2008 was an unforgettable year for me. I jumped out of a perfectly good plane, dined with the chief of a Fijian village and appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

I danced the samba during carnival in Brazil, hiked on a glacier in New Zealand and parasailed in Argentina. I met people from all over the world. I crossed the international date line twice and the equator five times.

I cheered for Botafogo at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. I drank aguardiente, Fernet, caiprinhas and kava. I learned how drive on the left side of the road and where to find the Southern Cross in the Southern sky. I got paid to bake cookies and became a Lost Girl. I learned that a visa isn’t a credit card, it’s a major hassle. I got hooked on Vegemite, alfajores and ceviche. I read books by Leo Tolstoy, Jules Verne, Joseph Heller, Isabel Allende and Bill Bryson.

I found paradise. I waddled with penguins, fed kangaroos, held a koala and played with monkeys. I danced the tango, made empanadas from scratch and spoke Spanish with a distinctly Argentine accent. I waded into the Indian Ocean. I found myself in the middle of a major Islamic city at sundown while the faithful broke their Ramadan fast.

I declared my independence and leaned on my wonderful, amazing friends. I started running. I channeled Cameron Diaz for Halloween and filmed a vignette for the WE network. I dialed Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Nevada for Obama and helped win an election. I met a band named “God or Julie,” I was quoted in New York Magazine, and I was sketched on my way home to Brooklyn. I got a column and started a new blog. I turned thirty.

2009 may not be filled with as many exotic destinations, but I hope it’s just as exciting. I hope that when I look back on 2009, my list includes, “I found a job I love.” Maybe I’ll throw some trapeze lessons in for good measure.

Happy new year, everyone. May it be a happy one indeed.

Right now I am working as a waitress, single, and renting a room in a house in Brooklyn. My life isn’t exactly perfect, but I should cut myself some slack. Coming back from a year abroad involves two major stressors: finding a job and a place to live. I am doing all that while simultaneously dealing with the end of a five-year relationship. All things considered, I am doing OK, but this is not the life I want.

After several suffocating desk jobs and a year of traveling, I wasn’t ready to rejoin the corporate world, so I got a job at a restaurant. But now that I have been working evenings for the past six weeks, I see the flaw in my plan. I never see my friends, and I am lonely. This loneliness has been a greater motivation for me to get a different job than money or ambition. I’ve learned that settling for the first job that comes along can be the quickest path to misery, so I am going to be very selective about the employment I take, even in this economy. Ideally I would like to work as a producer for an entertainment or lifestyle website, or pay the bills by proofreading and doing a bit of freelance writing. Universe, this is what I want; now I could use some help.

I recently broke off my engagement, so now I am single by choice. When I got back to New York City after a year of traveling with my fiancé, I went on a few dates simply for the novelty of it. Consciously I knew that I should be single for a while, but subconsciously I was seeking the steady companionship of a long relationship. Eventually I realized that the rest of my life was in disarray, and that the energy I was using on dating needed to be shifted to finding a better job and spending more time with my friends. Someday I hope to find someone who is worth ending my dating hiatus.

I came back from my trip several thousand dollars in credit card debt, hence why I am renting a small room in a house. I miss having an apartment with a living room, but as long as this debt is hanging over my head, I can’t move. In the past I would have used the ostrich method of financial management: to bury my head in the sand. Now I am tracking my expenditures, opening all my financial statements and bills, and actually reading them. Last month I caught two errors that saved me almost $40. Every spare penny is going to pay off my debt.

December 10, 2009 will be a great day. I can see it already. I’ll be gainfully employed in a job that I love, happily single or not, surrounded by great friends, and free of credit card debt. It’s up to me to make it happen.