My 22 Favorite Memories From This Past Year

I turned 23 this past weekend, and I spent my time having a lovely weekend with my boyfriend Dan. We snacked on street food and drinks by the Spree at Treptower Park, went on a midnight monument tour, and enjoyed a few (mostly outdoor) cafes while complying with social distancing guidelines. It was really pleasant, and even though I didn’t get to throw the party I had originally planned on a few months prior, I’m very thankful I was able to go out at all.

Similar to New Year’s Day, when my birthday rolls up I like to set aside time to think and reflect on the past year. This past year involved a lot of changes for me (and the world in general), and I’ve made some of my most cherished memories while being 22. In chronological order, here are twenty-two moments that shaped my year and made me happy.

@ Calm Cafe in Friedrichshain, Berlin on my 23rd birthday

The final night out I had with friends in Los Angeles
A few close friends in Los Angeles took me out to say goodbye to the city that had been my home for more than two years while I completed college. We spent the night bar-hopping in West Hollywood, the neighborhood where I had my first night out with friends after originally moving there. It was a bittersweet night, and a lot of fun.
The goodbye party my family threw me
My family sent me off to Germany with an adorable and extremely thoughtful German themed goodbye party. Highlights included my Uncles and Tia’s American themed care package, the bratwurst my Dad cooked, and these hilarious German themed dirndl bibs my Mom found. I tried to say a speech at one point, but I choked up pretty quickly.

3. An international flight with my cat

After finding work, most people who spoke with me knew that my biggest concern was that I was taking my cat with me to Germany. This involved lots of anxiety, paperwork, tests, crate training, Cat Dramamine, an economy flight across the continental United States and Atlantic Ocean, and a layover in Moscow. The flights ended up being much more manageable than I imagined (thank you again Dan for all your help), and I think I still owe my cat for making my life so easy those 24 hours. I’m very happy that she safely made it to Germany.

I learned so much through this process that I ended up writing a guide about how I brought my cat to Germany.

4. Getting to enjoy Berlin’s summer vibes

I tried to soak in as much of Berlin’s summer as I could while prepping for the start of work and handling the relocation checklist. Berlin has a really diverse and affordable food and drink scene, and really shines in the summer (think beer gardens and sun that stays out ‘til nearly 10PM) so those first few outings were some of my favorites.

Schnitzel & beer @ Café Meta in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin

5. Celebrating my one year anniversary with Dan in Venice

This was great for many reasons. Dan. Italy. Pasta! It was the perfect little overnight trip and you can find out more about it in my guide here.

6. The day I spent cycling in Potsdam

Potsdam is a classic and popular day trip from Berlin. It’s much calmer and smaller, and still boasts lots of history and beauty. We decided to rent bikes for the day and I planned out a detailed cycling route to see a dozen or so attractions in the city. I discovered pretty quickly that biking in a city is not for me, and promptly gave Dan navigation rights. Despite my ongoing fear of crashing into a car or person, we saw much more of the city than we would have on foot, and Babelsberg Park is one of the most beautiful areas I’ve been to in Germany.

7. Visiting Barcelona & speaking Spanish

Barcelona was so pretty and so fun! Dan initially only stayed with me for a few weeks in Berlin to help me move in, and didn’t officially move in until months later, so when his employer sent him to Spain for ten days I knew I had to pop in for a weekend so that we could reunite. We spent most of our time together drinking sangria and tasting tapas, but we also squeezed in a few attractions including the Pablo Picasso Museum. It was also really cool getting to speak so much Spanish!

8. The time I took a pole dancing class

Discovering ClassPass (a subscription service that gives access to a variety of fitness classes) with my dear friend Henriette led to such a fun month of activities together. Although Cryotherapy was a unique memory from that time, I think my favorite class was a Pole Dancing one we took. I learned a lot about my own strength, and I felt really confident while dancing and learning basic spins. I also had sore arms and shoulders for days afterwards.

9. My best friends coming to visit me

I loved getting to spend quality time with my friends Ashley and Wes, and I was ecstatic the nights they stayed with me. I had so much fun brunching with them, showing them my favorite spots around the city, Christmas Markets, bonding and visiting Prague. Helping them plan their trip was a big part of the year also, and it was very satisfying to see everything fall into place for them.

With Ashley & Wes @ the East Side Gallery, Berlin

10. Showing my uncle around Berlin a second time

My Uncle Rudy came to visit me when I studied abroad in Berlin in 2016, and I really appreciated him visiting again! We also went to go visit Prague together. I loved getting a delicious vegetarian German meal with him, getting to walk up the Reichstag together for my first time, and visiting christmas markets.

11. My friend Sonia coming to visit and stay with me

I became close friends with Sonia in 2016 in Berlin and so far we’ve kept up the habit of seeing one another once a year despite living in completely different areas of the world (not anymore though!). We had lots of time to catch up and bask in the festivities together, as well as visit Levant and the Monkey Bar (old favorites).

