Reflecting on 2020, the almost year

The almost, but not quite year

Let’s just get the obvious out of the way. 2020 was not the year we all had planned. Not the year any of us could have predicted. And definitely not the year the world wanted, or needed.

A global pandemic. People’s lives turned upside down. Life plans decimated. Large parts of the world having to suffer through tough lockdown periods. It was unprecedented, the amount of times the word “unprecedented” was rolled out. 

But how else to describe the year that was 2020? It truly was an annus horribilis.

And yet…

Gratitude and Positivity

I hear a lot of tales of positivity as people reflected on the year. People learned to slow down a little. Had time to reconnect with loved ones. Started to appreciate the simple things in life. Walks in nature. Home cooking. I mastered home made scones! Less time commuting to work. For some people, in parts of the world, the commute stopped completely. Work from home became a full time occupation.  Dare I say it, the new normal.

Ironically, this brought unexpected consequences. It turns out that people used the commute time to read. Listen to podcasts. Think. It gave a lot of people that elusive white space so often missing in our busy lives.

Suddenly, this time, our time, was lost. The new commute was from the bedroom to the living room. We had no transition from home to office. The home was the office. Many people found themselves working longer. Pausing less. Becoming more sedentary. Missing their old nemesis, the commute, something I wrote about.

Starting 2020 with a sense of optimism

But this was all to come. At the start of the year nobody had any inclination of what was ahead. We started 2020 in Mudgee, New South Wales. A quiet weekend in wine country, looking ahead to what was to be an exciting year. Using the first three months of the year to finalise our plans to sell what we could of our possessions, and pack up the rest, and leave Sydney. Embarking on a long term sojourn across the globe.

A plan that was a couple of years in the making, it was suddenly almost upon us. We had talked about which was the best week to resign from our jobs. When to give the notice on our rental apartment. And when to book our first flight into Asia.

As we neared the end of March, we had resigned, and said our goodbyes. We packed up the apartment and moved all our possessions into storage. And we were homeless, staying in a hotel when we found out that Australia was closing the international borders. Like dominoes, other countries followed suit, and suddenly our world became very small.

With no jobs, nowhere to live, and only a backpack, we made a snap decision. I pulled out my phone and booked a couple of seats on a plane leaving for Perth the day after. We were moving to Western Australia (WA), arriving only 2 days before WA closed all the internal borders, effectively creating an island within an island.

Moving to Perth in a pandemic

This proved to be one of the best decisions we have ever made. At the time of writing, WA has not had a locally transmitted case of COVID for over 9 months. Life, fortunately, has carried on largely as normal. In the first couple of weeks after we arrived, whilst bouncing around Air BnBs, we could only get takeaway food and drinks. 

But not long after, life returned, and for the best part of the year we have been enjoying a life not seen much outside of WA. For those not familiar with the size of West Australia, it is 975,000 square miles, with a population of only 2.6 million. That is a lot of space to explore. Not difficult to social distance.

And we have taken as much advantage as we possibly can, exploring lots of this beautiful part of the world. On our doorstep we have the wine country of Swan Valley and the Perth Hills, visiting both. A little under 3 hours away we have the magnificent Margaret River region, where we have already spent numerous long weekends, trying to get around as many of the 200+ vineyards as possible. And we have had staycations in Perth, the vibrant port city of Fremantle, and the beautiful Rottnest Island.

How to be productive in a pandemic

In the early days of our arrival in Perth I naively thought that we would sit out the virus, and be heading off overseas within a couple of months. I filled this time productively, studying for my WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust) Level 1 qualification, and also becoming an accredited mental health first aider (MHFA). Very different, but both very fascinating subjects to learn more about.

When I took my head out of the sand, I realised that we were not travelling anywhere anytime soon, and reluctantly found myself a full time job. This provided another example of the best in people. How people rally around and help. There were numerous people, many who didn’t know me, happy to get on the phone with me as I searched for a new role in Perth. I am thankful to each and every one of them for their kindness, help, and support through a difficult time.

