2015 was a tougher year than usual. Throughout I have learned the importance of surrounding myself with the people that love me for who I am, not who they want me to be. To allow them to help, instead of my usual refrain of refusing any assistance. To stay still when my body tells me that I can’t continue as I had planned. And to work on patience with myself, as well as others.
I’ve long dealt with anxiety and insomnia and both of those horsemen reared themselves mightily in 2015, at times in crippling ways. As I’ve mentioned, I will write more about each of them in the future. When I look at the photos of 2015 I think of the juxtaposition of beautiful scenery with private pain. Emerging from this exacting year, I am grateful for the suffering because of how much it taught me, and how it made me even more compassionate to others. The kind of tumult I was in was purely an internal one, and it doesn’t detract from my gratitude that I am able to live a life involving new places, delightful sights and meals like the ones below. It was always possible to find wonder in the world despite things being tough, because the world is full of wonderful things. It’s as simple as that. These fleeting moments of awe, strung together with acts of kindness, kept me afloat.
The photos below are a testament to the bright spots in a difficult year. Who knows what 2016 will bring, but as 2015 winds to a close I have learned more, dug deeper, and happily shared those lessons when friends have leaned on me.
2015 in photos, from January on
Vietnam
I started the year on the streets of Saigon, eating steamed clams with chili and lemongrass alongside friends. My appetizer? One of my favourite Saigon dishes, banh hoi.
I only spent a month in Vietnam in 2014 and it wasn’t nearly enough. I miss the chaos, the mismatched pyjamas, and the food daily.
New Zealand
From Saigon, I flew to New Zealand. I spent some time in New Zealand the year prior when I attended a wedding of one of my best friends. This time, I wanted to maximize my time in the country and see more than just the North Island.
I was welcomed in by Kiwi families around the country and able to sample their delicious fresh seafood, learn about cricket, take a sailing course, and loop around the coast on a stunning train ride from Picton to Wellington.
It may be far away from my family, but damn is New Zealand beautiful.
Portugal
I was invited to speak at the World Food Travel Summit outside of Lisbon in April, and it was an exciting opportunity as I had never before visited Portugal. It was love at first sight. From the many winding alleys to the obsession with food, to Madeira’s dizzying heights and cloud-soaked viewpoints, Portugal amazed me. I can’t wait to return for more.
- A Lisbon Welcome (being fed by the friendly neighbours in my temporary home)
- Fishing for socks in Lisbon (exactly what it sounds like).
- Recipe for marinated lupini beans
- History of chili peppers (Portugal is why they spread so rapidly, so I’m including it here.)
USA and Canada
During the summer months, I came back to North America as is the norm for me. A family wedding, a few weeks in New York, and then time in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.
- A guide to Vietnamese food in Ottawa
- A lesson in staying still (aka don’t fall down the stairs if you can help it)
- A recipe for green curry fried rice that I made for my family
And back to Asia: Thailand in the fall
- The story of the best smoothie cart in Chiang Mai, Mrs. Pa’s fruit shakes, four years after I originally wrote about her for CNN.
- Why travel blogging needs more storytelling, my keynote from TBEX Bangkok — and why I went to Thailand in the first place this fall!
And, at year end, Florida
What’s in store for 2016?
For now I’m spending holidays with part of my family in Florida. It turns out many of the people I ate with in Asia also have family here so I’ve been happy to reunite on North American soil. I’ll be here until mid-January and then I will be heading to Oaxaca, Mexico for a few months. It will be my first time exploring Mexico for more than a few days, and I am very much looking forward to the food.
More on 2016 as I plan, but expect many tacos and tamales in my Instagram photos.
Happy New Year and here’s to a balanced, healthy, and wonderful 2016 for each of you.
xo,
Jodi
Portugal has not ever been on my radar before but your photos are so amazing! I do hope you go back soon as I’d love to see more!
Thank you! It’s a truly beautiful country. I am sure I’ll return!
Beautiful pictures, Jodi. 2015 was a very challenging year for me, too. And just like you I found a lot of solace from travel and acts of kindness – not only from family and long-standing friends but strangers who quickly became friends.
