I’m baaaaaack from my 2-month blog vacation/hiatus/hibernation, and while I was busy living life in the moment, we went and wrapped up 2019! My year began with an unlikely Bora Bora vacation, enjoyed during the longest government shutdown in US history, and unfolded to include travel to nine more countries and territories, plus several US cities. It was a year characterized by amazing travel experiences, personal gains and struggles, and alarming choices by those tasked with leading the country.
In the midst of it all, Black excellence won 5 major pageant titles worldwide, while Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast in history, and Black women made some fantastic political sweeps. #metoo continues to slowly move the needle. And it’s been emotionally exhilarating to watch the visibility of major athletes like Misty Copeland and Serena Williams inspire young Black athletes to follow their footsteps in sports that have long been devoid of meaningful diversity.
And we have a national leader who seems bound and determined to muck up the country even more extensively than usual. Can’t win ’em all. I guess. -_-
Personal
I set some financial goals – and met them – despite messing up on several occasions. So I made bigger goals for next year, and I feel way more equipped to meet them after 2019’s moderate success. Social media rarely recognizes that travel is linked to someone’s actual money, and I think it’s important to try and balance love of travel with a reality-based budget and to also communicate that reality in public.
The year 2019 marked 10 years (TEN?!) since college and 10 years at my job, both of which feel like they happened to someone else. Apparently…that is not the case. We are all old AF, it’s been confirmed. Last year was full of adulting wins and fails, complete with adult-sized problems, and it was kind of amazing to both give and receive support within my network.
I was fortunate enough to see a lot of incredibly talented performances – Janet Jackson, The Donna Summer Musical, Celine Dion, Anastasia, Femme it Forward (all the 90s feels), Hamilton (just as amazing the second time around), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (I won discount tickets in a lottery but it would have been worth all the dollars), and Amaluna, a Cirque du Soleil show with amazing acrobatics like the scene below.
Travel
I visited ten countries & territories in 2019, plus a few new places in the US! The most notable of these were to French Polynesia at the beginning of the year, my summer European trip, and a 3-day stopover in the UAE.
I got to see the Team USA win the Women’s World Cup live, in person, with my own two eyes! I kicked it with friends all over the globe and went to Zimbabwe to celebrate my brother’s marriage.
I soaked up the sun on beaches in Mexico, French Polynesia, and the Caribbean, saw historic buildings in San Antonio, New York City, Vienna, and Toronto, and stood on the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, a place I’ve long wanted to see. And everywhere, I ate the absolute most amazing food. This meal in Dublin was one of my favorites.
As always, I spent a kind of crazy amount of time in spas and pools and drinking wine. Occasionally at the same time. It was quite the year!
Books
Last year I read just 6 out of the 33 books I’d planned to, which was personally shocking as I’ve always been an avid reader. Therefore, I resolved to do better in 2019. While I didn’t make it to everything on my list, I did manage to read a lot of them! To this end, I finished 36 books, 26 of which were on my list, and most of them were amazing. I think my top picks from the year are:
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
- The Power by Naomi Alderman
- My Grandmother Told Me to Tell You I’m Sorry by Fredrik Backman
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- The Last One by Alexandra Oliva
- Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
I have 40 on the list for 2020 (including rollover from 2019) and am most looking forward to the ones below. I’ve also recently finished We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter, which is inspired by the author’s family history as a Jewish family from Poland during the Holocaust – incredible in just how apt the title is, and I highly, highly recommend it.
- Mujerista Theology by Ada María Isasi-Díaz
- My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Brown Girl Brownstones by Paule Marshall
- The Girl Who Dared to Think by Bella Forrest
2020 Plans
So far I’ve already done two mini trips in January! One was for a snow weekend. As you may know, I don’t do cold weather activities (other than fireplaces and hot cocoa because I am a civilized human). Despite this, I somehow found myself actively participating in the planning of cold weather things. Such as snowboarding. The point of which is apparently to launch my butt and my snowboard rather painfully and repeatedly into the side of a mountain.
The second mini trip was a weekend in Seattle to celebrate the impending nuptials of my incredible soror Rachael. This year is shaping up to be an exciting one for travels, with a nice mix of domestic and international destinations, with plenty of weddings and babies and milestones to celebrate.
I’m looking forward to Singapore this spring, Puerto Vallarta this summer, and time in Tahoe, DC, and Yosemite. I made a promise to myself to be more intentional about my travel plans. That means saying no to some opportunities to allow myself more choice in how and where I spend my time. So far, it’s been tough to put into practice, but my calendar looks far more manageable than it did last year, so cheers to the next 11 months!
top: Cabo, Aruba, Museum of Ice Cream SF
middle: Celine Dion, Bora Bora
bottom: upgraded!, Hollywood, Ireland, Greece