Between the Years

Decisions between everyday life and exception

This article was originally written in German and translated into English with the help of AI.

This time at the end of the year has always been fascinating to me.
The old year already feels finished, while the new one hasn’t really started yet.

I actually like this phase. As a notorious planner and control freak, it suits me quite well. Especially when there’s time and space (family is visiting the in-laws) to really nerd out again – doing a year-in-review, some (digital) decluttering, and planning the year ahead.

It probably also feels good because you can give in to the illusion that with just a few decisions, everything can be made better. Everyday life feels far away, the challenges of the past year are understood and seem to be behind you. I just write down my resolutions and wishes (including writing more regularly again), and suddenly nothing stands in the way of an outstanding new year.

Of course, I know that this is a bit too simplistic. Still, I’m convinced that the decisions and plans made during this time do have a significant impact on what the next year will actually look like.

Almost exactly a year ago, we had to decide whether to join the Traveling Village. Saying yes to that has shaped our lives ever since. From working groups and intro calls to taking part in this rather unusual journey with 15 families in campervans through Southern Europe. And that was only the first part. In January, it continues: 4.5 months in Asia with 20 families.

Already during the first “traveling village”, everything was there for us: social overload, amazing people, growth for every family member, long conversations around the campfire, lots of Spikeball games, and tears when saying goodbye. Six weeks of very intense community on the road. Once again, it became clear how much the question of an “ideal life in community” is still on my mind – whether we’re traveling or at home.

The biggest challenge last year was probably the lack of structure as a full-time family without a real everyday routine. We weren’t very good at setting time boundaries and creating space for ourselves as adult individuals outside of family life. That’s something we definitely want to do better in the coming year. More clarity – and with that, more time for us (as parents) to focus on our own projects and interests again.

It was an exciting and intense year. Many highlights, but also quite a few challenges. And the goal of this year-end reflection is to draw the right conclusions and start the new year with a solid foundation.

PS: This year, I tried doing a year-end review with ChatGPT for the first time. Here’s the template.
PS2: Our friend Vimal wrote a more detailed piece about the Traveling Village.