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July last year when I turned 32, although I was slightly scared about getting older, especially when I still spend all my money on holidays instead of a house. I was excited about the year ahead and all the fun plans we had. So many holidays and family moments coming up. Never in a million years would I have guessed that some of these plans would be revoked due to a ‘war on germs’, leading to a worldwide pandemic. Here’s a year recap, of my 32nd year of life, the good, the amazing, and the unbelievable!
It’s always nice, to begin a year recap with the good, so here we go.
July:
My birthday last year wasn’t one I was particularly excited about; I even took it off Facebook so most people wouldn’t even know it happened. When my husband Lawrence asked what I wanted for my birthday I said just to hide away somewhere. And that’s actually what we did, we hid away in the most amazing rainforest retreat. This wasn’t what I was picturing so I was blown away. We stayed for two nights at The Mouses House Rainforest Retreat. The retreat is small chalets scattered between the trees, we had a spa on our balcony, open fireplace, and outside our window a view of a little waterfall. Each chalet is named after characters from Sleeping Beauty, we stayed in The Wicket Witch! Umm was Lawrence trying to tell me something haha.
This month I also joined Lawrence on a trip to Auckland, New Zealand to see his family. NZ is so cold in July and I’m sure it would have rained a few times but it’s always good to see everyone. If you’re traveling to Auckland, I recommend visiting Waitakere Ranges. You’ll need a car to get there but this area is stunning and there are so many good hikes.
August:
The biggest benefit of working in the airline industry is a flexible roster and cheap airfares. I’m currently living on the Gold Coast and my family is all in Melbourne, which is a 2-hour flight away. It’s never really been an issue, I’ve generally been able to make it to every important occasion. In August I visited Melbourne once and it was freezing! So, I was really needing a tropical holiday at this point. Between my siblings and cousins, there’re so many babies in the family now. During these little visits, I’m always trying to leave an impression on them so they won’t forget me before my next visit (which was in September).
The other reason we visited Melbourne this month was to attend a Success Resources event, where we saw Gary Vaynerchuk. Ahhh that was so exciting and good motivation to keep hustling.
September:
And, here’s a recap of my favorite month of the year. I always love September; the weather is warmer and it’s later in the year but not too close to Christmas it’s scary. Also, this month was the beginning of my holiday season! First up we went to Rottnest Island for our wedding anniversary.
Rottnest Island is off the coast of Perth in Western Australia. The island is famous for stunning beaches, freely riding bikes around the island without worrying about cars, and of course, Quokkas. So, the plan was so to relax, go on adventures and get a selfie with a Quokka. And it all went perfectly.
Because we were only going for a few days I only packed a carry-on bag. I much prefer this because there’s no waiting around at the baggage carousel when you arrive.
My top tips for traveling with only carry on are;
Plan your outfits in advance, check the weather forecast, and only take what you need.
Any toiletries transfer into small containers or if you have any product samples take them instead.
And, when you’re packing roll all your clothes, this takes up much less space.
Read; Rottnest Island, Western Australia: All the information you need!
October:
In October we went to BALI, by this point I was missing Asia and so excited to get there. I was traveling with Lawrence and his three kids. It was actually the kid’s first time in Asia so that made the trip way better.
Before we left home, I had printed the kid’s currency cards from Oanda. These were great in helping them understand our exchange rate with the Indonesian rupiah and they came in very handy while bartering. Click here to make a currency card for your next trip.
Traveling with kids always means there are extra things we need to think about before leaving home.
Here are a few of my tips for traveling with kids;
Ensure the whole family is covered under your travel insurance.
Bring medication that is suitable for children.
Don’t overpack, as adults, we have to carry most of it around.
Explain the differences between Bali and home, the biggest being we shouldn’t drink their tap water.
Bring snacks, kids always seem to be hungry.
Read; Bali Travel Guide and Tips for First-Timers!
November:
Ah, November, a recap on possibly the most disappointing month of the year. This was the month Lady Gaga broke my heart. No, she actually did, it was one of the most disappointing moments of my life.
At the beginning of the year, I had brought tickets to her Las Vegas residency, Enigma. We traveled all the way to Vegas and the night had finally arrived. I was ready to go, makeup is done and blue wig on! And then I got a message… It was a screenshot from Lady Gagas Instagram saying she was so devastated but can’t perform tonight due to illness. I was sad for her but also very sad for myself!
The only good thing was this happened at the end of our trip, so I didn’t carry the disappointment & sadness around with me all week.
Before this we had an incredible holiday, Vegas is so much fun.
To end November, I had another little trip to Melbourne to celebrate my brother and sister-in-law’s 30th birthday.
Read; Las Vegas Travel Guide; The Strip & Downtown.
December:
Since living on the Gold Coast and being a shift worker I’ve somewhat lost the Christmas spirit. The weeks leading up to Christmas are always filled with weekend work and overtime. With all my family is in Melbourne the thought of celebrating Christmas alone on the Gold Coast makes me so sad. And of course, working in the airline industry can mean being rostered any day of the year. So, I’m always super stressed leading up to the Christmas roster… I literally lose sleep haha. Usually, I’m given a shift on Christmas Day, but luckily this year ‘s recap includes me getting Christmas off. I work with such beautiful people who take my shifts for me.
So up until I flew to Melbourne on Christmas Eve, there isn’t much to recap about December this year. Except I had an awesome Christmas with my family and was a perfect ending to 2019.
