So 2017 came to an end and the stroke of midnight last night. I was dozing in bed but heard the fireworks. And in the morning light of a new year, it is time to take stock, look back at what was achieved and gaze forward to a new year.

The big thing for me was getting back in to running. After the 2016 marathon where I came out of it a bit broken, I thought that was my running career over. But a bit of physio, some stretching and a lot of patience I’ve got back and in some ways come back stronger with a  personal 10Km best of 44m 18s. I’m looking forward to getting back to 1/2 marathon distance and basically enjoying the exercise.

As seems to be a common theme over the past few years, I didn’t get as much travelling done as I wanted to but did get away for some nice breaks. The summer holiday (part 1 & part 2) was rather good with the Pink Floyd exhibition at the V&A a highlight.

In May there was the chance to boogie the night away in Blackpool. This also showed a way forward where an overnight stay is a perfectly possible, even with a 3 hour drive. I’m hopeful to get back to Blackpool for one of the salsa events in 2018.

Some hillwalking was done but not as much as I had hoped. It seemed like every time I planned to go, the weather did not co-operate. But since we can take each setback as a learning experience, the plan for next year is to keep the van loaded and be able to take off for an overnight at short notice. There’s plenty of hills to climb and lots of campsites close by for an overnight.

2017 was a year of exploring philosophy as well. I found Stoic Philosophy and was intreiged by its promise of a more robust life. I read much on it and considered taking that step to follow it fully. 2018 will be the year I step fully onto the path and try to live the philosophy as much as possible.

So to any reading this. All the best for 2018 and this time next year we’ll see how we did.