It’s been way too long since I’ve written in this blog; close to a year in fact! I think part of the reason I’ve been absent is that I have a new job in which I stare at a computer all day so I don’t want to do that on my own time. And I think part of it is that now that I’m not travelling I think other people will view my life as boring. Now let’s be clear, I don’t think my life is boring, but writing about seeing Jumanji this week (which was hilarious, by the way) sounds decidedly less exciting than meeting kangaroos in Australia or trekking through caves in New Zealand or walking the streets of Budapest. But ultimately I think I’ve been lazy. Plain and simple.
Let’s get this blog show back on the road, shall we?
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I thought now would be a good time to talk about sports, seeing as I love them and it’s the start of March Madness!
To be fair, I’m still not really into March Madness, but I am finding basketball more interesting these days. I’ve filled out a bracket for the NCAA tournament, but in classic Anya style, I didn’t fill out just one. I have a “serious” one (in quotations because none of mine are truly serious. I have Gonzaga winning in this one; I just liked their name too much to let them lose!), one where winners are chosen based on which mascot I think would win in a fight, and then finally one where I let ESPN autofill it based on a bunch of statistical algorithms. I’m using the third one as a reference to compare my bracket to, but also I want to see how accurately the algorithms work. The mascot bracket was just a fun way of knowing something about all the teams. There are some weird mascots out there (Xavier and Wichita, I’m looking at you). In case you were curious, I have Baylor winning that one because their bear looks real ferocious. Just go and compare him to the UCLA bear and you’ll see what I mean. I’m aware, it’s been a pretty long time since my last post. And that’s not okay. I have a bunch of excuses, trust me, but ultimately I know that it’s just not okay. And not even just for you (assuming people are still interested in reading this blog) the reader, it’s not okay for me the writer. I started this blog to give myself a creative outlet and the only person I’m truly letting down by not writing for it is me. So, with that being said, I’m back and super prepared to hold myself to my own promises.
In some ways, this post is the start of a new chapter in this blog. I still plan to outline all my travels, but for now I’m staying in one place so my average post is going to have to be a little different. I’m starting a new version of the blog and we’re at the start of a new year, seems like a fitting topic for a new post. I think that when you start new things, you look back to the old to gain perspective on the new and when you do that, you learn a lot about yourself. So that’s what I’m going to do with this post. Look back, learn things about myself, and move on from there So it's been over a month since my last post and that's just not okay. In my defense, I've been extremely busy. And I've discovered that when I'm not traveling I really forget to take photos. I'll try to be better about it after this post. My October resolution, if you will. But I guess a part of it is that my days are starting to be a little more normal now, so I’m losing the drive to document every second of it. I have also been extremely lazy with posting photos from my last couple of months in NZ, which is an undertaking for this weekend. And now that I’ve said it out loud (put it in writing?) I’ve got to do it.
So what's new? Mostly getting settled in to, well, being settled. I have an apartment here with two roommates and I've really only just fully finished decorating and creating my space. I mean, I didn't have a bed until 2.5 weeks ago! I've started to get into a routine, but honestly it’s a little bit of a crazy one. I have three jobs at the moment so it's a bit of a time juggle. Right now, an average day goes like this: wake up at 7, bike/take public transit to my “big girl job”, work, go home for like 10 minutes so I can change, bike to my soccer coaching job, coach, bike to my water polo coaching job, coach, and then finally head home at 7pm. Notice there's a lot of biking, which is what happens when your only set of wheels are two in a straight line. I'm working on buying a car, but honestly it feels like a massive undertaking at the moment and besides the occasional major inconvenience of it, I kind of like living without a car. Even if my bike has basically no brakes and I can’t change gears. It’s kind of a great way to do some exercise without actually feeling like I’m exercising. Exercise with a purpose. On August 26th, 2015, exactly one year ago today, I left the USA to join Sammie in England and we started our 7 month journey around the world, one the most amazing experiences I think either of us will ever have again. This also means it's been exactly one year since I was asked, as a 22 year old, if I was old enough to sit in the emergency exit row of the airplane. For which you have to be 15. But ya know, whatever, I'm not holding a grudge or anything.
It's been one whole year of suitcases, airplanes, new places, new friends, and tons of adventures. Saying that I’ve loved every second of it wouldn’t be true (because let’s be honest travel and life in general isn’t easy and I’m not trying to make anyone think otherwise), but this has been one of the best years of my life. Now, one year later, I’m back in Saint Paul and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m looking forward to my next adventure, which is staying in one place for a while! I’ve got quite a bit going on here, and I can’t wait to update you all on that when I’ve officially settled in (aka move into my apartment next week, yay!!), but I felt like I needed to take a blog post to reflect on what a crazy and wonderful year I’ve had. |
Meet AnyaHi, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao!
I’m Anya Phillips, a data analyst and travel enthusiast who is always on the lookout for the next adventure! Categories
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