My 2017 year in review
It’s that time of the year again
“I decided to write this review for myself to come back to in a couple of months, maybe same time next year. But thinking about the highlights from the past 365 days I realized something. The events that really stayed with me most vividly; those I considered worth mentioning; those that really matter and made a lasting impression on me — those moments were either some sort of challenge, an adventure shared with close friends or travelling somewhere I’ve never been before. Those are three goals that I’ll make a conscious effort to strive for in 2017.”
This is how I ended my yearly review post I wrote little more than a year ago. To be honest, I haven’t looked at it since then. I even forgot about this final paragraph I wrote. Apparently, I’ve set out to accomplish three goals in 2017 — tackle challenges, go on adventures with friends and visit new places. Curiously enough, I did all three, not even regarding what I wrote. I wanted to post my look back at 2017 exactly one year after that one, but you know how events in December can get in the way. So here it is.
For me 2017 was a great year. It was packed with ups and down, fears and joy. It started off with a depressing winter, as winters usually are in Sofia. There was the occasional ski trip, some good parties, but not much significant in a personal or professional plan. The exciting stuff came in spring, when I travelled together with my girlfriend to Asia.
It was my first time visiting Asia and, actually — my first time leaving Europe. The journey was made even better by the reason for flying there — to visit some of my best mates from my time in Sweden. A couple of them came to see me in Sofia back in 2016, so this time it was my turn to do the miles. Our main stop was Singapore, but together with my friends we also travelled to Thailand and Malaysia.
My girlfriend and I also did a short trip to Indonesia just by ourselves. Those were 2 days taken out of a cheesy 80’s movie. It was amazing. Huge, empty beaches, sunny weather, crystal clear water. We stayed at a complex, which almost looked abandoned. The staff outnumbered the guests, which was quite funny. We felt a bit like “Homealone”, having all those facilities and perfect weather condition just for ourselves.
We went diving in Phuket (Thailand), eating our socks off in Melaka (Malaysia) and clubbing in Singapore. Needless to say, I’m in love with everything in this part of the world. For the short time we spend there (around 3 weeks) I honestly believe we took the most out of it. We met the most awesome Grab driver in Thailand that gave us a local tour of Phuket. We went to a night market in Malaysia, complete with a huge karaoke stage. I tried running several times on the streets of Singapore, which almost made me collapse from the heat and humidity. We even got to experience the Singaporean healthcare system, as some of the food was apparently a bit too much for my girlfriend.
But the best part is, I got to meet my friends. They were all super excited to show us around, travel together with us and bring us to places they’ve probably seen a million times just to give us a good time.
Back in Bulgaria, my friends and I went to some good running events — relays, half-marathons and I even did my first triathlon. The latter actually ended up being a duathlon, since the swimming part was cancelled due to a thunderstorm. It’s worth mentioning that we were already swimming in the lake when they decided to cancel it. During the thunderstorm. That was intense.
As usual, I spent July Morning with my friends at Gradina, camping near the beach. I recently realized that July Morning is a thing only in Bulgaria. I honestly thought people do it everywhere. We had some good laughs, a couple of good nights at the beach bars there, and my friend Todor busted his face while we were jumping off from some cliffs (all good of course).
In the end of July we went to another race, which was being held at a city close to the seaside. It was an awesome route, mostly through a forest. Most of us did the half-marathon, but my friend Nik, being the show-off he is, did the full marathon. Since we were just around 100km from the Black Sea, we decided to go there and spend a few chill nights camping. We sat around fires and ate muscles caught from the sea.
August was, sadly, mostly spent in Sofia, just when the thermometer usually shows “fried egg on asphalt”. But the wait was well worth it, since we went to Lefkada, Greece, in the beginning of September. In 5 days, we went to almost every beach on the island. I would recommend everyone to visit Lefkada at least once. We had runs, bike trips and loads of cliff jumping.
The next month or so I wanted to prepare well for the Athens Marathon that was in the beginning of November. Sadly, I had an annoying pain in my foot and I spent a week prior to the actual marathon being sick. So when the time came for us to travel to Athens, I was definitely not in my best shape. Nevertheless, the whole experience was brilliant. Again, I was with a big group of friends and we were all super excited about the upcoming race. After all, it’s “The Authentic”. The marathon that started all marathons.
When we arrived in Athens we were surprised by two of our friends, which came all the way from Norway without telling us. They found out where we were staying and intercepted us along the way there. It was one of the best surprises I’ve ever had.
The race itself was incredibly organized. 18,000 people were driven with buses outside of Athens, to the city of Marathon, where the start was to take place. Everything was completely thought trough. From the way you leave your clothes to the supplies along the route. The excitement was enormous. Being in a group of 18,000 people all running and laughing is a priceless feeling.
Plus, I got to remind myself that the human body can endure much more than we usually think. Just when you think to yourself that you cannot possibly go any further and you’re about to collapse, you get a surge of energy and you run 10 more kilometers. It has an incredibly humbling effect on a person.
Just a week after the marathon I went to Berlin to start my new job. 2017 was not over yet and it had some surprises up its sleeve just at the end. Moving to a new city was both exciting and scary. I didn’t know anyone there and I was leaving my family, my girlfriend and my friends. Sure, I was going to be just a 2 hours flight away, but the distance was greater in a psychological sense. Looking for an apartment in Berlin was a huge pain and there are plenty of individuals who want to take advantage of desparate people.
Still, when I look back at the whole situation, I had incredible luck connecting with some amazing friends of friends in Berlin and also finding a place to live with three awesome Germans in a fun and exciting neighbourhood. I don’t know how much time I’ll spend in this city, but I’ll surely miss those guys when I leave.
The job I recently started is actually a remote one. It’s for a company called Melewi, an awesome UI/UX design studio, based in Singapore (coincidence?). My colleagues so far are both super friendly and insanely good at what they do. Since I’ve never worked in a remote setting before, this is going to be both a challenge and a whole new chapter in my professional career. It’s been just a month since I started and I can already feel that I’ve gained so whole lot of experience just interacting with my work mates and organizing my daily work routine by myself.
A ton of people have been asking me, why I’m going to Berlin, going through all this trouble of finding a place to live, settling down, staying away from the people I love, if I’ll be working remotely and the location where I’m at doesn’t even matter. I could just as well be staying in Sofia. Plus, I’d be earning more there, since life is significantly cheaper than in Berlin.
The short answer is, because I can. The longer one, that I haven’t been actually telling anyone, as I’m too annoyed to justify myself, is that I see this as a rare opportunity. It’s a chance for me, maybe one of the last chances I’ll get, to move alone to a new city and experience everything connected to settling in a new and unfamiliar community. Sure, it’s a struggle and it’s stressful at first. But it surely beats the comfortability of an everyday routine.
People are not meant to be stagnant in the same setting for longer periods of time. We need change in order to boost our creativity, move forward, gain new insights, get new ideas. Most importantly, we need this sort of change every now and then to gain perspective. When you live in your own bubble for too long, you start accepting that what you see around you is the norm. Breaking out from time to time clears your mind and reminds you that there’s also other ways out there.
In December, I came back to Sofia for the holidays and for the second time I got to experience what it’s like to live abroad and come back to my homecity for a vacation. It gives you a different perspective on the place you live, the people you spend your time with and where you are in the whole picture. I spent a relaxing Christmas with my family, some good nights out and, weirdly enough, a relataively quiet New Year’s Eve.
So now I’m sitting here, back in Berlin, thinking about the past year and wondering where I’ll write the 2018 review, a year from now. I hope I get to do it and I hope I’ll have walked at least as long a way as I did since last year.
Have a good 2018 everyone!
