My Luv Letter to 2025

Dear 2025,

You know those quotes that say “if January me could see December me, she’d be shocked”?Well, January me would probably have needed a straight trip to the IC, because this year turned out very different from how it started.

I began 2025 on safari in Namibia with my family, somewhere between giraffes, dusty roads, and the stress of finishing my thesis. I was constantly asking myself the same questions: What now? Do I travel? Do I work? Do I start a Master’s? Do I move somewhere completely new?

By February, I found out I had graduated, and in a slightly chaotic but very on-brand moment, I planned almost my entire year in two days. I booked a three-week volunteering trip to Africa for April, applied for my Master’s in Monaco, planned a trip to Ibiza with a friend, and made sure I had something to look forward to every month. At the time, it felt like filling space rather than building anything meaningful.

Turns out, travelling has a funny way of doing the work for you anyway.

As you may have read over the past year, 2025 didn’t exactly stand still. My passport filled up quickly, and so did my camera roll. From Botswana to Britain, from safari cars to Formula 1 cars, from night-time partying to night-time photography, this year was a constant shift of landscapes and rhythms. One moment, I was waking to dust and wildlife; the next, to grandstands and city noise. It was fast, full, and a little chaotic in the best way.

After months of movement, I had to stay put for my Master's in the south of France. But there are far worse places to call home during the winter months.

Living in Monaco (and calling it winter)

For the past four months, I’ve been living by myself in the South of France, studying Luxury Management at IUM. And honestly? Winter here has been nothing like I expected.

As I already wrote in The Monégasque Indian Summer, the weather has been kind, the days bright, and the city full of life. We’ve wandered through Christmas markets, visited the fair, and even found ourselves at classical orchestra performances with the IUM art society (which feels very Monaco-core).

One of the biggest gifts of this place has been the people. I somehow found four ride-or-die girls from four completely different corners of the world: Estonia, Bulgaria, the US, and South Africa (a coincidence I refuse to believe is accidental). We’ve only known each other a few months, but it already feels like the kind of friendship that will survive countries, time zones, and very different life phases.

My mom and the puppy visiting me helped with the November blues. Suddenly, the apartment felt alive again, instead of just me walking around wrapped in my little blanket. And I’ve loved the casual, unplanned evenings with friends: poker nights, testing my (maybe-soon-to-be-released) question card deck, hosting a Secret Santa dinner, and staying up far too late for people who all have class the next morning.

November has never really been my month. The past two years, something always seemed to happen: getting very sick, difficult people crossing my path, or this year… one wrong night out. Even so, I don’t think November would’ve been easier if I’d stayed in the Netherlands. It’s something I’m slowly learning to accept rather than fight. A small note to future-me: maybe next year, block out November entirely and only resurface for the final week; conveniently timed with my best friends’ birthdays.

2025, a crazy year...

Roads, conversations, and movement

One thing that kept repeating itself this year, no matter where I was, was road conversations. It didn’t matter if the road was in South Africa, in Ibiza, in England, or in the South of France, or whether I’d known the person next to me for years or just hours.

There’s something about staring at the road instead of each other that makes conversations either very vulnerable or completely unhinged, usually depending on sleep deprivation. There is no in-between. And somehow, some of the most memorable moments of this year happened in moving cars.

In front of the Red Bull Racing HQ

All rain ready before Silverstone GP

Moving (again) bike and all in the car

Silence, nature, and returning

If there’s one pattern I keep chasing through travel, it’s silence and nature. And while the daily sea views in Monaco definitely help, it’s not the same as being somewhere where you don’t hear another car for hours.

That’s probably why returning to the Munywana this year changed the direction of everything. Going back didn’t feel like another trip; it felt like confirmation. Somewhere between the hills, the quiet drives, and the absence of anything man-made, I realised that if I ever wanted to live there, the question wasn’t why, but when.

February will already take me back to South Africa with my family, to Phinda, and to Johannesburg, where I’ll get a first real sense of what a future there could look like, both personally and professionally.

View from the Silversea cruiseship in Monaco

Airports, always

I’ve also realised something else: I genuinely love airports. Even just picking up friends and family at Nice airport feels special. Airports always remind me of that Love Actually scene at Heathrow Airport, with Hugh Grant saying “love actually is all around” (and of course my favourite Beach Boys song).

