The late year-end blog

I know I'm posting it a bit too late but here it is - my annual year-end blog post. Part of the reason is that I have been busy over the past few months relocating from Hungary to UK. More about that later in the blog.

I went to a wine tasting a few months ago and I learned a very important lesson - how a particular wine tastes can sometimes depend on how good or bad the previous wine you tasted was. I feel like this fits perfectly in context for 2021. While not a great year in itself, when you compare it to 2020, it was still a partial improvement. 

2021 - The limbo year

When I look back at my last year's blog post, I made 4 plans for 2021 - 

1. Focus on a balanced lifestyle
2. Learn something new
3. Meet my family
4. Drink better coffee

Looking back on things, I did follow through on some of them while I couldn't on others. I can certainly say that my work-life balance was overall relatively better than in 2020 but still far from ideal, especially over the last quarter of the year. 

In terms of learning something new, I started going for Crossfit, mainly to help me with fitness in tennis. Additionally, I did read a couple of really interesting books and learned a lot from them: 

• "Capital in the 21st Century" by Thomas Piketty
• "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham. 

While I found them amazing, I don't recommend them to anyone who isn't an Economics/Finance nerd. The writing style of both books isn't as easy flowing as Hans Rosling's "Factfulness". Let's just say these aren't the books you want to read before going to sleep. 

Unfortunately, I still couldn't manage to meet my family due to the pandemic. I'm hoping this will change in 2022. In terms of drinking better coffee, I realized that I didn't enjoy the ground coffee with the French press. However, I did start consuming better quality instant coffee. So I guess that's still an improvement. 

In addition, I had a few noteworthy experiences over the past year: 

• France vs Portugal in this year's Euro Championship
• A trip to Rome
• ATP Vienna Semi-Finals

Overall, the year felt like a limbo. The uncertainties that came along with the pandemic, the fact that it was going to be my last year in Hungary and other transitions that I was going through in my personal life. Overall, you can say I heard the "Stuck in the middle" song by Burning Hotels on repeat several times

2022 - The year of new beginnings

2022 is a year of new beginnings. A new life of sorts. Lots of things to explore and achieve. 

While it's going to take me some time to settle down and put my affairs in order, I think I can put down a few aims for the year: 

1. Watch Liverpool play
2. Watch a cricket match at Lord's
3. Explore UK
4. A trip back home

One thing I've realized as I approach the end of my 20's is that it takes me a lot longer to go accept, internalize and go through change than it used to in the past. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's a change that comes as your hangovers begin to get worse with time. 

I must admit that am really sad about leaving Hungary. A lot more than I ever imagined that I would be. However, since change is the only constant in life, I really need to stop being stubborn and accept it. The sooner it happens, the sooner I can get back to making the most of everything that awaits me.