). The best I’ve read on relationships so far. Can be used for yourself, or as a workshop with your partner. ### Rejection A collection of short stories about rejections, slightly interconnected, and it’s truly a work of modern art. I laughed, I cringed, I will read again. Commonly referred to as the first incel-novel. ### Educated I think I’m the last person on the planet to read this? Well-written memoir on the power of education. ### Soldier Sailor Intimate, beautiful and incredibly immersive on the early days of motherhood. Could not put this down. ### The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex Fascinating memoir on love addiction and celibacy. Also, very funny. ### Stacken Swedish book about a group of outsiders living in the woods, from their origin stories to the cult like pattern they develop. Perfect book club book, lots to have discussions about. This summary was pretty on point, Claude. Next year my goal is 45 books, so maybe that will finally take me over 40! If you, too, want to judge my reading habits, find me on Goodreads.

Hi friends! Last **Nuggets** of the year! Apparently I managed four editions this year. For 2026, I have higher ambitions. In more than one area of my life, actually. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

In true Lisbon fall fashion, this is the season where one cannot leave the house without an umbrella, regardless of how sunny it may be. Yesterday I got a hair cut and by the time I was back in the office (11 minutes by bike) I had the lovely look of a drowned cat. Anyway, final countdown now! 🛫🎄🛫🏖️ ## This week **... I'm focusing on** client work, still, getting things done before Christmas. Got sick with a cold last week and that did not help my productivity. **… I’ll send out** the last Nuggets of the year. Got a few interesting tidbits to share! **... I'm reading** Katabasis, R.F. Kuang's latest, at last! Two graduate students decides to pop down to Hell and rescue their professor. I have a soft spot for dark academia. **... I'm officially starting my first volunteer assignment!** I've been wanting to do something for a long time, but it's been tricky finding something that works remote. This opportunity showed up in November and made perfect sense. I'm nervous, but excited. **... I'm looking forward** to being on the road again. Packing has started! ## Last week ... I finished reading Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. I like the author, but this just wasn't for me. When following multiple characters I often like the characters are fabricated for the story more they are real people. Maybe it's a me thing. ... I co-hosted the last **Deep Talk Writing meetup** of the year. It's been so much fun to be able to create the event we wished existed. ... I went for a last ocean cold plunge of the year. Which may have contributed to the next point. Sunset dip. ... I got sick with a cold and had to prioritize rest. But managed to hang out at our **Kompis Christmas Drinks** for a bit, before heading home to the couch and Netflix. ... I finally got my new AirPods. I lost my right Airpod two months ago and thought it a good opportunity to detox from podcast listening. One month later I ordered new ones, but they never arrived. Ordered replacement, which got delayed and delayed, and finally, on Saturday, I got sanity restored in my life. Two months without sure makes me appreciate them more.

On the 20th we leave for Christmas holidays and a week later, onwards for tropical weather! I've mentioned this before, but my sweet spot of time being home is about three months. Now it's been over four and all I can think about is riding my scooter up and down the familiar roads, swimming in the warm ocean and waking up to the sound of birds. Ugh, I can't wait. ## This week **... I'm focusing on** client work, getting things done before Christmas. **... I'm reading** Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. I really enjoyed Cleopatra & Frankenstein by the same author, but so far, I'm not convinced by this one. I'm reminded of another book that covered sisters, and it seems like writers often try a too hard to distinguish them from each other, creating a bit of a caricature? Most sibling groups I know have quite a bit in common with each other too. Not to forget that they are all epically successful, of course. But let's see where it goes! **... I'm looking forward** to a few things! * Co-hosting another Deep Talk Writing meetup at Kompis. This will be our third edition and it's so much fun nerding out about writing with other writers. * Organizing Kompis Christmas Party, if enough people can make it. * Probably start packing for our annual winter escape, because why not? ## Last week ... I tried pottery for the first time! I will not be quitting my day job, but had a great time. We went to Disco Wheel, which is a whole experience and includes delicious wine (which may or may not assist in your creation). Worth checking out if you're in Lisbon! It's a cup/vase/something to hold things? ... I finished Stacken by Annika Norlin and it was a fun read! Can't wait to have a discussion about it. ... I got back to work on my essay about masculine and feminine energies. It's taking shape, slowly. Love that everyone has an opinion on this topic when I bring it up. Honest Greens with the creative non-fiction writing group, a Wednesday highlight. ... I went to the adventure park and did all the things! Including the bungyjump swing thing that was terrifying. Stood here for ten minutes before I could get over myself. 🙃 ... Spotify Wrapped was released and to nobody's surprise, Sabrina Carpenter was my main obsession. Team Sabrina. Happy Monday everyone, let's get to work!

