Reflections on 2018
‘Sometimes you need to press pause to let everything sink in.’ – Sebastian Vettel.
Every year, I write a reflection post on the past 365 days, looking back over everything I’ve done and remembering the highlights, the bad times and throwing up some of my favourite images taken. You can find my previous posts here, reflecting on 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.
I’ve spent some time considering how to write my reflection post this year. I’ve travelled less in 2018. As a result, my life in London has come much more to the forefront. I want to do both aspects of my life justice and so decided to split them out. You can therefore read my reflections on London life and my reflections on the travels I’ve done this year separately. They deserve equal representation, so this seems the easiest way to ensure they both get covered in depth!
Without further ado… Here it is, 2018 in review – the highs, the lows, the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between!
The 2018 Round-Up: London
Between travel, in 2018 I have spent my life in London. It has been a busy, hectic, often tiring year, but also rewarding, full of fun and laughter and I’ve had some very happy times. Since moving to north London in March, I’ve finally felt at home in this vast, chaotic and even occasionally hostile city.
We experienced months of gorgeous sunny weather throughout the summer, which was preceded by months of cold, icy, snowy weather as winter dragged on. Once the sunshine arrived, the parks and beer gardens overflowed. I spent many evenings over the summer enjoyed beer garden and rooftop drinks with friends.
Moving in with P has brought me so much happiness and I couldn’t ask for a better housemate. I’m so excited to spend at least another year living with him in our cosy north London flat. And upon my return from Nepal in April, I started a new job too…
My new role is rewarding and fulfilling. I feel like I’ve finally realised what direction my career path should take and I feel excited about my work for the first time… ever? My friend A asked me just the other day what I liked about my job. I thought for a moment and then said:
‘What I’ve just done… I’ve had two great calls with clients, who hung up the phone happy with the results I’ve produced. I’m helping people and charities to make a difference in the world. It feels good to do that.’
On smaller scale, I’ve done some pretty great things in London throughout 2018 too. I’ve seen Alt-J play live again, and that was incredible. I listened to Holst’s The Planets being played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with my eyes closed, to better soak up the music. One of my favourite exploreres, Levison Wood, did a fascinating talk about travelling in the Middle East that I attended. A and I visited the Shard together for her very first experience up there, which she loved. In a moment of indulgence, I bought a week’s worth of groceries from Borough Market and enjoyed every second of choosing and then consuming all my delicious goodies! I spent an entire month not drinking, which felt great for my pocket!
On the whole, life in London throughout 2018 has been brilliant. I can look back on the year through my rose-tinted specs and all I can see are blue skies, bright sunshine, gin and tonics, laughter and lots of fun. It’s been an amazing year in my home city.
The 2018 Round-Up: Travel
This year, I visited Wales, Scotland, Norway, Nepal, New Zealand and Australia. In between, I’ve been in England, mainly London. I have also taken day or weekend trips to Devon, Bristol, Essex, Suffolk, the Cotswolds, Hampshire and various parts of Kent.
Norway, Nepal and Australia were all new countries for me. They have all been wonderful in their own right: the deepest snow I’ve ever seen in Norway; the highest mountains I’ve ever seen in Nepal and the most amazing coral reefs I’ve ever seen in Australia. You can read more about my trip to Norway here or more about my time in Nepal here. For more on Australia, watch this space… Posts will be coming very soon!
As for the countries I’ve returned to… Well, it’s been a delight to come back to New Zealand after nearly three years away. I got to explore Edinburgh when I returned to Scotland for the first time since I was a teenager! And of course, I’ll always go home to Wales and my parents. Silence and peace reigns here and gives me welcome respite from my often hectic London schedule.
In 2018, I’ve taken twelve flights, criss-crossing continents to get to my destinations. I took one overnight sleeper train between Oslo and Bergen and one up to Edinburgh from Euston too. I’ve also taken numerous other trains, mainly across the UK as I attempt to explore more of my home country. I endured hours of terrifying bus journeys across Nepal, canoed down a river in Chitwan National Park and have taken several ferries and boats out onto rivers, oceans, inlets and fjords. Additionally, I have walked literally hundreds of miles here, there and everywhere in between.
