WEEKLY BLOG EPISODE 136 | SPLODZ BLOGZ TURNS 14

Happy Birthday to Splodz Blogz!             

Splodz Blogz, this little corner of the internet I call home, turned 14-years-old this week. That’s not a bad lifespan for a hobby blog! It feels like something I should acknowledge, so please forgive me the personal indulgence as I’m going to use most of this weekly blog to commemorate this milestone.

(And what is a weekly blog series if it’s not all personal indulgence anyway?!)

I seriously considered making a proper birthday cake to celebrate properly. But it’s only just the New Year and I have a cupboard full of sweet treats and goodies given to me by family and friends this Christmas, including an unopened box of mince pies. My sense of better judgement tells me I shouldn’t bring more goodies into the house – but using something from the cupboard to create something fun is perfectly acceptable, right?!

Celebrating with Rice Krispie Squares

For past blog birthday celebrations, I’ve made myself jelly and ice cream, put candles on leftover Christmas cake, and even received an actual gift in the post (one of those Thorntons chocolate ovals with happy birthday written on – remember those?!). This year, then, I present to you my ‘birthday’ Rice Krispie squares! What any 14-year-old would want.

Why Rice Krispie squares? Well, I had Rice Krispies and marshmallows left over from making rocky road for my work colleagues before Christmas, and figured this would be a good way to use some of them up. I only made a small batch, but they were rather delicious. Perfect with a cup of tea on Saturday afternoon.

I remember making these little treats with my nan when I was a kid. I guess having a birthday is conducive to living some nostalgia.They were a personal favourite of mine. I’d be allowed to sit on the kitchen workshop and help stir in the Rice Krispies. I remember loving how sticky the mixture was – my nan taught me that (clean) damp hands and utensils made the whole process a lot less messy.

If you’ve never made them, it’s quite simple. Melt butter and marshmallows over a low heat until smooth, add a touch of vanilla extract, and then stir in Rice Krispies (careful of your fingers, the molten sugar will be very hot!). Once combined, dump it all into a baking-paper lined tray or tub, smooth out using the back of a slightly wet metal spoon, and set in the fridge. This looks a good recipe if you fancy trying them.

A Potted History

Life was very different when I wrote my first blog post back in January 2010. Splodz Blogz started as a place to share my photo-a-day challenge, one of the (hundreds) of things that was on my original bucket list. It’s quite an interesting (and embarrassing) thing to look back at it now – those random and not-exactly-Instagram-worthy iPhone 3G photos are something to behold!

As I was sharing my daily snaps and playing around with my blog, I also joined the expanding online crowd by writing articles about some of my favourite things – food, shoes, journaling, walking, and my bucket list. I joke, with a hint of a grimace, that if I’d have made videos instead of writing at that time, I could have been known as Zoella…

Things did get decently sized at one point, with thousands of people reading my ramblings each month. As a result, I was receiving regular PR packages, often a complete surprise, from the likes of Tea India, Aveeno, Batiste (I worked with them for ages!), Bridgedale, Mobile Fun, Soda Stream, Next, The North Face, Pringles, Curry’s, Alpen, Find Me a Gift, Hotel Chocolat, Gousto, Merrell and more. Honestly, what a fun time!

I still love to collaborate with brands (I am rather partial to trying new gear and visiting new places), and have some good relationships with a handful, but things in that sphere have understandably become much more tailored these days, which is no bad thing.

How It’s Going

I loved all that randomness, but the walking and bucket list posts were the ones that were the most me. As such, Splodz Blogz has grown and developed into an outdoors and experience focused blog, with a big dose of normal life thrown in for good measure.

My stats are lower these days than they once were, a combination of moving predominantly into the niche of the outdoors (and being quite low down in the pecking order within that sphere in many ways), and the fact reading blogs has become less interesting to the masses. We just don’t spend as much time reading anymore.

I have also not religiously published twice a week for at least two or three years, which hasn’t helped the numbers. Consistency is key in this game, and I’ve been a long way from that. I dabbled in daily posting once upon a time, which was nothing short of ridiculous, but at other times have left it two or three weeks between articles. I’ve not helped myself, have I?!

But Splodz Blogz remains as my hobby blog, and I feel good about it at the moment. It isn’t a wage-earning beast with a spin-off eBook or shop full of merch – but it is a big part of me. This is my little corner of the internet, where I can write about things that please me and share them with anyone who fancies reading. And I still really enjoy that.

Where is Blogging Going?

