Wow, it’s really weird to think that it’s already the middle of April. Couldn’t be the fact that it’s snowed more days in the last 3 months than I’ve experienced in my life.
But my calendars and phone are assuring me that yes, it’s really April. And as I was updating my Best Of lists, I started to look at my New Year Resolutions that I set for myself for 2023.
My Best Of lists are my end-of-year recap posts where I highlight…the best experiences of the year. Here are the lists from the last 2 years:
Favorite Travel Moments (2022)
Favorite Travel Moments (2021)
I don’t think I posted any of my adventure resolutions for 2023 anywhere on this blog, so let me tell you a few of them.
- Visit 5 new-to-me states in the US
- Visit 3 different countries
- Go on a local adventure every month
Seems pretty doable, right? That’s what I was thinking as well.
So let’s break it down a bit.
New States
This was actually the first progress I made on my resolutions for the year. I managed to book a solo trip to New Mexico for the first part of January. Just me. Wanting to kick off the year on a strong, positive note.
I currently have another trip booked to a new state for *gasp* the middle of June! Why the gasp? Because I rarely travel in the summer if I can help it. But I couldn’t pass up this opportunity and use some well-deserved Delta Skymiles to cover the flight to see some good friends. But I’ll talk more about it in a future post.
Finally I have all the intentions of visiting another good friend and knocking off 2 more new-to-me states this year. While the flights aren’t booked yet, I have a good idea when the trip will take place after summer.
So…I’m not a mathematician, but that only totals 4 states.
I know.
I’m a little short of my goal for the year. But let me put things into perspective for you. The US is huge. States in the west are larger in land mass, so getting around takes a lot longer. And considering I’ve been to most western states, I either have to drive for days to get to a new state, or fly. Not making any excuses, but it would be a whole lot easier if I lived in the east and could knock out a few states within a few hours of driving.
Maybe that’s what I need to do…
Visiting Countries
Badda bing, badda boom! Killed this goal already! February saw me visiting Guatemala and then over to The Bahamas in March. I technically purchased these flights before I made up my travel goals for 2023, but who cares?
Later this fall I’ll be revisiting a country in Europe to visit a good friend, bringing my country-visiting total up to 3.
Fireworks!
Although I would have preferred to visit a new country, I really fell in love with this place and we’ll be visiting a new region. Plus, the country is big enough and raw/adventurous enough to bring excitement and promote exploration. But again, more on that in a later post.
Local Adventures
A few summers ago, I cultivated an extremely last-minute 30-day local adventure challenge for myself. For 30 days straight, I went on a local adventure and created a video about it for my YouTube channel.
While the adventure challenge had its pros and cons, it reignited my love of going on hyper-local adventures that were personally chosen to fit my style.
So in an attempt to keep that flame alive, I decided that every month of 2023, I would go on at least one local adventure. I kept the parameters pretty loose because hey, it’s always a good idea to leave room for spontaneity.
And so far so good…checked out a few new places, ate at some new restaurants, visited some new specialty markets, and revisited some adventures from long ago. The snow made it difficult for the first few months, but I know that summer is going to bring along some fun times for sure!
