This Was August 2026
I went to Ireland in August. Let’s get into it.
Things I Posted Online
I made a few new digital zines after experimenting with zinesforever.com. It’s not a perfect editing experience but it works. I am listing all my digital zines on frankenwebzines. Added in August: Stomping Through the Archives & Reflections on Social Media and the Comments.
I took a bunch of walks in August and wrote about it.
I’ve been doing more background work on my digital garden site, including creating pages that highlight all the places/sites I put stuff online. Still have several more pages to add but it’s nice to see the system coming together. I’ve also been redesigning/refining this site, TBD.
While I was in Ireland I made two posts about my experiences there (Days 1&2, Days 3-5). I finally made a final/follow up post with the rest of the trip after my post-vacation fog (Days 6&7). The first two provide better insight into thoughts and feelings while on the trip, but all 3 together give you a good summary.
Ireland
My trip was 6 days (plus one for flying) and took me from Dublin to Kilkenny to Killarney, and back to Dublin to fly home.
You can view ALL details in the photo album, if you’re interested.
Ireland 2026
Birthday Magic!!
I spent the day before my birthday traveling from Dublin to Kilkenny so that I could wake up and spend the whole day there.
One thing you may not know about me + travel is that I don’t plan ahead very strictly. When I booked this trip, I got most of my destination tips from Gemini and TikTok. I was experimenting to see how AI did with travel assistance (it did ok, but it’s faster and less frustrating just to read blogs and sites), but TikTok creators did a better job at recommending interesting travel tips. With a list of places in mind, I booked hotels & transportation, then planned almost nothing else.
This is my style and I do this everywhere. If things need advanced tickets, I simply don’t do them, and I don’t feel FOMO. I prefer to give myself the freedom to do whatever my heart desires once the day comes. This often “makes” my solo experience - planning too much breaks it. (These conditions do not apply when traveling with others, where plans are usually set and itineraries made to benefit all travelers.) I already knew from my research that I’d have lots of food options and free things to do, but frankly much of my travel time in any place is spent walking around staring at everything in awe. This also works in the budget, because many last-minute plans are free.
So on my birthday, I tried to sleep in (failed) and then set out not knowing what my day would bring. I had one (1) item on my to-do list from my walk the evening before, and that was to visit Kilkenny Castle.
First I set out to go shopping and gave myself a bunch of gifts - a green tweed bag, a Celtic design hooded Aran knit sweater, and some books. I found sushi for lunch, then after dropping everything off at my room, I spent the entire rest of my afternoon wandering around the castle.
All castles have magic, but this felt more magical than any castle I’d ever been near. Maybe it was my birthday; maybe it was the fact that Kilkenny immediately won my heart the day before when I arrived. Maybe it was passing musicians and men whistling tunes I wasn’t familiar with, but were clearly Irish traditional songs. Maybe it was sneaking off to the sides and seeing the neighborhoods and shops right next to the castle and feeling like inside the walls, I was in a separate dimension. Maybe it’s because I didn’t use my phone much.
Whatever it was, it was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had, hanging out in the castle grounds alone drawing, reading, writing, thinking, and napping. I had several more days of Ireland ahead of me and had already fallen in love. There was nothing but GOOD to look forward to, even if I didn’t know exactly what it was yet. It was a peaceful, restful, and relaxing day.
I think it’s nice to have concrete plans to look forward to, but it’s even nicer when you don’t and you still get excited. Like when you love someone and you just want to see THEM, it doesn’t matter what you do. That’s what Ireland was for me. If she were a woman, I’d be gay AF for her.
Blink to Take A Picture in Your Brain
I saw swans twice on my trip, but got no pictures.
The first time, I was on the Dublin Express Bus from the airport to city center, where I’d planned to get off and take the Luas (tram) to my hotel. I felt sick and missed my stop, so I ended up on the bus all the way back to the airport. Somewhere on this journey, another passenger pointed out swans in the canal, and there they were! Right in the middle of the city minding their own business in the water.
The second time, I was on the green Dublin Coach Bus from Kilkenny to Cork. A group of swans were in a small lake off to the side of the road. The water was disgusting but they were beautiful and white and shining.
I’ve never seen swans in the wild. In both instances, they went by so fast that I didn’t have time to pull out my camera.
Castles, abbeys, and cathedrals were sometimes just as elusive to capture and it felt magical. On all trips (train or bus) I caught glimpses of some beautiful building or ruin that was there and gone too quickly to photograph. There are a lot of similarly abandoned places to see off the road when you drive around the USA, but none of them are castles.
