Well, 2019 has come to a close and what a year it’s been. In my ‘Thankyou 2018’ post that I wrote last this time last year, I had a lot of amazing experiences to reflect on.
From my travels through Central America, the experience of being in Paris when France won the world cup final and lastly my move to Australia, there really was no end to the excitement that year.
I closed that post, hoping that the next year would be even better and I’m happy to say, it has.
On paper, 2019 has been a lot less eventful. I’ve not travelled as much nor had as many stories to tell. What I have done however, is set myself up in Australia, a country on the other side of the world from the UK. I have established deep friendships and an in depth knowledge of a new city. Heck, I’ve even managed to advance my career, develop my work ethic and grow up a hell of a lot along the way.
When I celebrated New Years in Australia this time last year, I had no idea that I would still be living and working in Melbourne a year on. But here I am- and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
At times, 2019 has been a challenge. I’ve dealt with self-doubt, home-sickness, time management issues and stress. However, overwhelmingly, I have come to love this life that I have created here and 2019 has been my best year yet.
So here’s to another year of jump out of bed mornings. Thankyou 2019.
January
January was my last month of being a tourist in Melbourne. I saw the year in with a big group of friends that I was staying in a hostel with. I’d just started up a new internship and cafe job. I felt like I already knew Melbourne but I’d only really scratched the surface of the city. At the end of the month, I moved into my flat opposite the Queen Victoria Market and life as a local really begun.
February
In February, Melbourne was in full-on summer mode. The weather was incredible, the events were endless and my sun cream use was not as good as it should have been. Highlights included St Kilda Festival, a trip to Weribee Open Range zoo and starting a content writing internship at Society 19.
March
March was filled with lots of nights out and lots of time spent working in the office, learning all about SEO. This also got way more exciting, following a move to a swanky new office. Me and my friends Linn and sonny also started up our weekly Tuesday dinner nights, something we have been doing ever since.
April
April brought Easter and I spent a lot of time outdoors enjoying the last bit of warm weather. During this time, I made the decision to return to Australia following my pre planned trip to Bali in June. This was a big milestone as my plan had always been to go back to the UK at this time. I was just having too much fun.
May
May was a busy month with working. Highlights included having a private cinema night in the Eureka tower and taking a sunset trip to St Kilda to see the wild penguins
June
At the start of June, I put Melbourne life on hold and flew to Bali to meet two of my best friends after a long time apart. Bali was a place that I’d always dreamt about going to and after a few months living and working, the travel bug had been getting to me. All in all, we spent 4 weeks exploring beautiful Bali, as well as the nearby Gilli Islands.
Highlights included climbing a volcano to watch the sunrise, renting out an insane AirBnb in the ricefields and relaxing in the chilled town of Canggu.
July
I started off July in Thailand on the last leg of my adventures with my friends. After travelling around for a while, we were pretty tired so we treated ourselves to a relaxing break at a gorgeous boutique hotel in Koh Samui, right on the beachfront. Then it was back to Melbourne for me.
August
I came back to Melbourne in August with a renewed sense of enthusiam. Both my internships had ended which meant that I had the free time to focus on my blog and start searching for something new. I started to work on my running, pushing myself to run 10k at least three times a week. I also started to think about my options for staying in Australia after my Working Holiday Visa run out.
September
The biggest highlight in September was a visit from my mum and dad. I had a fantastic week showing them around Melbourne and it was nice to take some time off work and enjoy being a tourist again. At the end of the month, my best friend Linn also came back after spending the summer in Sweden.
October
October was a month of fresh starts. After taking a little trip to Sydney with my parents, I finally decided to stay in Australia longer on a student visa. I met with several migration agents and eventually decided on a Marketing and business course in the city. I also decided to move out of my flat, finding a lovely share house in Carlton, an inner-city suburb that I had wanted to live for a while. I also managed to find a new marketing internship to do at the same time.
November
November was a busy month as I got into my new routine of my job as a barista, class and my new internship. After a few weeks, I got offered a paid position doing SEO at my internship which was a big deal for me. The weather was getting hot and I spend every free moment I had doing BBQs, relaxing by the river and going to the beach.
December
December has always been my favourite month favourite and this year was no different. Highlights included throwing a party at my house in Carlton to celebrate my birthday and the end of the year. Then a few days later, it was time to go back to the UK to spend christmas with my family and friends- marking 15 months since I had been home. I saw 2020 in back at Melbourne in my friends apartments.
So, that’s a wrap for 2019. What a fantastic year it has been. As we move into a whole new decade, I can’t wait to see what the next few years have in store. In terms of resolutions, I’ve come up with a few things that I want to focus on for the next few months.
My main resolution is to focus more on my writing and freelance work this year. I also want to become more environmentally friendly and I will be starting this by eating vegan for all of January. Other things I would like to do include spending less money- creating a weekly budget and putting some money aside each week into savings. I’d like to try a new sport such as rowing and also do more internal travel in Australia and New Zealand.
Passport Please 