Life & blog update: June 2024

View of the town of Rijeka across the sea, as seen from Opatija

Life & blog update: June 2024 was another “where the time has gone” kind of a month. I’ve recently discussed this notion of time slipping through my fingers with my best Finnish friend. We both agreed that time seems to be moving at space ship speed because how else could you explain that our kids are starting elementary school at the end of summer?!

So, my son has had his farewell party at daycare in June and he’s starting school in September. It was a bittersweet moment for me and I’ve shed a few tears. On the other hand, he’s quite excited to start school. My son’s going to attend an Italian elementary school which means that all his classes will be taught in Italian language apart from Croatian and English classes. Helping my son with his homework won’t be easy for me because I am not as fluent in Italian as I am in English. However, since he’s attended daycare in Italian language we decided that he should continue his education in the same manner. My daughter will still attend Italian daycare for the next two years before she too goes off to Italian school.

I’ve had one blissful day to myself and went sunbathing and swimming in outdoor swimming pool instead of doing chores or having to deal with other obligations on my day off at the beginning of the month. Then, at the end of the month I’ve finally spent a part of the weekend at the beach with my kids. I work most of the weekends these days so this was a very special treat for us all. I was also very happy to had been able to meet up with my best friends for a lunch.

Are you a football fan? Are you watching EURO 24? I used to follow our national team but I don’t have the time nor the will to do it anymore but my husband and kids did watch Croatia play. Croatian team didn’t perform well this year and didn’t go through to the next round.

Lately, my blog traffic has had a major decline in number of views/visitors from WordPress.com Reader while number of views/visits driven by search engines is as ever on the increase. I feel that real blogging communities don’t exist anymore. But I too don’t have time to engage much with other bloggers, leaving comments on their blogs and reading every single blog post. Also, sometimes I’m not even sure if some of the comments are made by real people at all. These comments seem to be written by AI because they contain a short summary of a blog post or they mention key points of the post too much. Furthermore, I think I’ll close down some of my blog’s social media accounts because I don’t really use them anymore. I wish I had more time to write about my travels. Maybe I’ll have more time on my hands when summer finishes.

How was your June? We have some interesting plans for July, including a whirlwind trip to Klagenfurt, Austria and a family day trip.

Published posts in June

Happy July!

xoxox

Tanja

33 thoughts on “Life & blog update: June 2024”

  3. i agree blogging communities are not what they were Tanja. Such is life I guess. I’ve found my traffic remaining about the same I guess, bit lower over the last few weeks. You’re kids are growing Tanja! It’s sad to see a stage in life pass but I guess exciting that a new one begins! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. My traffic is all right, but what I meant to say is that I get more traffic from seo than from Reader, and it used to be the other way round. Yes, one phase finishes, another begins.

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  4. We enjoyed the Uefa and the copa football! Good point about those summary comments I thought they were well written even though they came from spammy links – it didn’t occur to me that they were ai generated!

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  5. Tanja, you are so sweet, and I’ve appreciated every Like and every Comment you’ve ever left on my Blog. 😊 I think I know where the time is going, once you start a Blog there is always something to do! 😝 I think since most of us are blogging part-time there’s that time restriction, plus of course life in general!! I’m always happy to see your Posts, but also happy for you to take some time to yourself and your family as well. 🥰

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  7. Its seems that as soon as kids start school, the time seems to speed right up until you’re left wondering where it all went. I’m with you on the social media accounts- more and more I think I’ll get rid of some of mine. Glad that June has been a good month for you 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, times flies. How old is your daughter? I just don’t want to bother with it anymore really, FB is no work for me, posts are automatically posted there, I like to ocassionaly go on Instagram but I have lost all interest in X/Twitter. Don’t use anything else.

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  8. Life sounds happy but busy Tanja, always good to take time for yourself. The years really do fly; I have two daughters hoping to go off to university in the Autumn then just my son living at home full time! Mixed emotions!