Things to Go Back For
Waterford and Cork, which I passed through on the bus. The buses were delayed so my layover in Cork dropped to an hour, and I couldn’t explore as much as I wanted to. (I could have gotten a later ticket but I had all my luggage and I just wanted to get to the next hotel.)
To see Galway, the Wicklow Mountains, fairy circles, and other things I didn’t do on this trip.
Pubs - I didn’t go into one while I was there; my trip was short, I was exhausted, and I didn’t feel like being in a highly social place or drinking. I sat adjacent to hear the music, but it’s not quite the same as seeing it in-person. These pubs didn’t have stages; musicians sat at tables with everyone else.
Since I lost my Dublin day to jetlag, it’d be nice to go back and see Trinity College, St. Stephen’s Green, the Leprechaun Museum, and everything else I wrote down while I was there.
I’d also like to see Northern Ireland! You need a special visa to go there (and the rest of the UK), but I didn’t do it this time because it was too far from my path.
Media Reviews & Thoughts
TV Shows: Since my flights each way were between 7-8 hours, I managed to get through both A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026) and PLUR1BUS (2025). I enjoyed both. The first was fitting; I didn’t know it was filmed in Ireland! I was so heartbroken coming home that an end-of-world scenario felt fitting too.
Also enjoyed: Seeking Persephone (2026), Sterling Point (2026)
Movies: After returning from Ireland I saturated myself in movies set in Ireland or about the country. Wild Mountain Thyme (2020), A Bend in the River (2020), Standby (2014), A Passing Place (2023). Standby was ok. The rest pulled my heartstrings.
Also enjoyed: Lockbox (2026), Doppelganger (1993), The Odyssey (2026)
See my Letterboxd if you’re interested in thoughts & feelings on any of these.
Music: Pre- and post-trip I found myself jamming to lots of Irish trad music. Here are 2 highlights from that, plus another Irish band I found.
Links
News/events:
Heart protection from COVID shots remains amid updates, study finds Jun 15
Remote workers report the highest well-being in study of 7,700 employees Aug 12
ICE is releasing people who are dying in order to avoid reporting their death Aug 13
Florida Republican could face death penalty under child abuse law he championed Aug 18
Could America really lose power for 18 months? The warning is chilling Aug 19
RFK Jr. Rips Into Host After CNN Fact-Checks His ‘Budget’ Meal Plan Aug 21
Tate Brothers Lied Online About Being 'Uberwealthy'—Lawyers Claim ‘They Are Playing A Role’ Aug 25
Trump demands ‘lies’ in West Point climate curriculum, professor claims in new lawsuit Aug 26
RFK Jr lied in Senate confirmation hearings, newly revealed documents indicate Aug 27
AI things:
From Claude Support: How Claude marks AI-generated content
New AI models still reproduce racial and gender stereotypes in medicine Aug 9
Farmer trusted AI after it gave good advice, then it helped wipe out 25 acres of his crops Aug 10
Sosc Core to Institute AI Ban, Technology-Free Classrooms This Fall Aug 23
Bill Gates Announces That He Is the First Person Ever to Be Concerned About the Effects of AI Aug 26
UC Irvine School of Education to lead $10 million national center on AI and postsecondary writing Aug 27
Flock Cameras
Thanks for Reading!
I still have so much to think and reflect about my trip. I have notes on things to learn and understand, a list of observed differences between US/Ireland to post somewhere, and I feel an overwhelming desire to learn the Irish language.
It’s hard to properly express what being there did to me. I feel changed - I always feel changed after a trip, but this is different. The other day I realized that this “post-trip heartbreak” is hitting me more like a breakup than other post-trip heartbreaks. Greens are greener, colors are brighter, and I feel more strongly drawn to nature and seasons (even more than I was before). They speak English there and I went to tourist spots, so it’s not like it was a huge contrast to daily experience, and yet somehow it was.
What I tried to express to a group chat was that it “matched” me in a way that I haven’t found at home, though I’m sure it’s possible. I’m sure places in the US exist that would feel similar. In that short week, I fell in love with a culture, people, and land that matched my temperament. And then I came home and got depressed because it’s nothing like that where I live.
I will not be sad for too long, though, as Halloween season is already picking me back up. After my return, I did a little Halloween shopping and got some lovely additions to my home. I’m looking forward to pumpkin patches and Halloween events with family coming in from out of town. And maybe, someday, it’ll get cooler in temperature and be easier to fall asleep at night.
xo Max
