Glasgow, Scotland, UK • December 2020 • Length of Read: 2 Minutes
Now in its fifth rendition, I usually revel in sitting down to write this annual review, arguing with myself as I nostalgically reminisce the preceding twelve months and struggle to cherry-pick just five highlights from the dozens of adventures, trips, and bucket list items I’ve had the fortune to experience. It’s with a more sombre mind-state that I type these words, however, with the worldwide pandemic, racial injustice, and incompetent global leadership contributing to 2020 being a year that most want to forget. I even considered not writing this post at all, but at the thought of disappointing my future self, I resisted. As one of my favourite musicians, Kip Moore, put it in a recent Rolling Stone interview, this year has been “a bit dark at times with a forced hopefulness.” It is this level of willing optimism that I have preciously maintained when things have taken their turn for the worse.
The enforced isolation at home gave me ample time to paint and decorate my new flat, meet my neighbours, explore new running routes, and provided the confidence that my job can be performed effectively and efficiently whilst working remotely, opening up a host of new possibilities in the future for a work/living relationship.
It also provided spare time to continue my reading and studying. This year was about breadth rather than depth as I explored a plethora of non-fiction and fiction genres. Five books that I couldn’t put down were Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt, The Art of Resilience by Ross Edgley, Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey, and Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright.
As my Spotify year-end wrap-up will testify, A Rock by Hardy, What You See is What You Get by Luke Combs, Local Honey by Brian Fallon, Canyons by Gone West, and Tickets to My Downfall by Machine Gun Kelly were some of the albums that helped carry me through the gloomiest parts of 2020.
And as tradition states, here are the top five moments that I want to remember 2020 by:
Learning to Ski in Chamonix with my beautiful girlfriend
Completing the David Goggins 4/4/48 Running Challenge in the Yorkshire Dales with Gadams and Jason; running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours and raising over 2,000 for Age UK charity in the process.
Competing in the inaugural Kiwi Kiwi Invitational Golf Tournament in St. Andrews with Gadams, Aaron, and Ryan; the three of us being united for the first time in three years since meeting in New Zealand during the adventures of my third book.
Maintaining a program of General Physical Preparedness throughout the entire lockdown, mixing up and programming my training to get back to CrossFit in as good a condition as ever.
Despite having to physically keep six feet apart, becoming even closer to my family and girlfriend with the continued realisation that love and friendship are what gives me the greatest satisfaction in life.
The inability to chase the next travel destination and requirement to live under governmental restrictions has bottled-up my desire to explore further and wider. So here’s to the decade ahead - vaccinated and uncorked as we enter the roaring twenties. It’s time to go a little bit Great Gatsby.