2020... Not the year I thought it was going to be

2020 was to be the year of exploring, traveling, working my way around South America and discovering more about myself, everything was set in motion and post knowing that I would be in Chile until around April, then off to Argentina, before the USA for Disneyland and a special little mans 6th birthday, nothing else was planned.

Now, back to September 2019, post a redundancy and the decision to just not take my flights back to Sydney from Bogota, to stay and explore a new continent with all the adventures ahead of me, I was excited!

In planning this slow traveling, digital nomad lifestyle I initially thought that I would be in Colombia for 3-6 months and then start making my way down visa by visa, that was until my friend Jo said ‘lets do all the countries and everything we want to do and then start living here’ … it’s almost as though she had a crystal ball and could see what was going to happen a few months into the year.

This was an awesome plan, it meant I could get all the way down to trek Patagonia and see the beauty of the Chilean and Argentina sides before winter kicked in.

So off we went, exploring parts of Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and back to Chile, it was 6 weeks of fun, adventure, challenges, beauty, unforgettable moments, too many overnight buses, and falling in love with the countries, people, culture, food and more, although I may have had a few to many empanadas.

2020, you were perfect up until mid-March, when suddenly it felt like all hell broke loose. Decisions had to be made, the life as known packed up, friends said goodbye too, tears shed and the uncertainty of would I even make it home, but that’s a whole other blog and it was written the night I flew out of Santiago for Queenstown, so yes, I did make it home.

Now, I’d packed up my life and the goal was to be living out of a backpack… Fast forward to early June after arriving back March 21st, and I’m back settled in New Zealand, my life from Australia packed up and flown over to me, furniture purchased, warm clothing - as let's face it I’m now living in Invercargill and I didn’t have warm clothes on me, even a car! After leaving NZ in 2011 and not having a car for the last 9 years I now have a car again - this wasn’t the minimalist lifestyle 2020 was meant to be.

However, I’m so incredibly grateful.

Grateful that I was able to get home, able to set myself up near friends and family, that I have an amazing and exciting role to do working globally with an industry I love, and grateful that I got to experience all that I did.

Life after South America is different, I dream of going back and experiencing so much more and hopefully seeing all the beautiful people I connected with, but I know for now this is exactly where I am meant to be and life has plans for me back home.

Are there still tears… heck yes! Tears for a dream put on hold, for a world that is hurting, for friends and family who’ve had to endure this time, for the uncertainty that it all brings.

Then joy for the opportunities, the stillness, and connection that this time has given us, it is almost like we’ve been able to hit the reset button on life and be able to reevaluate what is important, what we want to pursue and desire from this life.

So yes, 2020 was not the year that I thought it was going to be, but it’s exactly what it is meant to be.