What a month and a half of being settled down has taught me: That I am not ready to settle down. Not now. Perhaps, not ever. Perhaps I truly am the perpetual traveler that I claim to be.

And this phase in our life, may simply be a ridiculously long pit stop.

We began our search for a house to rent once I returned to Australia from a backpacking trip in Europe (and the hubby and our daughter from a quick visit to the Philippines). After picking up our car — which contained half of our life’s belongings (the other half in a storage shed in Brisbane) — from a friend’s house in Sydney, we drove up to a beachside town north of New South Wales which we’ve always dreamed of calling home since we first laid our eyes upon it. It took us two weeks just to find a temporary self-contained studio (which has a beach at its doorstep!) we’re hiring for a month, and just last week, we finally got a call from a real estate agent who delivered the good news that we’ve been accepted to rent a house for half a year. An abode that’s a minute-stroll from yet another picturesque Aussie beach.

Someone once said, “Set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”, and this certainly looks like it must be it. But you see, I’m too drawn to the thrill of escaping. To the unknown perils of being in a foreign land. To an everyday life that contains more random than routine.

I will embrace routine, however, for our daughter. To introduce her to normalcy. To educate her about the kind of lifestyle in which she gets to own things and make/keep friends, and have her own space/room. And then someday, we (her opinion will strongly be considered) all get to decide if/when we’d like to decamp and move again.

Here’s 2015, our last year of living on the road.

1. Australia

Second quarter of 2015, I joined fellow travel bloggers Rain of WordsAndWanderlust.com and Ron of FlipTravels.com in a Tasmania trip. We ate, gossiped, drank, ate, gossiped, drank. Oh. We also trekked in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.

In the second quarter, my little tribe inhabited a beachside apartment along Surfers Paradise’s The Esplanade for three months. All of three months I watched, through the window, topless Aussie men workout across the street as I cooked breakie clad in SPF 50 sunscreen and active wear.

2. Philippines

Dawn of 2015 found me teetering on sand in me heels at a beach wedding reception. I had never met the couple before their big day but I went because… Beach! The bride’s fellow travel blogger Ron’s sister. A couple of days after, I hiked Mt. Pinatubo for the second time with a 6’4″ English, green-eyed giant I met seven years back in Batad.

3. Singapore

After countless Singapore visits, was finally able to take our daughter Luna to Universal Studios. Where I was dragged by my group into a theater to face one of my biggest fears… Damn Shrek!

4. India

A 13-hour layover in Mumbai (Singapore-Kenya journey) gave us the opportunity to see the Gateway of India and historic railway station Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, stuff ourselves with loads of Indian food, and shop for a questionable amount of harem pants.

5. Kenya

Nairobi National Park, Diani Beach, Fort Jesus, Hell’s Gate National Park, Ethiopian food. The highlight of Kenya though was meeting the amazing woman behind Wander-If-You-Must.com, humanitarian worker/travel blogger, Reiza and her equally awesome/inspiring group of African friends. Same thoughtful people who organized a birthday party for the hubby.

6. Tanzania

Zanzibar

Old Boma Museum, safari in Ngorongoro National Park (where we were attacked by a bull elephant) and Serengeti National Park (where we glamped in a camp infested by tsetse flies afternoons), Masaai camps, slave trading port Bagamoyo, and Zanzibar. In a nutshell: Expensive.

7. United States of America

Revisited Hawaii (more than visiting the beaches, I binged on Filipino food after three months of being away from home), breezed through Miami (no thanks to a canceled flight), wandered the streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter (Louisiana greeted us with news of the Lafayette mass shooting), and took selfies in front of a huge “like” icon at Facebook’s headquarters in California (don’t ask).

8. Puerto Rico

Fort San Cristóbal, Fort San Felipe del Morro, Old San Juan’s brightly hued buildings, graffiti-embellished Santurce, El Yunque Forest, Arecibo Observatory, and Vieques Island. One of my most fave places on Earth is in Puerto Rico. Bioluminescent Bay, where we kayaked amidst bioluminescent plankton. Miniscule, glowing Dinoflagellates in the water like millions of stars in the sky.

9. Jamaica

Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, the ol’ government yard in Trenchtown (where we met the grandson of The Godfather of Rock Steady Alston Ellis), 7-mile beach in Negril, Reggae Fest in Montego Bay, and Winnifred Beach in Port Antonio. And jerk chicken. Too much jerk chicken. What? What do you mean, “Did you smoke…”? *smirk*

10. Curacao

Historic center of Willemstad, Kura Hulanda Museum, Kenepa Grandi Beach, Playa Porto Mari, and Shete Boka National Park. Papiamento’s one of the most interesting languages I’ve ever heard. It’s a mix of Portuguese and African and some Dutch. Curaçaoans greet with “bon dia” and say “danki” as thanks.

11. France

Sacre Coeur and Montmartre’s artists’ square, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Musée Du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Nice’s Old Town (Vieille Ville), and St. Paul De Vence Village. Second time in Paris, and this time without the tears (don’t ask). Second time in Paris and still didn’t get to see The Catacombs.

12. Spain

Gothic Quarter, Van Gogh Museum, Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, a flamenco performance at Palau de la Musica Catalana, and paella for every meal. And oh, handsome Spanish men. Too many handsome Spanish men. Plus a kilo of varied canned Spanish sardines I took home.

13. United Kingdom

Plays (Miss Saigon and The Curious Incident of The Dog In the Night-Time) at London’s West End, Tower of London, Borough Market, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour, Stonehenge, Arundel Castle, Brighton, Bath. Also, we slept in Hever Castle for Ron and the English, green-eyed giant’s birthdays!

Whew! And this, my folks is the end of our life as nomads. Or maybe the end of a chapter of it *wink*.