Quiet Growth – Everyday Rituals & Travel That Stayed With Me
As the year draws to a close, I’ve been thinking about how travel continued to weave itself through my life this year. Sometimes in well planned trips, sometimes in fleeting moments carved out around work, and real life commitments. This post looks back at a year of travel, everyday rituals, and moments that quietly stayed with me.
Alongside returning to places that already feel familiar, I also found myself in a couple of new but intentional destinations that surprised me. The kind you leave knowing you’ll come back to, even if you can’t say when, just yet.
At least one trip was a repeat visit to my far-flung favourite, others were rooted much closer to home, woven into the rhythm of daily and weekly life. Walks and runs, time spent outdoors, and moments of stillness provided the centering and focus I need. The quiet balance that keeps me refreshed for both for work and play.
A familiar flat white at my favourite cafés. Piano lessons that continued to shape my patience more than my pursuit of perfection. Spanish lessons with Javier, where language keeps opening new doors. And swimming, humbling and empowering in equal measure a reminder that growth isn’t age-bound; it’s a choice we make, again and again.
“Travel isn’t always about distance. Sometimes it’s about depth.”
Reflections From A Year Of Quiet, Steady Beauty
Late 2024, I took my third trip on the Bernina Express (BE) a reminder that some experiences don’t lose their power simply because they’re familiar. Making my way from the Zürich Christmas markets toward Chur now feels almost routine. This in my view is what it means to travel deeper. My trips on the BE are now so familiar I gleefully convince myself I am a local.
From Chur, the BE begins its slow and irrepressible climb through the Swiss Alps slipping in and out of tunnels, climbing higher, opening onto glaciers and vast stretches of white and snow-covered silence.
Inside the carriage, there’s a hush, broken only by quiet gasps of wonder, as the train curves through the mountains, almost showing off for us as it glides along the tracks. This train ride is a moment that settles deep, the kind that stays with you long after the ride ends. It was also my very first Beyond Your Boarding Pass post, a beginning that feels quietly significant. Bernina Express — Switzerland’s Most Scenic Train Ride
Easter brought an entirely new journey and destination. Mexico City. Vibrant, chaotic, beautiful, and layered. Latin and cosmopolitan all at once. Energising in the way only a first visit can be. Mexico City is the kind of place that overwhelms slightly, but leaves you wanting to explore deeper; it’s not a tick the box stop. See my itinerary here – Mexico City
After Mexico City, Panama followed. Familiar and grounding. Back to Boquete and its refreshing waterfalls in western Panama, with stops in Caldera for hot springs soak. I stayed with my friend and her beautiful family in Dolega (near David) then down to Boca Chica with wide views over the Pacific and the Gulf of Chiriquí.
A day in San Blas reminded me, again, that one day here is never enough. This was my second visit, and still not enough time. (on my first visit I spent 2 nights and think you should too). Panama City felt like revisiting an old friend: the Canal, shopping at Multiplaza Panama Mall, walking along the Cinta Costera before winding my way to Casco Viejo. Hot and humid, yet the City anchors me. Panama City, Panama — Beyond the Canal.
Croatia returned with its familiar Mediterranean softness. Stone villages, the Pelješac Peninsula, Makarska; places that feel lived-in to me now, not just visited. Pelješac Peninsula Ston Croatia – Oysters, Walls and Wine.
Closer to home, North Yorkshire (Gods Own Country) offered its own rhythm. Whitby on the east coast, (the best lobster in the UK) the pull of the west, weekends in the Lake District. Old favourites, Windermere, Ambleside, and new fells such as Derwentwater. Grounding moments woven into weekend life.
Lisbon came next and briefly, an old favourite revisited on my way to São Tomé. From the year curved back to towards Switzerland, closing the loop with familiar landscapes and winter traditions.
The Year Ended Where It Began-In The Alps
My first visit to the Montreux Christmas market came with just under 24 hours in Montreux, beautiful, fleeting, and a place I know I’ll return to. I took the Rochers de Naye Railway (night train) climbing creakily above Lake Geneva. Later Santa showed up on his sleigh through the night sky above the Montreux Christmas market. The next day brought the GoldenPass Express (yes another train) winding through polished alpine landscapes, passing places like Gstaad; restrained, elegant, quietly extravagant. No comparisons needed. Switzerland IS the journey especially by train, (my preference during the winter months).