At the start of 2023 I mooted the idea that we might see the rise and return of the humble blog. Over the last three- or four-years, short form content and scripted/rehearsed videos have somewhat taken over the online space, but it does feel like using more words is coming back into fashion.

The astonishing weirdness over at Twitter, along with a couple of significant breaks in service on Instagram, and the privacy concerns around TikTok, have resulted in a lot of people realising that social media corporations can easily get rid of all your content on a whim should the mood take them. People are therefore returning to self-publishing their work – blogs like mine, portfolio websites, email newsletters, and rambling podcasts (personal ones as opposed to interview based ones), are on the up.  

During 2023 I’ve seen my stats increase a little bit, have started getting comments on my posts again, and have had some brand opportunities come my way where ‘being normal’ has been part of the brief – so maybe the comeback has started.

I really do believe there is a place for long form ponderings, personal stories of experiences and things, and product reviews based on genuine real-life testing. I mean, you don’t need the sound on to read a blog, you don’t need to buy a subscription, and you don’t need to use up all your mobile data to load it – there is something very accessible about a blog as a channel.

Splodz Blogz will continue to be a home to musings on spending time outdoors, road trip reports, stories about travel and having adventures, reviews of relevant gear and fun experiences, and a bit of normal life thrown in for good measure.

14 Favourite Blog Posts

Here’s something I thought would be fun… 14 of my favourite posts from 14 years of blogging.

Not one per year, although that would have been really interesting (if not cringeworthy), and not my most-read posts of all time either (now that’s a particularly varied list!). Rather, a hand-picked selection of posts I consider personal highlights.

I think this (not numbered on purpose) list sum up Splodz Blogz in some ways, and might give you some reading fodder over a cup of tea through this week.

• 71 Activities in 48 Hours | GetOutside Activity Challenge Recap
• Reclaiming Red Pike
• Ten Favourite UK Coast to Coast Moments
• Two Contrasting Walks on the Dorset Coast
• De-Stinking Hiking Boots
• Sports Bras for Hiking
• Volcanic Views in Lanzarote
• Via Ferrata Xtreme at Honister Slate Mine
• My Tandem Skydive
• Becoming a Master Potter… Potter’s Wheel Taster Session
• Motorcycling in Iceland Highlights
• Two Days with Adventure Bike Training
• World’s Largest Female Motorcycle Meet
• Blowing Out Someone Else’s Candle Doesn’t Make Yours Burn Brighter

Want to help me celebrate my blog birthday? (I know you do…) Like my posts, subscribe to my blog (stick your email address in the box at the bottom of this page), add a comment or ask a question underneath an article, and let other people you know when you read something that makes you smile.

394,0175 Steps in 2023

Okay, I’ll move my weekly blog on from blog birthday ramblings, onto a couple of more outdoorsy topics. How about I start with an overview of my 2023 walking stats?

In weekly blog episode 134 I shared how I got on with my Advent walking challenge – 25 days of walking in the run up to Christmas. A successful challenge, I reckon. After that, I got a message asking me how it compared to the rest of the year. Okay!

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have a fitness watch and don’t use Strava or similar, so rely on my phone to track my steps, which also means finding my annual stats is not that straight forward (there’s no fun roundup of the year like I’ve seen others post). But I can still do some basic stuff.

In 2023, I walked – according to my phone – 3,940,175 steps.

My phone tells me that’s 1,679 miles.

Sounds like a lot! Okay, it is a lot, it’s the equivalent of walking both the Wales Coast Path and the South West Coast Path, with enough change for me to walk to the start and home from the finish. But you know, not the whole coast of Great Britain!!

Looking at my averages, in 2023 I walked 10,795 steps a day, or 4.6 miles a day. Which again, isn’t bad at all.

I wrote in weekly blog 133 how that the idea walking 10,000 steps a day was a made-up idea created for a marketing campaign, but still, it’s a nice big round number to aim for, and I’m happy to see this year’s average go north of that (it was a little under last year, which was a tiny bit annoying!).

Saved by two National Trails

There is no doubt that walking the Cotswold Way and Cumbria Way is what lead to this average. Without those two long-distance hiking adventures, my numbers would have looked much lower. 

My best month in terms of steps walked was April (when I hiked the Cotswold Way), with 16,137 steps or 7.2 miles – closely followed by June (Cumbria Way) with 14,931 steps and 6.2 miles. I also did pretty well in December, with 11,681 steps and 5.1 miles each day on average, thanks to my walking for advent challenge. I guess the latter stat there goes to show I can make time to walk a decent distance on normal days if I set my mind to it.  

