This is the first of this type of post for me, but I was feeling a little bit nostalgic and wanted to look back to five years ago to see how aspects of my life have changed. Five years ago was the year 2013, and it was a year of change for me. It was a year that started out poorly but ended up being a pretty good year by the end. In fact, it actually does not seem like that long ago! It was a year after the Olympic Games visited London, and everyone was excited about the games. I actually cannot describe 2013 without a background of 2012 as it affected some key decisions and was a big year in the United Kingdom.
Many people will say that 2012 is a hard year to beat. Because of all of the Olympic-related events and games taking place the year before, I am sure that 2013 felt like a downer to many people. I do remember people saying that they had nothing to look forward to in 2013, so I think generally people felt that their lives were missing something. However, 2012 was a dismal year for me. It was the year I was stuck in the UK waiting for my visa, and this made me miss my brother's wedding in December. I started a new role at the end of March that turned out to be not the right fit for me. While 2012 was not all bad, the majority of it was except for a two-week trip to Croatia/Bosnia and an afternoon at the Olympic Park.
In March of 2012, I started a new job outside of London for a shorter commute (which ended up not being a shorter commute) and was promised my ideal role. After six months, the role did not materialising, and I started to question it. Over those months, I did meet some wonderful people there and produced some great work. In October, I nearly handed my notice, but I decided to "sleep on it" and to try to make it work. In retrospect, I should have left because there was nothing that I could do. Sometimes, it just isn't "right", and there isn't anything that can be done. It is a risk, and the risk did not work out that time. By the end of the year, I decided that I needed to take action. So, that leaves me with the beginning of 2013.
I was due a holiday at the beginning of 2013 because I was very unhappy and did not take any time off since May the previous year. I had just missed my brother's January wedding and still did not have my passport. As I had just joined a new company and had so much work to do (I actually put in a lot of overtime that I never got paid for), I also declined to take time off except for the time that I'd booked in May. The office that I was working in shut down over the Christmas break, so I did take a break then. At the beginning of January, I spent a few days in Cornwall (Days Out: Polperro, Cornwall, St. Michael's Mount, Land's End and St. Ives). I had been to Cornwall before but just needed to get away. At Christmas, I had also been given a voucher for a hotel in Derbyshire, so I decided to spend a couple of days in the Peak District before my other plans started. The visit to the Peak District was in deep snow, which did look pretty (Snowy Peak District Part 1, 2, 3 and Bolsover Castle).
Changes happened very quickly, and I'm still reaping the benefits of those changes today. I became a contractor in January of 2013 and started working at a wonderful company and worked with many great colleagues. I loved the team and loved the project. I actually worked there for just over two years and have fond memories of my time there. The company was located on Brick Lane, so I explored and documented the street art during my lunch breaks. The commuting was terrible and social life suffered, but I loved the work and team. Besides the harsh commute, everything fell into place.
At the end of April, I finally received my visa and had my passport returned. The whole process took ten months.
In the spring of 2013, I enjoyed seeing the Big Egg Hunt in Covent Garden, which was really fun. This was an art sculpture trail that coincided with Easter and it ended up being two consecutive years in London. Over Easter itself, I visited Chester, Frodsham, Nantwich and the Anderson Boat Lift, and Beeston Castle. I would also visit the area and north Wales again in the summer for a long weekend and visit Chester Zoo. I lost most of those awesome photographs, though, when my hard drive failed.
I also visited a couple of different sand sculpture displays. The first one was in Weston-super-Mare (focused on films), and I saw some friends that I used to work with. The second one was in Weymouth (focused on science fiction), and I saw some friends who live near there too.
I also attended one of the most memorable street art events that I have been to in Dulwich, London. Several street artists took over a house and decorated the walls. This was wonderful, and there has not been anything else like it at all. I had a couple of posts about it because there was so much material: 1, 2. Street art was a huge part of my focus in 2013. I even met some of the street artists while seeing them paint around the area during my lunch and breaks at work. This made my day.
And, 2013 kept getting better with a long weekend May holiday to the Orkney Islands in Scotland to see stone circles and prehistoric structures and beautiful scenery (Kirkwall and Italian Chapel, Bursay, Brodgar, etc, Rousay, Skara Brae, and Hoy. This concluded with a visit to Castle Mey and a stop at cairns.
To top things off, one of my good friends from the states came to visit in June. We spent a few days enjoying the city and taking time out to do the things that I have wanted to do and see without the crowds. I had so much fun and enjoyed showing off the city as it was the first visit for my friend. We did so many fun things that I could easily turn this into a list, but I won't.
July had some fantastic weather, and one of my highlights this year was the first Gromit Unleashed! sculpture trail in Bristol. This meant that I got the chance to go back to Bristol, a city that I worked near a few years previously. I also got to create my own Gromit figure under guidance from one of the Aardman figure-creators. (Part 1, Part 2) I happened to visit during Harbour Festival, and this was an added bonus. In addition to Gromit Unleashed!, I also went on other sculpture trails such as one for rhino in Southampton and also gorillas in Norwich, and that was my first visit to Norwich and a city that I enjoyed as well as enjoying seeing the sculptures.
I also enjoyed trips to Scotney Castle and Hever Castle during a glorious early August day. I did visit a lot of castles and other places this year, despite my long commute.
One of the last memorable events for me was a long weekend visit to Dublin, Ireland. The first day was the visit to the jail, which was the most interesting tour of the trip. I also enjoyed seeing the market and botanical gardens as well as the tour on the immigration boat.
The year also ended on the perfect note as I visited my parents at Christmas and we went to Michigan to Frankenmuth and the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. We also went on the (Ohio) Amish Country Cookie Tour of Inns, which was lovely and Christmassy, though I had a very bad allergic reaction to hair dye and had to go to the hospital as my head swelled up.
I will say that 2013 has been the best year for me in quite possibly my whole adult life so far with the exception of 2011, which was another good year for me. The year 2013 was a great year with a great balance between work and several short and weekend trips and a longer visit to the states to see my family and friends. I don't think any of the years have quite added up to 2013, which started on a difficult and unknown note but left on a high. I wish that I was able to get the work-life balance in every year. So far, the last three years for me have been greatly skewed with work so it would be nice to get a break soon.
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