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 »

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!

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

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!

« 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 »

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!

« 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.

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

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! 

« 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!

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

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! 

« T A K E  A  R O A D  T R I P »

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.

« 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 »

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!

« V I S I T  1 2  M U S E U M S »

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 »

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.

« 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 »

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.

« I N S P I R E  T R A V E L »

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.