Today marks the end of my time in Colombia. For the last 6 months I have been living in Medellin, the country's second largest city, A place which I now call home. And as I begin my new chapter in Panama and Central America, I am contemplating things I didn't expect to.

This week I received two pieces of devastating news which has made evaluate everything and think about what life really means.

Being so far away from everyone you love and care about is hard at the best of times but when something tragic happens, you just feel so helpless and even further away. You begin to realise that you’re not immortal, and start questioning so many things. Losing two people in a matter of days both so tragically makes you put everything into perspective.

This year has been the longest that I have been away from home for over a decade, and I don’t know if it’s the duration or the fact that today I am another year older that I am beginning to appreciate each person I have in my life and questioning my life as a solo on the road. Being so far away, I feel so helpless. Travelling solo for me is the only way to travel but when something happens in life, you realise how alone you really are.

This year I’ve seen people come and go, and living as an expat you crave a connection with others as you set up a new life somewhere different. I’ve realised the importance of staying still and savouring every single moment; of absorbing yourself within a place until it really gets under your skin. Maybe we’re not meant as solitary creatures roaming the planet alone, and the company of another human being is all we really crave. Seeing an amazing waterfall, witnessing another sunrise are all gifts but surely they are so much more meaningful when you experience that moment with another? When it comes down to nothing, we all crave to be loved.

Yes, we all have our off days when something goes a little awry but in the grand scheme of things – does it really matter? Does another hour waiting for a train really need to cause us such trauma? We all live under so much man-made stress that we forget about the things that really matter to us.

Just the motion of opening our eyes each day to a new dawn is a gift. We are still alive when many others aren’t. And we have been given another day to live. So it begs the question: are you living a life that makes you happy? And if not, maybe it’s time to look at it closely and see what you can change. If it’s not your circumstances then maybe just your mindset. We forget how amazing we are, how amazing the human body is and we take for granted our health, our senses and think that they will always be there. But we’re only human. We’re not immortal and the smallest of things can knock us down until we never get back up again.

So please, don’t waste any time in your life. Life is precious and Becky was only 18. She had barely just began her adult life before she was taken away. Don't waste another precious minute of your life. Tell those you love them today and start living your life…