16 In Travel

Travel ✈︎ Blog Goals for 2015

⋘ W A N D E R L U S T   W E D N E S D A Y ⋙

One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of each year is to set a list of travel and blogging goals. Not resolutions, but some realistic goals for myself to get me to push myself outside my normal everyday life. I don’t always achieve them, but I still grow from trying to accomplish them each year.

« G E T  1 0 0  H I K I N G  M I L E S  I N »

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I have set a similar goal to this for the last couple of years, and last year I was a little over 12 miles off, and I’m actually a little ashamed of that. I spent the second half of the year living in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I didn’t take advantage of that the way I should have. However, this year I will be back in my beloved mountains in late-June and I am going to get every bit of that 100 miles in- that’s less than 2 miles a week!

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« G O  H I K I N G  W I T H  M Y  D A D »

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My dad and I started this little tradition of taking father/daughter hiking trips together my senior year of high school 7 years ago! We’ve been hiking in Canada and traveled through 19 states, 13 national parks and countless other state parks & national forests! More than that we grow closer with each hike and I will forever cherish these amazing memories with my dad. He’s my absolute favorite hiking partner and always matches my trail-enthusiasm, sets up crazy self-timer photos, makes me laugh and supports me and I love him so much for that!

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« R E A D  S I X  T R A V E L  B O O K S  O R  E S S A Y S »

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Photo from Pinterest

I started making this goal with 12 and moved it down to 8, but now after failing at both of those numbers I’m bumping it down to 6. *fingers crossed* I can get six read! I really enjoy reading, but find myself reading different things, but books are always one of my favorite sources of wanderlust, so I need to get back on it!

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« L E A V E  T H E  C O U N T R Y »

Like last year, I’m cheating a little bit with this one. I’m starting the year off knowing that I’ll be visiting Southeast Asia with my best friend and we will be visiting eight countries that neither of us have visited before! I’m so excited to experience each of these beautiful countries with my travel-partner-in-crime.

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« S T A R T  W R I T I N G  A  B O O K »

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Although my Macbook and I are already best friends, we’re going to get to be even better friends when I get back from Asia. I have this clear image in my head for a book, and I’m quite excited to work on this for the second half of the year! 

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« T R Y  S O M E T H I N G  N E W  E A C H  D A Y  W H I L E  I N  A S I A »

I am pretty good about trying new things when I travel, but I want to push myself to experience something new each and every day! I want to try new foods, share experience with locals, visit temples, push my boundaries and learn more about this beautiful world I live in!

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« H A V E  A  G I R L S  T R I P  W I T H  M Y  M O M »

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It had been a few years since my mom and I took a mother/daughter trip, and I had so much fun roaming through the Alps with her last year, that I’m making it a priority to start doing something with her annually! Perhaps it won’t be Europe all the time, but I want to at least do a little weekend trip or something because I love exploring with my beautiful mama! 

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« T A K E  A  R O A D  T R I P »

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Saying that I love road trips is an understatement. I am addicted to road trips and I constantly daydream about picking everything up and hitting the road. There’s a certain romance that goes along with throwing a few things in a backpack, grabbing some snacks and going wherever the road takes you! I’ve decided that road trips are a necessity for me to take multiples times a year, and I’m totally okay with it.

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« F I N D  I N S P I R A T I O N  A N D  W R I T E  E A C H  D A Y »

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This last year I did a lot better at finding inspiration in everyday life – of course, it helps living in a city that’s filled with creative people and interesting places to visit – but I found inspiration for posts in the graffiti on the streets, from the beer I drank and even the roads I drove down. I also did a decent job at writing most days, but this year I want to do this everyday. I want to push myself to go out and take walks, to write in coffee shops, to talk with other writers & travelers, and I am quite excited to see where this new creative open-mindedness takes me!

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« V I S I T  1 2  M U S E U M S »

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I love museums. It doesn’t even really matter what the subject is, I just love learning new things, experiencing little kitschy things and I want to try to visit at least one museum a month! I already started off the year right by visiting a museum on New Years Day! Only 11 more to go!

« D R I V E  T H E  E N T I R E  B L U E  R I D G E  P A R K W A Y »

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I love these mountains. I always call them my beloved mountains – as if anyone could ever own these mountains – but they are so genuinely special to me. My  heart races when I look at them, when I sit in them and when I walk across their peaks. I just feel this beautiful connection to the earth and nothing would make me happier than to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway from end to end this summer and be able to just stop and take whatever hikes I want to along the way.

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« I M P R O V E  M Y  P H O T O G R A P H Y  S K I L L S »

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I love taking photos, and since I was a little girl on road trips with my parents I loved having my disposable camera taking photos of rock formations, my family and trees. That love continued in high school and in college my parents became very supportive, giving me a hand-me-down DSLR and then getting me an even better one for Christmas a couple years later. Then, I became obsessed with toy cameras and playing with the way they manipulated the photos. However, I really want to actually learn more about how to use my camera, and to start taking even better photos to enhance my posts & writing.

