I can’t believe that we have completed our THIRD year of the Wish You Were Here Project – this project has become so dear to my heart. The group of ladies who contribute to it from around the world are wonderful and we share the weekly ins and outs of our lives – the ups and downs, good and bad, near and far. We’ve seen births and deaths and travels and international moves and 2016 has been no different.

For me personally it makes for a record, of our daily goings on in our rather inconsistent life. My family travels frequently, and yet strives to soak up the down time at home here in Abu Dhabi too. So we have this roller coaster mix of breathtaking locations and regular, every day stuff and I kind of love that – it’s accurate, it’s real, it’s not about perfection but it celebrates everything.

2016 was an up and down year for so many people.  It saw us start the year with a big up, climbing Sigiriya in Sri Lanka, and once back home we settled into Abu Dhabi life.  The spring holiday took us to India on a Mums and kids trip with 2 dear fellow members of my our WYWH group, Rowe and Deb. We took a summer rail trip from Hong Kong to England, which just can’t adequately be summed up in the 10 photos that were shared weekly (but you can see some of our route over HERE) and then we had our local explorations, up to the mountains, out to the desert, beach and around town before a Christmas trip to England and Ireland… I am so honoured that one of my WHWH images of our beautiful Abu Dhabi desert in the spring went on to win an award, and that some of the images from the early part of the year featured in the e-book and course that I poured my heart, soul and some of the hardest work of my life into (thankfully to beautiful reviews :D). I shared emotions and light and love, and pensive thoughts and reflections through the beauty of this project. There is so much more that happened in 365 days, but everything that these 52 photos capture becomes like a smooth breeze through the year for me, with small gusts, and lulls and an underlying feeling of simple contentment….

It may have been a mixed year, but I’ve loved this chance to look back on it and all the crazy beautiful moments that nestled in both the ordinary and extraordinary that happened, and I can’t wait to see what 2017 holds.

Happy New Year, much love, Kirsty xx