Saturday, December 29, 2018

Goodbye 2018, Be Nice 2019

Counting down 1 day before we bid goodbye to 2018. It's the time of the year again to reflect and recap on the past year before work busy season rolls in right after the break. 

Work
Honestly, work had been pretty s**tty this year. I don't usually complain about work and try to look at the positive aspects but I'm definitely feeling burned out this year. Reviews after reviews, deadlines after deadlines, loads of admin/metrics nonsense, losing team members, and for the first time in 8 years, I'm feeling overwhelmed with my workload. I guess with more money comes more s**t. 所谓的能者多劳, 者多忙。Looking on the bright side, I was able to work from home quite a good bit this year, perks of being a telecommuter. As for work travels, they were all 'confined' within the Southeast this year:
  • January - Raleigh
  • March & April - Atlanta
  • September - Orlando, Charlotte
  • October & November - Tampa

So happy to see these familiar faces again in Orlando after 4 years! From Penang to the US, we’ve all come a long way!

Travel
Took 3 trips covering 3 continents and 3 new countries this year - traveled home to Malaysia in May, camper-vanned around Iceland in June, and traveled to Fiji & New Zealand in Nov/Dec to celebrate our 5th anniversary. Thanks to points & miles, we didn't break the bank and I'm happy with the total 'damages' for all these trips:
 

Between pre-trip planning (including strategizing the use of points & miles), the actual travels, and updating the blog post-trip with trip and expense reports, I was able to keep myself busy throughout the year with travel stuffs, which I enjoy a lot. =) I should seriously consider being a travel consultant...lol!

Summary of my travels for 2018 (work+leisure):
  • Number of hotel nights - 69 nights (SPG/Marriott-48; Hilton-15; IHG-6) 
  • Number of hotels - 30 hotels (SPG/Marriott-17; Hilton-10; IHG-3) 
  • Number of flights - 58 flights (Delta-43; United-3, ANA-3; Alaska-2; AA-3, Fiji-2; Jetstar-1; Scoot-1) 
  • Number of airlines - 8 airlines (Delta, American Airlines, United, Alaska Airlines, ANA, Fiji Airways, Scoot, Jetstar) 

New Experiences
Few new experiences this year - went to my first Alabama football game, was interviewed on ChooseFI podcast, and became an aunt for the first time!

 

Gardening
After 3 years of gardening, we decided not to do any gardening this year. It's been fun and fruitful, but it's time for a break.

Blogging
The number of blog updates on this site has reduced to just quarterly updates and trip reports as I've been spending more time working on my other site.

Thank you 2018 for the travels (not work). I'm ready to move on to 2019. Hope that work will get a lil' better next year! Happy New Year 2019!!

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