Happy New Year, everyone! I hope everyone survived the beautiful chaos that is the holidays and that you’re ushering in a new year with a lot of hope and goals! I haven’t done a new year/goals post in quite a few years and I decided I wanted to bring the tradition back.

Bringing Back Adventure in 2023

The past few years have been fairly unadventurous for various reasons. 2020 was, well, a global pandemic. Plus, I was pregnant for the second half of the year. 2021 was another pandemic year and we had a baby! 2022 I was pregnant and had a toddler!

It’s so reassuring going into 2023 knowing that we feel safer, I won’t be getting pregnant again and we’re settling into our new normal as a family of four. We’re also trying to maximize our time together, to carve out time for adventures and being excited to see some new things! Here are some of the goals that I (and we) have set for 2023!

Become Weekend Warriors

We’ve decided that we’re going to take one weekend a month to explore somewhere, unless we have a larger trip planned that particular month. We’re obviously a lot more limited than we used to be as far as time goes because Matt only has so much vacation time. So we’re going to focus on becoming weekend warriors to still explore, do things that excited us and try new things!

We’re Leaving the Country for the First Time in Years!

The last time I left the country was to Costa Rica in 2019. I’ve been itching to brush off my passport basically since I got back home then. But, thanks to my parents for watching the kids for a long weekend, Matt and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary in Mexico City, which has been at the top of my bucket list for a long time! It’s going to be a quick trip, but so needed. We haven’t been out of the country together since we left Scotland in 2018. I cannot wait!

Celebrating Turning 33 with a Themed Hiking Goal

I’ve not managed to hit my hiking goal in years. Again: pandemic, pregnancy and another pregnancy. Life just seemed to get in my way. I am cautiously optimistic about hitting my goal this year: 333 miles. It’s lofty for a mom of an almost 2-year-old and an infant, but we have a lot of nice local trails and I’m going to do my best, but also not beat myself up if I don’t hit it.

---

Better Blogging Goals in 2023

In addition to our adventures being lackluster, I fell away from the joy that blogging brought me. Part of that was due to the lack of traveling, which was demoralizing for me as someone who spent a third of the year or more through the vast majority of my 20’s. Also, becoming a mostly stay-at-home mom cuts into the amount of time I have to blog and I chose far less fulfilling things to do with my free time than write. (Like, watching endless hours of Netflix on the couch during the kids’ nap times.)

Write Fearlessly

This is a big one. A lot of times I’ll start more personal or journal-like posts that I end up deleting before they’re ever published. It feels like something no one will want to read. Or I even edit myself or change my writing style. No more. This year, I’m going to blog fearlessly and do my thing.

Write a Monthly Post

Not just a post per month, but a specific monthly post that’s a sort-of recap or newsletter. This will include travels, hikes, eats and drinks we’ve had throughout the month. But also other things like random moments that brought me joy, things that inspired me and a section on sustainability or products we’ve discovered. This is another idea I’ve tossed around several times and I want to finally make it happen!

---

These may seem like small goals, but it feels really good to set what feels like very attainable goals for us. I’m thrilled to see where this year takes us, what new experiences we have, foods we try and memories we make! I hope you will come along for the ride!