Oh, 2020. I think we can all agree 2020 was unique, often challenging, and bizarre. Not exactly what we imagined when we were setting New Year’s resolutions 12 months ago. Despite all that happened, this is a year I am truly grateful for.
For this year, I had four goals:
– To stay in Canada for as long as I can (I used that exact wording),
– to improve my French,
– to go to Montreal, and
– to visit Quebec’s old town in winter.
Surprisingly enough, I managed to complete the first three.
2019 was the year when I travelled more than I usually do. In fact, I spent more than half of this year abroad. 3 continents and 9 countries (and 10th one to happen soon) later, I can say 2019 is the year I am truly grateful for, although it was one of the hardest ones. Here are some of the things I learnt in the last 12 months:
I don’t have to go far to make some unforgettable memories.
I am still young enough to stay in the hostels.
When travelling solo, you’re never really alone.
Love can be found everywhere in different forms.
I need to say yes more often.
The biggest lesson I learnt was not to force anything. Whatever flows, flows, whatever crashes, crashes. Sometimes it gets truly hard to take events as they are, but travel forces me to do that more often than I’d choose to myself.
Poznan, Poland
I have only set 5 goals for this year. I made 4 out of 5 happen, unfortunately, I have run out of time (and money) to visit South America. However, I saw elephants, travelled a lot with friends (and met so many new ones!), worked in the States and even visited Canada.Read More
If I could use only one adjective to describe 2018, I’d choose bittersweet. There were many days when I could not hide my smile and my eyes were sparkling with joy, but there were also days, when life was against me and everyone I loved. It was a year full of changes.
The happiest moment of 2018 in Cappadocia, Turkey
I didn’t set many goals last December – only four! All of them were quite simple and very straight-forward, yet that didn’t work out as well as I had hoped for. I have seen places I didn’t plan to visit in 2018 and I still haven’t seen South Africa (which, I must admit, bothers me quite a lot). Let’s jump to the beginning!
Last Tuesday I was sitting on my cosy bed after coming back from a long day at work when it hit me – I was not sure where we were going next! Over the next few days, I came up with a plan.
But let’s talk 2017 first, shall we? I can hardly believe how much has happened in the last 12 months! It’s true I have only accomplished half of what I was planning to (4 out of 7), but I still consider this year a big success! In February, we did a lovely weekend getaway to the Czech Republic. Short, but sweet! Until April, I was very busy with my studies. At the end of the month, we took off for Madeira Island – a place that has been on my list since forever! We even had two layovers in Lisbon and that was a dream come true too.
It’s almost unbelievable half of 2017 is already over, isn’t it? My exams are behind (at least for now), which means I have more time to focus on my hobbies. These days I’m busy hosting couchsurfers, editing photos from Madeira (expect many blog posts) and doing some compulsive shopping online a.k.a. booking too many flights. So, what’s next?
Morocco
Photo by Sergey Pesterev
You might recall Morocco has been on my travel goals list for more than 2 years now because it’s so different from anything I’ve experienced. I’m crazily excited for exotic performers, chaotic markets, 1000 years old historical sites and sandboarding. We are headed there in September. Bring it on! Read More
