It’s official. We are approximately 8.5% of the way into 2018. Put another way, today is the last day of January, meaning we are one whole month into the year. I guess that’s a little clearer. And I guess that almost means it’s time for us to take a hike around the Internet for the first speedlink of 2018 too!

Starting things off, we have Art Eddy from Life of Dad offering something for all the romantics in the audience. He has compiled a modest collection of geeky Valentine’s Day gift ideas for the extra special nerd in your life. I will neither confirm nor deny that I’m in love with that Kylo Ren lightsaber lamp. Fulfill your destiny.

Next, we have Rebecca Coleman offering her take on balancing the use of owned media and borrowed media when it comes to running your online business. This is largely in response to the recent changes to the YouTube Partner Program and a further demonstration that these social platforms can pull the rug out from under you in a heartbeat.

On a completely different front, we put one foot in front of the other with Louise Chapman. She describes some of the best places to go for a hike in the Lower Mainland. I’ve never been one for the gym, so seeking out these kinds of outdoor options is much more up my alley. That is, if I can convince myself to get off my lazy derriere in the first place!

Continuing on the topic of taking a hike, Whit Honea shares a little story about that time he decided to take a walk with his kids. His lungs were “heavy” and his legs were “slightly burning,” but perhaps that’s about as good an analogy for parenthood as they come. Sometimes, we just need to walk a little slower and enjoy the surroundings, huffing and puffing and all.

It’s true. Parenthood is hard. And it’s filled with all sorts of hard questions with even harder answers. Joel Gratcyk recently had to approach some more serious subject matter when he had to talk to his kids about afterlife myths. What happens when we die? If this is all that there is, why should we even bother?

Next, Andrea Firmani helps to diffuse some of the stress and worry that accompanies taking your child to the emergency room. We’ve gone through this experience (she was fine, but we wanted to be sure) and Andrea’s tips can definitely make the whole ordeal a little more manageable.

We learn to take life as it comes, tackling our challenges one day at a time. Self-proclaimed “Social Dad” James R.C. Smith explains to us why being a dad is hard. Like how your little one might start eating a bar of soap if you decide to look away for just a couple of moments to flick through your Facebook news feed. Or how she’ll go into full-on meltdown mode because you won’t let her eat the cat food.

And finally, what would it take for you to pack up your life and move literally thousands of kilometers away? That’s exactly what Heather Van Mil is doing as her family is moving across the country from Vancouver to Halifax. That’s quite literally coast to coast! She’ll be trading in sushi and yoga pants for lobster rolls and… I actually don’t know what people stereotypically wear in the Maritimes. Any ideas?