    Can definitely relate to the time struggle, but I wonder if you’re getting more views from search engines maybe it means you’re getting something right. Your SEO is working?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Helen. So, what universities are they going to attend?different or same?your son is at high school? I just meant that lately I seem to be getting more traffic from search engines than Reader

      Liked by 1 person

      1. So far they are attending different universities but not too far apart. It’s a big step for twin sisters to leave home and stand alone all at once. Yes, my ‘baby’ is in high school now.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. That’s a big change, twins apart. I can’t imagine my kids as teens, who knows what they ll be like. Hope you all have a great summer!

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  10. I can relate to these thoughts and there are so many things to comment on! First, how cool that your kids will be fluent in 2 languages, having learnt Italian at such a young age. I wish we’d had that opportunity. Language daycare was too expensive for us. You’ll have two little cosmopolitans on your hands!
    2nd, about blogging: same. WP has changed the Reader so much that it’s like they want to drive engagement down, so that bloggers will buy their promptional services. Just today, I got an ”invitation to follow” a blogger I’ve never heard of. This concept doesn’t really work coz I don’t even know what topic they are blogging about or if it’s a spammy site to click on! So no way will I follow this way. I need engagement first and it has to arouse my interest in a genuine way. But I guess WP wants to be like all the other social media. The number of followers matters, not the quality.
    As for community, without it, I have no reason to blog, so it’s vital! I sometimes think of writing something, then think, Nah, who cares, and don’t do it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

    Liked by 2 people

  12. I love reading your travel posts and life updates. I agree, time goes by so fast and it’s not always easy to find the time to interact in the blogging world. Although, I feel the community is still here and understands when we are busy ☺️

    Liked by 1 person

  13. June has certainly flown by! From your son graduating to spending time at the beach, it sounds like your summer’s off to a fun, albeit busy, start. It’s true that blogging sometimes ends up on the back-burner, as life gets in the way. It’s all right, as there’s the summer to enjoy! Have a wonderful warmer months ahead, Tanja!

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  14. I have reduced my blogging time too as life gets busier. I can’t afford to sit at the keyboard for too long as I do that for work as everything starts to seize up, if I do.
    That view over the water is amazing.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. My husband is a Croatian expat so at my house we watched Croatia in the Euro Cup. The match with Italy certainly had extreme highs and lows. Initially, we weren’t expecting Croatia to move forward, and then there was hope, and then there wasn’t. Oh well!

    Liked by 2 people

  16. I am a football fan, though I like the women’s game mostly. In America the men’s team is not as skilled, they recently lost to Uruguay. The Olympics are quick approaching and all eyes are on the US Women’s National Team. After the World’s Cup debacle… everyone is wondering how the National team will show out. My favorite player did not make the Olympic Team, sigh. But that won’t stop me from rooting!

    It is interesting, with all the success and excitement of the USWNT, the pay differential between the men and women is unbelievably out of whack. That needs to change.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, unfortunately women still earn less than men. Not just athletes. In most jobs it is like that. Yes, the Olympics are soon too. Hope you have fun watching it!

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  17. I once read that as we age, time seems to pass more quickly, and we do not know why. A common explanation for this is that our brains process less information as we grow older, which makes time seem to speed up. As for blogging communities – there are many of them out there with real people commenting and engaging.

    I find that blog communities are powerful blog enablers. They attract like-minded people who go from casual visitors to loyal followers and fans. They’re your top customers, your most passionate supporters, and are worth their weight in gold. If you want to be a part of one, you have to find the time to identify, engage and leverage your blog community, you’ll soon find that building it into a vibrant social space that serves your blog’s interests is easy. Happy July 🙂 Aiva xx

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Yes, I read something similar. When we are kids time seems to be infinite. As we grow older and have our own kids, time just flies by. I have been blogging for 8 years almost. I was very active but sadly I don’t have that much time anymore. Besides, other bloggers with whom I have made connections stopped blogging. I still have some good blogging friends who come by my blog and leave a comment, just like you🙂Have a nice weekend

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