Happy New Year in advance. Hoping for a better year this time around :-) Looking forward to reading about your travels in Mexico.
Thank you Andrea. I’m sorry to hear that it was a tough year for you also, but I am happy that the bright side included love from people that surround you. I keep thinking of that woman who tied my shoes in the pharmacy when I first fractured my rib; these small acts are part of what makes life worthwhile.
Happy new year to you, and I hope your 2016 is a better year than the last!
I am going to South East Asia next year – spending most of my time in Vietnam. I will be curious to try some of the dishes you recommend (will have to take notes with the names and they are impossible to remember for me). Not the snails though!!
Exciting that you are going to Mexico. I have a very dear friend who lives in Oaxaca with his partner and their child. He’s Italian (an old mate from university) and a foodie, so if you ever fancy some home made tagliatelle you can count on him, he’ll be happy to cook for you. Seriously, let me know if you would like to get in touch with him – he’s an incredible person. Oaxaca is a wonderful city, one of my favorites in Mexico. That part of the country, in general, is incredible. Lots of indigenous communities, traditions, and the most varied food in Mexico. Aside from tacos, to which I have an addiction, I recommend trying tlayudas, which are typical from the region. The best place is a bit out of Oaxaca and it is known locally as Tlayudas de San Jacinto, if I remember correctly. I have been a few times, taken there by my Mexican friends. I was the only foreigner. The menu is limited (tlayudas). But hey, when a place specializes on just one dish, you can rest assured that is simply great (and cheap!).
Happy travels!
Hi Claudia,
Thank you for the long comment. I’d love to get in touch with your friend. I’m at jodi-at-legalnomads.com if you don’t mind connecting us! I will definitely also try your tlayudas recommendation – can’t wait to sample some of the new dishes that I never had in my limited Mexican food options in Montreal.
Very happy to hear you’re heading to Vietnam. For Hanoi, see Sticky Rice’s blog – great recommendations for what to eat. Hope you love it as much as I did!
Have a happy 2016!
As always Thank you Jodi. All the best in the new year.
Thank you Bill, for reading and for sending articles you think I’ll enjoy. All the best for 2016.
NZ and Portugal look wonderful! And to be able to go to Portugal hopefully for free is even more wonderful! How long did you stay in Portugal for and how long would you recommend one stay in Portugal for?
I really loved Spain. Which would you say is better if you’ve been?
I think I’d have anxiety if I had to speak in front of tons of people too :) look forward to reading your thoughts on the subject.
Have a great 2016!
Sam
Thanks Sam! I personally love Portugal for a variety of reasons – I find the food lighter, and I like its simplicity of grilled fish and fresh veggies. I know Spain has this too, but it’s regional whereas I found this available throughout my Portugal travels. I also think that Spain EATS TOO LATE! I joked about this to people when they asked why I didn’t rent a place in Barcelona – “I get hungry at Saigon o’clock – 5pm”. I can hold out till 7 when Portuguese places opened up but to wait until later seems too much for my stomach to handle. Plus I like to go to bed feeling a bit hungry, not full.
To answer your other question, I spent 2 mos total in Portugal. I’d stay as long as you can ;)
Have a great time in 2016 too!
Gorgeous photos! I would love to frame the ones with the alpaca in New Zealand and the painted doorway in Funchal, absolutely beautiful!
Thank you Dominique! Happy new year to you!
This blog post interrupted two conversations behind me at work. Beautiful, eye-catching photography… The stories in those images outshine the adversities you mention. I think you had a great year!
Thank you Daniel! I’m glad you liked it. I mention the adversity for that reason: the scenery, the people, and the food were what won out ;) Happy new year and thank you for reading!
I have so enjoyed reading your blog since I found it about 2 years ago. We seem to enjoy so many of the same things about traveling and eating, and we’ve been to many of the same places! I’m really looking forward to seeing your perspective on Mexico – I’ve always wanted to go there for the food(!), but really didn’t like the little bit I have seen just south of the CA border and just haven’t had the opportunity to explore more yet.
