2019

What a weird, sometimes sad, but mostly wonderful year. 

2019 started off on the wrong foot with my dad’s sudden passing, literally the first thing that happened on the morning of January 1st.  His death was responsible for most of the weird and sad bits of the year, but it also opened doors to the wonderful stuff that followed. 

I visited six countries, met my dearest friends’ babies for the first time, activated my dating life, sold my childhood home, stood by as my childhood friend’s father passed away in his hospital bed (he’s probably clinking glasses with my dad right now, laughing about this great coincidence), had lots of impromptu meetings with friends from around the world, lived in Medellín for a month and in Kunming for six, and now coming full circle, by coincidence, on December 30th I took the exact same flight from Beijing to Kunming as I did last year. It was the last flight I took with my dad, and the last flight he’d ever take (unless you consider his ascent to the heavens a flight). 

A lot can happen when you’re funemployed like me, but here are the most memorable moments of 2019: 

• Gave my dead father CPR (excuse the grimness but it is what it is) and went through the motions of a traditional Chinese Buddhist funeral even though we are not Buddhist
• Scootered around Er Hai Lake, drank bottomless coffee and watched Chinese indie folk shows in Dali, Yunnan with my pal, Ilya
• Sipped coconuts and beach-hopped in Phu Quoc, Vietnam with a friend that was present when I caught the travel bug in Barcelona at age 19

• Packed up my dad’s apartment with two of my favorite humans in the entire world. One flew in from Ethiopia and the other basically lived with me for a month to keep me sane and make cleaning out my dad’s apartment bearable to the point of, dare I say, fun! #bubblewrapfordays
• Mended my friend’s broken heart on a whim trip to Hong Kong — bought our tickets at 2 pm and arrived in Hong Kong in time for dinner

• Paddle-boarded behind my friend, Natalie, into a pack of seals — never again!
• Road-tripped with my mom and uncles from Kunming to Chongqing to transport my dad’s ashes to his final resting place
• Met Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild and the sage behind Dear Sugar, at TravelCon

• Celebrated my 31st birthday reconnecting with a friend I’d lost touch with over the years. She made this day super-duper special. We went to the beach and she surprised me with a picnic of champagne and sandwiches, and then I devoured a lobster! 
• Met baby Emma (whom I consider my niece) in Tianjin for the first time at 8 months old. I may have shed a tear or two…

• Rendezvoused with a friend on the island of Koh Lipe in southern Thailand (and later was joined by friends from Shenzhen!)
• Accompanied my cousin to a fire station to cut off a ring he got stuck on his finger 
• Got pressured into doing a 5K Tough Mudder with my cousins and had an absolute blast

• Camped in Canada and then stirred up a crowd with my rendition of Madonna’s Like a Prayer at a karaoke bar in Montreal 
• Went on five dates with five different guys in five consecutive days…whew! No luck, but great conversations with interesting people.
• Standing next to my friend, her fiancé, and her mom, we watched my friend’s father pass away, and in a whirlwind, put together his funeral

• Sold my childhood home
• Showered Sonya and her beau, and then a few months later met their 7-day-old daughter
• Made a life in Medellín for one month taking Spanish classes, hanging out with good people, eating my lifetime’s worth of empanadas, and feeling right at home

In my first weekend in Colombia, I met Dave, a retired American man who told me about the crazy adventures he’s been on, like meeting a sailor in Florida one day and embarking on a sailing adventure to Cuba the next. I thought that was so cool. The key to these cool opportunities, he revealed:

“You just gotta make yourself available.”

For most of us, renting out beach chairs and umbrellas might not sound like a lucrative business and certainly not one that provides the stability most of us are after, but profit and stability weren’t what Dave was after. He was after freedom and adventure, so to him, it was a dream job. If he hadn’t had a flexible lifestyle, he wouldn’t have been able to join the sailor on that journey to Cuba. 

In 2020, I turn 32. My prime! My grandma says my golden years passed when I turned 28, but I have a feeling 32 is going to exceed all her expectations (which is to find a husband before she’s gone). I’ve had this hunch since I was 24. I just have to remember to make myself available to whatever life throws my way. If it turns out to be a stinker of a year (which it won’t), so be it!

Gracias, 2019. You had me on one heck of a rollercoaster ride, full of twists and turns and unexpected falls, but the thrill was worth it. My dad wasn’t a fan of rollercoasters, but he always got in the car with me so I didn’t have to go alone. This time was no different <3