The 2018 Round-Up: A Deeper Look
My Three Top Moments of 2018
1. Sunrise over the Annapurna Massif.
This was an incredible moment in 2018. I’ve never felt such triumph, relief and delight to reach the top of a mountain before! Climbing to 3100 metres (the highest point I’ve been to so far in the world) before breakfast to witness the sunrise over the Himalayas was a once in a lifetime experience. That’s mainly because I never want to climb that mountain again… I kid, but it truly was an inspiring, tear-inducing moment, which left me feeling profoundly moved and elated. These kind of moments are what life is about. You can read the whole story about my experience here.
2. Finding Sharks on the Great Barrier Reef.
What a way to close off 2018! When the marine biologist on board our boat started talking about sharks and the possibility of seeing them on the reef, I felt a mix of emotions. That basic reflex of fear and trepidation, followed by a rush of excitement and anticipation. As he proceeded to share more information on shark behaviour, I realised I had very little to be scared of.
This didn’t stop me mumbling ‘fuck my life’ into my snorkel as a massive shark glided past me only an hour or so later in the water. It appeared like a shadow out of the blue, got wind of us and disappeared in seconds, but it was enough of a glimpse for me to feel a rush of elation and nerves. We ended up seeing three more smaller reef sharks, all of whom eyed us casually before scooting away. It was incredible and humbling to witness them in their environment. I daresay they regard us as aliens in their world, which of course we are. More on this snorkelling trip coming soon…
3. Moving into our flat in north London.
The horrific stress I experienced whilst we were searching for a flat to call our own melted away the moment I stepped through the door into our new home on the day we moved in. Until that point, I’d tried to keep cool and remember that something could still go wrong, it could all still fall through… But as the removal men unloading more and more of my possessions into the flat, it became real. This was our place now, and we had at least a whole year ahead to enjoy it.
Moving to north London and living with P has been a huge highlight of 2018. The area we live in feels like home and living with a close friend makes the world of difference to me. I’m so glad that we made the decision to live together, and I feel pleased on an almost daily basis that we ended up where we are.
Low Moments in 2018
Thankfully, I’ve been lucky enough to avoid any serious low points in 2018. However, there have been a couple of challenges along the way, so it would be remiss of me not to mention them!
I think the biggest difficulty I’ve faced this year has been to do with my health. Whilst I’ve not been sick or taken ill, I experienced a horrid knee injury and for a few months was in quite a lot of pain.
For context, the night I injured my knee I got horrifically drunk. Despite being completely hammered, I was still in terrible agony and could barely walk. Normally alcohol numbs or hides pain – but not in this instance. The next morning, I could barely move (and no, not from the hangover!) and was practically in tears of pain as I had to half-crawl, half-pull myself across our room to use the bathroom. I couldn’t put full weight on my leg for about a week afterwards, and even now my knee is still weak, gets tired easily if over-exerted and I get days where it aches or I have some mild pain.
A point to note… I should mention that I wasn’t drunk when I injured myself in the first place. The injury came at the start of the evening when I was only on my first or second drink!
There have been other low points, like the seriously shit time P and I had at the beginning of the year while we were hunting for our new flat. The entire process left me anxious and seriously stressed out, with landlords upping prices beyond our budget at the last minute, agents being complete arseholes and the whole rental market just completely wringing us out. I almost gave up hope we would ever find somewhere!
Oh, and I fell and bruised my coccyx in February too! So badly that I couldn’t sit down and had to use a standing desk in work for three days straight! But that was my fault, really, as I was drunk that time… Heels and alcohol do not mix well! I also got food poisoning in February… It really wasn’t the best month!
If I’m honest, the bus journeys in Nepal really also fall into this list of low points. Truthfully, they were all, without exception, awfully scary experiences. I found the best way of coping was to plug in my music and shut my eyes. I literally chose the path of ‘ignorance is bliss’. Not being able to see if we overtook another vehicle on a blind bend or if we went so close to the edge of a cliff that our wheel came within inches of going over was far less stressful.
