Another Year Bites The Dust - A Birthday Retrospective

Another birthday has come and gone and I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on this past year as more than the usual amount of shenanigans happened within the last 365 days.  

First of all I want to say a huge thank you to all my friends and family who sent me messages and wished me a happy birthday today.  I love you all and appreciate the messages more than I can say.  
I had a fairly chill day; went shopping for a little bit, ate good food and did almost nothing else.  A dream.

This last year has been one of incredible personal growth for me.  Around this time last December I was getting ready to set out on an exchange trip that would re-shape my life and take me to places I never thought I'd be able to visit.  I made life-long friends and created a new home for myself in Cardiff.  

I also was able to travel, a lot.  Within this last year (and by extension the last two) I have been able to visit over 13 different countries around the world.  For someone who just turned 23 I think that's pretty incredible (if I do say so myself).

This isn't supposed to be about me bragging it's just that over these last three-hundred and sixty-five days I feel like I've come into myself more as an individual and honestly have been the happiest I can remember being.  Partly, well mostly, this is to do with having such an incredible family support system behind me but I believe that it's also to do with the "yes, and" attitude I have towards life.  I am always looking to try new things, meet new people and discover things I haven't.  

So thank you. 
Thank you for making this past year one of the best of the past 23.  Here's to even more adventures for this next one to come.  

- G