2024: A Year in Review
Wow – I can’t believe this year has already flown by. I am really starting to understand why adults always say that time just goes by faster and faster as you get older. And to think that in the next calendar year I will enter my 30’s – it’s crazy!
In my late 20’s I have really been reflecting on the life I have been living and how well it aligns with the life I dream of living. Do my daily habits support my dreams? Do I even know what those dreams are anymore?!
This year I have had so many new experiences and adventures- something I really prioritized to help get off “autopilot” mode that I had been feeling from living in a small town and working for the same company for the past few years. After 4 years living full-time in Flagstaff, this year I spent 6 months living out of a backpack. Quite a change!
I’ve met so many inspiring people from across the globe who are all grabbing life by the horns, and had a noticeable increase this year in laughter, joy, and fulfillment.
I’ve felt inspired to begin more consistent creative practices and projects, to refresh on skills that I want to grow, and to pursue changes to try activities that I’ve always been interested in, for which I am so grateful.
And I feel like I’ve seen and begun working through limiting beliefs, being more authentic and vulnerable with people, and starting to care just a little bit less about what others think.
Overall, 2024 has been a really good year for me, with lots of personal growth, change, and new adventures. Thank you, 2024!
Highs
- Spending three months as a Backroads Trip Leader
- Spending a month in Thailand (my first time in Asia)
- Got my advanced open water scuba certification
- Got a camera and started learning photography
- 10 days diving in Roatan
- A weeklong visit from my Grandma in Flagstaff
- Cultivating a consistent meditation practice
- Fall in Vermont
- Starting a ~blog~
Lows
- Healing from a painful breakup in the beginning of the year
- Still dealing with lingering issues/rehab for my knee (fixed a torn ACL in January 2023)
- Uncertainties regarding career path, future lifestyle, and location
- Death of a college friend in Hurricane Helene
Top 5 Books
I’m almost as obsessed with reading as I am with mindlessly scrolling on my phone. As such, I couldn’t imagine recapping a year without sharing some of my favorite reads from the past 12 months:
- Never Play it Safe: A Practical Guide to Freedom, Creativity, and a Life you Love (Chase Jarvis)
- The Book of Water: Healing, Regeneration, and Recovery (Steven Forrest)
- When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Pema Chödrön)
- Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
- Educated (Tara Westover)
If any of these descriptions pique your interest, I would recommend literally anyone in the world to read them.
And without further ado…. here’s what I got up to in 2024!
January
January was a quiet month for me as I worked from home in Flagstaff and spent time in self-reflection still working through feelings of a tough breakup that had occurred in September. I spent a weekend in San Francisco visiting my uncle and interviewing for Backroads, took a trip to Bosque del Apache for photography and hot springs soaking with two close friends, and enjoyed some hiking and riding in Sedona.
February
February was an amazing month that I spent solo backpacking for the first time and enjoying Thailand!
It was an incredible experience full of random adventures and adventurers from all over the globe; I could not possibly do it justice within a paragraph, but I cannot wait to return to Asia.
March
March was a slower month in Flagstaff. I had a lot of trouble adjusting back to the realities of working from home and life in the US and felt pretty down. I wrote a lot of music and spent a lot of time with my pup.
I also got my motorcycle endorsement with my roommate, snowboarded, biked the full Mt. Lemmon ride and visited Saguaro National Park in Tuscon, celebrated Holi with some friends in Phoenix, and had a quick backpacking overnighter in the Tonto National forest.
Mountain biking in Sedona, the view from our backpacking trip, and a budding Pima Pineapple cactus
April
April saw some cool bucket list cross-offs including my first time hiking in the Grand Canyon – rim to river and back via the South Kaibab trail.
At the end of the month I spent 10 days working from Roatán, Honduras and scuba diving with my dad. It was our first trip together in at least 6 years.
I also got my hair braided, which I thought I pulled off pretty decently, but am hesitant to post for reasons that definitely don’t need to be elaborated.
2024 was definitely the year I picked up diving again as an adult. I logged at least 20 dives, which is probably close to the cumulative amount of lifetime dives I’d had up until this year!
May
May was a beautiful month spent in Flagstaff. My lovely grandmother, who will likely always hold my personal title of best human, came and stayed with me for a week. It was her first time seeing where I have lived the past few years.
