What happened to the last three years?

It seems like only a few months ago I was sipping coffee in the Colombian Andes, planning a return to Oaxaca City to catch up on work and visit old haunts.

The blur that’s been the last few years seems common with those I’ve spoken to about it. Everything 2020 shifted us all into a strange new lane — one that we never really learned to navigate and are finally learning to move away from.

2023 felt like the first truly normal year for me.

I feel that, overall, it had the same profound impact I yearn for. The pandemic stifled that for a while. Not since we came home from Colombia when the world shut down have I felt that things were not only back to some semblance of normal but that I was living and, more importantly, experiencing life on my terms.

I learned so much this year. The skills I believed I had regarding web design were thrown to the curb after some of the courses I took. My deep dive into AI expanded my mind in countless ways — and while I’ll never be able to predict the future, I now have a general understanding of what to expect in the coming decade.

Regarding physical health, I’ve taken better care of myself in the last year than I have for a long time. Not to say that I didn’t take care before, but I put extra effort into fine-tuning a few things. And the results — both physically and mentally — are noticeable.

I climbed a mountain. Not in the ropes-and-crampons sense, but I did venture out with some incredible friends on a backcountry camping trip.

It was my first time doing such a feat. And while our multi-day canoe trip a few years back was equally intriguing, this was on another level. I learned two things:

First, I can hike along the edge of a cliff with a 50lb pack on my back and climb to an alpine campsite hardly touched by the outside world.

Second, I will never do it again. The physical effort of hiking such elevations is one thing – I can handle that — but the mental stress brought on by my unease of heights is a game stopper.

I pushed through. I learned lessons. And I’m proud of myself for pushing through. But it will likely be the last time I do that.

I visited my 40th country. After three long years stuck in a pandemic-induced rut, my urge to travel somewhere new was finally pacified. And what a destination it was.

Albania blew me away in every single possible way. I went in with neutral expectations. I’d been to the Balkans in the past, I knew a little of the history and assumed as much as I could about their food.

But in literally every way, I was stunned. The landscapes, architecture, people, food, culture and society as a whole; they almost invoke a sense of envy.

The biggest moment of 2023 was one that I had all but given up on.

I met my birth mother.

This was one of the most prolific moments of my life. One I had thought about since I was a child. Growing up, I’d imagined every possible scenario, and the outcome was about as good as it could have been. We’ve since met several times and are slowly building a lovely relationship.

So, looking back at the “normal” year that was 2023, I think I did it pretty well.