I don't talk about it much, but 2019 was the most insane year of my life.
Storytime!
Yesterday I was deleting things off my hard drive to create some space and came across this vlog from a year and a half ago that I totally forgot about. It's my year-end vlog from 2019 that I never fully finished and forgot about by the time the pandemic began in March 2020.
It was so interesting to look back on the pre-pandemic world and also to take a second to reflect on how much life abroad has changed since then.
2019 was filled with adventure and excitement. I started the year with a 6-month study program in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where I was able to travel around South East Asia. Then I returned to the US for a month before ending the year back in Prague and continued to travel around Europe. All this excitement and adventure is documented in this video, along with the people who made the year so amazing and created such happy memories with me.
Then March of 2020 rolled around and the pace of life came to a screeching halt. I went from jet-setter to homebody overnight. It's not as tragic as it sounds. The pandemic forced me to stay still... something I usually don't particularly enjoy. In staying still, I became more in touch with the city I had been calling home for nearly three years. I chose to stick out the pandemic in Prague and ended up spending my longest consecutive time span in the city ever. In many ways the pandemic brought communities together, despite increased physical distance. I got to know my neighbors, I explored the city, I practiced my Czech, and felt more at home in Prague than ever before. I didn't even realize how temporary I felt in Prague until I knew what it was like to feel like I was a part of the community.
You would think that in that time of staying still I would have found the time to edit and post this video... but nope. So here it is now, August 2021, a year and a half later.
Edited by Sophia Pedigo