From building a living room fort, to spontaneous cat-sitting in Morocco, my 2024 journey proves that even in tough times, it is still possible to collect experiences that will become treasured memories.
If you don’t already know this, the past two years have been some of the toughest of my life. And that’s on every possible level. Life can be challenging for all of us, but it’s like the Universe decided to save up some of the biggest stuff any human can go through and dump it all on me in a matter of months.
2024 therefore has been exceptionally difficult.
And, for numerous reasons, it’s been more difficult for me to travel and collect experiences as I usually would. I may have travelled less, and done less, than usual, but I’ve stayed true to my goal of living, not existing, by actively seeking out ways to help me get through the tough times.
There were weeks where my mental health was so bad I couldn’t leave home, but, looking back, I still have so much to be grateful for. And I’m sharing this in the hope that it will inspire whoever needs to see this to actively seek joy and gratitude, no matter how dark things seem.
Please don’t confuse this aim with toxic positivity: awful stuff happens and we absolutely should feel the feelings. It’s just, speaking as someone who’s gone through – and is still going through – a lot of awful things, it can really help to actively plan things to look forward to, not matter how small, that will also give you reasons to feel grateful.
That’s a tad heavy for this time of year, so without further ado here’s my 2024, wrapped:
Wrapped Highlights
Total Miles Travelled: >25,000 miles, including journeys to Wales, Edinburgh, Istanbul, Mauritius and Morocco.
Continents Visited in a Day: 3 (Europe, Asia, and Africa).
New UK Restaurants Explored: 3 (Italian, allium-free Indian and my first UK Kenyan food).
Digital Milestones:
- 1 blog launched.
- 1 book authored and published.
- 1 TikTok content goal achieved.
- First Black Friday sale of digital products.
Wellness Activities Initiated: 1 (Reformer Pilates).
Kizomba Events Attended: 60 (Unida, Ultima Sexta, Kizomba Sundays and Chocolate Tuesdays).
Spontaneous Adventures: 1 (Cat-sitting in Morocco for a stranger).
Public Speaking Engagements: 1 (at a rugby stadium).
Museums Visited: 1 (Natural History Museum).
Festive Events Attended: 3 (1 Halloween pub quiz, 1 firework display and 1 Winter Lights festival).
New Cocktail Experiences: 2 (Natural Philosopher and Sushi Samba’s Sambaroom).
Monthly Breakdown
January
- Highlight: Over Christmas and New Year I was about as sick as I’ve ever been with that 90 day cough virus that was going around. I therefore couldn’t do my usual NYE solo travels…not that I’d booked any, due to a different sort of family illness. As I was seeing a guy at the time (note the past tense), I decided to make one of my dreams a reality and construct a cozy living room fort for NYE. We camped out in it for a full 24 hours and it was MAGICAL!
- Event: Attended the Canary Wharf Winter Lights festival, immersing myself in mesmerising light installations.
February
- Culinary Adventure: Discovered allium-free Indian cuisine at OmNom in Islington. Which, for someone with an allium allergy, was a game-changer.
March
- Cultural Experience: Popped my Thatched House cherry, marking a first Kenyan food in the UK. Because chapo ni maisha.
- Travel Milestone: Spent 24 hours in Istanbul, crossing three continents in a single day.
April
- Solo Expedition: Faced my fear of driving in a different country, and also driving an automatic car, on a solo road trip around Mauritius. You can read about my adventures there in my book.
- Community Engagement: Helped organise a fundraiser for Palestine, which raised over £33.7k, and got to experience Palestinian music, food, dance and crafts.
- Cocktail Experience: Got to check out Sushi Samba’s cocktail bar for a friend’s birthday, and enjoy panoramic views of London.
May
- Skill Development: Began learning digital marketing with a course I bought, created my first funnel and experimented with TikTok. All of which was HARD. But I learnt a lot!
- Social Outing: Took myself on a solo date to a cocktail bar I’d been wanting to check out, Natural Philosopher.
June
- Family time: I travelled back to Wales for my mother’s birthday, rediscovered Penarth and tried a new restaurant.
This month was the start of some of the worst mental health episodes of my life, so I spent most of June battling my own mind, and anxiety.
July
- Wellness Activity: Tried Reformer Pilates classes for the first time, which was something I’d wanted to do for a long time. I loved them…but they’re SO expensive!
August
- Cultural Exploration: Visited the Natural History Museum for the first time and played London tourist for a day.
- Became a Blogger: I launched this blog at the end of August, after building it from scratch myself throughout the month.
- Bucket List Item: I FINALLY visited the Cart& Horses pub in Stratford, birthplace of Iron Maiden (one of my first favourite bands).
September
- New Experience: Popped my gaming centre cherry at Dark Sphere for my friend’s board game themed birthday.
- Public Speaking: Delivered a speech as a paid keynote speaker at a rugby stadium, then had gin and tonic on the terrace with 300 women.
October
- Spontaneous Travel: Decided spontaneously to cat-sit for a stranger in Morocco, as you do. You can read about my adventure’s here (spoiler alert, this also led to me collecting the experience of having a rabies vaccine!).
- New Experience: Randomly stumbled upon a pub quiz, which I’d not done before. And not just any pub quiz: a Halloween pub quiz, in a Wetherspoons! Came last, haha.
November
- Creative Achievement: Wrote a book of my solo travel adventures and personal growth journey, called To Live, Not Exist, and experimented with email automations and marketing strategies as part of my first ever Black Friday sale.
- Old Tradition, New Location: Checked out a firework display at a gastro pub in Essex. It was super disappointing, sadly.
- Culinary Delight: Discovered a fabulous local Italian restaurant.
December
- Professional Milestone: Celebrated becoming a published author.
- Winter Arc: Worked on getting everything in place to smash my goals in 2025, especially in terms of building my one-person business and this blog.
- Birthday Fest: It’s my birthday just before Christmas, and I’ll be making content about what I chose to do, so watch this space!
- Bonus Surprise: I may have booked a solo travel adventure for this New Year’s Eve…check back for updates and travel adventures.
When I look back, I achieved – and lived – way more than I initially thought I had. It can be all too easy for our minds to focus on the bad that we can forget to see the good. Just surviving this year would have been more than enough. But I’m shipping out of 2024 battered and depleted yet with so much hope and excitement for the new year ahead.
The bad stuff hasn’t gone away, but no matter what is happening in my life I will punctuate my existence with moments of unashamed joy. I will continue to learn and grow and work towards my mission of empowering over 1 million introverts to design their lives in a way that means they are living, not existing, too.
Because if we don’t go after the life we want, we get the life for which we have settled.
Don’t settle.
Thank you for being with me on this wild ride, and here’s to LIVING in 2025!