Highlights of 2018

At the beginning of 2018, I wrote my 18 FEASTs to enjoy in 2018. I've been using a simple sheet to track my activities and posting my monthly summaries on my blog throughout the year. I've reviewed all of them this week. Here are a few of my highlights:

FITNESS

I was consistent with my daily fitness routine that included walking close to nature, meditation, yoga, workouts in the gym, swimming, and running 5K. The pool was closed from the end of January to the end of August. I was eager to literally jump into the water with both feet when it was re-opened in September.

I felt healthy and upbeat throughout the year. Finishing the Scotiabank Waterfront 5K race in October with my family there was great fun.

ENTERTAINMENT

I listened to forty-five concerts and attended close to twenty summer festivals, all of them were free to the public. I also watched forty movies (most of them with my neighbours and some in-flight), and tried a dozen or so new-to-me restaurants and dishes like Cambodian beek lok lak, cold beetroot soup in Vilnius, Lithuania or beef tajine in Fez, Morocco.

ARTS

I viewed over forty art exhibits at home, saw plenty of amazing architecture, and visited several UNESCO World Heritage sites during my travels. It was wonderful to see art on King Street in my home city, street art in Santiago, Chile, Art Nouveau in Riga, Latvia, and the actual sights where Vincent van Gogh painted in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.

I felt encouraged to continue learning French and Spanish every day as I was able to converse in basic Spanish in Chile, and basic French in France and Morocco. I resumed reading books in October and finished twelve books by the end of the year.

SOCIAL

Although I stayed in touch with family, friends, and neighbours throughout the year, the highlights include meeting my Finnish friend in Tallinn, Estonia, and attending my cousin's wedding in Paris, France, just because it's more challenging to be together with my faraway family and friends.

On the blog, I celebrated my blog's 2nd birthday in October. My friend Donna kindly wrote a guest post for me in June, and my friend Sue generously let me participate on her blog as a guest writer in October.

TRAVELS

I reached my travel goals of the year with two family getaways, two fun-filled trips to see our friends within Canada (Ottawa and Quebec City), and four international trips that let me revisit France and explore six fascinating countries (Chile, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Morocco). The Countries Visited page on my blog has links to all my travel posts and is up-to-date.

OVERALL

2018 has been an amazing, enriching, and fulfilling year for me. As always, I'm grateful that I'm healthy, and my family and friends are all well. I'm also grateful that I've been able to enjoy the wonderful cultural events in my home city, and many fascinating sights in foreign countries. I tried to make the most of every day this year. I can say today that I made it and I did it my way :)

I want to thank my blogger friends and readers for your kind comments and connections in 2018. I wish you and yours a Healthy and Happy New Year 2019!