It’s a New Year and, like with most people, that always makes me think. It’s honestly a bit crazy to think about how different my life now looks compared to this time last year.
The new year is a time of reflection and maybe a bit of planning. For many people they make New Year resolutions such as “eat less junk food” or “go to the gym”. There are also those that make more fun resolutions like “visit every museum in my state” or “write down the pictures clouds make everyday”.
I’ve never really been good at figuring out what I would want my new years resolution to be – even the fun ones. And then last year someone asked me what my New Year Word would be. I was a bit confused, and she explained that she didn’t like the resolutions that so many people focused on because she never followed through with any of them for the entire year and so she instead preferred to think about a word to guide her through the year. A word to focus your intention to help guide your thoughts and decisions throughout the year.
I gave it some thought and I decided I liked that approach better so I decided I would give it a try. I will admit that I proceeded to at some point – that I can’t pinpoint – forget all about it until the New Year this year. But I think it may have still worked so I’m trying it again this year.
2025 – Discover
After a lot of thought, and quite a bit of debate with myself, I choose the word Discover last year. At the time she asked me in early January, I was feeling a bit lost and like I was on the edge of some type of change. (I don’t think I have to say ‘spoiler alert’ since you’re reading my blog…).
When I decided on my word it was because it described so much of what I wanted. There were 2 big/main points though. I wanted to:
- Discover myself.
- I’ve mentioned it before. I had been feeling adrift and like I wasn’t sure who I was anymore. I had lost my fur-baby who was my focus for so long. I wasn’t happy and I wanted to figure out me again. My life became about work and Enk and I didn’t even realize it because I enjoyed the challenge and work that I was doing so much. And when I did realize it, I didn’t know what that meant for me going forward – and that is something I wanted to focus on for the year, though I had no idea what that would look like.
- Discover the world.
- I’ve always been a bit of a nomad. I’ve always loved to go to new places and see new things and meet new people. I had been doing it pretty passively since 2020. COVID changed a lot of how travel was done for a while sure, but for me it was actually because of the big major changes to my career and the declining health of Enki. I loved all the career changes that occurred in my life since 2020, but with my life revolving around them, I didn’t get out to explore the world anymore and I wanted that to change.
Looking back on my thoughts from January of 2025 – I don’t know if I could’ve guessed what my life would look like in another year. I didn’t know what change I wanted to make, I didn’t know what I would be doing. Even for that second point, I had been thinking of taking a couple trips to visit places – not up and leave everything to travel (though that has honestly been something I’ve always thought about doing).
I do have to admit, I honestly forgot all about my word until the new year this year and I was talking to some of the others at the hostel. Life got busy, and just like with New Years resolutions – the word went by the wayside. But unlike resolutions, I think that the intent behind picking the word worked for me. It guided me throughout the year, because I started the year thinking about it and what it could mean to me.
But now – now I wouldn’t have it any other way. My 2025 has been filled with discovery. It’s been filled with new experiences and self reflection and the joy that living with no real plans has given me. I’ve discovered freedom. I’m working on discovering myself (let’s be honest – that’s always an ongoing project). I’ve been discovering the world and all of the people that I’ve been meeting in it.
So I’m taking stock. This has been some of my year in a nutshell:
- Quit my job
- Sold everything I own
- Complete a US Road trip to visit friends and family
- Go through personal belongs that were being stored with family – purging the majority of them
- Traveling to 13 different countries
- Start this blog
- Meet so many different people all around the world
I write this from Albania. Which seems so normal to me now, but looking back I would’ve never guessed it a year ago. Not only because I didn’t know what changes would be coming but also because I honestly didn’t think about going to Albania until I met people who had visited or were planning to visit. I first heard about Albania in September and I came here in November. (and that’s another thing, who would’ve guessed I would stay in Albania for so long?)
I recently also created a travel journey for 2025. So check it out on my Instagram!
Clearly, I’ve lived my 2025 with discover being a driving force, even when I forgot all about the word. And with that in mind – I’m picking a word for 2026.
2026 – Explore
I had a lot of trouble picking a word for 2026. There are so many different ways that I want 2026 to go. But with that all being said – I kept going back to Explore. Finally, I decided that if I keep going back to it, it might be a good idea to move forward.
Actually – Explore was the first word that I considered for 2025, but after thinking about it I felt that discover fit what I was looking for even better.
With explore, I’m looking for a couple of different things. It’s a word of possibilities, wonder, and journey. It could mean explore myself, the world, a concept, or more. And that is what I want my 2026 to touch on.
I know it’s similar to discover, but honestly that’s okay and I like that. I want to use 2026 to build off of what I discovered about myself last year. I want to explore what I found, explore what I want, and explore my next steps.
I won’t make any guesses to where 2026 will take me – especially not physically – but I will guess that it puts me even more in touch with who I am.
I’m excited to explore what 2026 will bring. Hope you’ll all enjoying the ride!