Thank you Anita! I am glad you like what you’ve read. I am so looking forward to exploring Mexico and hope you enjoy the posts that arise out of those months there.
Wonderful images, Your photography is too good. “Art of Open Doors” Image is very beautiful and colorful, I like this image. I downloaded all the images for my desktop.
Thanks for sharing Jodi.
Happy New Year
Glad you liked the post, Robin!
There must be a term for the experience I have reading these very personal posts of yours but until I find it this approximation will have to suffice – Excruciatingly beautiful. I hope the effort you put into your publishing provides some release from the turmoil. But do you want to vanquish the horsemen or embrace them?
Thank you Randy. I always feel a bit nauseous when I post them, as I don’t want to seem like I’m complaining. But the reality is, this was my year. And I think it’s important to write about the good and also the bad, so as not to give a false indication of the life I lead. It’s true it’s a fortunate one but I’m still human!
I don’t think that vanquishing or embracing is the answer. Just accepting them. I have spent many years trying to twist away from them and that clearly does not work. Embracing them to me indicates a kind of enthusiasm. But a bit of detachment and acceptance might be the neutral path ;)
Wishing you all the best in 2016 and thank you, as always, for your thoughtful comments.
“The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”-Camus.
You think Sisyphus liked soup?
Hah, a complicated question. Sisyphus becomes more tragic when we assume he had lucidity about his torture, which brings us back to the ‘ignorance is bliss’ question. But it’s like boiling an egg, at least the way I see it: if you’ve stirred in your awareness of the meta-struggle, then at a minimum the smaller struggles can’t be unseen.
Without a love a soup he was merely a mortal? ;)
A friend pointed out that if Sisyphus liked soup he would just receive a bowl that refilled forever and he had to finish it, so he ate himself to death repeatedly.
The struggle filled his heart not his bowl :) Bon Appetit.
Happy new year Jodi! I hope 2016 has many good things ahead after the challenges you faced in 2015. I left the travel blogging world awhile ago (probably not too long after our paths crossed in Brighton in 2013), but yours is a site I always enjoy visiting and learning from. Happy to see you got to spend more time in New Zealand (one of my favorite countries) and Portugal (one I’ve longed to visit). I have the chance to go to Madeira later in the year, so I would love to read your thoughts/recommendations if you decided to do a post about them. Definitely looking forward to your tacos and tamale updates from Oaxaca.
All the best.
Thank you Rachel! I’m happy to hear from you! For Madeira, if you don’t see a post by the time you go please write me as i’ve got an Evernote of suggestions I can email your way.
Have a wonderful year!
You had a incredible year I wish you the best for 2016
Beautiful photos, it looks like you had a wonderful year. Enjoy the holiday period with your family in Florida, I can’t wait to hear about your upcoming adventures. Happy new year!
What a year lady! You had some beautiful travels this year and I am so happy I was able to see you at points throughout the year. The turmoil is something I think that is inherent to life, not just travel, so it’s a brave and important thing for you to share that even though you have amazing travels, you are also navigating those ups and downs too. Inspiring, raw and honest, thanks for sharing your year. :)
Thank you Shannon! It was great to regroup so much in person this year, and glad we’re doing so in the coming months in Oaxaca too!
Happy 2016, Jodi! I’m so looking forward to reading about your time in Oaxaca, a city I’ve longed to visit for a bit now. You have a very positive outlook on the past year, even though it seemed to be a trying year for you. Hope this year brings you happiness, adventure, and lots of delicious food.
Thank you Caroline! I never thought of myself as a positive person, nor a negative one. I just tried to live my life. But this year’s challenges were important because they forced me to start reading about neuroscience and neuroplasticity, and that the mindset we choose is also quite important in affecting the net results. Not in a ‘power of attraction’ way, just that the neural pathways our brain is used to are the ones it goes to first. If that’s negativity, then that’s where your mind will go. I think it’s empowering to think of how cognitively we really can re-wire our brains to some extent, and part of that for me was not to dwell on the negative and try to see challenges as suffering that bore me fruit in the form of lessons learned.
