The funniest thing I wrote in all of 2020 is the following Instagram caption on Jan. 1:
I believe that sunny skies and walking weather on day 1 is a good omen. Happy New Year.
Hysterical. Truly. Let me tell you another one: I bought a planner last December… so that I could keep track of all my travel plans!
And, you know, for those first 90 days of 2020, I really put it to good use. I managed to get to Estonia, Romania, Thailand and Malaysia before COVID put a halt to the rest of my plans. Even though I technically could have picked up my travel agenda in June, I stayed put out of respect for public health. Cambodia can wait. COVID may not.
I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon about how terrible 2020 has been because a lot of great things have happened for me personally. And while I miss the freedom of traveling and visiting far flung places such as Japan or the coffee shop two blocks away, I know that I should count my blessings. In a year that rocked so many, I actually gained a lot of stability.
Here’s a countdown of the best five things that happened in 2020:
5: We got a dog!
And not a moment too soon, I might add. The day we heard that we were on the short list from the Dalmatian breeder, Valtteri had announced his plans to begin designing a cult-themed video game. Dodged that Kool-Aid!
All joke aside, I’m so happy to have Bravo in our lives. Yes, he’s demanding, intense and disruptive in a way that I didn’t expect. But he’s also a tremendous amount of fun. It’s only been three months, but it’s hard to imagine our house without him.
Read more about bringing Bravo home… and what I wished we could have named him.
4: I became a resident of Finland!!
After months and months of waiting I finally got the answer I had been hoping for: My residency application was approved. In a long list of eccentricities Finnish entrepreneur might be my greatest accomplishment yet!
3: We got married!!
My views on marriage are pretty well-documented. I never saw a point to it for me personally—until I simultaneously lost my job (and residency!) in Germany and COVID made my old digital nomad lifestyle impossible. Point taken!
In time, I hope I can articulate how even though nothing really changed for us on April 8, there’s still something that feels different about being married. In the meantime, read more about our super-sweet COVID wedding… and how we celebrated months later.
2: I started a successful business!!!!
There’s probably a lot of people who will take issue with this ranking—specifically that marriage should be higher than the startup. Don’t @ me… unless you also got married and started a business in the same year… In a foreign country… During a pandemic.
In lieu of that, I’ll offer this as a compromise: I don’t know if this order will hold in years to come. It’s hard to say if, when I look back at this year in 2040 or 2060, my parking lot wedding will seem like more of a defining moment than starting Little Word Co. One is obviously a deeply personal and emotional event. The other continues my evolution as a person, of living on my own terms and spending my time in a way that feels right.
But for right now, I can’t be any prouder of what I accomplished this year with Little Word Co. I took what should have been a negative event and leaned into it, fully trusting myself to make it happen. Here we are on Dec. 30 and I have a portfolio and bank account to prove that I made the right call.
Read more about starting Little Word Co. … and my first-year freelance experience. Oh and what the heck – about getting laid off!
1: I survived a global pandemic!!!!!
If you’re reading this, you did too. So there – you have one good thing to celebrate too.
I look back on this past year with a tremendous amount of gratitude that I have my health, my livelihood and my little family intact. I offer my sincere empathy for anyone who has not fared as well… and I wish that 2021 brings us all enough peace, health, happiness and prosperity to make up for what could have been this year.
Thank you to everyone who continued to follow this blog in 2020, even though I came up short on travel stories and humorous adventures of living in precedented times. Even my most absurd moments have paled in comparison to what 2020 threw at us. Here’s to hoping we can get back to our regular programming in 2021.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
A lovely summary, Nova!
You had a great year (I agree with your ranking!) and I wish you a wonderful and magical 2021!
thank you so much!! i appreciate you following along. i wish you a happy, healthy and safe 2021. may you run far and fast :)
Happy New Year! The blog continues to delight travel or not. Best wishes to your family for 2021.
happy new year to you too and THANK YOU for the kind words!! here’s to hoping that 2021 shapes up fast.
Oh my god, first of all, that IG caption: COMEDY GOLD.
Second of all, I freaking love all five of these things and you. Can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store!
HA. thank you! but also, NO THANK YOU 2020. I could have gotten my laughs elsewhere, you know? here’s to wishing you a peaceful, healthy and happy 2021… the sooner the better.
Your 2020 was pretty awesome! Cheers to an even better 2021. Happy New Year!
indeed! here’s to hoping a better 2021 starts on or before jan 20