It's the time of the year again to reflect and recap on the past year. Oh 2024, what a year it has been. We can certainly conclude that 2024 was a year of loss as we both lost our dads this year. =( However, there were still some good things that happened this year which we are grateful for. 2024 marked the 10th year since I moved to the US on 22 Nov 2014. Hubby also celebrated his 40th this year.
Family
2024 was not a good year for our family with two funerals within a year. Unfortunately, my dad passed at the end of January after battling sickness for the past 5 years. Grateful that hubby and I was able to make it back to Malaysia for the funeral and to say our final goodbyes to Daddy. Unfortunately, hubby also lost his dad at the end of November. It's never easy to say goodbye, but we find solace in the memories we shared and grateful for the times we got to spend with them.
Losing our dads were good reminders for us to cherish our loved ones, and to make an effort to spend time and make memories with our loved ones while we can. I am thankful that I was able to travel back to Malaysia 3 times this year, which was the most within a year since I moved to the US.
Thankful that our dads had the chance to meet in 2015, especially considering how much they share in common. Both of them were born in July 1955 and were both engineers.
Travel
Started off the year with the last-minute trip back to Malaysia for dad's funeral, which was also hubby's first trip back to Malaysia post-Covid. I traveled home to Malaysia again in May, then met up with hubby in Europe to visit 4 new countries (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), and checked off my 50th country in Estonia. Also checked off another bucket list with an amazing safari trip in Kenya to celebrate hubby's 40th birthday.
Summary of my travels for 2024 (work+leisure):
Number of hotel nights - 47 nights (Marriott-41; Hilton-1; IHG-2; Others-3)
Number of hotels - 17 hotels (Marriott-11; Hilton-1; IHG-2; Others-3)
Number of airlines - 13 airlines (American, United, SIA, Airasia, MAS, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Qatar, Air India, Vistara, British Airways, AirKenya Express, Ethiopian Airlines)
Work
Thankful that work allowed me to take time off to travel back to Malaysia during busy season, and for all the co-workers who helped to pick up my work. Switched to a new team this year and took up an additional role as the pod lead. Grateful that my new team has been good and supportive. Lost a few good team members this year, which was disappointing but such is the corporate world. I'm glad to be given the opportunity to travel to India again for 3 weeks. Hubby also completed a huge work milestone this year. =)
Health
Thankful that we were both able to stay healthy, physically and mentally, throughout the year and especially during our travels. I know I need to do better exercising and sleeping more so that's something to improve in the new year.
Finance
2024 was another great year for the stock market, which accelerated another big milestone in our wealth building journey. We finally pulled the trigger to purchase a new Toyota RAV4 this year, which we got for a pretty good price ($31K) and opted to finance it for 3 years .
There's been a lot of ups and downs in 2024, but there are still a lot that we are grateful for. Work & life have been well-balanced, and we are constantly reminded that life is good. :) Look forward to a better and smoother 2025 as we continue to make more memories. Happy New Year 2025!
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