Recap of my 2023

I have to admit, I had a pretty good 2023! It wasn't perfect nor did I achieve everything I wanted, but I managed quite a lot of things I was happy with! To recap...

January-February 2023: I got fed up with UK winters and went searching for a sunny workation to go to last minute. My awesome client Claire Carpenter (a pioneer in the coworking industry) recommended Sun and Co. | Coliving Coworking Community in Javea, Spain, where I stayed for 2 weeks. However, this wasn't long enough - absolutely loved my time there and fell in love with the concept of colivings!

February-March 2023: Then I decided to continue workationing in Bali, Indonesia. I spent a week there at The Nomad Escape 's pop-up coliving in Canggu, which was an awesome structured programme of daily standups and goal setting as a small group, and then working on our thing for the rest of the day. This is where I decided to start a travel blog and I got lots of great tips. I also really enjoyed networking with people from The Nomad Escape community, having previously discovered them through their Nomad Island Fest in December 2022. I stayed a total of one month in Bali, also staying at Draper Startup House and meeting lots of other awesome digital nomads to network and socialise with.

March 2023: I had a lovely week-long holiday in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, with my husband. It's always great to switch off!

April 2023: Back to usual Scotland life, keeping busy with my VA business as always. At least the weather is getting a little warmer again!

May 2023: I launched my travel blog at the start of this month, aptly named Toks Travels. Then I decided last minute to go to Sun and Co. | Coliving Coworking Community 's pop-up coliving in the Basque Country, Northern Spain, where I had another fab time networking and socialising with like-minded remote workers from all over the world.

June 2023: Back to Scotland for a bit. Then my husband accompanied me to my awesome client ATOMIC 's ATOMICON business conference. At the end of this month, I had a week-long holiday in Algarve, Portugal, where I partied with new friends at Afro Nation Festival.

July 2023: I was at home in Scotland all this month, keeping busy with work as usual.

August 2023: After previously doing workations solo, decided to do one with my husband, staying at 4wanders Coliving Valencia & Corporate Events in Valencia for a month. We both had a great fun time there, though Valencia is boiling in August, so watch out! I also went to Ibiza for the first time one of these weekends, and had a fun time there!

September 2023: Mr Coyle and I continued our couple travels into Portugal, stopping over in Lisbon for a few days to discover this wonderful city for the first time. Shame our original flight got cancelled, as by the time we arrived, we were so tired the first couple of days. I was also still working, but we did get to see a bit though. We enjoyed Lisbon but definitely would have liked to do longer there. This same month, we flew to Madeira Island for me to take part in The Nomad Escape business retreat, which was brilliant! It's an intense experience that you have to take time off work to do, but it's so worth it - the amount of learning I did and networking with other like-minded business people. The following week, I then attended The Nomad Escape pop-up coliving in Madeira, which was similar to the one they held in Bali, and again - fabulous experience!

October 2023: Back home to the UK again where hubby and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary ??

November 2023: Of course, I wasn’t going to stay in Scotland for long! I heard about MINOMA - mindful nomads when I was at The Nomad Escape event in September, and after looking it up, I thought it looked intriguing and I decided to go to their festival in Morocco. MINOMA Festival is a mindful nomads festival held at a Morrocan desert glamping site, and I really enjoyed this experience! I also decided to spend two weeks in the coastal town of Tagazhout, staying at MINOMA’s pop-up coliving and then Teddy Pirate coliving space. This was my first time in Morocco and I really liked it, especially the chilled vibes in Tagazhout, the lovely people I met and getting some much-needed autumn/winter sun!

December 2023: On my way back home from Morocco, I visited family in London and also went to a couple of concerts of artists that I really liked. I then found myself back in Madeira for one week for Nomad Island Fest, which turned out to be the 5th event I've attended by The Nomad Escape - something about them, eh? That's where I also made my debut as a conference speaker, speaking on the stage about how to find and use great VAs. Then I went back to Scotland for Christmas and New Year with my husband. It’s nice being around familiarity, but I certainly don’t enjoy UK weather or grey skies, so of course I’ll be away again soon. Watch this space…

Summary

You’ll notice that the majority of my highlights have to do with travel. I think that says something. I’m glad I’ve decided to lean more into this passion of mine, rather than listen to people who think you need to stay all year in one place for some reason. I definitely get a lot out of going on all these trips, both professionally and personally. I think I value in-person connections slightly more than online connections, and I've particularly been craving very supportive communities, which I'm fortunate I'm managing to discover now.

I’m still of course working hard on improving my VA business where I can and servicing my clients with great service. I started working again with a VA coach/mentor, the fabulous Chloe Jessamy , to help me with this, as I know her expertise will benefit me far more than just doing it all by myself.

I’m so grateful I went down this path of remote working as it’s helping me fulfil my desired lifestyle. I’m also having fun writing the travel blog to document my voyages and eventually monetise it. I’m trying to just have more fun in life, which I believe I have been managing to do this year. If I’m enjoying life and having things to look forward to, I naturally do better at my work and relationships, so it’s a win-win! So I’m bringing this more positive, playful and adventurous mindset into 2024 and hoping to visit more destinations on my bucket list!

So tell me - what were your highlights of 2023? And what are you hoping for in 2024? :)

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