Julika

Published On: 2012/12/27

2012 has been quite the year for me. When I think back, it’s crazy how it went by so fast – yes, such a cliché, I know. But there really has been a lot going on this year. It has been a year full of difficult decisions, travel, and life lessons. From finishing my amazing semester abroad in Portugal to starting Sateless Suitcase, my year had several ups and downs. Here is my summary of this year’s numbers, photos – and a few (travel-related) lessons I learned.

2012’s Monthly Numbers

January

Days spent in Portugal: 30.
Sunny days in Portugal: 30.
Days spent at university: 4.
Daily average of espressos consumed: 2.4.
Euros I paid for my return bus ticket from Lisbon to the Algarve: 30.

February

Outdoor temperature when I boarded my plane in Portugal: 16 degrees Celsius.
Outdoor temperature when I left the airport in Germany: – 22 degrees Celsius. (Seriously, WTF?)
Pounds gained after 5 months in Portugal: 12.
Money left on my all bank accounts after 5 months in Portugal: 103 €.

March

Days it took me to find a new apartment in Siegen, and move in there: 2.
Roommates I moved in with: 3.
Bathrooms in our apartment: 1.

April

Money I earned per hour at my new supermarket cashier job: 6.50 €.
Total time of rain during my stay in London: 10 minutes.
Sad amount of museums I visited in London: 2.
Cost of a large cup of plain yoghurt in a London supermarket: 1.99 £. (I’m still in shock!)

May

Things I remember doing in May besides studying, working, running, and partying with my roommates: 0.

June

Trips to Bavaria: 2.
Trains I rode to get to Bavaria and back: 16.
Outdoor temperature in Munich on my birthday weekend: 34 degrees Celsius. (I love being a summer birthday girl!)

July

Number of finals I wrote in July:  4.
Distance of my weekly running route: 10 kilometers.
Long hours made at my supermarket job: Too many.

August

Hours worked at new job at university administration: 120.
Cool things I did besides working full-time: 0.

September

Temperature drop from first to second day in Prague: 12 degrees.
Total hours spent in and in front of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague: 3.5.
Days in Prague affected by a sudden liquor prohibition: 2.
Hours spent in the car driving from Germany to Croatia: 12.

October

Days I swam in the Adriatic Sea: 4.
Amount of (way too little) time spent in Ljubljana: 2 hours.

November

Hours on the bus from Cologne to Paris: 7.5.
Money I paid for that bus return ticket to Paris: 75 €.
Nights I spent in Paris: 4.
Nights Janina and I perfered to stay in, laugh, and catch up: 4.
Times I ate at McDonald’s in Paris, because every other dinner option was unaffordable: 2. (Go ahead, judge me. But I considered that goat cheese wrap to be very French!)

December

Months my paper on Dark Romanticism was overdue when handed in: 8.
Christmas markets visited: 11.
Hours spent baking Christmas cookies: 17.
Money left on bank account after Christmas shopping: 49 €. (Yep, I’m officially broke again!)

2012’s Yearly Numbers:

Nights slept in hostels: 7. In Lagos, in Prague, and in Cologne.

New guide books bought: 4. On London, Prague, Croatia, and Paris.

Countries been to: 9. Well, nine if you count driving through Austria, where I used the bathroom at a rast stop and took a picture of a mountain. Which I consider very Austrian. Right?
 And if you also count driving through Italy where I had a very sophisticated conversation in Italian: Gas station girl “Prego?” – Me: “Cola Zero” – Gas station girl: “1,50 €” – Me: “Grazie”. Moreover, I could include Bavaria as a half own country — they are just so different from the rest of Germany and they even consider themselves to be an independent country. So this would make 9.5 countries this year.

New countries been to: 4. England, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia (and Austria?).

Friends crashed with: 4. With Sarah in London, Kathi in Munich, Caro in Augsburg, and Janina in Paris.

2012’s (Travel-Related) Life Lessons

Walking Tours are totally absolutely awesome and the best way to get to know a new city!

Sharing apartments with interesting people is one of the best things you could ever do! I learned so much about life, love, fishing, and delicious tempeh dishes thanks to my roommates this year!

Pub Crawls are not fun at all. On the next morning.

Europe offers an incredible variety of cheap transportation besides flying. I traveled to Lagos, Prague, and Paris by bus this year. I used a “hitch hiking” platform to go to Munich. Traveling can be cheap, more ecofriendly, and you definitely see more of a country by not flying!

Dry shampoo is the utmost smartest thing mankind invented. Ever.

If you know you can’t walk in those fancy shoes for more than three hours, you are probably not going to wear them. So why even drag them all the way to Paris in the first place?

2012 has been an exciting year. I met people from all over the world. I overcame tons of prejudices. I learned a lot about myself. I realized that writing is more of a passion than I ever thought it would be.

I can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store for me.
And I’m so looking forward to sharing it with you!