I travelled to Houston, Texas with my husband and daughter for Christmas, to stay with my husband’s auntie. We booked tickets before the Omicron variant emerged. In the week before we left, we were indecisive. Should we go? Sentences starting with ‘what if..’ endlessly ran through my mind and filled me with doubt. We very nearly cancelled.
In the end, we decided that we would go, and thankfully we managed to travel there and back without taking C19 with us, and with no disruptions to our plans. The trip was a huge success and gave me time to switch off from everyday life and chill out.
Here are my New Year musings:
- Reconnecting with family over Christmas felt more special than ever. Preventing travel can’t be the answer to combatting a pandemic. I feel for those families who spent months and years apart because of it. We have to find a way to make travel safe. Likewise in our globally connected world we need to find a way to travel the world with minimum impact on climate change. Yes, I want to have my cake and eat it too.
- I can see why those who can, travel abroad for Winter sunshine. It’s very therapeutic. We went for a walk around the block every day. The temperatures there were unseasonably warm at around 28 degrees celcius. Not a problem for us Brits but the Texans were hoping for cooler weather. I guess we have to blame climate change and people who travel in planes…
- The Christmas lights in Houston were spectacular, both at Houston Zoo and in the River Heights suburb on all the big houses. They really lifted the spirits and put a smile on my face.
- I don’t have any particular resolutions for the New Year. I plan to continue on my path of trying to make marginal gains in my life – around learning, health and just doing my best to be a kind and positive person.
- In 2021 I read 50 books, and this is my goal again for 2022. Books and podcasts on my wish list include:
- Brene Brown – Atlas of the Heart
- James Clear – Atomic Habits
- The High Performance Podcast – there is always something to learn
- Rebuild Podcast with Mary Portas – I enjoyed the book and want to see where this conversation goes
- Anything by my favourite three fantasy authors – Jodi Taylor, Genevieve Cogman, Robin Hobb
- Lots of books from the Write That Book bookshop, including those which are due to be published in 2022. Particularly looking forward to ‘Whatever Happened To Uncle Norman’ and ‘Disco Dollies’!
Happy New Year to you all, and may your 2022 be filled with many joyful moments. Life seems too uncertain to wish you all eternal happiness, but joy is definitely within reach!
