Letter 50
2016 has been a good, hard, tiring, wonderful year and in 10 days I will fondly look back on it, and happily step into 2017.
This year has probably been one of the hardest of my life as it began with the death of a close family member. I won’t go into personal details, but I honestly thought my world had shattered and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever recover. I did. Possibly not completely, and I know it will always hurt, but I have moved on. You have to. I haven’t let it ruin my year and instead have accomplished my goals in memory of someone who is incredibly important to me. If anything, I think I have accomplished even more because of this. I have also learnt to appreciate my friends and family every single day because life is short.
After getting that out of the way, the rest of the year bought some amazing things my way and I have achieved more that I could every have imagined. I started a blog! This is something I had wanted to do for a few years. I only started travelling solo in 2015 and I wanted a way to document my trips. I really enjoy reading other people’s blogs and wanted to create one myself. Although I may have let it go whilst at university this year, I am really proud of it. When I was actually travelling this year I was able to keep up with my writing and I love looking back at these letters! I have a lot of plans for the blog and I only hope I can get some good stories up on the website for everyone to read.
I visited America! First time in the states and it shattered and exceeded my expectations. I loved the country and I can’t wait to go back and discover more fantastic cities and spend more time in the contrasting landscapes. I did my first overnight bus, saw wild whales in the ocean, visited Harvard University and saw New York from the 86th floor. What a trip!
On top of the world | A day in Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary | We crashed Harvard’s welcome ceremony…
I found a new passion. Working with children and adults with disabilities. My summer at camp was one of the scariest things I have ever done but I completely loved it. I also realised I am quite good at it and I can’t wait to return in the future to visit the kids and enjoy many more summers in Maryland. It just shows that doing something completely alien to you can really pay off. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
I feel I’ve become a real Scottish citizen (no one else feels this, but that’s not important). I made my first, of many I hope, visit to the highlands. This happens to be the home of my boyfriend and one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. On the subject, we hit our year anniversary back in September and I can honestly say I have never been happier. I also tried haggis finally! It’s not so bad. I even went to a ceilidh which was so so fun, and I need to do it more!
A lot of these things are small, but my life has changed a lot this year. I am grateful for 2016 but cannot wait to begin 2017. I want to make it an amazing year, exploring more places and spending quality time with my friends and family.
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and prosperous new year. Best wishes to every single person who reads this.
So much love!
From Lou
Letters from Lou 