I showed her the best – we went to Sedona and Indian Gardens, visited the Arboretum, Dark Sky Brewing and Pizzicletta, the Museum of Northern Arizona, had the best coffee in town (Macy’s) and cooked meals together.
We had a wonderful time, it is likely an experience that I will hold and look back fondly on for the rest of my life.
I also went cliff jumping at the Crack with two of my first friends from Flagstaff who are oh so fun. I hadn’t been to that spot in a couple years, so it was a hootin’ good time!
June
I spent June preparing to give up my lease and leave for a few months, mindfully spending time in Flagstaff and enjoying friendships. The usual activities – biking, remote working from coffee shops, fishing, a day out in East Clear Creek, and a full moon bomb down Wupatki Hill. I also started dating someone new in May, and we took a food trip to Las Vegas for a weekend for Dim Sum and Hotpot.
Birthday celebratory camping trip and drinking a beer on the creek. What could be better?
July
July is where everything got crazy – I left my comfort zone and was rewarded with so much new growth.
I took a sabbatical from my job (which I have held for the last 4 years since graduating college), moved all my stuff into storage and gave up my lease to spend a season as a Trip Leader for Backroads.
To start it off, I drove cross country in a rented BMW to drop off my dog in Atlanta. After 1,700 miles in a sportscar, I now understand why people pay exorbitant money for cars. It’s fun.
In mid-July I flew to Salt Lake City and completed Backroads trip leader training. Spending time in Salt Lake City was great- I loved exploring the Wasatch Mountains and getting to ride my bike on some world-class canyon hill climbs.
Looking back at SLC from a trail run in the foothills and my Backroads training cohort
August
August was full of adventure and fun. I biked the Alpine Loop in Utah, drove a Backroads van to Glacier, celebrated one of my best friend’s wedding, and went backpacking. I supported my first trip in the Black Hills in South Dakota, and got the local’s tour from my friend Austin. I also spent a couple weeks hanging out in the Salt Lake City field house.
September
September was the start of my fall in Vermont. I had my 2nd cross country drive of the year driving a van and trailer from Salt Lake City to Stowe.
During the drive I randomly visited Fossil Butte National Monument which I’d never heard of but was so cool. Some of the world’s best-preserved fossils are found here – and it is worth a visit if you ever find yourself in southwest Wyoming.
I landed in Stowe and was super busy learning the Backroads trips, riding during my free time, and eating amazing local food. Vermont felt like gay Appalachia (iykyk) and I was super here for it. The community was amazing and I tried to savor the experience as much as I could!
October
I spent October enjoying fall in Vermont, living in the leader house in Stowe, leading trips, and riding. I had a unit drive back to Salt Lake City from Stowe. My sabbatical ended and I started my remote job again.
November
November saw my return to Flagstaff after 5 months away. It was super refreshing to just chill out and spend time catching up with friends, fishing, biking, hiking, and cooking!
The biggest highlights were hiking in the Grand Canyon (Bright Angel to Havasupai Gardens) and taking a MTB jump clinic in Sedona with the amazing Joanna Yates and Phil Yates – two phenomenal coaches who I would highly recommend working with if you are interested in skills growth.
Some highlights from November and the Bright Angel trail
December
Winter is the season of, well, wintering. December was full of reading, journaling, and reflection.
We had amazing weather in Flagstaff- keeping biking enjoyable, and I got out for one more walk in the canyon before hitting the road again.
I spent a weekend in San Francisco catching up with Backroads friends and then drove back east to Atlanta from Flagstaff to reunite with my dog after 6 months away.
Good good leader love and good good canyon love
Overall, 2024 has been an amazing year full of growth, change, and new adventures.
What’s in Store for 2025?
As of this writing, I am still working remotely in my medical device compliance role but have not signed another lease and am exploring a more nomadic & flexible lifestyle for the upcoming months.
I have no idea what the future will hold for me, but I’m practicing accepting that space of ambiguity, and cooking up some amazing adventures for 2025!
So far on the list are photography classes, west coast swing classes, Spanish classes, a ski trip to Purgatory, more diving in Roatan, bikepacking the Pinyons and Pines race, and returning to Backroads in a limited capacity in the fall.
I’m looking forward to what the universe has in store for me to experience and learn during 2025!
Sending so much love to you all, don’t be a stranger!
Credit where credit is due – this post is an idea I got from Two Wheeled Wanderer, a super cool blog that really inspires me. Check it out!