I'm blasting Christmas music from 7.30 and yesterday I baked my first[^ But certainly not the last.] saffron cake of the season. Got no photos, but trust me, it was delicious. Now, please invite me to dinners so I have an excuse to bake more. ## This week I'm ... **focusing on** finishing and publish my new website, which shows a new direction I'm taking business wise. Or, not so much new actually, but a refinement of what I do best. Feeling more enthusiastic about work than I have in a long time. ... **reading** Stacken by Annika Norlin, for my Swedish bookclub (aka _excuse to catch up with my friends_). More than halfway through and completely obsessed. ... **looking forward** to a few things! * Trying pottery for the first time on Tuesday. * Biweekly non-fiction writing meetup on Wednesday. * Adventure park for a friends birthday this weekend. ## Last week ... I started taking supplements for iron and B12 (doctors order), and my energy levels went from sloth to squirrel in a hurry. ... I had the final part of onboarding for a volunteer assignment I signed up for. Nervous, but really looking forward to it! ... I finished All the Way to the River, by Elizabeth Gilbert. I really enjoyed it, insightful about addiction and it got me out of the reading slump I've been in for weeks. ... went to a Christmas market to stock up on the best scented candles (seriously, the scent is amazing). Alright, let's get this week started!

I referred to it as “the bunker”. My small office, a glorified closet, lacked windows, natural light and oxygen. I decorated with new lamps, fluffy pillows on the guest-bed, using what I could to make it feel less like prison cell, more like a cozy studio. But after a day of meetings I would crawl out, desperate for fresh air, dreaming of a room to work from that did not feel like I was being punished for my sins. A year later we moved up a floor and I got my daylight home office. But sitting at home every single day, turned out to be too much introvert time even for me. I compensated by doing the nomad thing and work from coffee shops. But the internet was spotty, even using my phone, and after an hour I felt obligated to spend money on drinks I did not really want or leave. Toilet breaks were a hassle when I was alone. I went to co-working spaces too, but they are pricy, often crowded and with only two phone booths for taking calls in. I also wanted a community vibe, smaller, more casual. I did not go remote to pay for joining someone else’s corporate culture. And on it went. Like Goldilocks I moved between beds, finding one too hard, one too soft, never one quite right. Nothing left to do but to take matters into one's own hands. ## Building something different Tom and Reima shared this desire for a third space. Not quite an office, but a space where we could work and hang out, a shared living room. Create the community we were missing. In May they went to view the first space, an office in Lapa, an 18-minute walk from where we live. It had two floors, two toilets, and room for everything we needed. We ruminated over it for a week. "Let's just do it," we said over a glass of wine in the park. As all good decisions are made. We signed the agreement. Five minutes later, we were tearing up the floor. Not hyperbole, in case you're wondering. Tom has very little distance between thought and action, and had that not been the case, we would probably still be pondering wall colors. Work in progress. Our timeline was tight. We were all leaving Lisbon over the summer and had three weeks to redo the floors upstairs, paint everything, make changes to the electric wiring and get some furniture in. It was intense, but we got it done! ## Welcome to Kompis! Kompis opening party. By the end of September we were all here and could finally host our opening party. We're officially up and running! We're intentionally keeping it small. Friends are stopping by to work from here when they are in town. We've started hosting the events we wished existed. Having a place for whatever idea we come up with is such a privilege and joy. We call it a co-working, but clubhouse might be a better name. It's where we hang out. We've organized a movie night to watch Eurotrip, with five different nationalities between us. This week we hosted our first Deep Talk Writing meetup, where writers can go deep on the philosophy and craft of writing, and last night we had our first jam session. It's becoming the space for friends and creativity we were missing. Eurotrip is ridiculous but honestly still had us all in tears. Kompis is obviously dog-friendly. Well, actually, more like dog-obsessed. ## The meaning of a name When we brainstormed names I thought of swissmiss and her studio in Brooklyn, named Friends Work Here. That always resonated with me, so I suggested **kompis** , which is Swedish for _friend_ or _buddy_. It's simple, easy to pronounce for most, and it reflects what we want to build here. Small, intentional, friendly. The guys agreed, and Kompis Collective was born. If you have been dreaming of a room of your own, take this as a sign to get started. Talk to other people, look at locations, consider your options. It doesn't have to be that complicated. Sometimes you can just do things. Current happy place: at Kompis, with coffee in hand, at all times. ## Want to join? If you're looking for a new co-working, want to visit us, or just stay up to date on events, message me and I'll give you the details!

