July and August saw me escaping Sydney’s winter as much as I could manage. It’s by no means intolerable or even unpleasant (think 60F mostly-sunny days, often with wind), but I really struggle with it after several months of hot beach days.
Welp, I think it’s safe to say that the more distracted I get with weekend trips, road trips, and other adventures, the worse I am about blogging and Instagramming and even reading.
I think March and April can best be described as the much-needed calm after the January/February storm. With the stress and life admin BS that accompanies housing drama finally behind me, my new flatmate moved in and I got serious about making this apartment my own.
Oh yeah, look who’s bringing back the monthly recaps!
I have to say, I kinda missed the ol’ Down Under Report from my first two years in Australia. I’m not sure if any of you feel the same, but I’m thinking this is a good way for me to reconnect with this blog and with you this year (remember, I admitted in this post that I felt much disconnect in 2017).
I’ve never made a fuss over this blog’s birthday before, but I feel like 5 years is a pretty big deal so you know what? Let’s celebrate Frugal Frolicker’s 5th birthday!
I ended 2017 with a big fat exclamation point by spraining my ankle while hiking to a really cool gorge (and then jumping 15 meters (50 feet) into a rock pool with said sprained ankle… but that’s a story for another blog post!). Anyway,
Welp, this year-in-review post looks a bit different from the ones I’ve done the last couple years when I was a nomad.
That’s because 2017 was all about getting grounded and making a new home for myself in Sydney, rather than country hopping.
You may have noticed that I quietly phased out my monthly recap posts this year. I loved reflecting on each month of my travels for the two years I spent traveling around Australia and surrounds, but now that I’ve slowed down and established a home base in Sydney, there’s been less to recap on the travel front.
As usual, I didn’t make any concrete New Years resolutions for 2016. That’s why it’s a little funny that it sort of ended up being a year in which I unintentionally experienced a whole lot of new things.
Oh I LOVED December so much! This month I returned to the US for the first time in two years and it was every bit as magical and wonderful as I’d hoped it would be.