What a year it’s been! If you were to tell me in 2023 what my 2024 would look like, I wouldn’t believe it. I never would have thought my life would lead me to where I am right at this moment. The year started out rough, but I married the love of my life, I’ve been to places I never thought I’d see, and I’m in the process of moving to a different country. What!?!
Winter
I spent the first few days of 2024 in Germany at my husband’s old apartment in Bayreuth. We were both getting over Covid and planning our wedding events for January and February. When we got back to Philly, I was so stressed out. It was not only stressful because of the planning, but work really took a lot out of me. I decided to leave my job only a few weeks before we married in February. I’m glad I did because I was able to fully enjoy my wedding planning, my wedding day in Philly, and our March wedding party in Germany.
Frühling
I spent most of the spring in Germany, starting my healing process. I struggled to be a person. Seb did everything for me, and I couldn’t make decisions. I didn’t realize how badly I burnt myself out. I was having trouble exercising and had to scale everything back significantly. I felt so weak, and my body did not feel like mine; I could hardly run or climb. I found little joy in both things, but I knew movement was important, so I’d walk and lift light weights.
Since I wasn’t working, my husband and I had to have a serious conversation about where to live. We originally planned for him to move to the US, but that wasn’t feasible with my lack of salary, and I also didn’t want to live in his apartment. I felt like a guest there as he already had his own way of living. Also, the city of Bayreuth didn’t feel like I belonged there. It was filled with older people who had lived there for a long time and young people going to university there. There also didn’t seem like much of an English-speaking community and definitely not many black people our age.
We made a list of places to move and considered the environment, weather, and community. One place that was on our list was Portugal. We booked a trip there to get a feel for it, and honestly, we love it there; the weather was lovely, and the community seemed great, but we realized a few things. We didn’t want to be too far from both our families as we considered, one day, having children of our own. We looked at numerous homes and apartments, but I didn’t love anything we saw. There was more to consider. What did we want out of our living space?
We put it on hold because at least we had the apartment in Bayreuth. We didn’t have to move immediately.
The spring was also the start of the wild travel year for me. We visited Porto, Prague, and went on our honeymoon in Greece, starting in Athens and heading to Crete. The one thing I may regret from 2024 is that our honeymoon wasn’t longer. We planned it while I was still working, and I wish we had taken an extra day or two at our resort in Crete.
Sommer
Summer started in the US. I made a point to visit literally all of my close friends. I went to my favorite beach in Asbury Park a few times, and most weekends included a day with the family. We celebrated my dad’s 65th seeing the Michael Jackson musical, and it was such a good day.
My husband and I also decided to move to or around Munich, so we started searching for a new home. This was so hard to do. So many people turned us down, but eventually, we lucked out. We really liked two houses, but we needed Seb’s parents to visit the homes for us since we were in the US. I remember us sitting in my bed at 7:00 am ET doing the video calls with his parents as they did the physical walk-throughs for us. In the end, they told us which one they liked more, and we hopped on it. Not seeing the house in person was such a funny experience, but I trusted my “Schwiegereltern”. Move-in was September 1st.
When we got back to Germany in August, we started to regret the summer we had already planned by adding a move to it, although we had so much fun. We went to Sicily for a wedding and Mallorca for a birthday celebration. Siciliy was not my favorite place, but we’ll be visiting Mallorca often in the future.
After our fun travel, we had to focus on packing. Seb’s family and friends helped us clean, paint, and move into the place. On August 31st/ September 1st we moved in, and we made this house a home pretty quickly.
Herbst
Autumn started wrong because I returned to the US without my husband. We were separated for about 3 weeks. In that time, however, I did travel to London with my mother and two aunts to visit family, including my great-aunt, who is in her mid-90s. I got to know my aunts a little bit better, I learned more about my family, and it’s always nice to see the British fam. I was eager to return to the US since Seb would arrive the day after we landed.
November was a blur. We celebrated my brother’s 40th birthday, and I climbed indoors and outdoors, started attempting shorter but faster runs, and cheered on friends at the Philly Half Marathon. Then, it was Thanksgiving, my birthday, and it was time to pack and head back to Germany, where I’d spend the first two weeks in an intensive language course for beginners.
Thoughts
Here I am sitting and writing this during the “in-between” in my lovely home, with Tobias by my feet as I reflect on the challenges, decisions, and glimmers of 2024. This year was adventurous and exciting. I did more traveling this year than I’ve probably done my entire life. I’ve made so many memories and new traditions with my husband. I’ve met some pretty cool people and become friends with women who consistently root for me. I’ve started writing more; I even wrote a few short stories, one of which I’m considering expanding on. I think I’m at a point where I feel ready to do a little bit more
Although I loved this year, it was also a lot. I love the way my life looks right now as I settle into my new home, and I’m hoping for a more sustainable 2025.
.sending love.
Dani
All of Her Things 
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