Lastly, personal things happened in 2018 that weren’t nice. They left me upset, angry, sad or pissed off (or sometimes all of those things at once!). Like always, I won’t go into too much depth, but experiencing these things leaves me forever grateful for my amazing support network, which includes a number of wonderful friends and of course, my brilliant family. Without them, I don’t know where I’d be!
My Favourite Blog Post of 2018
In 2018, I posted 28 times on my blog, which works at an average of 2.3 posts per month. It’s not been my greatest year for writing, I have to admit. I started out with good intentions, posting four times in January and three times in March, April and May, but most other months I only posted twice. In November, a particularly busy and non-creative month, I posted only once!
I think that my often busy lifestyle has contributed to the fact that my blog has taken somewhat of a back seat in 2018. When I’m busy, I’m generally much less creative and I obviously have less time, so I definitely post less during hectic periods. I have tried not to put pressure on myself to be creative this year, however, and just write when I feel inspired. As a result, I feel less guilty about posting less and it takes the pressure off to deliver content all the time.
It’s hard to pinpoint my favourite post of the year, so I’ve narrowed it down to my two favourite posts instead:
Feeling Small in Wadi Rum (posted in January). I returned to the few days my sisters and I spent in Wadi Rum, Jordan, and the experience we had there. My main memory was the immense and profound silence that often pressed in around us, so this is what I chose to write about. It became quite an introspective piece of writing, but I really like the comparisons I’ve drawn between the desert and human beings. And when my sisters read this post, they both agreed that they felt the same way about Wadi Rum too, which was gratifying.
A 24 Hour Edinburgh Escapade (posted in September). I spent a mere nine hours or so exploring the Scottish capital, but it made a big impression on me. Edinburgh is beautiful and somewhat majestic, and I loved the day I had there. I also thoroughly enjoyed my overnight sleeper train experience and that wonderful feeling you get when you fall asleep in one city and wake up in an entirely new one. One friend who read this piece told me afterwards that she felt I am preparing to pen a book with my writing style here. Perhaps I am building slowly up to it, moving more towards long narrative. I do finally have a book idea up my sleeve, so who knows, maybe I was practising here! Needless to say, when a city is so wonderful, writing about it comes easily.
My Favourite Book in 2018
Of course, regular readers of my blog and anyone who knows me generally will know that I’ve been undertaking a reading challenge throughout 2018. The challenge involved having twelve friends and family members recommend their favourite book to me, and this list formed the backbone of my reading in 2018.
The aim was to read at least the one recommended book each month. I actually managed to read approximately 2.6 books a month throughout the year. The greatest number of books were read during April when I was travelling in Nepal. The fewest number were read during June, when I struggled through my Dad’s recommended 782 page book.
I read the most memorable and my personal favourite book of the year in May. It was recommended by A and it has left a lasting impression on me. I still find myself thinking about it from time to time, many months after I finished reading it. The book in question?
Of course, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. This book shook me and left me crying my eyes out for a good fifteen-twenty minutes after I closed the final page. It was beautiful, horrifically sad, a show of courage and resilience and the best book I’ve read to date about male friendship and relationships. Yanagihara writes incredibly, her prose has the ability to shatter you whilst leaving you rejoicing at how brilliant she is. This book is one I constantly think back to and, one day, when I have the strength to be wrung out once more, I’ll pick it back up and re-read it.
My Favourite TV Program in 2018
Particularly towards the latter half of the year, there has been some really great TV on.
Dynasties, Bodyguard, Little Drummer Girl, and yes, even Love Island, have all provided me with endless hours of entertainment throughout summer and into autumn. But by far my favourite TV program of 2018 was Killing Eve.
This brilliant show had P and I hooked from the very start. The writing is excellent, the dialogue between the characters is charismatic, sharp and incredibly quick-witted. There is a reason it’s been named as one of the best shows of 2018. I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who is yet to see it.
