A Christmas letter to all 3 of my dear readers:

Tis the season to catch up and check in! (And drink too much Salted Caramel Bailey’s because wow, have you tried that sh!t?)

I have been busy since my last post and just in general over the past few months but I have lots of fun stuff planned for Letters To Rayelle. And by fun stuff, I basically mean I have lots to share about my life and if you are able to put up with my sophisticated brand of snark meets anxiety, then please join me in the new year and let’s continue this fun little internet experience, shall we?

To get you all up to speed, I’m going to recap my life slightly here:

AUGUST:

I quit my job in London, threw out lots of basic bitch Gap clothes, unread magazines and a cupboard full of dried herbs (no, really) and ran away set off for Paris on a rainy, grey Tuesday afternoon. The plan was to stay for a week.

SEPTEMBER:

I quickly realized a stay in Paris may end up lasting slightly longer than a week and tried to come to terms with this. Change is good! they said. Yolo!  they said. September included warm days, cheek kissing, the end of “normal” sized coffee and then at the end of that blissful month, a trip to Belgium and Czech Republic. Those two trips alone require 7 blog posts just to talk about the french fries, waffles and beer.

OCTOBER:

Ah, October. My favorite month of all. October was a celebration of sorts. I celebrated long runs kicking up gold leaves. I picked apples and radishes and leeks on a farm outside of Paris, all while wearing a dress and wedges. I celebrated my 30th birthday and cried embraced all the wisdom that comes along with entering a new decade of life. I also climbed the Eiffel Tower, went to Disneyland, threw my very first holiday meal ever –a Canadian Thanksgiving in Paris, no less– and then I taught pumpkin carving lessons to the French.

As if October couldn’t get any more splendid, I ended the month with a trip to Poland, Norway and Finland.

NOVEMBER:

I wrapped up my travels in Finland and flew back to France. November began in the stressful way that spending lots of money on a trip creates. But, oh the memories. Plus, I like to consider it all research for my blog.

*I’d like to pause here and thank my boyfriend for never correcting me and just going along with it anytime I do something for the blog. He’s now super good at asking, “Can I eat this now or do you need to take a picture?” And my favorite is, “There’s a brick wall over there. You want me to take your picture in front of it, don’t you?” Good boy.*

Paris in November ended with chaos and craziness, which I wrote about here. It changed the way I felt about being in Paris a lot more than I realized at the time. I’m probably still working through some of those feelings, to be honest, but as soon as I switched gears and began planning a trip back home to Canada for a visit, well, let me just say that I never ever thought I would be so excited to head home.

DECEMBER:

I flew to Canada on the first day of December. I also got detained by Swiss Immigration in Zurich on the first day of December. I got issued a nice fine by the lovely people of Switzerland on the 10th of December. I will never eat a piece of Swiss chocolate again. Fondue? Ha! Keep your dirty old cheese. But can I mention how lovely Canada is after you’ve been away for over a year? The water is so clean! The bread is so fluffy! The people are SO SORRY. Truly, I finally, at 30 years old, appreciate where I come from. So that’s something.

On the 15th of December, I found myself back in lovely old London, on my own while my boyfriend flew back to Paris for the holidays. Apparently, over the course of my travels in Europe while collecting data for my blog I managed to overstay my welcome in the EU by a few days. (If you need Schengen zone advice, come at me!)

Needless to say, life has been the very BEST kind of whirlwind for me the past few months. I have travelled to 6 countries, made a life in one of them, picked up some super fun writing opportunities and accomplished some major life goals.

I’ve also fallen in love with a new family who have completely embraced me while I am far from my own, drank more alcohol than should even be possible because FRANCE and run away, literally, from a Finnish sauna.

I am in London on my own over Christmas so I will be too busy crying to post any “London At Christmas!” blog posts but I am so super excited for the New Year and for all the new adventures I plan on creating. Please bear with me while I write, create, explore and share!

And if you have stuck with me for this long while I figure out my life and then document it for you all, then please have the happiest and merriest of Christmases! Drink all of the egg nog. Drink all of the Bailey’s. Then mix them together and drink them all again.

From Letters To Rayelle to YOU, in your tiny little town or your big sparkling city, while you read this on your phone while at work or your laptop after you settle in bed with a warm mug in your hand. Thank you for reading, for commenting, for liking and favoriting and for reaching out in all your little ways. Seriously. Merry Christmas!