January:
This is probably my favorite month of my year recap. Being the summer holidays in Australia we have Lawrences kids stay with us. This is always so fun; the weeks are filled with beach days and fun activities. But what made this year exceptionally amazing was for Christmas we decided we didn’t want to get the kids ‘stuff’ but experiences instead. So, under the Christmas tree they each got an envelope with a mock boarding pass, tickets to an NBA game, and a framed photo of the city. After a bit of confusion, they realized, we’re going to NEW YORK CITY!
I was so excited that we were able to give this to them and we all had such an amazing holiday. We even got a day full of snow in Central Park.
Read; Free Things to do in New York City That You Will all Love.
February:
This month I was so lucky to get a bit of time off work and visit my 40th country, South Korea. Only a couple of months prior Jetstar had started direct services between Gold Coast & Seoul. So Lawrence & I figured we needed to check it out. My last few holidays had been to countries I had previously visited so I was so excited to check out a brand-new city. This meant getting my head around a new currency, train system & figuring out what outfits would be suitable.
I absolutely loved Seoul, such a fun and vibrant city, the food was incredible and it even snowed one day.
Read; Everything You Need to Know About Travel in Seoul, 2020.
March:
Looking back March was probably the weirdest month in this year ‘s recap. With the looming threat of Corona Virus we were all left wondering, how deadly is this virus, can we still travel, how many flights will operate out of Gold Coast, will we get many shifts?
It wasn’t until the end of March that I heard the phrase ‘Stand Down’ for the first time. WTF is that? They can’t just not give us work? ‘Well, actually they can’ when the Queensland state borders closed that was it. Jetstar officially canceled every flight for the next two months and that left all staff stood down. Lawrence & I both work at the airport so this meant we were both out of work. Brilliant!
April, May, June, Julyyyyyyyyy:
I didn’t think the last 4 months of my year recap would be like this, I thought it would include so many flights, hotel stays, cocktails & palm trees. But here we are still stood down and not even allowed to leave the state. In March I literally said “don’t worry, this will all be over by June” ha ha 😳. Something did happen in May that I never thought I’d have to do, I canceled a holiday 😭 “Calm down idiot, the world has bigger issues”. I know I know, but I was so disappointed, especially because it would have been my first time in Cambodia.
Apart from that disappointment, I actually haven’t been at all stressed, even with no work. I felt like this was time I’d needed for a while to recharge and focus on other things. I’ve used the last 4 months to get into an amazing routine, something shift work makes nearly impossible. I’ve been healthy and thinking about how I want my life to look post-COVID. We also went on a road trip in Queensland, headed north to the town of 1770! Not as exciting as Cambodia would have been but Queensland is still a beautiful part of the world.
Read; 18 of the Best Places to Visit in Queensland
Of course, I was missing traveling and with the whole world spending so much more time at home my friends at Withlocals reached out and asked if I’d like to join a virtual tour. Hell yes, this sounds amazing! I’m excited to add this to my year recap because it was a very fun & unique experience.
Withlocals Virtual Tour Recap:
Withlocals are an amazing company that offers local tours and classes all over the world. Since COVID they adapted to the current climate and started hosting virtual experiences.
I took part in a virtual experience with guide Simona, live from Buenos Aires. The tour was called Staples of Argentinian Culture. Simona taught us so much about the Argentinian way of life, from the food & drinks and their intense love of football. At times I can be pretty shy so the idea of sitting on a group chat with a bunch of strangers made me a bit nervous but it was really fun. I can ensure you there was no awkwardness and Simona made me feel like I was in Buenos Aires.
I know now parts of the world are able to travel again, but for those like me who are unable to travel, Withlocals still have virtual tours available. Click here to check them out Withlocals Virtual Tours.
My big project over the last few months has been my blog. I’ve loved having time to sit down and do everything properly. I’ve been studying web design & SEO, it really taught me how much I did wrong, to begin with, haha. As frustrating as seeing all my mistakes were, I’m thankful for the time I got to update every post and redesign my site. (what do you think?)
I have also been thinking a lot about third-world countries during this pandemic. Unfortunately, this virus will affect them the most. How can you ensure you wash your hands regularly when you have no clean water in your home? Or what is social distance when you live in an overcrowded community? I know times are tough for all but now is the time poorer communities around the world need our support the most. With the help of my friends and family, I was able to raise $1,700 for my second family in Nepal (IGWR). If there’s a charity close to your heart, please consider donating during this difficult time.
At the start of this year, Lawrence and I made grand plans for next year! But the reality is 2020 has shown us how little control we can have over our lives. Who knows what restrictions will still be in place going into 2021? In the meantime, we just need to carry on with our day-to-day lives and see what happens. I’ve stepped into my 33rd year with so much hope that this will all be over soon and we can travel to see our families in the coming months.
I hoped you enjoyed my recap of my 32nd year. I don’t usually post content like this so please let me know in the comments below what you think.
Thanks for reading,
Take care.
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Booking Accommodation
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And, Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Unfortunately, everything doesn’t always go to plan but travel insurance will protect you when it comes to illness, injury, theft & cancellation. I never travel overseas without travel insurance, it’s just not worth the risk!
Cover-More is a trusted company and they also have COVID-19 benefits available.
Elyse is the author & content creator behind A World To Live. After traveling to over 40 countries, she has a passion for discovering new places. Elyse is a money-conscious traveller who loves writing independent travel guides to help her readers get the most out of their travels.
I really enjoyed travelling with you throughout your 32nd year Elyse, your blog is fabulous…keep it up..Love Lia..xx
p.s. hopefully we can connect net year in Kathmandu…visiting our beautiful IGWR children..!!!
Aww thank you so much Lia, really appreciate it. Yeah for sure, definitely need to get to Kathmandu next year!