📍 In Lisbon, with no travels in sight. 👩🏻‍💻 From next week I have space for new clients! 📝 Working on a few posts and planning to reboot my "Between Deadlines" newsletter in November. 📚 Just finished Vanishing World, and boy, was that a trip. Need to organize a book club to discuss.

Hello friends! It's October in Lisbon. True to my Swedish nature I feel an urge to give you a weather report, because today I could finally taste a bit of fall. Cloudy skies, a few drops of rain, I even had to bike home and change into jeans and a long-sleeved sweater before going to my writing meetup. Refreshing after weeks with 28 degrees. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

📍 Back in Lisbon after almost two months of traveling. 👩🏻‍💻 Client work is still quite busy, but looks like I might have some space from end of October. Need some assistance? Hit me up! 📝 Traveling and work has made writing routines difficult. Looking forward to mostly staying home and 📚 Reading The Dry Season by Melissa Febos after hearing her on a podcast. It's about celibacy and bits of it are hugely entertaining. Like this gem: > When I stripped away the great swells of feeling that obscured it, I could see how those habitually compelled by this ecstasy were almost robotic in their pursuit, like sex Roombas. Over the past three months I had observed this dynamic more often than I had participated in it, and I had come to understand that it was not a compliment to be pursued by a sex Roomba. "Sex Roomba" lives rent free in my vocabulary now. 🤸🏻‍♀️ While I pushed my boundaries during the hike in July, the rest of my time traveling was less active than normal. I had pain in neck and spine after the injury and it got triggered when doing things I would usually do, like handstands and planks, so I mainly did reformer pilates. Being home means access to all my favorite trusted teachers and I could not be happier.

