Happy 2017! How is this possible already? I have no idea. Time flies when you are having fun or, uh, working all the time. Why do we work so hard? Something to ponder in 2017, for sure.
Although I did work more than I expected to this past year, I managed to squeeze in some fun too. Here are my highs from 2016 — note that this is not really food-related — I might do a restaurant post when I’m caught up…
10. Getting upgraded to business class on my London to Austin flight on my birthday!
9. Visiting Venice for the first since since I was 19!
8. Taking a street art tour of Camden with monprixx. I haven’t spent as much time in Camden as I used to in the old days. This tour with monoprixx was awesome and I highly recommend it.
7. Lunch at The Sportsman. Because lunch at The Sportsman.
6. Visiting Sofia Bulgaria (Country #50!) and taking a wine tour of the countryside with Via Vino.
5. Finally making good on my promise (threat?) to visit my friends in Biarritz over the summer. It was such a lovely visit. This needs to be an annual occurrence.
4. Spending two blissful weeks at Kamalaya Koh Samui, reading and spa-ing.
3. Touring Naples with the amazing Daniel Young and eating ALL the pizza. (I’ll write this all up soon.)
2. My first visit to Hong Kong in 18 years: I ate all the dim sum and rode that Star Ferry back and forth across the bay all day long.
1. My all too few days in Chiang Mai. I fell in love with this northern Thai city and all its temples and expat-friendly culture — plus all the delicious food. Future early retirement destination? Possibly!
Lows (In no particular order…)
Working a lot
Having to fly to the US for work on my birthday (but see high re: business class upgrade)
Brexit
Donald Trump
Experiencing colon hydrotherapy (don’t ask)
Getting my UK taxes done (kinda similar to colon hydrotherapy)
The American I met in Bulgaria who told me that I won’t be able to learn anything after 50
The time someone I’d never met before offered, unprompted, “You don’t look a day over 37.” GEEZ. Thankfully, I was carded at Waitrose not long after that. To be fair, I am over 37 but for the love of God. If you can’t say anything nice, DON’T SAY IT.
Spilling a glass of water on my laptop. RIP Lenovo. Then, buying a new HP laptop too quickly without doing enough research. I liked my old Lenovo better. It was light! And it had a touch screen! And it was quiet. Now I have a honker of a laptop. Do you know they’re not making solid state hard drives in large sizes? So if you want 1 TB like I need, you’re screwed. Honker it is. 15.6 inches too! Ack. Also, the world wants you to move everything to The Cloud. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Onwards…
What will 2017 bring? I’m trying to eat less, exercise more, see more of the world, and make more money off the internet. Also, romance. Let’s hope that all happens! Wish me luck and all the best for 2017!
2 comments
Lucky you – how did you get manage an elusive upgrade? Did they offer it when they saw it was your bday? Fab news as London to Austin is a long trip!
I think it was a combo of WT+ ticket, overbooked flight, and my Silver status. They swore they did not know it was my birthday.
Comments are closed.