I wish you all the best for 2016 as well!
Jodi,
Your photos are beautiful from all over the world. But the one that tugs at my heart is that final summary photo from Florida. It’s so homey to me to see that and it really sums up the area as best you can in one photo.
Here’s to a great 2016!
Thank you Erin! I hope you have a great year also, and that it is full of great meals shared with people you love.
Happy New Year Jodi!
I’ve very much enjoyed reading your posts and salivating over your wonderful photographs. It was a pleasure meeting you last year and I wish you great health, fantastic travels and more delicious soup!
Thank you Victoria!! Great to meet you in person and hope you also have a wonderful 2016!
Amazing photos indeed! You have a very good eye in capturing life. :)
Absolutely beautiful photos! Wishing you all the best in 2016!
You too Kate!
Such a beautiful round-up, both written and visually. Looking forward to following your adventures in 2016!
Thank you Julia!
Great pictures indeed. you are really inspiring. go with your passion. looking forward to read your Mexico experience .
Thank you! I’m excited to eat :-)
Jodi, thank you for sharing your highs and lows during this past year as I can relate. We spent most of last year in Chiang Mai, as our first slow travel destination during early retirement, and I also dealt with issues of anxiety and depression that I had never experienced to this degree before. Mine were mainly due to the huge adjustment of not only culture shock but no longer working as a teacher. It was a jolting wake up call and I had to re-evaluate how to best take care of myself if I wanted to continue a life of travel. It’s been up and down, but mostly up, as I choose to remain grateful (like you). Sharing your story really helps.
All great photos, but I really like the alpaca photo. I hope you have a great 2016.
I envy your photo with the hobbit house. I’ve only seen them on the movie but living it would be awesome! I hope I can enter it just like what you did. :D
Love all these photos, but especially the yummy food pictures—I’m going to Vietnam and Thailand for the first time this year and I can’t wait to sample the curry and bahn hoi!
Any plans to take a cooking class while you’re in Mexico? I’ve been trying out making my own corn tortillas at home with mixed success (as an American living in Copenhagen, I really miss tacos!). I’d love to read some taco-making tips if you learn any :) Looking forward to following your culinary adventures there!
I am sure I will! If I do I will write about them for sure.
One of the best personal photo galeries i’ve seen recently. Realistic pictures without extreme contrast and nice story behind them.
It seems that you had a great year. I must say that you are very good at photography; the pictures are so lively, especially the Queenstown one. One of the best travel gallery I ever came across. Exploring places is my passion and New Zealand is certainly my next vacation destination after reading this blog!
Wow, beautiful pictures of the different places you’ve visited. Especially Portugal looks gorgeous! Enjoy Mexico in the new year.
Hi Jodi,
Love everything about legalnomads, especially the very detailed page on Vietnamese street food (What a fun read!). I was born in Saigon and raised in Melbourne, AU. I try to drop by my motherland at least once a year. Hope to bump into you someday over there! Cheers. xo
Thank you Meg! It would be great to share a meal in Saigon. I am glad you’ve enjoyed the site (and my odes to Vietnam). xo, Jodi
Love the blog! You’re an inspiration!
Gawking at the photographs! My favourite is the Alpaca from Akaroa. What a wonderful year 2015 was for you. I had a fabulous 2015 too. Wish you more happy travels :)
Namaste
Thank you Shubham! They are delightfully cute!
Your blog is fantastic and a constant place I come back to as I prepare to leave to travel this Summer. You take beautiful photos, my favourite of course being the alpaca! Can I ask what camera you use?
Thanks Tamara! Camera is an Olympus EP-3 with pancake lens. I’ve got the full info on my World Travel Resources page – http://www.legalnomads.com/wds. Thanks for reading!
These days I read a lot of travel blogs written by women and yours is one of them. I saw you were in Portugal last year. We can’t wait to go there. Our trip is planned for next year.
So glad you are back