A few thoughts on 2018

Monday 31 December 2018

A Few Thoughts on 2018
It feels like I've been in holiday mode for over a month now, and it's exactly what I needed. I've been off from work for Christmas since mid-December after a few busy months in the office. Jack and myself have travelled a lot during the festive period: we spent five days in Cornwall, then headed back to Reading for Christmas with my family, and for the last few days we've been chilling out in London.  

What a year 2018 has been. If you happened to read a recent post where I chatted about all the changes I made over the last six months, you'll know that I feel really lucky and grateful and so much happier than I felt last year.

Moving to London was the best decision I made since graduating last summer. At the beginning of 2018, I felt incredibly low from commuting to work everyday, I completely underestimated how affected I was by the stress and fatigue. My first flat in London was a terrible decision, but I'm finally happy in my current flat and I love where I live. 

I also started a new job in April, which felt like a scary thing to do at the time. I was scared that leaving with less than a year's experience at the company would affect my later career, but as soon as I joined my new company, I knew I'd done the right thing. I feel challenged and excited everyday at work, and I love the variety of clients I get to work with.

Outside of London life, I went on lots of lovely holidays this year with Jack and friends too. Back in February, I spent a cold and drizzly weekend in Edinburgh with Jack but despite the crappy weather, we loved the city. In June, I had an amazing month of travel and fun: I went to Prague with a friend, the beautiful Porto (honestly, it's terrible that I only recently published my post on this...) with Jack and I went to Royal Ascot with friends for the first time as a guest. This was a welcome change, having worked there plenty of times for extra money during university! 

In September, we went to Budapest, which was a lovely city break and we'd wanted to visit for a while! I've been pretty terrible at getting travel posts done this year, I'm a bit of a procrastinator. So hopefully I'll get that post done in the new year... 

Blog-wise, I've had a productive year. I've not posted as much as I'd like to, but working full-time has impacted on my energy to sit on my laptop a lot. Spending all day at a computer means that once I'm home, the last thing I want to do is sit on another screen. Now I tend to write-up posts during the weekend in cute coffee shops to break up the scenery.

I've worked with some really cool brands this year, and I've felt rather lucky! I continue to feel surprised that companies want to work for incredibly small bloggers like myself, and I hope to build on this in the new year. Personal highlights include collaborating with Aldi, which felt like a real achievement, discovering mine and Jack's favourite ever restaurant, Penrose Kitchen in Truro (we've been back twice for dinner since, it's perfection!) and going to an amazing chocolate-making workshop back near my hometown, Chocolates for Chocoholics

I'm feeling a little apprehensive about 2019 but there are lots of things I feel really optimistic about, such as my job, my little corner of London and of course, friends, family and Jack. The wider landscape isn't looking quite as positive as I'm sure most of you will agree and I'm intrigued to see how the UK changes and hopefully adapts to looming Brexit and our exit from the EU. Anything could happen. Or maybe nothing will. Who bloody knows.

Anyway. I hope you enjoyed this post, that you're all happy and ready for another new year, and not too scared about all that Brexit stuff. Happy new year! Thanks for reading!
  

1 comment

  1. I'm very much looking forward to Brexit causing the end of the universe.... not LOL.
    I'm sure in those moments of uncertainty it was terrifying but you've made bold decisions which seem to be paying dividends so well done for trusting your instinct!

    ReplyDelete

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