12. Christmas Markets in Berlin & Prague

Although I’ve already mentioned them a few times, the Christmas Markets are an amazing aspect of wintertime in Berlin and Germany, and it was great to experience them in the country where they originated from. My favorites in Berlin were the ones at Rotes Rathaus, RAW-Gelände, Sophienstraße, and Gendarmenmarkt.

13. Spending a night in a beach side hotel in Venice, California

This experience was super special since I got to stay in a cute hotel with Dan for the night upon my return home. The view was beautiful to wake up to, and I didn’t realize how much I had missed looking at the Pacific Ocean.

View from our hotel in Venice Beach, California

14. Getting to spend time with family, especially my sister

Even though I love Berlin, I spend plenty of time missing family and friends back home, and wishing that teleportation was a thing. Getting to see all of my family and friends for Christmas was wonderful, and I can’t wait to see them all again so soon. Highlights include the many beautiful Christmas trees and decor my Mom puts up for Christmas, bonding time with my parents, playing video games with my little cousin, my grandma’s tamales, and going on lots of outings around SoCal with my little sister Isabella.

15. Going on a TMZ celebrity bus tour

This has been on my bucket-list for awhile, and my best friend Ashley treated me to tickets for Christmas. It was cute getting to do something fun and touristy in LA, and spend really nice quality time with her and other friends.

16. A cross country road-trip from California to New Jersey

After a goodbye to family and friends, Dan and I had a week to drive to his hometown in New Jersey to return his car to his parents before I had a flight scheduled via JFK back to Berlin. We drove over 3,000 miles in four nights and five days, staying the night in Las Cruces, Austin, Memphis and Wytheville before making it to New Jersey. I’ve done a number of road trips through the states with my family overtime, but the furthest we’ve made it from California without a flight involved is North Dakota, so it was still a really unique experience to drive through the continental US in such a quick period.

It involved lots of music, including Taylor Swift’s entire discography. We also had a lot really good food along the way (like green chile in New Mexico), and in other news I finally got to try Cracker Barrel! I’d really like to revisit Tennessee, and I’ve had enough of Texas for now, which I think is fair, it’s quite the state to drive through.

Outside Delaware House Travel Plaza, one of the best rest areas I’ve been to.

17. Visiting Dan’s childhood home & Atlantic City

The road trip’s destination was a nice part of the trip. Dan’s family lives in a picturesque home with a small forest for their backyard, located in a little town in South Jersey. We spent a few hours venturing out to Atlantic City and had a lot of fun walking up the lighthouse. Plus I gambled for the first time! We spent a combined total of $20 on slots in a small casino and got five complimentary drinks in the process, so it’s worth a visit for the quirky experience and drink deal. Plus afterwards we had really yummy East Coast style pizza.

18. Getting to visit Prague three separate times

I feel like I know Prague decently well now after visiting three different times over the course of the year (with Ashley and Wes, my Uncle Rudy, and most recently Dan), and surprisingly I liked it even more with each new visit. There’s a lot I could say about Prague so it’s hard to narrow down my favorite bits, but authentic trdelník, cobblestone streets, tasty bistros, and unique bars (read my guide here!) basically sum it up. The train rides there and back really made the experiences extra special.

19. Finally starting this blog!

I’ve been working on this blog for awhile, and despite my infrequent upload schedule, finally setting aside time for my personal writing was great to experience this year, and I’m going to work to continue that. :)

20. A sort of staycation

Unfortunately the quarantine productivity train did not hit me this spring, and even with the extra time, most days I was lucky if I managed to finish work, make a good dinner, and do an activity or meditation to try to keep up my physical and mental health. However, I was able to get creative with how I spent my time some days.

One thing that was particularly memorable was turning our apartment into a makeshift Euro pub crawl. Basically in every room of our apartment I placed 1-2 little set ups with drinks and food from a particular country in Europe we’d like to visit/revisit when things are significantly safer. At each “pub” we played music from each country, pulled up a photo on one of our laptops to “set the scene,” and spoke about each place and what we want to do there. I might not be describing it very well, but it really was cute, and a great at home activity.

21. First outing post-lockdown

After months of social distancing restrictions, things began to quickly reopen in Berlin again. A couple weeks after that I felt comfortable enough to revisit and sit on the patio of my favorite coffee shop, while complying to certain guidelines that are still in effect. It was great to see the cafe’s owner again and hear that his small scone and coffee business was going to be okay.

Plus, being able to come across some sense of normalcy, no matter how fleeting, while enjoying a book, great coffee and scones was surprisingly a really cathartic experience.

22. An early morning hike in Briese

Getting out of the city at 5AM on a Sunday to take a train to a German town north of Berlin was just what I needed after months of partial hibernation. I found the hike on the Komoot app, and Dan and I mainly followed the Briese Loop path which wound up being about a fifteen kilometre trail filled with forest, a bit of German suburb, farmland, trees growing out of a river (this is a phenomenon, but I couldn’t find the name of it), greenery, and open valley. We finished the hike up by sharing a small bottle of red wine and waving to people driving by in cars from an overpass.