As my iPhone wallpaper I have a small vision board for my year. Every time I pick up my phone, which is a lot if we're being honest here, I see it. Top right corner has a photo of me in full hiking gear with the text "type 2 fun in nature". I might have manifested that a little too hard this holiday. To the degree we changed the saying to "type NO fun". If _schadenfreude_ is your thing, you'll enjoy this recap. Let's go! Never has a photo capture my mood more accurately. And this was day one. ## The plan Tom and I set out to do part of the _Inntaler Höhenweg_, in Austria, close to Innsbruck. It's a "hut to hut" hike, which we are doing for the third year; second time in Austria. The huts has basic sleeping arrangement, usually dorms, but serves delicious three course dinners and are nestled in the mountain with incredible views. On Sunday we checked into our hotel in Zell am Ziller, where we did our last minute snack shopping and repacked our bags. 0:00 /0:04 1× Cocktails and route review to prepare. Ready to hike! ## Day 1: Patscherkofel to Glungezerhütte Our journey started with taking the train to Innsbruck, where I treated myself to the most boujee coffee shake Starbucks had to offer. For once we decided to make the first day a chill one, and we took the gondola up the mountain. To nobody’s surprise it started raining the second I started my Garmin activity. _“It wouldn’t be a Tom and Sanna hike if it wasn’t raining,”_ I said, cheerful, because I had little idea of what this trail would put me through. Ah, to be young and naive. The rain was unlikely to stop, so we found shelter under a big rock where we had our lunch. Fresh bread, cheese and salami. Topped it off with my favorite hiking snack Hanuta. _"Type 2 fun,"_ we joked. It was still funny then. 🙃 After that we barely took a break. 0:00 /0:04 1× The rain was relentless and we pushed through, 3 hours later we had hiked 7.81 km, up 755m, and arrived at Glungezerhütte. Wet to the bone. Hot chocolate spiked with rum was well-earned, but it took hours for me to stop shivering. Glungezerhütte was very cozy, but note that if you sleep in the outside room, going to the bathroom at night means a two minute walk with stairs both outside and inside, which was not my favorite experience. They also lack showers. Food and staff are lovely though and we met a bunch of people doing the same route, which made the hike much more social than others. ## Day 2: Glungezerhütte to Lizumer Hütte We knew this day would be on the tougher side. **_Expert level hike_** , Komoot and AllTrails warned us. I had three cups of coffee before 7am, my bangs acted accordingly. After dinner the host had stopped by to brief us. Seven peaks, up and down, where you need to be sure on your feet. Rain was expected, but likely after 1pm. "Make sure you're past the last peak before then," he said. The alpine route was treacherous. We nodded and thought to ourselves, how bad can it be? We're both pretty sure on our feet and love rough trails, so while a lot of people woke up at 5am, we took it easy and left close to 7.30 in the morning. Komoot estimated almost 6 hours for the 14.6km long trail, add a few breaks and we should be safe. And maybe that would have been the case, had I not been a little too cocky in my skipping climbing steps. 0:00 /0:05 1× _"Mountain parkour!"_ I said, hopping from rock to rock. Until I suddenly felt my right foot slip and fell head first into stone. When I say head first I mean it in the most literal sense. My forehead had most of my weight behind it as it crashed into the boulder. The pain was sharp, head, neck, spine. I sat down, shocked, and begun to assess the damage. Concussion? Blood? We were only one hour in, and I had no desire to turn back. But the next hut was a long hike away. Luckily, it was chilly outside – I had just put on a hiking buff and folded it twice to protect my ears, which happened to protect my head as well. An American pancake sized bump quickly took shape under my bangs, but the skin was intact. Tom managed to find ice and we put it in a ziplock bag, pressing on my head. I looked left and right, trying to feel if I had a concussion. No dizziness, no nausea, so far. Pain at the place of impact, as well as neck and spine, but nothing I couldn't manage. Although, I practice aerial and my sense of what is reasonable pain might not be entirely accurate. We were faced with a dilemma. Ahead of us was hours on a ridge of slippery boulders, with steep slopes on both sides. Rain was expected and could come any time. The next hut was 12 km away. Do we turn back or keep going? We decided to keep going. Slowly we made our way up and down the peaks. Focused. At times, the fog limited our visibility to only a few meters. The wind was picking up and dark clouds were ominously getting closer. 0:00 /0:05 1× It's difficult to capture just how steep and dangerous some sections were. There were several via ferratas where our grip of a thin metal rope was the only thing allowing us to get to the next point, because it barely any place for our feet to step-. Excuse my dramatic tone, but a fall here would most likely ended in death. This trail required complete presence. We also had the added time pressure of incoming rain, that would make the route more dangerous. We kept pushing with few breaks. We barely saw a soul, but a Dutch couple had been hiking behind us and the last hour they caught up. Chocolate and war stories from the day was shared as we walked together. We kept thinking we were almost there, and it kept being longer. We saw a sign saying "Lizumer Hütte: 2 hours", walked another hour only to see yet another sign saying "Lizumer Hütte: 2 hours" again. I wondered if we were getting pranked. 0:00 /0:06 1× We did get a little comfort at the end; marmots! They are usually cautious of humans but this little family was not. Our conclusion was that they are probably deaf. The trail went through a military training area and had regular target practices (hopefully not aimed a fluffy animals). 