For the 2023 holidays, I didn’t have anything planned, but I aimed to enjoy and have as much fun as possible with my chosen family. The holiday didn’t fully kick off until the end of the work year, around the 15th of December. I took to the streets of Lagos with my friends, engaging in various activities from dinners to house parties to concerts.However, my plans to fully enjoy the holidays were interrupted when I lost someone very close to me. This led to spending Christmas and the rest of the year at home, though still with my chosen family. As the year concluded, I fin

ally ventured out to a friend’s house to spend the crossover night with them and others. The night was filled with memories, food, and good music, so enjoyable that I didn’t return home until the evening of the next day. After being cooped up at home, spending a day outside helped clear my mind, and I began integrating myself back into society. I resumed going out, starting with a solo date, and early into the new year, I decided to take a trip to Cotonou.

My trip to Cotonou became the highlight of my holiday, marking my first time going out of the country, and I was accompanied by a loved one. We traveled to Cotonou and back via boat, docking at Porto Novo on the way there, then taking a bus ride to Cotonou. The bus ride provided an immersive experience due to the drastic difference in architecture and way of life of the indigenous people of Cotonou. Navigating a new place where only a few spoke Yoruba or English, and the majority spoke French, was an awakening experience for me. My favorite part of the trip was observing how they predominantly built their houses in European style with garages and all, and their well-maintained roads. However, their food didn’t appeal to me as much.

A constant reminder and lesson from this entire holiday experience was to cherish every moment I have left on this earth with the people I love, recognizing that we have all the time in the world while still not having all the time in the world. So, cheers to making the most of the opportunities we have to spend with our loved and chosen family.