The performances by Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer as the two main protagonists are outstanding, the show is stylish and at times, ruthless. The story line is fast paced and edgy. And the best bit? It feels post-feminist. The writers have created this show and made it normal for the women to be the main characters, unapologetically who they are, doing what they do. There is a feeling that there is no need to apologise or justify writing this show for these two outstanding female actors. It’s just perfect.
It’s a binge-worthy show, one where you’ll stay up late on a ‘school’ night to watch one more episode, or finish off in a single rainy weekend. Watch it now, if you haven’t already.
Top Photos on Instagram in 2018
I’ve posted images from around the world in 2018, including from Devon, Oslo, Bergen, mid Wales, London, the Cotswolds, a variety of locations in Nepal, Oman, Edinburgh, a few places in Kent, Auckland and Waiheke in New Zealand and Brisbane and Port Douglas in Australia.
Throughout the year I’ve also posted throwback shots from County Cork in Ireland, Jordan, Jerusalem and the West Bank, Hever Castle in Kent and photos from the last time I was in New Zealand.
As always, I’ve posted the three top ranking images from Instagram in my monthly recap posts. It’s been a harder year on Instagram, with regular algorithm changes leading me to believe that for a while in 2018, I wasn’t reaching as many people as I’d been before.
It’s possible that I may also have been subject to a shadow ban for a short while, although it’s difficult to be certain. I used a hashtag that appears in Instagram’s list of banned hashtags which possibly caused this. For the record, it was #books. You can find a full list of banned hashtags here. It’s a pretty random list!
To round off the year, I’ve selected the three most liked images from 2018 on my Instagram feed and shared them below.
The Norwegian Flag, Bergen, Norway. Taken and shared in January 2018.
I spent my 29th birthday with Mum, taking a boat trip out into the fjords around Bergen. It was icy cold, the chill slapping me across my bare cheeks whenever I ventured up on deck. My fingers turned numb as I snapped photo after photo, turning my camera this way and that to capture the sunrise and the thin patches of sea ice that were forming in the low temperatures.
The fact that this image garnered so many likes – 57 in total – surprised me. Looking back at the image now, I now think that it seems to capture the essence of Norway. Ice cold blue skies, rippling dark waters of the fjord, snow capped mountains and pine trees clinging precariously to the plunging cliffs. The fact that the Norwegian flag is fluttering to the left of the image just helps to sum up the scene really!
Summer on Waiheke, Auckland, New Zealand. Taken and shared in December 2018.
This was the first winery we visited, full of energy and keen to get tasting. We sipped our crisp whites and earthy reds, savouring the tastes as we listened to the owner telling us about the vineyard. The occasion being a hen party, we were all dressed in summery dresses, with oversized spangly earrings. As the day progressed, we got steadily more tipsy, enjoying the sunshine, the food and of course, more wine.
This image encapsulates a summers day spent wine tasting on Waiheke Island. The bright blue hues and the brilliant red of the Pohutukawa tree as it comes into bud. The ocean and the gently sloping green hills. I can understand why it was liked by 67 people on Instagram. This photo is joyful and full of life and warmth. You can almost taste the wine.
So Much Snow, between Oslo and Bergen, Norway. Taken and shared in January 2018.
I spent the entire train journey with my nose glued to the window, soaking up the snow covered landscapes we were travelling through. I occasionally changed seats, trying to see everything, like a child again, full of wonder. I’d never seen so much snow, so deep that it drifted up to the tops of doors. As the day wore on, the light slowly faded, the sky changing to hues of pink and purple. I soaked up the last of the scenery I would see before darkness descended properly.
This was my most liked post of the year, with 76 people hitting the heart. I love this image, taken by chance using my iPhone through the window of a moving train. Luckily, we had slowed at this point, so there is little or no blur on the photo. I love the last of the pink light in the sky, the snow so thick on the ground, lethally cold. But the house looks cosy there, huddled amongst the trees, an almost chocolate box scene.
