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Welcome to 2020: Reflecting on the Last Decade

Welcome to 2020!

2020 feels like it’s appeared out of nowhere. Surely it was only a few months ago that we were welcoming in 2019! And has a whole decade really passed since 2010?

Ten years ago I was someone who dreamed about travel, but didn’t believe it was something I would actually do. It was expensive to fly from Australia to Europe, and who would be willing to come with me to explore the fairytale castles of Germany and France?

What a lot of changes the last decade has brought!

At the start of 2010, I could count a total of three stamps in my expired passport for Australia, Germany and Malaysia. Now, I have explored 40 countries and experienced cultures and places that seemed impossible for me to do.

Going to Europe with my best friend in August 2010 changed my mindset about my ability to travel. I discovered that I didn’t need to wait for someone to go with me to travel the world – I was braver than I told myself, and found the confidence to travel solo. I realised there were ways of making travel happen, if I was willing to prioritise it in my life.

I learned that it was okay if I preferred the built-in friendship groups of organised tours, and that I didn’t have to be a digital nomad to feel like a traveller. I became grateful for the chances I was given and the experiences I had, and dealt with my feelings of envy towards people who travelled more, and saw more than I was able to. I found out that too many days on the road leaves me run down and sick, and that I’m too much of a homebody to travel for more than one or two months at a time.

Last year I accepted that I didn’t have to go on overseas trips to have that feeling I get from exploring new places – I spent all of 2019 at home in Australia, taking road trips to satisfy my wanderlust.

So what is coming up in the year 2020?

Travel goals have been on my mind lately as I think about the year ahead. At the top of my list is figuring out how to travel solo to the Dordogne region of France (without driving, if I can avoid it!), visiting old friends in Cambodia and Germany, and dropping in to Quebec to wander the streets of Montreal and practise my French. I want to retrace the route taken by my ancestors when they migrated from Prussia to South Australia almost two hundred years ago. And I want to see even more of Australia.

As I make plans for this blog for 2020, I need to face the imposter syndrome I feel when I write posts. I need to remind myself of the reason why I started this blog: to share my experiences of travel with others and to provide information to make their trips that little bit easier.

I hope you have exciting things to look forward to this year! What does 2020 have in store for you?