Happy New Year! Following on from my 2009 and 2010 Yearly Wrap Up posts, here’s one for 2011! It feels like this year has been a bit quieter in the travel department than my previous years but, looking back, I think it’s actually been just as busy in reality. I guess having a home base in Rwanda and taking trips from there makes things seem a bit less hectic. But I still managed to cram a lot in and keep busy while taking plenty of time to relax and enjoy the simple life in Kigali. Compared to last year it was really quiet but I think I like that.
2011 Travels
- Kigali, Rwanda (lived here the whole year)
- London (April for a few days)
- Dublin (April for a few days)
- Scotland (April for a couple of weeks)
- New York (April for a few days)
- Leogane, Haiti (2 weeks in May)
- Lake Bunyoni, Uganda (visa run for 2 nights)
- Bangkok (2 nights in August)
- Bali (10 days in September)
- St. Catharines, Canada (3.5 weeks in December)
Highlights
- Enjoying staying put in Kigali, getting to know the city and working on my Kigali website.
- Starting a pretty big project to make a map of Kigali.
- Attempting to learn French and making a little bit of progress.
- Attempting to learn guitar and not making much progress.
- Spending a few days in Dublin from my friend’s 30th birthday.
- Surprising my dad in Glasgow for his 60th birthday.
- Heading back to Haiti a year and a bit after the earthquake to volunteer again.
- Spending some time at a street boy’s home in Kigali.
- Heading to Bali to surprise a friend for her 30th birthday.
- Buying my first website and paying it off in less than four months.
- Having a pretty amazing year with my websites and clearing $8000 for the first time.
Things I Learned in 2011
I learned in 2010 that my travelling days were behind me and I feel like that’s been confirmed this year. I’m not really excited anymore by travelling just for the the hell of it. I still love visiting friends and volunteering and travelling with some purpose in mind (sporting events, parties etc) but I’m not really so into backpacking around, checking out famous sites and all that stuff the way I used to be.
I figured out that there are people out there who can make some pretty cool WordPress plugins. If I can think it up, it seems like someone out there in elance world can make it happen. That’s been a pretty big revelation for me because, now that I have some money behind me to invest back into my business, it’s great to know that I can have custom plugins build that’ll do exactly what I want them to.
I also realised that buying established websites is a great way to push my business forward. I think I got lucky when I bought The Blighty Traveller but I’d love to find a few more of those gems. It’s a great way to invest back into my business and expand things at the same time. If I can find two or three sites (that don’t suck… that’s the hard part) a year to buy, I’d be pretty happy.
2012 Travel Plans
For once I really don’t know what the year holds for me. I know what sorts of things I want to do, but I’m also pretty content in Kigali and happy to see where life takes me and to just go with the flow. Actually, looking back at my plans for 2011, nothing really happened that I predicted. Here are a few ideas for 2012…
- Stick around Kigali until early June, soaking up the sun, spending more time working on my French and guitar and working on my Kigali website.
- All Hands are currently assessing in The Philippines to see if they’ll launch a project in Mindanao. If they do, I’d likely for for a month or two around February.
- Find a couple of causes to volunteer with in Kigali… one will be building a website for the Rwandan street boy’s home. Not sure what else.
- Pop up to Kampala for a couple of weeks and get started on my living in Kampala site. Hopefully find a writer to work with who knows the city because I certainly don’t!
- Spend the summer in North America learning about natural building and visiting interesting intentional communities.
- Hang out with some Australian friends who are coming to Canada on a working holiday visa.
- Visit a friend who lives in Bogota, Colombia.
- Go to my friend’s wedding in Toronto in September.
- Go back to Rwanda… ?
Goals for 2012
Last year’s goals are pretty much the same as this year’s. I didn’t accomplish much on my backpacking in Africa site but I did make a bit of progress with French and my Kigali site.
- Africa Site – I think this has been a project of mine for three years now! I know I keep saying I’ll work on it but never do. Who knows if I’ll ever get this project finished. I do have a few articles lined up for the New Year so I’ll keep plugging away at it. Even if it never develops into the one-stop travelling in Africa site that I hope, it’ll at least be a site with some good info and hopefully interesting to advertisers.
- Living in Kigali – I’m really happy with this site. I love the content, I think its really useful to new arrivals to Kigali, I like the layout, the maps and the ratings and the rest of it. I like how most expats in the city know about the site. My goal for 2012 is to figure out a way to turn the site’s popularity into some revenue.
- Learn French – Still working on this one! I tried taking some classes which helped a bit. I’ve been doing some work on my own and my friend speaks French so I’ll have to bug her more to help me. I think I’ll try to find someone to give me one on one lessons for a few hours a week.
- Learn Guitar – I’ve been making a wee bit of progress so I’ll keep plugging away and hopefully learn some more, bit by bit.
- Learn About Natural Building – I’ve always been pretty interested in alternative building methods, sustainable living and all that stuff. I’m looking forward to finally spending some time learning about it by taking workshops around the US and maybe Central and South America too. It’ll also give me an excuse to travel around the US which is something that’s been on my list for ages.
I’m not sure much has changed from how I felt at the end of last year. I was talking last year about wanting to find a place that felt like home and not wanting to move around so often. I really love Kigali and, while I want to spend the summer in the US and Canada, I can see myself leaving all my crap in Rwanda and heading back there afterward.
Earnings wise, I had a great year in 2011 and I’m excited to see what 2012 has in store. If things keep going well for me I think I’ll eventually start thinking about investing in some sort of offline business, maybe in Rwanda. This is something I haven’t thought too much about but I really think there are lots of business opportunities in Kigali and if one crosses my path, I’ll give it some serious thought.
I hope everyone had a fun 2011 and that 2012 has some great things in store! I’m really excited to spend the next 5 or 6 months in Kigali but also looking forward to seeing what the summer has in store. Hoping for another happy and healthy year for everyone. Happy New Year!
Leave a Reply