How are you? It’s been so long! Remember me? Remember when I used to write in you all the time? I used to tell you about the weather and about how there wasn’t much going on to write about.

Today when I was walking I saw all these torn up scraps of paper on the road. They made me think of you. How many January 1 entries have I made? Just like all those other times, as this new year starts I am thinking about all the new (and sometimes forgotten) habits I want to develop in this coming year. I have missed you, so let’s try again!

Dear Diary,

It’s the first day of a new year—2026. Today was a cooler day, only 29 degrees. Yesterday was hot, and when I say hot, I mean really hot. It was 39 degrees. I was sweating in places I didn’t know I could sweat.

Because it was New Years Day, we weren’t sure how many things would be open so we had planned to just wander. And wander we did! We walked over 12 km today- from Recoleta to Retiro, through Montserrat, then through San Telmo and on to Boca. Oh, Diary, my feet were tired by the time I got back home but what a way to start a new year. I love walking and I love exploring.

Nothing much happened during those twelve kilometres. I took pictures. I ate some things. At one point a lady came up to me to tell me it was dangerous to walk around her neighborhood with my camera out so I put it away. It’s funny because I had just made the comment that I hadn’t felt uneasy at all in Buenos Aires. Oh well. I appreciated her comment and it reminded me to be cautious. Dear Diary, do you think sometimes I am too trusting? I don’t think I am.

Here are my pictures. These are all the things I saw in Buenos Aires on the first day of 2026. Hope you like them.

Because it’s the beginning of the year, a lot of people are talking about changes they are going to make. Sometimes I find that inspiring. Sometimes I find it intimidating. Some people seem to be doing so much. Here is a list of things I think I want to start doing this year.

• A weekly highlight jar. I don’t want to have to search my memory for the good things that happened at the end of the year so I am going to write one thing down each week that was the highlight of the week. That should be easy.
• A nightly day dump. Not quite as it sounds, each day I am going to journal: 1 thing that took too much effort, 1 thing that helped me get through the day and 1 thing that I am proud of. This seems easy but I bet this one will be challenging for me.
• “If I’m being honest…” Once a week, I am going to write one sentence that starts with this. That’s it. Just write it down. I am not sure I am honest with myself enough. I think this could be a big one. Maybe if I write things down it will inspire some change.
• Make daily lists again. I love lists, dear Diary. Remember how many I used to share with you? All the times I listed the changes I wanted to make, or the things I wanted to try? I still have some of those lists…maybe I should check them in case there is something to cross off!

Thats a lot, eh dear Diary? But I think I can do it. It’s getting late now so I should go to bed. I’ll try to write to you again tomorrow. Sleep well, dear Diary. xo