A lot of people say 2020 was an awful year, and unfortunately, things are still a bit *unhinged* in early 2021.

However, by the grace of God, I think 2020 was one of my best years yet, so I thought I’d share a little positivity about why I say that.

Here are my month-by-month highlights from 2020:

January

During a hike on New Year’s Day, Bill suggested we hike the Grand Canyon sometime in 2020. I was in total agreement.

He then went on  to propose that we hike down to the bottom of the canyon and back up, as a day trip, in February or March.

Queue the scratching record… Ummm, what?!?

He was suggesting we hike down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and then back up all in one day, in the next 2-3 months?!?

For some crazy reason, he was confident we could get in enough elevation training by the end of February to make this happen.

While secretly hoping I would find an excuse to avoid this hike, I agreed and plans were set forth.

We spent several weekends during January and February hiking up and down various mountains in Virginia to prepare for this hike.

In January, we did two hikes:  Buffalo Mountain and Mount Pleasant.  Here are a couple pics from those hikes:

February

Before flying to Arizona, we did a couple of long training hikes with lots of elevation in Virginia:  Little House Mountain and The Priest and Three Ridges.  Here are some pics from those hikes:

On our first day in AZ, we hiked Cathedral Rock in Sedona before making the drive further north to Grand Canyon National Park. Here is a pic from Cathedral Rock:

We got to the Grand Canyon in late afternoon, so we were able to see the beautiful sunset and scope out our starting and ending points for our big hike the next day. Here is a pic from the sunset:

On Monday, February 24, we woke up at 5:00 am to start our day’s adventure.

Check out the AWESOME video Bill made to recap this AMAZING hike.

After hiking 18 miles for 13 hours, and enduring 4,800 feet of elevation change, I was brought to tears (as you can see in the end of the video.)  This was a life-changing experience as I honestly wasn’t sure I could do it.  Throughout the entire day, I had to tell myself to just stop thinking and to just keep moving.  I believe this mantra is what got me through and proved my brain wrong!

I think the video captures more, but here is a pic of me about halfway down to the bottom (I love this sweatshirt):

March

In mid-March, my Dad was unexpectedly brought to the hospital for some bleeding on his brain, so I flew to Minnesota to be with my parents.  As it turned out, the doctors believed this was something he has had his whole life and discharged him after a few days of observation.

Around this same time, the COVID-19 pandemic was firing up. With so many unknowns and everyone in our office working remotely, I decided to stay in MN to help my parents for a while.

Here’s a pic from one of our many walks we took together around the neighborhood:

And here’s a pic of a pretty March snowfall in my parents’ backyard:

April

I spent the entire month of April in Minnesota with my parents.

It turned out to be a wonderful opportunity for me to spend quality time with them, and we made some fun memories!

One of our favorite things to do in the Sullivan household is blind taste tests.  This time we pitted two classic Minnesotan frozen pizzas against each other:  Heggies vs Lotzza Motzza. And here’s a pic from that competition (Yum!):

It was also fun to meet up with friends at parks to hangout, picnic, and go for walks in the fresh air. Here is a pic with some of my friends outside having a picnic:

May

In late May I flew to Tampa, Florida to spend the last 10 days of the month on Siesta Key, an island near Sarasota.

We rented a condo a few steps from Crescent Beach and worked remotely from there.

Each day, we worked a few hours in the morning, went to the beach over lunch, and went back to the condo to work the rest of the afternoon.  At the end of each day, we grabbed a drink and walked back to the beach for a few hours to watch the sunset in the West.

It was wonderful to breathe fresh, warm air and feel the sun on my skin after being in Minnesota for over two months!

Here are some pics from Siesta Key:

June

I didn’t travel anywhere in June but it was a very notable month.

It was during June that I came to an agreement with my employer:  my last day with them would be July 31^st.

Also, since the only thing keeping me in Virginia was my job, I gave my landlord notice that I would be moving out.

Here was our chance to travel world while working remotely, so I sold what I could and started packing the rest during June and the first part of July.

July

In mid-July, we made the big convoy from VA to FL with all the stuff we couldn’t sell.

Here is a pic of Bill’s incredible storage unit organization (yes, that’s his happy face – haha):

I spent the rest of the month wrapping up my employment and riding off into the sunset.  😊

August

On August 1, we kicked off my mini-retirement with a long weekend on Destin Beach in the Florida panhandle.  I think these beaches were even more incredible than those on Siesta Key.  I officially became spoiled by beaches with powdery white sand and pristine turquoise water!

Here are some pics from Destin:

In mid-Aug, we flew to Belgrade, Serbia and stayed there for one week before flying to Croatia.

Check out this article if you’re interested in how we got from the US to Serbia.

Here are some pics from our week in Serbia:

Check out this article to learn how we got from Serbia to Croatia and this article to learn more about our week in Belgrade, Serbia.

Finally, we spent the last week of August in Pula, Croatia and here are some pics from our exploration around that city and the Istrian Peninsula:

September

We spent the month of September on a Croatian island, and stayed at a condo in the small town of Slatiné. We worked and explored the more North-Central parts of Croatia.

Here are my favorite pics from Plitvice Lakes and Krka National Parks:

Check out this article for more details on Plitvice Lakes NP and this article for more details on Krka NP.

The condo we had in Slatiné was only a short walk to the beach. We spent most days working in the morning, spending a few hours enjoying the beach in the afternoon, and then walking back to the condo to work the rest of the evening.

Here are some pics of the incredible beaches that were around us:

October

We spent the month of October at a condo in Makarska, Croatia while working and exploring the more South-Central parts of Croatia.

Here are my favorite pics from Dubrovnik and Sumartin Beach on the island of Braĉ:

October weather was more cold, cloudy, and rainy.  When the weather wasn’t great outside, we used that time to work more steadily, and when it was nice outside, we went hiking or visited the beach.

Here are some pics from around Makarska (notice the incredibly blue water and the Biokovo Mountains as the backdrop – incredible!):

November

We spent the first week of November in Istanbul, Turkey.

The history, culture, and food in Istanbul were incredible and here are a few of my favorite pics from there:

Check out this article to learn more about our week in Istanbul, Turkey.

Around mid-November, we returned to Florida to handle some work stuff that needed to be done in-person and to spend Thanksgiving with family.

December

While Bill was on a cave exploration trip in Colombia the first two weeks of Dec, I made a visit to see my bestie and family in Scottsdale where I participated in their annual outdoor “Ugly Christmas Sweater” pub crawl.  Two of my friends are modeling their sweaters below:

Finally, we wrapped up 2020 and rang in the new year with a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  It was a great opportunity to meet and spend time with some awesome people (as well as discovering a new favorite tequila!):

Conclusion

As you can see, by the grace of God, I was incredibly blessed and fortunate this year.

I pray that everyone finds 2021 better than 2020, and we all stay safe and healthy!

I would love to continue this positivity train and hear from everyone so please share in the comments your 2020 blessings and some of your goals for 2021.

All the best,

Kristie