So it seems that 2019 flew by, with me flying more often than not. Thinking about it now, I probably ended up spending almost half the year away from Toronto between work and personal travels.
Work travels weren’t particularly exciting, but it exposed me to the east coast of the country I grew up in for the first time. Again, it made me realize how much of a city girl I really am. As much as I enjoy the outdoors and the serenity of nature, I am still very much a city girl and the thoroughly enjoy being able to see the city lights at night, find (decent) food at all hours of day and night, and easily surround myself in the diversity that Toronto offers. The more I travel, the more settled I feel that Toronto is home.
Another thought that has been creeping up on me over the past year or two is that the older I get, the less I feel a need to jam everything into my schedule when I travel. Maybe I don’t need to see this museum, or that tower. Giving myself some R&R opportunity while I travel isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I mean, while I do enjoy occasionally being in the midst of the hustle and bustle of a new city if I don’t need to be rushing anywhere just to soak in the environment (whatever that means), I also find the quiet of the night on a city street can be eerily serene and soothing as well.
All in all, 2019 brought me on some surprising but very memorable adventures. Traveling to Moncton for work allowed me to visit Halifax and Alma for the first time. Seeing Italy in the summer meant beautiful (and busy) coastal drives on the Amalfi, gorgeous train rides through Italy to Lake Como, Milan, Florence, and even up across the border to Switzerland. The winding roads of Tuscany were also a joy. Conquering Mount Kilimanjaro in October with friends was the most difficult thing I have ever done (more on that in another post). Making it that far to Tanzania also meant I couldn’t just leave without going on a safari tour or hitting up surprisingly little known Zanzibar. Closing out the year with a bang, I finished up the work assignment that had me traveling out to Moncton throughout the year and found myself spending Christmas in Taiwan and New Years in Korea. 2020 is a clean slate right now, but I’m sure things will start popping up in no time. Cheers!
nemo travels 