I wanted to go on more adventures in 2022, which to me was an absolute hit. While we didn't travel as much as we did last year, we got to visit another one of my father's friend in London (and I got to meet up with my best friend after 3 very long years!) and made it home to Malaysia around September to see my family and friends again. This return allowed me to not only hug and kiss my loved ones, but I even made it to THREE weddings in the span of two months. My wallet was less than enthusiastic, but the memories made was something no money will ever buy.

I wanted to love my blog a lot more this year, to which I'm glad I did. For those who didn't know, Cantuslupus started as a tribute to a late friend of my father's. It then became a bit of a forgotten diary up until I recently when I found out that another friend of my dad's was religiously checking in for updates. This became a drive for me to keep writing and I think in many ways I'm glad for that aunty who's keeping me in check. And because I know you'll be reading, thank you, aunty! 

I wanted to do better in Dutch in 2022, which I absolutely did not do. Unfortunately, the virtual classes that I attended at the start of this year turned out to be pretty crappy as the teacher - unbeknownst to us - was dialling in from Mexico! I mean, I'm all for nomad working but we signed up with a Dutch school for Dutch lessons, only to have this lady call in from her temporary "home" because she was doing some sort of yoga retreat. This was coupled with her horrible internet connection and random roosters crowing or dogs barking in her background. Half our class times were to tell her she was either stuck and she would disconnect or her voice would be drowned by the animals around her. 10/10 do not recommend and we quit the school right after that semester. 

And finally, I wanted to turn happily 30. So I went home to Malaysia and celebrated it with the people I love and people who love me. To this day, I'm ever so grateful to my employers, managers, and colleagues who were super understanding of my situation and allowed me to go home for two long months. I say this because they were all affected by the time difference and we had to sort out how we would find just tiny moments in our calendars to host calls. The way everyone had been supportive of my return and kept telling me just bask in those moments instead of staying online was just precious and I'll never stop being thankful for it.

The world was finally reopening for everyone to move about again after what felt like a lockdown forever. Uncertainties were slowly melting into possibilities and opportunities. For me, it was how we found the courage to take the leap and moved into a bigger home in Amsterdam. It was how we went ahead and busted €555 on our tickets back to Malaysia on Singapore Airlines, queuing for two hours amid the Schiphol Airport mess and traveling for 17 hours each way just to hug our families and friends. It was a year to remember - for all the good, the great, and the less-than wonderful ones.