A few things to look back this year:
I cycled more in this year than ever before - 150 days, 4,500 kms, 240 hours - including 3 trips - Newcastle, Canberra (AU) and Queenstown (NZ). Exactly half of all my rides this year have been at least 20 kms in length, and that’s due to cycling becoming an integral part of my lifestyle here in Sydney, where I cycle everywhere, be it for commuting to work or running a $4-worth errand at a store 20 km away.
It was good to get into some other sports this year as well! There was Badminton which I’ve never really played before, and what started as a fun activity to do together once a week for S and I has become a weekly routine we really look forward to. And then there was Table Tennis which I can say I returned to, after a long hiatus through meeting a really good and challenging group here. Between 22 sessions of badminton and 12 sessions of table tennis across the year, it made for a good supplementary activity to the cycling. Of course, I was cycling to and from these venues as well.
A big lifestyle milestone was the move-in with S, which was a life-first for me. There was ample apprehension but it went and is going pretty well. We’re discovering each other anew due to spending so much time in the same space, and naturally there are bumps along the way. Overall, I’m proud of the way we’ve managed to lend character to ‘our’ house with the different personalities and interests that she and I have. There have been a few weekend trips we’ve taken around Sydney along the way, places like Orange, Canberra, Jindabyne, Blue Mountains, and Hunter Valley, and they’ve all been enjoyable.
After a long wait through the Covid years of 2020-21, I finally visited India after 3 years across two trips, the first being a week long work trip to Bengaluru, and the second being a three-week long trip to Mumbai. Meeting parents and relatives after so long felt good, and hopefully I would not have to wait for so long again. There is the uncomfortable awareness that the parents are getting old, and they will need more help and presence from me soon; I haven’t come to a resolution here yet, but it’s a thought that hangs around in the mind all the time.
Finally, not a big year for work, but I hired two people in my team and there was some learning involved in how to manage them. I’m not feeling the most challenged and satisfied at work at present, and this is something I need to work on next year. Hopefully, the Permanent Residency application gets approved soon, but there’s a lot to do even without that.