Cheesy? Absolutely.

True? Always.

Because airports mean you’re either going somewhere you love, returning to the people you love, or have that faint excitement of the unknown love. And honestly, Hugh Grant has never lied.

Thank you, 2025.

This year has been full of movement across countries, friendships, seasons, and ideas of home. I don’t think I could pick a single highlight even if I tried. What I do know is that 2025 reminded me why I travel in the first place: for connection, for contrast, for silence, and for stories that slowly shape who you become. And it all started with this (silly) blog because my friends and family kept on nagging me about our stories from Namibia, who would have known I would write 15 stories in 12 months... so thank you to everyone who takes time out of their day to read my silly stories <3.

Thank you, 2025, for everything and the people you have thrown my way.

And 2026, I can't wait to see what you will throw my way now...

Spread the Luv,

Isabella

P.S. My 2025 Travel Wrapped

Soundtrack of the Year

• Most listened to artist in the bush: Empire of the Sun.

• Song that always reminds me of Africa: Canyon Moon (thanks to Kat, who reminded me how good Harry Styles’ songs actually are).

• Best artist for being alone in the south of France: Olivia Dean, especially Baby Steps, which hit home every time.

• Song I accidentally overplayed this year: So Easy by Olivia Dean.

• Most unexpected song to hear (and secretly love): Horse Outside by The Rubberbandits (thanks to Laura-May, whom I met at Phinda ;)).

• Most-used lyrics in class: Ma Tnsani by Vanco (thanks to Olivia).

Through My Lens

• Best photo moment: Any moment on safari is a good one; however, Silverstone made it extra fun. It was so hard to get the shot that finally capturing the Ferraris and McLarens felt even better.

• Best photo of the year: My sleepy lion photo, no competition.

  

• Best worst photo: An attempted astrophotography shot in Kruger that was accidentally ruined when someone flashed straight into my camera. The result? A flare that made it look almost alien-like.

• Photo I didn’t take but wish I had: A cheetah jumping into a tree at Phinda. I was too focused on listening to our monitor, a photo that will forever live only in my head.

Places & Movement

• Most visited country: France; first Paris in March, then back and forth from August onwards.

• Most unexpected destination: KwaZulu-Natal.

• The place that surprised me the most: Ibiza. I had been there before, but experiencing it with a friend and leaning more into the party side of the island made it feel completely different.

• The place I can’t wait to return to: Munywana Conservancy.

• The place that felt most like home (even briefly): My new place in Roquebrune, which is slowly starting to feel like home.

On the Road

• Best road conversation: Honestly, any drive with my mom. Whether it was between Amsterdam and home, on the way to Paris, or driving to the Côte d’Azur this summer

• Longest drive: The drive from the Munywana Conservancy to Johannesburg; over eight hours on the road with not five minutes of silence. Chaotic, but such a fun trip

• Best drive for scenery: England’s countryside with its big houses, or any coastal drive here in the south of France.

• Best drive for unhinged conversations: Quite literally every drive in England during the Silverstone weekend. I couldn’t tell you what we talked about, but I know it was unhinged.

Food & Drink (the important things)

• Best dish I ate after Botswana’s more… adventurous meals: The major shrimp dish at the hotel, very much needed.

• Best overall meal of 2025: The tomato tart at LouLou Pirate.

• Best comfort food while travelling: Pasta is always the right answer.

• Best cocktail of the year: LouLou Pirate’s basil gin cocktail (again).

• Best wine moment: Spier Chenin Blanc, always a favourite, especially during my “sommelier” classes at Phinda.

Sleep & Stay

• Best hotel experience worldwide of the year: I didn’t stay in many hotels this year, but the château near Lyon, Hôtel de Bagnols,  was definitely a highlight.

• Best “wow, this is actually my life” accommodation moment: Being back at the Johannesburg airport hotel after only eight weeks apart.

• Worst night’s sleep (but worth it): Sleeping on the floor in Kruger without a tent; terrible sleep, incredible experience under the stars.

2025, According to Me

• One word to describe this year: Abundant (in love, in memories, in connections)

• One thing 2025 taught me about travel: Patience

• One thing I want to take into 2026: Confidence