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Another year has come and gone which means it’s time for some pondering and reflection. 2018 has been a year of transformation and learning for us. We are also on the cusp of 2019 which means more travel plans and goals!
2018 Major Lifestyle Change
When I reflect back on where we were in January 2018 to where are now it couldn’t be more different. We both left our full time jobs in March and began the adventure of early retirement and full time travel. We spent most of the first three months selling everything we owned and packing up the things we wanted to keep. We threw a great retirement party in March and concluded our jobs on March 28. We both miss the people we worked with but I have to say I have not looked back on this decision once with any feelings of regret.
Travel and Adventure in 2018
This major lifestyle change was all to facilitate more travel and adventure in our life.
2018 was more focused on outdoor adventure activities than international travel. We spent 9 weeks bicycling from Mobile Alabama to Owen Sound Ontario on the Underground Railroad. Of all the things we did in 2018, this is the thing I am most proud of. I miss the freedom and routine of living outside and exploring from the comfort of my bicycle seat. The adventure of finding things along the roadside was especially entertaining. 3,500 kilometers (2,000 miles) was enough distance for us both to declare we LOVE bike touring and can’t wait to get on the bikes again soon.
We crossed Canada a few times this year with a car from hittheroad.ca, hitchhiking, and in our friend’s Westfalia. We are so lucky to call Canada home - what a diverse and incredible country we live in!
Our paddling arms got a bit of a workout on the Rideau Canal as we paddled some of the distance from Kingston to Ottawa. It was a super fun trip that taught us the importance of doing research beforehand and the value of an evening swim in Ontario’s lakes after a hot day.
A highlight of 2018 for both of us was the time we spent on Baffin Island Hiking in Auyuittuq National Park. Watch the blog in the coming weeks as we will be sharing stories and images from this trip! You can also read a little about our trip on this post plus add to your bucket list of hikes for 2019!
Once it got cold up north, we headed south to Mexico. We arrived in Mazatlan in late September to find it oppressively hot but with a welcoming community. We walked the streets for days looking for ‘se renta’ signs. We used our adequate but less than effective Spanish to confirm a place to rent for November, December, and January.
The hills of San Miguel de Allende beckoned us for the month of October. We took Spanish classes and worked on the blog. It was also awesome to spend Dia del Muertos in this great town!
Pin me.
The end of the year was spent walking the beaches in Mazatlan, and hosting wonderful friends who came to join us here in the ‘Pearl of the Pacific’. We have embraced the two cups of coffee in the morning lifestyle and are enjoying helping the sun set each night as we sit on the wall and solve all the problems of the world.
What We Learned in 2018
We knew that 2018 would be a year to focus on this blog as a business. In September we went to a Travel Blogging Conference (TravelCon) and met some amazing people. We have made some serious headway and are continuing to learn more and more and more. Here are some of our accomplishments we are pretty proud of:
- We ran a successful contest and gave away $50 to MEC to Joe M. This also helped us double our number of email subscribers!
- We have more than 300 people who like our Facebook Page - here’s to hoping we can hit 500 people.
- I have become a Pinterest Pinning Queen.
- The number of people looking and accessing our website grows every month.
- We made some money off our affiliate links! Not a lot, but enough to make us feel good!
Our images of spending all day adventuring and the evenings blogging was a bit of a pie in the sky dream. It is really, really hard to bike for 80 kilometers and find the motivation to sit in front of the computer at night. We now know how important it will be to take breaks from our adventures to get caught up on the business of this blog.
The most important thing we did for the Blog was to narrow down our focus and understand who and what we are writing for. We have landed on the notion that our blog is about adventure travel, independent outdoor experiences, and lifestyles that support travel and people. The ideal audience is people who are active and who have the desire, some cash and experience with travel.
Looking forward to 2019
Travel and Adventure Plans
We have a good mix of adventures with friends, and getting back to what we love to do planned for 2019!
At the end of January we head to Japan for 5 days on a skiing adventure. If we survive this experience we will recover on the Big Island in Hawaii for 10 days with an amazing group of people.
Mid February until the end of May will find us back in the Calgary area. We have a house sitting gig with three wonderful cats. The fact is Japan, Hawaii and our summer hike are expensive ventures. So, while in the Calgary area we are also planning on working on contracts while we house sit for the winter. We are also looking forward to connecting with our friends and family at home during this time.
We are heading back to the Oliver BC area to run and drink wine at the end of May. We are considering bringing the bikes to the area and spending some time back in the saddle.
We then head to Boston for the end of June for the TravelCon Conference. We still have NO idea how we are getting from central British Columbia to Boston, but that is a small detail we can figure out later!
Our next big adventure is to head back to Northern Canada to hike the Canol Road in August. This 4 week backpacking trip should prove challenging, rewarding, and incredible all in one!
Fall 2019 is still a work in progress - we get to go to a wedding in Sept in Calgary area and then a half marathon in Montreal at the end of Sept.This is where our plans get more murky. Current discussions include cycling in eastern Canada and the eastern States during the colourful fall season, and getting to Disneyland somehow. We are also kicking around hiking in Patagonia Argentina, or cycling in New Zealand.
It will be interesting to see what we end up doing!
What to expect from the Blog in 2019
- Another contest! We had so much fun giving away money to MEC we want to do it again! Sign up to our email list to be sure not to miss the chance to enter.
- Consistent posting. We have been posting at least once/week since October and are on track to continue if not increase to two times/week. You can sign up here to get an email once per month (on the 15th) with all our blog posts so you don’t miss anything.
- Our goals include increasing our reach on social media, getting more traffic from google searches, and growing our email list. You can help us achieve these goals by commenting on our blog posts, and commenting, liking, and/or sharing our social media posts.
What about you?!
- What learning's did you have in 2018?
- What travel plans do you have in 2019?
- Where do you think we should go in 2019?
- What would you like to see more of or less of on the blog?
- What is the meaning of life?
Answer these questions and more in the comment section below! We sure appreciate your support and the time you take to read what we produce. We hope for the very best for all of you in 2019.
