It's been another year
Hello, you, it's been a little over a year since the last update, can you believe it?
Reading the last post I realised that it was right before our most amazing trip to Japan, which is now our most favourite travel destination. It was so magical, the architecture, nature, cuisine, trains, and everything about it has been phenomenal. So phenomenal that we're already planning our return, next March to explore the north of the country, from Akita and Sendai to Aomori and Sapporo, in the time between seasons changing, between winter and spring, snow and cherry blossoms, nature's time of rebirth.
Outside of the Japan travels to mark this period, a lot has been happening. Not only travel wise, but also backup and early retirement plan wise. We've started slowly but surely investing in real estate in nearby Scottish villages, buying, renovating and renting out 3 wee flats. It's definitely been a challenge with all of life carrying on as before, but as of last month, they're all ready and occupied, hooray! It took most of the year since August and my last post, but we definitely did it.
In terms of travel and exploring, we did go to a few places, and my best friend that lives in Japan came to visit in September and enjoy Scotland with us. In October, I went to speak at a conference and have a short break in Dublin, Ireland. Following month, in November I returned to sunny Texas, my favourite winter swimming pool haunt, and attended a tech conference, then in December we had travel chaos, going home to Romania to spend the holidays with family but it was worth it in the end!
2024 started in a blink, in January, we had more friends stay over from Romania and enjoyed some local sightseeing with them, before our first adventure of the year unfolded, in Iceland. It was breathtaking, truly the land of ice and fire, between volcano eruptions and ice storms, we had a fantastic time, as there were short days, few tourists and we felt like having most places to ourselves with few other people around. And yes, we did see the Aurora, on our final night, at 2 am, before falling asleep in our hotel room in Keflavik.
February came, and I got the most wonderful present before my birthday, a shiny new redecorated office, that is my favourite working space. This was right before my birthday and the start of quite a lot of work travel from Bournemouth to Dublin and Buenos Aires to New York. It was my first time in Argentina and I loved it, the people, culture, steak and vibe were incredible and I could practice my rusty Spanish! That was perfect timing as after a last trip for work to London for the AWS Summit, I headed over with the family to Nerja, in Andalusia, Spain for a week of well deserved rest.
The summer came and went, and we spent it mostly working, on the flats, home and jobs. But at the end of it all, in September, we headed to Thailand. This was a joint decision, as one of the only other Asian countries we had on our next list to travel to, and we really loved it. We did some tours, cooking classes, wandering without a plan and relaxing, it was just what we needed. Except maybe the long layover in Helsinki! After we came back, I needed to go to Texas again for a work conference the next morning, so 3 timezones in 24 hours is not something I would recommend to anyone! With that done, I came back and a week later head off to Dublin again to speak at yet another conference and visit the office there, and here we are today, a few days later that we're a whirlwind thanks to my neverending luck with travel chaos! And seeing the Aurora for a second time this year, this time from our back yard.
The next month or two look a bit quieter, with the days getting shorter, the weather colder, I'm looking forward to spending some time cosying up at home with my favourite people and furry people. The rest of the year only has one trip in it, Las Vegas for the AWS re:Invent conference, which will be my second time there, that makes me excited abd exhausted just thinking about the size (60.000 attendees)! After that my family is coming over for 3 weeks over the holidays and we'll spend the time between the years together, remembering the past and planning for the future!
Love and light, always xx
