My 2020 in Review

My 2020 in Review

• Tuesday, 5 January 2021

So I can't quite do a travel roundup this year since I didn't actually leave the country but roundup posts are my favourite to go back to so I'm writing it anyway. 

I know it's been terrible for a lot of people but 2020 was one of the best years of my life. My mental health finally switched, I don't know what happened but I just wasn't depressed anymore; so even with everything that went on, 2020 was a great year for me and so I'm sorry but this post is going to be super self indulgent.

January was miserable. I spent the beginning of the year working through the last of the mess I was in during 2019; but then I left a very depressing, (but kinda well paid) job and everything changed almost overnight. 

By February I had started an amazing month long job placement. I was a membership exec was a beautiful private members club in Mayfair and I enjoyed every single day. I'd get dressed up for work for the first time in my life and spend my days working from a laptop in whichever room of the two clubs I felt like; with fancy coffee and macha lattes on demand. This ended 4 days before lockdown started. 

Three months in countryside isolation were a wonderful step back from the world, it felt like I'd been on a wellness retreat in all honesty. My brothers moved back home and we had family BBQs in the sun every day for the first 2 weeks. I spent my afternoons walking the dog around the forest with my mum, learnt how to knit, made pasta from scratch and even kinda went viral on tiktok (just a live stream with 20k viewers but even so!) I spent a whole lot of time online but with none of the usual time wasting guilt, I ate 19 Easter eggs (even with the supermarket restrictions) and invested myself dearly in caring for my succulent family - one of them even grew a flower!

In June I finally started meeting up with my friends for socially distanced bbq's and such. It was a bit scary but these were great memories, everyone was just so excited to be able to see each other. 

I also went on my only travel adventure around this time with an overnight trip to Kent. We explored a couple of castles and the white cliffs of Dover.

July, August and Sept were packed full of fun. I braved the tube and started cycling around London in the sunshine. Between the odd day at work here and there, I spent time with my friends, went back to the gym, ate at some incredible restaurants, had an awesome birthday week and finally got the meet up with the new people I met online who got me through lockdown. 

October was a bit of a messy one. Whilst all the fun continued in my social life - and it was great, my family life got turned upside down for a few weeks when both my grandparents caught Covid, luckily they were back on track for the festive season. 

November started well. I spent the first week eating out every single night and having an awesome time but soon we were back in lockdown! 

This time was a little different since I had a job which meant I could still go into London so I wasn't stuck in Essex all month, as lovely as it was in the summer. After work, I'd walk through the city for an hour on my way home. I made the most of the lockdown weekends by exercising outside, exploring food markets and spending many afternoons sat in my mums car drinking coffee with her.

And December.. Christmas and New Year were a little quieter than usual but I was very lucky to have it as good as I did considering the situation. 

A few days before Christmas, something strange happened. I got on a bus outside Selfridges and all of a sudden, a wave of; what I can only describe as the opposite of depression, came over me. I was overflowing with joy - it was very odd but so awesome, I've never experienced anything like it before and that, well that's kind of carried me through the month and to where I am now. 

With my newfound state of mind and the positive influence I've had from people I've been surrounding myself with, I'm excited for the year ahead and looking forward to what 2021 brings.