Farewell to 2009

With this blog just over a year old (December 27, 2008 was when I registered the domain name), it’s hard to believe what has gone on over the past year. In short, some serious personal growth was achieved, lots of laughter, love, adventure and sadness. I would have to say that this is one of the pivotal years where I was able to stop and assess my situations, understand myself a bit better and utilize those skills in relations with people whether friend or further.

I started off the year feeling fairly trapped and lost – stuck in a house that I couldn’t sell, a job that was issuing all sorts of stress, and a nasty health scare that loomed. I received a considerable amount of help from my support networks, and family to try to understand what was going on, and to plant my feet on the ground. Eventually I did, at the expense of having to close a few doors.

Fumbling, I made a few mistakes, ending up costing me alot of dignity and respect from some peers and family, but used the incident to make myself stronger, and close additional doors that had tempted me throughout the past. I started thinking about how I was going to make it to San Francisco in May, and putting the wheels in motion, as a test run to get me around the world, a new idea I came up with in the early new year.

I got to use my equipment going up the Sunshine Coast and around Vancouver Island, BC, Canada giving the exposure to the elements, riding with heavy weight and having an awful lot of fun doing it! It sure did fire me up for the upcoming trips.

The end of summer brought injuries, and an awareness of upcoming delays in travel, right before I managed to head off for my self awareness trip all the way down to Mexico. I blogged regularly about the trials, tribulations, emotions I felt and set up some real decisions in my mind on where I wanted to take my life after that trip. Excited to come back I made it in 30 days, not too shabby!

The last few months have been a struggle to say the least. Behind the scenes the website has been worked on for future pages to be released, and a lot of cleanup. Personally, it’s been a struggle. There’s been a change in plans and I’m going to be doing the nomadic cyclist thing across Canada. Yup, those change of plans. Where things go from there it is unsure, but fond memories persist of the times spent.

I also received a Christmas present at the end of December, a termination notice from my present workplace. This is actually a blessing in disguise, as I really haven’t been able to give my 100% over the past year due to overall burnout in the IT industry, stresses in my life that weren’t effectively managed, and a few health issues. This allows me to get back on track with my personal life and re-aim some of my priorities.

We’ve got an interesting year coming up for Vancouver, which I’ll just see the tail end of it. My landlords are kicking me out of my place for February to ca$h in on the Olympics that are happening so I’ll likely be doing the “Great Couchsurfing Tour of 2010″ for a month or so while I figure out how exactly I’m going to go across Canada.. But do realize, this is the year for me. I deserve it.

May your new years festivities be warming, I shall be taking it easy, and reflecting on a year where the outside crust was very difficult to swallow, but the inside was creamy and delicious. Here’s to 2010 and thanks for reading!