I’m not a huge fan of New Year resolutions, but I do like to take a few moments to reflect on the past year. Since I now have a blog, that means these reflections now get to be shared with you. Lucky you! Lol.
A lot of people are feeling less than charitable about 2017 and are more than happy to leave the year behind, but I try not to blame the year for the bad things that happen in it. Even so, I have to say that 2017 was one for the books – I flew on about 50 flights and visited 5 other countries. I wanted to share a few defining features of my 2017 (other than spending a crazy amount of time on airplanes).
chaos
I should have known that the events of the end of 2016 would mean 2017 starting in chaos. I had been living happily for the past 4 years in a nice Oakland apartment with “character” (because let’s face it – most Bay Area apartments that single people can afford to pay for have character in instead of amenities), when I suddenly found out that instead of sliding seamlessly into year 5, the rent would be going up by $500. Yes. $500. Rude. So, obviously, I launched the Great Bay Area Housing Search (one of the most cutthroat and irritating pastimes one can dedicate time to), intent on finding somewhere affordable to spend the next 2-5 years since I hate frequent moves.
I found what I was looking for, orchestrated my move, and spent most of December 2016 unpacking and decorating. I finished on New Year’s Eve, just in time for my holiday party in my newly decorated apartment – the primary purpose of which was to get dressed up, avoid shoes, drink good wine, and eat gourmet cheese. It was great! No sore feet, no obnoxious drunk people, and no shivering in the cold. #winning
Six days later, I woke up at 4am to find my apartment building on fire. Yup. The one I had inhabited for 34 days, and had fully unpacked for six. It was probably the scariest experience of my life and I hope to never repeat it again. Short version: I miraculously woke up (I’m a very heavy sleeper), I’m alive, and I had renters insurance. If you are renting and don’t have renters insurance, you might want to reconsider your life. Thirteen dollars per month meant the difference between being displaced without resources, and being displaced with Allstate’s resources. Pro tip: Allstate has much better financial security than I do.
dealing with illness
Several people I know were affected by cancer this year, and two of my close friends had pretty scary encounters that I got to witness up close. I’m a relatively pragmatic person and it makes sense to me that as we age, in any group of people there will be a few who are beset by health challenges or other life curveballs, but somehow, I never considered that those few would be people I know well. The early part of 2017 had a layer of worry and concern that I was completely unprepared to deal with. It’s the kind of thing that makes me wonder how I would handle something similar, and there’s really no answer to that, but I’m awed by the courage of my friends’ responses to their respective diagnoses. I am so thankful that these friends have made it through to remission and are currently out in the world being the badass women they were born to be.
stretching my comfort zone
In March, I went on a trip that I hadn’t quite envisioned for myself. Until I visited the UAE, I’d stuck to countries where I had some level of comfort already: Spanish-speaking countries because I speak and read Spanish with a reasonable level of competence; France and the Netherlands because I had friends living there who could keep me from becoming too hopelessly lost; Greece because it was university-organized and I’d been studying Greek.
When I found myself with an amazing deal on flights to Dubai, I couldn’t pass it up, but I was very nervous about being in an environment where I was completely unfamiliar with the language and culture. It ended up being an incredible experience, and made me realize that I can travel almost anywhere in the world and the things I worried about won’t really matter.
Because of this, I felt much more comfortable embarking on my next big trip, which was to Bali. This vacation started out as one thing, and had morphed into something completely different by the time I went, and it was perfect. I think it might have been my favorite trip of the year, and I consider myself very fortunate to have dependable and drama-free friends who are down to go explore the world with me.
weddings, weddings, weddings
I had the privilege of attending the wedding celebrations for three of my sorority sisters in 2017. One of my favorite aspects of joining a multicultural sorority back in college is that as an alumna, I’m invited to incredibly diverse types of ceremonies and celebrations. Learning about other cultures is invaluable, and being able to witness different wedding traditions has become a special part of my life that I hadn’t anticipated. One of these weddings, between my friends Risha and Mac, also gave me my first ever bridesmaid experience. A lot of my travel in the first part of the year was related to this wedding, which included planning a pretty epic bachelorette party in Las Vegas. The nuptials of 2017 were definitely highlights for me.
all-inclusive paradise
After kicking cancer to the curb, one of my closest friends decided to have her milestone birthday party at an all-inclusive resort in Costa Rica. This was my first experience with an all-inclusive, and I really enjoyed it. It felt a little odd to be on vacation with the sole purpose of absolute relaxation – usually, I’m trying to explore and see as many things as possible before going home. With an all-inclusive, everything was just right there, and the resort was a bit secluded, so this was pretty different for me. However, I think I adapted admirably:
One of the things I’ve heard a lot about all-inclusive resorts is that the food tends to be unexceptional. I love food, and I love exploring and finding great restaurants, so this is probably one of the main reasons I’d never stayed at an all-inclusive before. It was pretty awesome ordering at restaurants without a care to the prices of the various dishes, and the food at the Westin Playa Conchal was actually pretty amazing. It was a new type of experience for me, and I really enjoyed it.
Now that I’ve tried an all-inclusive, I think I’d be more likely to visit one in the future. I would definitely need to take into consideration the type of trip I’m looking for (relaxation vs exploration). I still feel a little weird about not having seen very much of Costa Rica and I think I’ll go back at some point to try to get a fuller picture of the different parts of the country. For Rachael’s birthday celebration though, the all-inclusive Westin was a perfect retreat and a great chance to recharge with ever-present cocktails and pool time.
2018
So now it’s the new year, and the first week of January 2018 has me moving again. I’ve got some pretty exciting plans on the horizon for 2018, including a somewhat unexpected trip to New Zealand in April! You have nooooo idea how excited I am about visiting Hobbiton. I’ve got my 2018 Reading List put together – if there’s anything close to a resolution that I do for New Years, it’s building a list of books across genres and challenging myself to read them all. The last few years have been pretty hectic, and my lists were kind of ambitious, so I haven’t finished all the books on them. I have a good feeling about this year’s though! A few list picks that I’m looking forward to exploring:
I’m also insanely excited about an epic aspirational award redemption trip to various corners of the globe planned for this summer. I’m basically building a vacation around a flight in Singapore Airlines’ Suites Class. Still hammering out the details on that one but I’ll definitely be writing about it later. Happy 2018, and I hope your year is filled with memorable experiences! And good health – being sick is the absolute worst.
Impresive for the young, exhausting for the old. Since I am neither, I’ll take the beach, anywhere, any day ( no mention of beach here).
Apples truly don’t fall very far from the tree!!