2016 Reflection

2016 has quickly come and gone. The year always seemed to go so slowly back in my schooling days however each year, it seems to go by faster and faster. I am not one to really set goals at the beginning of the new year and thus I cannot accurately say whether or not I have achieved what I had set out.

Looking back on 2016

Upon reflection of 2016, it has been a busy year. I travelled a fair bit; I went on one big trip to Mongolia and went on a few smaller ones throughout the year during my long weekends. I successfully completed #take12trips quite easily.

01. Ingleburn
02. Warragamba Dam 
03. Wollongong
04. Riverina Roadtrip
05. Port Stephens
06. Wollongong & Helensburgh
07. Blue Mountains
08. Capertee Valley & Hill End 
09. Mongolia
10. Ettalong 
11. Victoria Roadtrip
12. Wattamolla

I finally properly visited and photographed canola fields which is something that has been on my mind for numerous years now.

I turned 25 this year in December which was a little bit scary; I am now in the mid 20s bracket. Eck! I also realised this year that I have been in a new relationship every year for the past 4 years (....) however I think this time round, I may have found myself a keeper ;P

Professionally, I have learnt so much more about myself however in that area of my life, it has been quite draining and I am a little burnt out. I am glad that I have a two week office closure, although the forced use of 2 weeks of leave when I only have 4 weeks annually is a little painful to swallow.

I also purchased a new camera which was very exciting as I have only ever owned point and shoot cameras. Yes really!

I have successfully completed my reading challenge of reading 60 books this year, follow my Goodreads!

Onto something likely more negative, 2016 has overall been quite a tough year. It definitely has not been the best year financially for me. I had to pay a $433 fine for accidentally running through a red light; I can only blame myself, it was one of those trippy two sets of lights close to together and the first was green and second was red and I wasn't paying enough attention. On my trip to Melbourne, I ended up forking around $250 due to flight cancellation and accommodation. And only two days ago, I had to cut my Tasmania trip short because I accidentally crashed my car, no replacement cars were available and I incurred around $1500 overall for the damage, having to buy a new flight, accommodation, etc. What a way to end the year especially since I had been looking forward to this trip since March.

Looking forward to 2017

I want to take it slower in 2017. My opinion may change when the time arises, but I want to take less trips. I won't be completing #take12trips, however I am sure that I will end up taking that many as a minimum considering my nature. I did not strain myself this year to meet the goal, however I thought it became a little redundant around halfway through the year. I think I need to become more in tune with myself and to slow down when I am becoming burnt out; remembering to take some time to relax and do nothing. Doing nothing is a foreign concept to me however it is valuable. However, I am planning on going overseas on a trip to Vietnam and Thailand in August; that will be my big trip for 2017.

As a consequence of travelling less, I will invariably end up saving more. I have never been one to save to travel, but more save to save and using some of my savings to travel. That is why, despite having a budget for my trips, I can easily blow out my budget without too much of a worry. I suppose I am getting to the age where having savings is becoming increasingly more important. Luckily, I have always been a saver so the mindset is already there. It is a fickle thing; like a lot of people, I do want to get into the property market. However 2017 will not be the year. I will not lament about all those issues and hurdles that are constantly brought up in the news. Simply put, the time is not right for me.

What is one thing you are wanting to achieve in 2017?