My worst month of the year was October, at 6,940 steps a day, or 2.7 miles, which is unsurprising considering I spent half of it sat on my motorbike riding to the Sahara Desert. Even so, that’s not a bad average for a month; it’s still over 6,000 steps a day, which I’m told is within the sweet spot for keeping the body moving.

Oh, and my biggest day in terms of steps walked? Tuesday 25 April – day four of our Cotswold Way hike – when I walked a whopping 52,909 steps, or 23.8 miles. That was a big day!

A Goal for 2024?

Because I can’t help it, my intention is to beat this year’s average in 2024. But without any long-distance hikes planned (and not enough annual leave to plan any in, at least not until the autumn), that might be a tall order.

It’s going to be more about trying to walk the miles on a daily basis, a bit like I did in December. Although during Advent, I did it at the expense of my writing hobby, which I’m not sure I’m willing to do every day of the year.

I shall simply have to ensure I’m getting my One Hour Outside every day, and that I’m filling my weekends with hikes. Which let’s face it, is how I like to live my life anyway.

Sunshine Saturday

Apparently, Saturday (6 January) was coined “sunshine Saturday”, as it’s the day us Brits give up on the weather at home and book a holiday. Yes, another one of those newspaper-created marketing ploys to get us searching the travel agent websites and increase bookings to winter sun destinations.

So what have I done? Only joined in! Oops… Madeira here we come.

Having felt rotten for the last week thanks to the ills that everyone seems to have started 2024 with, on Friday evening my husband and I decided our antidote was to get something fun in the diary.

We chose Madeira because it looks really pretty, it isn’t far to travel, and has decent weather in February. We’ve heard lots of good things, especially from people like us who like an outdoors-focused holiday. It looks like there should be enough to keep two people who aren’t very good at sitting still busy as well as being somewhere we can relax.

You’d better send me your Madeira must-sees and dos, please. Especially short hikes with big views, towns worth wandering around, fun outdoorsy experiences, and great places to eat. We’ll have a hire car so can get around to explore, and have a whole week to play with.

I’ve always felt well looked after by Jet2Holidays, so they got my money again this time around. I collaborated with them on a short winter sun holiday to Lanzarote last year, but this one is all on me. Here’s hoping for another good experience. You know I’ll let you know.

A Quick Flatbread Experiment

Did you know you can make bread at home with just flour and yogurt? And it’s so easy. I tried it for the first time this week, and will definitely be making this a regular feature of midweek meals from now on. Honestly, I don’t know why I’ve been buying flatbreads, what a fool I am!

The recipe is a much simpler version of the breakfast bread I’ve been known to make when camping – but of course given that one of the two ingredients is yogurt that isn’t going to work so well when I don’t have a fridge.

I used 100g of self-raising flour and four tablespoons of natural yogurt (without a h because that’s how Yeo Valley spell it…!). The method couldn’t have been easier; a bit of mixing, a minute or so kneading to combine the two ingredients, and a few minutes resting while I prepared the rest of dinner (which apparently isn’t actually necessary, but I can’t do everything at once!).   

This made two flat breads, which is convenient as there were two of us wanting something to dip in our mushroom hotpot. I shaped the dough into two ovals before dry frying them in my non-stick pan. It took maybe three or four minutes on each side for them to be fully cooked – and I took them straight to the dinner table to eat fresh.  

For Future Flatbreads

They worked a treat, and as I say, I’ll certainly be making them again. These were plain flatbreads, which were great with our hotpot, but they would work even better with herbs or garlic added next time. Plain ones would also go well with jam or honey for breakfast. (Which reminds me, I really do need to try making Msemen – the square Moroccan pancakes I ate daily on my ride to the Sahara Desert.)

There’s a slightly different recipe in Cook Out, the book I mentioned in my last weekly blog, which I will try next time. Harrison uses plain flour plus baking powder instead of self-raising flour, so I’ll see which I reckon works better.

See You Next Time

Well thanks to the ills there have been no adventures to talk about in this weekly blog episode, but that’s life sometimes. And that’s the very reason I started this series – an opportunity to chat about life, even when it’s indoors.  

Thank you for continuing to read my ramblings, and especially for indulging me in a bit of Splodz Blogz birthday celebration this week. I hope you enjoyed some of my old photos, too.

Have a good one, and see you next time.

Read more Weekly Blogs.

Buy Me a Cuppa?

If you enjoyed this weekly blog episode and fancy supporting me and my mini adventures this year, you can “buy me a coffee” for £3 (well, a cup of tea, if that’s okay?). Head over to Ko-fi to find out more. Thank you.