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« I N S P I R E  T R A V E L »

IMG_0082 This is always such a huge goal for me. I am and will always be forever grateful for the people who have inspired me to travel, and I would love nothing more than to show someone how beautiful and life-changing travel is. Travel is my greatest passion, it makes my heart race, it gets me out of my box, opens my mind, teaches me amazing things about myself & this world we all share and I hope to be doing it always.

⋘ Cheers to making your goals for 2015 happen 

To keep up with my travels in real-time and read more posts and travel articles I find interesting ‘like’ the For the Love of Wanderlust page on Facebook. Simply click HERE.

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16 Comments

  • Reply
    sophierose233
    January 7, 2015 at 7:59 pm

    Love this post! These are all great goals! My main goals are to see more of the country I live in – China and to visit two new countries this year. Hopefully i’ll manage it!

    • Reply
      PaigeBrown
      January 11, 2015 at 1:52 pm

      Those are great goals Sophie! I hope to make it to China someday! Do you have an idea of what other two countries you’d like to visit? Thanks for reading and commenting!

      • Reply
        sophierose233
        January 11, 2015 at 7:38 pm

        I’m thinking South Korea and maybe Taiwan. Especially as South Korea is only 2 hours flight away!

        • Reply
          PaigeBrown
          January 26, 2015 at 3:45 pm

          Wow! Great choices! I have a very good friend who is teaching in S. Korea through August and she loves it!

  • Reply
    Belle
    January 8, 2015 at 2:17 am

    This is so spot on – pretty much every single one resonated with me so strongly! Such a pleasure to read 🙂

    • Reply
      Belle
      January 8, 2015 at 2:18 am

      ps – my actual blog is http://www.buttercupbelle.com – I don’t know why my old blog keeps popping up! xo

    • Reply
      PaigeBrown
      January 11, 2015 at 1:59 pm

      Thank you, Belle! I would love to hear what some of your 2015 travel goals are! I can’t wait to check out your blog when it pops up since it’s under construction now! 🙂

  • Reply
    Holly
    January 8, 2015 at 4:27 am

    Oooo I like this list!
    Trying new things on a particular trip is a great one to focus on!
    And a book! Oooo exciting. Fiction or none fiction?

    • Reply
      PaigeBrown
      January 11, 2015 at 2:01 pm

      Thanks, Holly! I’m really excited about taking the time to make trying new things a HUGE priority! I want to soak up as much as I can!
      And I’m working on a couple ideas for two non-fiction travel books! I want to do one about my trip to SE Asia, and a general Wanderlust book! 🙂 I’m so excited about these new adventures and I have been getting so much support from my friends and parents!

  • Reply
    Audrey
    January 8, 2015 at 11:37 pm

    When I was a child, my family took a trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway and drove end to end. We brought our motor home, as usual, but we towed a small red car behind it. We’d have a home base, but then drive the little red car everywhere and we stopped at each overlook and point of interest along the way. We brought along snacks, and an ice chest and apple cider in the trunk, for refreshment along the way. If I remember correctly, our trip lasted 11 days, and it was one of my fondest memories from childhood.

    • Reply
      PaigeBrown
      January 11, 2015 at 2:07 pm

      Audrey, that sounds so incredible! I don’t think we’re going to have the time to make it an 11 day trip this year. However, that’s now a goal of mine! I love road trips with snacks and loved ones and the great outdoors! My boyfriend and I are planning to try to do it in a long weekend (4 maybe 5 days) stopping to do hikes and just enjoy time together in those gorgeous mountains! Do you remember which section was your favorite?

      • Reply
        Audrey
        January 11, 2015 at 4:12 pm

        We always loved Crabtree Falls. We used to stay in the campground there and go to the campfire programs at night. My sister and I would ride our bicycles all over the campground, too. That was more than 30 years ago! I wonder if it is still as nice. Hope to get back there again soon.

      • Reply
        Audrey
        January 11, 2015 at 4:24 pm

        We always loved Crabtree Falls. We’d stay in the campground there and go to the campfire programs. During the day, my sister and I would ride our bicycles all over the campground. That was more than 30 years ago! I wonder if it is still as nice.

        • Reply
          PaigeBrown
          January 18, 2015 at 9:02 pm

          I haven’t been to Crabtree Falls! We’ll have to keep an eye out for it! I’ll give you an update on what it looks like now!

  • Reply
    Mandy Bee
    January 10, 2015 at 10:50 am

    Good luck with your goals this year! Knock them out of the park!

    • Reply
      PaigeBrown
      January 11, 2015 at 2:08 pm

      Thanks, Mandy! I hope you meet all your personal goals as well! Cheers to 2015!

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