My Favourite Photos from 2018
The images above have been ranked most highly in Instagram in terms of number of likes they received, but they’re not necessarily my favourite photos of 2018. Below, I’ve added my personal three favourite images, and explained why!
The View from Tadipani, Nepal. Taken and shared in April 2018.
For me, this image encapsulates Nepal. It shows the might and majesty of the Himalayas and leaves me wanting more. It was the first scene that I saw on the morning of the fourth day of our trek. I could have stayed staring for hours, but another day of walking beckoned and I had to move on.
I set off alone as my friends were doing a longer section and I wasn’t accompanying them. Having toughed out a long day the day before, I was excited about the more relaxed day ahead of me. It was approximately four hours of walking to reach the next village where we would be spending our final night – easy!
I strolled along, enjoying the warmer weather. The sunbeams danced among the trees and I caught occasional glimpses of the Himalayas to my left. Monkeys swung through the trees above me. When I happened upon other trekkers and their guides occasionally, I nodded a greeting but barely exchanged words. Once or twice, herds of horses were driven past me, bells clanking as they jogged by. Otherwise, peace and quiet reigned.
It was barely midday when I reached my destination of the day, brimming over with happiness. This was what trekking in the Himalayas was all about. The best day of the trek, a reward after the tough days previously.
Endless Summer, London. Taken and shared in September 2018.
A tangerine sunset over the City, the glass high rise office blocks reflecting the light. An iconic view, with most of the London greats in there. The Walkie Talkie rears its divisive head, the Cheese Grater elegantly stands in the middle. The Gherkin is just peeping out from behind and the new Scalpel juts up to meet the sky.
I spent many happy Thursday and Friday evenings admiring this view over the summer. We drank, laughed, talked and chatted as the sun sank low in the sky and darkness descended. It felt nostalgic while we were still living it. I have various images of this view, but none grab my attention quite as much as this one. I think it’s the colours, and the atmosphere, and the memories of one long, hot, glorious, record-breaking summer in London.
My Family Home, Wales. Taken and shared in May 2018.
This is my parents’ house in Wales, and my family home. I grew up here after our parents moved from East Anglia in 1998. When we arrived, the half of the house that is covered in the climbing plant with the pale pink flowers was a ruined barn. Now, it’s been lovingly restored to its former glory by my parents.
I think that the house shines in this photo. It sits snugly in its corner, beautiful under its flower-laden jacket. It’s welcoming, inviting people to peek in over the half-open stable door. You’d see the kitchen if you looked, perhaps my Mum cooking or my Dad preparing a bunch of gin and tonics for the family. We have BBQs outside this door, the delicious smoke wafting on the breeze. In the summer, we sit outside and gaze at the stars, hugging glasses of wine and huddled under blankets if it grows too cold. It’s an idyllic place to come home to. My refuge.
The poorest performing image of 2018.
Smorgasbord of Delicious, Tufnell Park, London. Taken and shared in July 2018.
I can understand why this photo performed so poorly, receiving just 15 likes when I posted it in July. Whilst the food was delicious, now that I look at the image again I find it a bit uninspiring. Additionally, it doesn’t really fit in with the rest of curated feed very well, where much of the focus is around my travels and life in London.
I don’t regret posting the image. However, I will bear in mind for 2019 that my feed is largely about travel and London life, and not necessarily about the food I eat. Other food photos I posted in 2018 also had sub-par performances on Instagram, so perhaps it’s a lesson for me to stick to what I know best and continue improving on my sunset, architecture and landscape photos!
And that was my 2018 in a nutshell folks!
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking with what has turned out to be an extremely long winded post!
2019 will, no doubt, follow a similar pattern. I begin the year in New Zealand, celebrating my 30th birthday on an overnight cruise in Doubtful Sound. There are travel plans already in the pipeline for next year, including one trip that I’m already super excited about sharing nearer the time! I also plan to keep living my best London life, exploring new areas of the city and staying a tourist on my home turf, both in the city and out into the rest of the UK. Here’s to what has been a pretty great 2018, and to a fresh new year, full of new challenges, fun and excitement.
