The last 3 years have been terrible 😭😭 I need a break!

Let's face it: life barely goes like we had imagined or hoped. It is the ability to adjust that makes all the difference, even making life worthwhile. What if things don't go your way 3 years in a row?

That's the story of my life.

I love the holidays but they do not love me back 😭😭. This is true for New Year's Eve. This is one of the most important days in my life. Maybe that's the problem?

Anyway, here's how the last 3 New Year's eves turned out:

2015; Mombasa, Kenya

I am just off campus. My mum is not around. @localsavvy, my cousin, and I have our evening all planned out. We all love fireworks so we find a place that offers that. It is the perfect location since it's on the beach and they always play the best music. We confirmed with endless people that there really was going to be fireworks. We head out there a few minutes to 11 p.m since it is not far from our house. When we get there, we found a queue so long it was unbelievable. We were still queued up at 11.45 p.m. It's then our chance.

The guys who were checking guys in tell us what the price is; we cannot afford it! At this point I just want to cry. They must have hiked the prices after they saw the demand because we had confirmed what the entrance fee was during the day. So we're there: young and broke. We didn't talk to each other for like a minute. By this time, it's almost midnight, and one can hear screams at the beach. Fireworks were set off at midnight. All this time we were at the parking lot, not even eager to move. It was impossible to see anything magical cuz of the vegetation 🙄🙄

We later decided to let that go and head to the mall. Luckily, the pizza place was open. Everybody is happy; pizza is always a plan! We decided to first go check out whether there was room at the roof top. When we came back down, they pizza place had been closed. We went back home.

PS: This was also the day we swore that no event we wanted to attend would ever be unaffordable for us. The universe listens.

2016; Goa, India

As always, I'm extremely excited about the night. We had been in Goa with a friend since Christmas. We had so much fun at the Sunburn Festival - this remains the best event I have ever attended, EVER. I am convinced this will be different from the last year. More friends had joined us from different states; the more the merrier, right? Wrong!

First of all, I woke up with the worst tonsil pain ever. Very convenient that it showed up on the 31st. It was extremely painful all I wanted was to sleep. You don't sleep on the New Year's Eve. I am not going to sleep so I am out there acting all strong. Secondly, everyone has their plans and expectations. I am easy. All I want is fireworks. As long as we are on the beach and there is fireworks, I'll be happy. Few minutes to midnight and we're divided into like a hundred subgroups. I decide I'll sit on the beach and wait for fireworks from any of the restaurants there.

My illness gets worse and we have to go get some drugs from our car. We are racing against time. My friends forgot where they parked since: (1). the place was huge and (2). they were drunk. Perfect. By the time we are done searching, it is minutes past midnight. I missed the show. I am also very tired from all the walking as we searched for the car. I want to go sleep... we have to wait for the rest who had dispersed to I don't know where. Ahoy 2017!

2017; Kampala, Uganda

I am with my cousin (the one from 2015, remember?) and a friend. The friend is Ugandan; let's call her Z. We got to Kampala from Jinja on 31st morning. Luckily we are not very exhausted since it was a short journey. My cousin and I are very excited, as always. I am certain Z has everything figured out since: (1) it is her city and (2) I asked her a million times to help me find a place with an awesome firework display. She assured me a million times that she got me. I breath. This has to go right. We are all dressed up. BTW the New Year's is such a big deal for me, I even dress up. Sigh.

First stop: KFC. I want to keep breathing. I don't like fast foods so that's definitely not a great start. I'll just jump to the end now. The million dollar plan Z had was to take us to the mall's rooftop and have us watch fireworks from the nearby hotels. We didn't even last a minute there before the cops came. They did not want people up there. The best way to make that known was to use tear gas. This was the first time experiencing it and I was like "how come the fireworks are making my eyes itch?" - it was a few seconds to midnight so the fireworks displays had started everywhere. I cried. Mainly because I knew this was the third terrible New Year's Eve I had had in a row, but also cuz of the tear gas.

2018; Lagos, Nigeria

To be seen and reported

Do I expect too much? Is that even normal?

What's your best holiday? Have you had it good so far? Please let me know what your experience has been in the comments.

Does anyone know a place with good fireworks display in Lagos. Fireworks. That's all a girl wants and needs. OMG 😭😭