The outcome was that I got a 6 month contract. And I was lucky enough to get a renewal for this just before xmas which means that I now have work through to June of this year. Beyond that? I daren’t plan, as the world has shown us about the “best laid plans”, and all that. What does give me hope is the news this week that Qantas have resumed selling international flights from July 1. Definite green shoots that give me cause for optimism,

Both our jobs started out with working from home, but as normality returned, the offices reopened and now we have a happy hybrid of splitting our work week between home and the city. An arrangement that really suits how I like to work.

When a house becomes a home

With work came the need for somewhere longer term to live, and after 6 months in an apartment in East Perth, we found a perfect little cottage in a suburb called Mt Hawthorn. A suburb that is very reminiscent of where we lived in Sydney, which was Mosman. Streets lined with old style cottages. Many bars, cafes (with great coffee) and restaurants. And only 10 minutes into the city for work. We definitely landed on our feet.

For the first time in over a decade I live in a house. We have an actual front door and both a front and back garden. Having always wanted a couple of Adirondack chairs, they now sit pride of place in the back garden, close enough to the BBQ so I can quickly flip my steaks when needed. A small table between the two chairs completes this idyllic picture, holding our glasses of wine. A covered patio area is where our new bicycles live. 

And we finally transported all our belongings from storage in Sydney, bringing to an end the “living out of a backpack” phase of our Perth adventure.

Perth is very bike friendly, being largely flat, and having a great network of bike paths. Weekends we can head off towards the Swan River with a picnic of egg mayonnaise sandwiches, a couple of pork pies, and a bottle of wine. Does life get any better than that?

So, whilst we have all lived through a crazy year, we have been very fortunate to have spent it here in WA.

Even in crazy years, where events are not what we expected, a lot of the time it is how we respond to the events. As the saying goes, “when life gives you lemons.”

Reflecting on what I hoped for in 2020

I started the year, fully expecting to be a full time nomad, embracing my love of travel writing. I set a lofty ambition to get at least one travel article published. With overseas travel off the cards, I switched my focus to get at least one piece of writing published. 

And I was very pleased to win second prize in a freelance writing contest, with a short story about the future of work. I won $350, which was beyond anything I expected. This gave me great confidence in my writing and as we enter 2021, my focus switches back to getting a travel article published. 

On the professional front, I finally got my coaching journey started. September saw me joining a great bunch of leaders from across Asia as we embarked on a virtual 3 day training course by the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership. With the follow on activities completed, and a successful assignment, I became a certified coach at the start of November. I enjoy this work so much that I have already enrolled in Level 2, starting in March.

Our regular pilates and yoga practice has taken a back seat since we relocated to Perth. With everything that has been going on we just haven’t got around to joining a new studio. Typical of the world we now live in, I have been checking out virtual alternatives. I would love to hear of any recommendations that you have. Of the ones I have looked at so far, “Glo” seems to get the best reviews. Are there any others that you recommend?

Daring to look ahead to 2021

I am not one for making new year’s resolutions, but do look ahead to the year and consider both what changes I want to make, and what I would like to achieve. And as with every year, I start this one wanting to shed a little of the xmas weight. We have just had an epic 2 week road trip up the west coast of Australia, and I ate and drank everything in sight. The body will get a shock as I lock the booze cabinet, hide the chocolates, and get back on the treadmill.

This year I also hope that we can finally fly overseas and start our travelling. We are not making any plans for this, at the moment, other than continuing to save money. I have a natural reflection point as my current work contract expires in June. This will give the opportunity to assess the state of the world, the success of the various vaccines, and the likelihood of us being able to travel through countries without being quarantined anywhere.

Last, but certainly not least, this is the year I leave my 40s and enter my 50s. Quite a milestone, I am sure you will agree. And for a few years I have been putting some pennies aside for the big occasion. The “plan” is to travel on the Eastern & Oriental Express. 3 days of luxury, travelling the rails between Singapore and Bangkok. With all the Belmond Orient Express journeys currently paused, it is hard to say when this will happen. But I remain committed to it being a “when”, and not an “if”.

Putting the spectre of 2020 behind us, what are you hoping for in 2021?