Reflections on 2020 and the Year Ahead

The last twelve months have been so strange for everyone, and very tough for most people. No one expected that 2020 would turn out the way it did, with months of lockdown and being unable to see family and friends, but the vaccine is now being rolled out in many countries, so hopefully 2021 will be a much easier year.

I'm lucky in that 2020 was actually overall a good year for me, although it was extremely challenging at times.

Things started off well last January - I was settling into my first online teaching job on Cambly and I also got accepted for a full-time job at a language school in Santiago de Chile. I quickly booked my tickets to go out to South America at the end of February and started getting everything organised for the move. It seemed like it was really going to be my year.

But getting my work visa turned out to be harder than I thought it would be, and I had to come back home from Chile in March to get it sorted, which was disappointing. However, the time I spent there with my boyfriend Claudio was fantastic, and I also really enjoyed the stop off I had in Buenos Aires and Uruguay on my way there. Buenos Aires is definitely one of the best cities I've ever been to, and I loved exploring Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay, a country I'd never visited before.

When I got back, I thought it would only be a month or two before I'd have the visa organised and be back in Santiago starting my new job.

But then everything changed. The coronavirus (which I'd thought was nothing to worry about) started spreading through the UK and within a couple of weeks, we were put into national lockdown. Life suddenly became very different and scary for everyone, and one of the worst things was the overwhelming uncertainty of the situation. All my plans had been put on hold, and I had no idea when I'd be able to move out of my parents' house, start my job, and see Claudio again. To make matters worse, I also lost the majority of my work on Cambly, due to an increase in teachers working online.

Luckily in April I got accepted for another online job on Verbling, and soon I was working regularly again, which really made getting through lockdown a lot easier. 

And at the end of May the lockdown was eased slightly, which meant that driving to local places for outdoor exercise was now allowed. My parents and I started visiting a different place every week or two, and I would then blog about it here, which became a nice little project for me and a great distraction. During this period, I revisited some places I hadn't been to for ages and discovered others for the first time. My highlights from this time were our trips to Bibury and Lydiard Park.

Then in July lockdown was officially lifted, which was kind of a hard period for me. It seemed to allow a lot of people to move on with their lives again (which of course I was glad about), but it was frustrating that my personal situation in terms of moving out and starting my job didn't change at all because of the strict rules still in place in Latin America. On the bright side, travel within the UK was completely opened up again, as was travel to some foreign countries. This meant that in September my parents and I could go on holiday to the Lake District, a very beautiful area in the north of England, that I'd never been to previously.

We also continued exploring our local area and went to several interesting places during those few months from July to September, my favourites being Cleveland Lakes Nature Reserve, Cheltenham and Buscot Park. These outings made me discover that where I live has a lot more to offer than I realised, and that many of the country's best travel destinations are within a short distance of my doorstep.

Then in August I received the best news - Claudio was coming to visit me in England in October! Initially he was meant to be staying for six weeks, but he ended up staying for three months, which was wonderful. During this time, we went on many trips around England, including mini breaks in London and Brighton, and we also were able to spend a day in Wales. In addition, we visited Sweden, a new country for both of us. We really enjoyed our travels, as well as the Christmas and New Year celebrations that we got to spend together.

Obviously, now he's back in Chile, I'm still here in England, and we're currently in a third national lockdown. It's definitely a little depressing...

But the positive thing is that I have a fixed goal for 2021: to get back to Chile and finally start my job. I've already made some progress in getting this sorted out, and I'm hoping to make it happen within the first half of the year.

It is hard that I'm still pretty much in the same place as I was this time last year, but I feel hopeful that things will improve soon. And I'm also glad to have a year's experience of online teaching under my belt, which has made me feel a lot more confident about starting work at an actual language school.

As for my travel plans, I'd love to explore more of Chile once I'm living there later this year, as well as some other Latin American countries, in particular Brazil and Peru. But obviously for now, we can't travel at all! However, I've got a lot to work on with this blog, so that will keep me busy for the time being.

Here's hoping that 2021 will be a much better year for everyone!

Image by Gabby K from pexels.com