18.05, just in time for dinner, we arrived. Strava clocked us in at 10 hours and 39 minutes. Almost 17 km. I wished for nothing else than at spiked hot chocolate (the only hot alcoholic beverage they offer). but the machine was broken. We had our dinner, took a shower, and crashed into bed. Too tense to feel relaxed, but relieved we made it through the day without any signs of a concussion. ## Day 3: Lizumer Hütte to Weidener Hütte Managed to get some sleep, despite the enthusiastic snoring from two strangers in our room. Not exactly rested, but at least my neck pain was not getting worse. Bangs might be greasy, but at least they cover my giant forehead. We had a proper breakfast, geared up with our rain protection and set off shortly after 8am. It was not raining _exactly_ the whole time, but even when it wasn't, the air was so moist it might as well. This profile of this route was first half climbing up, then all the way down. I'll be honest, this was a dreadful day. The trail was busy, and offered few secluded spots to pee. As added perk on my list of miseries, I had also just gotten my period. You can imagine that having PMS-mood, cramps, and needing to pee, did not make for a delightful time. What I love about hiking is, in large part, the _not_ -hiking. When you pause, sit in the grass and take in the views. Have a coffee, a few bites of pistachio chocolate. Maybe read for half an hour. Soak it in. The only thing being soaked this hike was us, in the rain, like two sponges wobbling around the Austrian mountains. Middle-aged with knee pain. Type no fun. 0:00 /0:04 1× We pressed on without eating our lunch. At one point our energy levels were getting so low we had to stop for a snack break. I had not even laid out my jacket to sit on before the rain increased. I sat down anyway and and had a Hanuta. Cursing this fucking trail. After 5 hours and 23 minutes we arrived at our next hut. It was only 2pm, so we checked in and sat down in the restaurant where I ordered my favorite hiking food: Kaiserschmarrn! This one was fluffy and dense, exactly what I needed. As well as a Hugo, of course. "If there's any prediction of rain tomorrow I'm not going," I told Tom. I was over it. Fuck nature, give me a shower that lasts more than three minutes and a proper cocktail served in sunshine. Next days route would be an alpine one like our second day, two kilometers shorter, but more elevation gain. The weather predicted both rain and sun. That, my friends, was not a gamble I was willing to take. I was tired to my core and our dorm was filling up with men aged 60 and up, which in my experience means an orchestra of snoring and no sleep for me. We decided to cancel our next hut and walk down a day earlier. In the evening we shared a bottle of wine with the Dutch couple, and ended the evening playing cards with our new trail buddies, relaxed knowing by this tomorrow, we would be in an actual hotel room. ## Day 4: Back to civilization I sat down at the breakfast table and the people stared at me. "Ehm, you have some marks on your face," one of my new friends said. I took up my phone as reflection. A matching set of black eyes stared back at me. Charming. My left eyeball I was also getting bloody. It appeared that the bump on my forehead was now traveling down my face, shapeshifting along the way. Tom consulted with his doctor brothers. "It's normal, will pass in a few days," one said. "This is a great time to get into Berghain,", said the other. Day three after face planting into solid stone. It's now been a week and it's gotten a lot worse, but it seems to be turning around now. I won't scare you with a photo, but if you want a jump scare, let me know and I'll share. At which point my boots consisted of 80% mud. After we packed up, we walked a couple of hours down to the bus stop and in the afternoon we arrived at the luxury spa hotel we had booked in Zell am Ziller. ## The aftermath 0:00 /0:04 1× This was bliss after the four days of rain and misery we had. Had the weather been a little bit better, I would have loved it. Maybe we'll go back one day. But we got a bit more mountain time the day after we got back. The weather was of course amazing by then, and we went for a drive and another short hike. The alps truly has the most amazing scenery. 0:00 /0:09 1× Imagine if we had this weather during our hike. 🙃 0:00 /0:08 1× * * * If you read this far, I'm impressed. If you have any recommendations for hikes in Europe next year, I'm all ears!

The weeks before vacation always end up being the most intense. Everything needs be done yesterday and nothing can wait until tomorrow, but at one point I had blocked every client calendar, set my out of office replies, and changed my Slack status to a palm tree, the universal symbol for relaxation. Ciao, I'm going to Italy. And here I am, at Lake Garda. Where the buzzing of cicadas follow you everywhere you go. A thunderstorm can roll over the lake in minutes, and in the time it takes you to finish an espresso, it's sunny again. Four days here and I've hit my pasta/pizza/cheese limit. Fortunately I have no such limit when it comes to pistachio gelato. I'll have two a day, thank you very much. Yesterday we put our carb reserve to good use and went for a hike on Monte Baldo. Perfect warm up to test our gear for next week, when we'll be out for five days, going hut to hut in Austria. Vacation diaries to be continued!

Hello friends! Four months since my last newsletter? Oops. At some point I'll learn how to not get swallowed whole by new assignments, but evidently that was not the case this time. I'm betting you haven't noticed though – between overflowing inboxes on one screen and doomscrolling on another, who has the time? 🙃 ### Upgrade to continue reading Become a paid member to get access to all premium content Upgrade