2017: A Happy New Year
As is my habit at this time of the year, I’ve been reflecting on my resolutions for 2016 and everything I want to accomplish for 2017. Embarrassingly, everything that was on my to-do list for this past year is also on my list for next year.
In my defence I’ll state that it’s quite difficult to get anything done with a baby in the picture. I love the little traveller to bits, but his needs far outweighed my own in the last few months and I finally fully understand why parents everywhere have nothing to talk about other than their children – there really isn’t time for anything else. And if you throw a full-time job into the mix as well, your life ends up mostly a blur of nappies, feeding, frantic deadlines at work, feeding, nappies and then, a blissful coma, until it’s time to start the cycle all over again. Thankfully, the little one has been sleeping through the night since three months old, so we’re not quite as zombified as many new parents tend to be in the first year.
I realised a while ago that I have neglected many of the things that make me happy in the process. The only exception was participating in NaNoWriMo again this year. Getting up at 4:45 every morning and writing until 6:00 when it is time to get ready for work left me bleary-eyed but deliriously happy the rest of the day. The lesson learned from this: make the time to do what you need to do to make yourself happy.
So, looking back at last year’s post, the aim was to make 2016 a year of exploring South Africa. Well, this didn’t quite go as expected, because it turns out that travelling with a baby is a logistical nightmare. But we did manage three trips: the first to Crystal Springs where we did nothing but sit around and relax; the second was baby’s first flight on an airplane and he showed himself to be a true traveller, as good as gold all the way to Cape Town, and a wonderful quick break for our annual trip to Hermanus; and the third another long weekend in the same region when we stayed at a lovely farm boutique hotel near Stanford for my cousin’s wedding.
Now that baby is a little older (he turned 10 months a few days ago), we’ve decided 2017 should be the year of long weekends and camping trips. As always, my heart is yearning for mountains, so I’m thinking the Drakensberg, perhaps the Northern Cape, maybe a quick visit to Kwa-Zulu Natal, who knows… These should keep us covered until the big holiday at the end of the year when Gareth turns 40 (!) and it’s time for one of those milestone trips again.
Again, I endeavour to blog more regularly (twice a week at least) and I hope you’ll continue reading along as I document my travel stories, both here and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
May 2017 be the year in which we rediscover our passions, live life to the fullest and make our dreams come true! Happy new year to you all!
