Starting off the Year Well – 9 Well Wishes for 2019

2018 had been an absolutely incredible year, with so many little adventures and milestones to be grateful for. Here are some of my top 9 lessons I would like to bring forward to 2019!

9 Healthy Takeaways to Bring Forward to the New Year. New Goals, new you!

1. Take time to Escape into Nature…more than once

Such a privilege to be able to get away and spend time in the great outdoors many rounds this year. It’s always such a joy to be able to escape the city life and from all the hustle, and just be captivated awed by the beauty of the natural surroundings like mountains, lakes, snow and more. Its great to have the time and it can be used for meditating, reflecting and just enjoying the precious moments of peace..in the great mother nature.

2. Celebrate Milestones at a Place you always wanted 

One of my dreams was always wanted to visit Kalymnos island in Greece to rock climb, and who would have thought that 2018 on my birthday would be the year for the dream to come true!

It’s always great to take time out to pursue 1-2 things you really want, don’t let the hassle and excuses stop you from doing what you always wanted for yourself. There are some things that will be important to pursue and not let go.

3. Be Empathetic, Be Aware and Learn from the Past

One of the places that have really left a deep impression and memory on me would be the Auschwitz Concentration Campground near Krakow in Poland.

I have heard a lot about it but never had the chance to visit it in the past, and this trip there was a really sobbering and reflective moment. It was a bit too crowded with too many tourists hence we had to move very quickly through the grounds, but it was enough time to linger and drink in the different scenes, from the part where they dispose their things, to the part where their photos were taken, before they were removed.

I left the place feeling a mix of sadness/ anger/ confusion/ shock and more. I imagined the cold conditions they had to sleep in over the freezing winter in Poland, and the terrible experiments and testings they did on the people for drugs.

Too often we take for granted the comforts of our lives, so places like this are very important reminders to ensure that we don’t take things for granted, and to not inflict harm on others and let history repeat itself.

4. Get a Bird’s Eye View from Above

If you get the chance, I would recommend you to experience the hot air balloon once in your life. The experience is truly magical and breathtaking, with a slight fear creeping in more often than preferred when you realise how high up you are and that you are just floating on..technically a canvas sheet supported by hot air.

But the view of what we witnessed in Cappadocia Turkey was truly stunning and magical, and it was worth the fear and money spend.

5. Do Something Crazy…like Flying My Own Acrobatic Plane

It was truly a once in a lifetime experience to fly my own plane in Kosice Slovakia. As part of the trip, we were initially supposed to be doing skydiving, but due to strong winds, the plans changed and we were promised a scenic plane ride instead.

However, a casual ride turned out to be a fully scripted surprise where the entire crew and team at Compact Skydive put together an awesome video with drones and go pro, and before we knew it we were off in the air.

The ride was truly exceptional because we actually went on a really intense ride doing acrobatic stunts in the sky. You can feel the G-force so strong against our heads and the stomach-dropping effect every time we free fall.

Midway through the flight, I was even given control of the plane to fly it, and even learn some basic tricks and skills! All in all, I would encourage everyone to give this activity a shot.

6. Try New Things you Love – Like my 1st of many Via Ferrata

Via Ferrata is a super cool activity to experience, and I was privileged to try it for the 1st time in Costa Brava in Spain. Unlike normal rock climbing, via ferrata uses more traversing and does not require a belayer, but a pre-anchored route set up across the rocks/ terrain. Its long, and super fun.

Have you always wanted to travel more, but don’t know how to earn money through it? Here’s some tips and ideas to make it work.

7. Walk through Fields of Flowers

I have always missed spring in many countries, and haven’t got the chance to see a country during the season of bloom before. But lucky me, I was over in Poland and Spain during the start of the spring. and the golden canola flower fields are everywhere!!
If you prefer some in the Asia region, Taiwan is a great place to take a motorbike ride during Autumn and witness the stunning foliage and fields of colours.

8. Camping out in the great outdoors

Climbing and camping at Siurana Spain with Cez was an absolutely lovely experience, with great memories. Cez and I were so lucky to be hosted by 2 lovely climbing guides at their grounds, giving us their spare campervan, go climbing with them all day and had 1-2 lovely hot home cooked meals with them and their adorable little boy in their cosy log cabin. One of the best memories in our Epic Road Trip through Europe in early 2018.

One does not get to get such unique experiences easily – staying in a person’s home in their spare campervan in the middle of the mountains.

9. Seeing the best of the World at Sunset

One of the remaining highlights of the trip was to see some of the most beautiful and breathtaking sunsets in the world at some of the best viewpoints in Czech Republic.

Here’s concluding some of the best takeaways of my past year and to challenge you to take time to work on adding some of it to your 2019 resolutions!

What is one resolution you want to achieve this year?