Weeknote 65

Christmas wind down, Visit to Dublin, 2024 travel plans

Christmas wind down

As we enter the final weeks of 2023, we'd our all-staff unconference in Holborn, London last week, in which we were all encouraged to run sessions on pretty much anything we wanted. I proposed a session on discussing the company's accessibility strategy, which I've been helping lead over the past few years since I joined. Thankfully, it was added to the end of the day's schedule, so we weren't too limited on time for a length discussion. We'd around a dozen in attendance, that seemed reasonable for a topic that usually doesn't attract much interest beyond a small cluster of my colleagues.

After that we all headed over to the company's Christmas party near London Bridge where I stayed for a few drinks and canapés before returning home early-ish to get some sleep before an early rise to catch my 8:30am flight from Gatwick the following morning.

Visit to Dublin

I'd a short trip to Dublin on Friday that was even shorter than hoped. My flight there was delayed an hour due to fog, and the bus connection to Dublin city centre took another 45 minutes. I've lost hope Dublin might one day expand its tram and suburban train network to the airport after what seems like countless proposals that amount to nothing over the decades.

I stayed for a night at Dublin One for a quite reasonable rate given the time of year and its proximity to the city centre. Nearby for dinner, I managed to get a table at Wood Fire Café. This is likely one of the best pizza restaurants in Dublin according to reviews and personal experience, although I doubt I'll find much opportunity to try out elsewhere!

2024 travel plans

Looking to the year ahead of travel planning, all my flights are now booked to/from and within Chile. I'm excited to be joining mi amor travelling there on what will be my first ever trip to South America as well as the Southern Hemisphere. We've quite a few places to visit on the three-week-long itinerary to make it worth the long, long flight there and back. During these gloomy, wet winter days in England, that'll certainly be something to look forward to!