“Oh, you have to go to Alicante.” It’s what everyone and every travel blog said about our family trip to the southern coast of Spain. Beaches along the Costa del Sol like Marbella and Malaga are where the jet setters and beach combers flock, but Alicante was supposed to be the best of the beaches with fewer crowds to go with them. As we discovered, it was definitely worth adding to the itinerary.

The first time we took our twins on a vacation in a different time zone, I worried so much about sleep schedules and bed times we lost half our day. Between worrying about nap time and rushing back from dinner to get to bed at the normal time to try to keep some semblance of a schedule, we ended up putting way too much pressure on ourselves and our kids. For a vacation that was supposed to be relaxing, our insistence on sticking to sleep schedules almost ruined us.

The south of Spain is great for sun, sangria, and the beach, but when you’ve got a craving for fish and chips, or relaxing at a pub, crossing over to Gibraltar is a must. The UK territory that sits on a small spit of mountainous land into the Mediterranean off the southern tip of Spain feels like walking back in time to jolly old England while still enjoying the Mediterranean climate.

Cold weather and electric cars don’t exactly go together like peanut butter and jelly. However, I still decided to take my Tesla Model 3 on the longest trip yet, up into the cold and potential snow, outside of the electric range in Vermont for some skiing. During the trip I learned a lot about the car, it’s limitations, and discovered that electric cars maybe aren’t as limited as it seems.

Going from wired headphones to wireless ones, especially for running is a complete game changer. Instead of battling cords that somehow seem to always find a way to get wrapped around an arm or flap into a face, they just go in and I can forget about them and focus on running. This year, when my old pair of neck-wire style wireless running headphones finally died, I decided to go the true wireless route and chose the Jaybird Vistas over some interesting competitors like the Jabra Elites and Apple AirPods.

I found my paradise on earth sitting outside under the Spanish sunset on a hillside overlooking the buildings of Ronda and numerous olive orchards and vineyards while the only sound I could hear was the soft whisper of the gentle breeze through trees. As the lights came on in Ronda, a trio of bunnies hopped on past and in the distance a rooster crowed a mournful farewell to the sun. I had reservations about staying so far from the town and leaving the coast on our summer trip through southern Spain, but after what may have been the most relaxing evening of my life, I was glad we the detour.

I sit on a beach towel so new it has that new towel smell in the shade of Cadiz’s pier about 30 feet from the ocean water and build a sandcastle with my boys. Thanks to the shade and calm waters due to the sheltered harbor, it’s the first time I can remember building a sand castle without getting sunburned and smacked by waves, and I actually find it enjoyable. When an elderly sun-weathered local man wanders by selling ice cold cans of beer for a Euro, I know I’ve discovered my ideal beach and potentially the best vacation spot I’ve ever stumbled upon in Cadiz.

As the year winds down and the decade comes to a close (though I say that won’t happen for another year because I actually understand time), so does the era of gadgets and smartphones being the most exciting tech. In 2010, the most exciting device I owned was the original Motorola Droid, my first smartphone. While a new phone each year has become far less exciting, there’s still a ton of technology that I have enjoyed this year.

Music City. Smashville. Nashvegas. Nashville earns all of these names. Quickly becoming the bachelorette party capital of the country, Nashville can be a circus of rowdy revelers in the streets, tractor puled party busses, bar bikes, and even a hot tub trailer I saw going down the street. But even for those not at all interested in that scene, the live music, craft beer scene, and awesome restaurants with modern takes on classic down home southern comfort food make Nashville a great destination.

It’s 45 degrees out, so cold that a mist hangs over the baseball outfield we’re using for our game today. The ground is wet and seeping through my sweatpants because I forgot to bring our camping chairs again, and I’m about to get up for the third time to re-tie a lost shoe. One of my kids is inspecting a large and apparently fascinating leaf while the ball rolls past him, and the other is on the bench asking the other kids if they’ve seen any cupcakes for the third time.