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

More Local Travel Adventures

I'm writing this post to sum up some of the other local places that Claudio and I visited during the three months that he was staying with us. It wasn't always possible to travel far due to the Covid situation, but we had a really nice time exploring different parts of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. Here are some highlights!

The Thai Emerald, Cirencester

This Thai restaurant is a great place to visit, not just for its delicious food but also for its amazing decor - everything down to the teapots is so beautiful and ornate. Going there feels like visiting Thailand whilst still being in England!

Cirencester Park and Cirencester Castle

We had another experience of Asia in Cirencester when we went to Cirencester Park to see a special outdoor exhibition. Four life-size sculptures of Asian elephants had been placed in the park back in October as part of the CoExistence campaign, which raises awareness of human impact on wildlife.

In addition to seeing the sculptures, we also enjoyed walking around the park and seeing the castle again.

Jennie's Kitchen, Ashton Keynes

One local place where I especially wanted to take Claudio was Jennie's Kitchen café in the Cotswold Water Park. It's definitely the most "Chilean" place near where we live, because of its field of alpacas right by the car park! Although my favourite of the alpacas is now living in a different field, it was still really nice to see some of the others come right up close to the gate. One of them really took a liking to Claudio!

Neigh Bridge Lake

We had a lovely walk one day round this beautiful lake in the Cotswold Water Park. It was really interesting to see how different the place looked since I'd last gone there in August. Last time the River Thames, which runs next to the lake, was completely dry, but this time it was full and flowing rapidly.

Lydiard Park

Another place where we went for a walk was Lydiard Park, near Swindon. We'd just recently visited Dyrham Park so it seemed a little unspectacular in comparison, but it's still a very attractive place to explore, with its manor house, lake and woodland. We saw plenty of ducks, swans and dogs there, as well as a very low-flying military plane!

Cirencester Amphitheatre and Querns Wood

After having previously visited the Roman Baths in Bath and the Roman Wall in Cirencester, we discovered some more of Britain's Roman history at the Cirencester Amphitheatre, which was once a huge gladiatorial arena. It was a very rainy but fun day out! While we were there, we also visited the nearby Querns Wood, a very pretty and peaceful woodland area.

Cotswold Airport

One foggy day, we went on an outing to Cotswold Airport, a private airport which is known as an "aeroplane graveyard", as many old commercial planes are moved there once they're no longer being used by airlines. Unfortunately, at the moment the main entrance isn't open, so we could only drive past the airfield. However, last summer several Boeing 747 jets had arrived there, and we were able to see them right next to the road, which was amazing.

In normal circumstances, you can actually walk around the airfield and also visit a café on site, so it's a great place for a trip out.

Upper Waterhay Meadow

A somewhat disappointing place we visited was the Upper Waterhay Meadow nature reserve in the Cotswold Water Park. It's right next to Cleveland Lakes Nature Reserve so I was expecting it to be a similarly scenic place. However, it was just a series of wet, muddy fields with only one very small lake. Definitely not somewhere I'm in a hurry to go back to! But on a more positive note, there's a bridge with nice views over the River Thames right next to the car park.

Another walk in Malmesbury

My parents needed to go into Malmesbury one day, and Claudio and I came along to go for another walk around the town. We had already seen the main sights the first time we were there, so this time we explored some of the quieter little streets.

Ashton Keynes

Just before Christmas, my parents needed to go to the Ashton Keynes post office, so Claudio and I took the opportunity to have a walk around. It's a very pretty, old-fashioned village on the river, which has a statue called Old Father Thames. As you can see, he was dressed up for Christmas and had a reindeer friend with him!

Windsor Castle

Okay, so this isn't really a local travel adventure, but a place we saw from the road when we were driving to Heathrow Airport. It's such a big castle and looks so impressive, even from a distance, and it was very nice to unexpectedly see one more sight together before Claudio had to go home. It's now on the list of places to go to when he's next in England!

Overall, Claudio and I had an amazing three months together, and were lucky to have the chance to explore three different countries during that time: England, Wales and Sweden. By the next time we're in Europe together, hopefully travelling will be a lot easier, and we'll finally be able to go to France, Italy and maybe some more countries!

But the most important thing was that we got to be together again after seven months without seeing each other because of the pandemic. It's difficult to be apart now, but it shouldn't be for so long this time, as I'll be starting my job in Santiago in the coming months, if everything goes to plan. So that's something that's keeping me positive through this winter and this third lockdown. I'm really looking forward to being back in Chile and seeing Claudio again!