That final ride took me north, 205 km. Over 4 hours by train (Montreux → Interlaken / Spiez / Bern → Zürich). The Golden Pass Express is a scenic train so if you are taking it enroute north, it will take a little longer. By regular trains Montreux to Zurich can be done in about 3 hours. Back at the Christmas markets, standing beneath the giant Swarovski chandelier (new this year) in the main station, watching the singing Christmas Tree for the first time, a full circle ending to a year shaped by movement, familiarity, and a few places that are destined to draw me back again.
The Everyday Life That Centers Me
Some of my favourite days weren’t abroad at all. They were spent walking and running through the Bolton Abbey estate, Watching sunlight filter through the trees. Sitting quietly in my local cafés, writing ideas for the blog. Wandering familiar Harrogate streets in every season.
In North Yorkshire, it’s easy to get your daily step count in. Lush, green, and beautiful, minutes to open countryside, cows and sheep grazing, always beautiful no matter the season.
I kept up my work outs. Went swimming and I continued my quest to become a Mozart understudy (a joke obviously). For adults learning to play the piano including perpetual learners like me, patience it turns out, is a skill that can be learnt and with practice is often rewarded.
Piano Lessons: My piano teacher Ian Dolamore who is an amazing music professional says:
“Many adults who take up music or return to their instrument set out with ambitious plans. They set aside long blocks of time, push through marathon practice sessions and expect immediate results. Then frustration sets in, work and family commitments take over, and the long sessions become more infrequent. The students who instead commit themselves to small, manageable, daily routines and focus on making one improvement at a time tend to avoid the emotional swings and stay engaged for longer.
Small Routines, Quiet Progress
This kind of routine is easier to instil than most expect. A short practice, focused on a single task becomes, over time, a rhythm that fits into everyday life without competing with other priorities. Part of what can make it stick is that a well-established routine reduces decision-making: already knowing where, when, and how to practise removes the mental effort of planning, making it easier for the habit to take hold over time, particularly if the barriers to starting are low.
These sessions reward patience: improvements appear gradually rather than immediately, reinforcing the principle of delayed gratification over short-term results. They create a space where attention can settle and allow focused effort without pressure.
In the same way that small, daily routines support steady progress over time, the essence of good practice itself involves breaking down a large task into smaller components. You work on individual sections of a piece, refining details and building fluency, then gradually link them back together. It doesn’t feel dramatic at the time, the gains are marginal, but they accumulate over time in a way that eventually becomes obvious.
The Value Of Small Consistent Practice
Most routines break down because they rely on willpower and mood. A routine built on marginal gains relies on something simpler: consistency. The key is to focus on this first, not chase grand, immediate results. Once the process is established, progress naturally follows. These micro-routines (short, intensive, regular) are easier to automate, reduce friction in daily life, freeing mental energy for other demands.
Small adjustments rarely feel significant at the time, which is why they are often undervalued. Yet they are reliable enough to survive the demands of real life. The point is not to chase dramatic transformations. It is to build a routine that you can keep doing regardless of schedule or levels of motivation and let the small things compound. In music, as in everything else, the quiet gains are the ones that endure.” If you are in or near Harrogate and looking for a great piano teacher you can find Ian at Ian Dolamore or Harrogate Tuition.
My Spanish teacher who I have been learning with now for over a decade would say the same, it’s the quiet gains that endure. Those Spanish conjugations are brutal at an intermediate to advanced level, but I keep speaking and now and again without thinking too hard I get it right! Spanishto.
“Progress lives in the small, consistent moments — in travel, in learning, and in life.”
Building A Blog Between Work & Daily Life
I am not a full-time travel writer. I have a full time role, and Beyond Your Boarding Pass lives in the hours I carve out between everyday commitments, learning Spanish, practising piano scales, swimming laps, and taking care of myself. This blog grows in the margins and this year; I learned to honour that rather than apologise for it.
Looking Ahead To 2026: Places Worth Discovering
Perhaps this is the year you explore one of my 2025 destinations. Not because they are trendy, but because they are beautiful, unpretentious and invite you to travel a little deeper. My own personal goal is to visit two new countries, which isn’t easy. Some perennial favourites, Brazil and Argentina, for example, are long overdue revisits. Careful prioritisation of my vacation time will be needed.
As we step into 2026, I’ll be updating and resharing my Colombia content in January. In addition, I will be telling the full story of São Tomé, including standing on the Equator, and continuing to share travel that’s thoughtful, practical, and shaped by real experience. Expect a few surprises as BYBP continues to grow!
Here’s to another year of balance, growth, and journeys that stay with you.
Thank you for being here with me. For reading, following along, and sharing in these moments. And special thanks to my wonderful cousins the A Team! Without them this dream would not have been realized.
Happy New Year.
Until Next time. See you soon and happy and safe travels!
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