2024 Recap
The year that changed me the most in the shortest amount of time. In my mind, since I left “home," I’ve already had three versions of myself emerge. There was doe-eyed, everything-is-new, green-to-the-world me. Then, slightly more experienced, finally outside of her bubble for the first time solo, learning there is complexity to life me. Lastly, the me that left Bonaire after nearly three years of living in a foreign country, supporting myself, and figuring it out as I go while having all of these new experiences. But nothing could have prepared me for the 2024 me. I am so incredibly proud of her. She has grown in leaps and bounds. She has matured, she has become more empathetic, more flexible to life’s curveballs, less stressed, more go-with-the-flow, and she hasn’t let life take away her joy. She started the year excited for the magic she’d create, she created that damn magic, and she ended the year still believing in magic. I think that’s the most important thing… to never let this world take away your belief that you can create your own magic. So, speaking of magic… shall we discuss the magic of this year?
Table of Contents
1.New Year Goals | 2.Trials & Tribulations | 3.Random Statistics | 4.Hope for the Future
1. New Year Goals
My goals for 2024 included getting licensed for a particular sport (not sharing yet), finding my next career, volunteering, re-learning French, practicing yoga every day, and learning how to implement SEO. I did end up volunteering. But that’s about it. Although I did so many things, I couldn’t have even imagined to put on that list at the beginning of the year. I became so flexible with plans that I went to Poland on a whim one day after thinking of the idea. I became so much more social that I made friends from over ten countries. I became so much more confident that I would successfully get myself out of a public transpo pickle, in a foreign country, in a language I didn’t understand, without freaking out or even being the slightest bit bothered. I grew so much that I can’t even recognize the person I used to be, and I laugh at what I used to get vexed about. I’ve still got a ways to go, but I’ve come so far already. I’m celebrating that.
2. Trials & Tribulations
January through the end of March I was in the US with my family. That was a trial in and of itself. I have such a strong feeling that I’m not meant to be in the US, that every time I am, it’s like my body rejects it. But, I used those moments to soak up family time and dream about my backpacking plans. Then starting the end of March until the end of the year, there were plenty of things that old me would have listed as trials and tribulations and difficulties, but new me? Pft. I got through it, right? So clearly it wasn’t that difficult. Did I get lost in random cities? Yes. Did I also love it though? Yes. Did I cut my foot open walking barefoot through a rice patty in Northern Vietnam and not be able to clean it for 4+ hours? Yes. Did I get sick from it? No. Sweet. Did I get on the wrong trains, buses, trams, metros? Of course. Did I end up getting to my destination though? Absolutely. Did I have days I wanted to quit, stop backpacking, go back to somewhere comfortable, where I understood the language, and just stay in bed for a while binging on Netflix? Sure. But honestly, only a handful of days like that. In 10 months of solo backpacking through Europe and Southeast Asia, I only had a handful of days I wanted to give up. But clearly, I didn’t want that enough to actually do it. Mama didn’t raise no quitter. So honestly, I don’t really have any trials to report for 2024. I made it through the year in one piece, with all my faculties (depending on who you ask), with epic stories to tell, and my joy for life. I did alright for myself.
3. Random Statistics
Just because I secretly love statistics:
25 countries (23 while backpacking and the first 2 visiting friends)
25 planes
53 Eurail trains (not including individual city transportation)
3 rented motorbikes
47 Grab bikes / cars in SEA
11 hotels / airbnb’s
10 friends’ homes (including house-sitting jobs)
48 hostels / homestays
3 travel romances
7+ waterfalls
10+ museums
8+ night clubs
7+ paid public toilets
3 country visas
16 currencies used
6 chiropractor visits (while abroad; not including ones I got before leaving the US)
14+ massages
2 hair cuts
6 lost or broken jewelry pieces
4 bug bites I should’ve gone to the doctor for in SEA
32 books (only 8 were audiobooks)
Noteworthy Places:
Best UNESCO World Heritage Site: Angkor
Largest Brick Building: Malbork Castle
Cleanest Place: Singapore
Best Art: Florence, Italy (literally all the museums and historical sites)
Best Scenery: Croatia / Vietnam / Laos
Best Alcohol: Czech Republic
Best Cheese: The Netherlands
Best Vegetarian Food: Vietnam / Austria
Best Desserts: Sweden
Places That Felt Like Magic:
Florence, Italy
The Netherlands (all of it, I love it)
Bruges, Belgium
Kraków, Poland
Croatia (want to do more)
Vietnam (I could move here for sure)
Stockholm, Sweden
Costs - starting late March, not including the two countries and one island I visited pre-backpacking:
Europe: 11 countries ; 3,20 months/96 days
$7,238.57/6.891,84€ total
average $2,262.05/2.153,70€ per month
average $75.40/71,79€ per day
average $658.05/626,53€ per country
Southeast Asia: 7 countries ; 3,75 months/112 days
$5,165.21/4.917,80€ total
average $1,377.39/1.311,41€ per month
average $46.11/43,90€ per day
average $737.88/702,54€ per country
Europe: 5 countries (3 new) ; 2,35 months/70 days
$3,524.46/3.399,06€ total
average $1,499.77/1.446,41€ per month
average $50.35/48,56€ per day
average $1,174.82/1.133,01€ per country
Total backpacking: 21 countries ; 9,3 months/279 days
$15,928.24/15.208,70€ total
average $1,712.71/1.635,34€ per month
average $57.30/54,70€ per day
average $758.49/724,22€ per country
4. Hope for the Future
By far, the cheapest year I’ve had as a self-supporting adult while simultaneously being the most adventurous and most fun year of my life. I mean, how can traveling the world be cheaper than living in one place? That’s wild to me. But oh my stars, this was the coolest year with the most magic of all my years. I’m not sure how I can continue having years that top this because I feel like I’ve now peaked in my early 20s, and that’s just a little bit sad to me. I’m so curious what 2025 will bring for me. I’m still hoping I can find a way to stay in Europe without having to leave the Schengen Zone, but we shall see. My hope is that I have some direction as to what I want to do for money, then make money, continue to have monthly adventures, continue to push myself outside of my comfort zone socially, continue reading a lot of books and learning, and get back into exercising and stretching (and not just counting my hikes and walking 20,000 steps a day as sport). I really just want to go into 2025 with no expectations, only the plan to make it epic and magical as well. So, I guess here’s to that!
