2017 Travel Year in Review + Travel and Blog Goals for 2018
It's already halfway through January and I'm just now getting to my 2017 Travel Year in Review!
Between holiday travel and getting hit hard with the flu, I haven't had as much time or energy as I would have liked to focus on blog posts.
I'm excited to be back in the swing of things and recapping my past year of travel & goals for the new year!
Where I Traveled in 2017:
Washington, DC
Bali, Indonesia
Singapore
Thailand Islands
Bangkok, Thailand
Hong Kong
Macau Day Trip
Auckland, New Zealand
Sydney, Australia
San Francisco/Bay Area
New York City
Central California Road Trip
Arizona
Seattle
Arizona (again)
and home in San Diego, California between trips :)
As usual, I funded these trips by working + traveling. Creating a work + travel lifestyle has allowed me to get paid to travel all over the world.
This year, I taught at the international conferences I typically work at in Washington, DC, San Francisco, and New York.
Toward the end of 2016, I left my job in Arizona to move to California and work online as a freelancer. That allowed me to be location-independent and funded my bills and travel while I took a big trip to Southeast Asia/New Zealand/Australia in February and March 2017.
I also took other trips around the US for fun or to see family and friends, before landing a full-time job at an educational travel company this fall.
One of my top travel goals is to visit all six inhabited continents in my 20s. How am I doing?
I created the goal of visiting the six inhabited continents in my 20s back in 2014. At that time, I had been to only North America and Europe.
This year was big because I stepped foot on Australia, which is my fourth continent!
Africa and South America remain, and I'm hoping to get to at least one of those continents in 2018.
2018 Travel Lineup
Unlike previous years, I don't actually have set travel plans right away!
A few likely places I will visit:
California - Orange County, San Diego, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree
Europe - Spain/Western Europe for a work + travel opportunity through my new job, and potentially the Balkans after for Yacht Week
Connecticut (Yale University) for a work + travel opportunity with the conferences
New York City this fall
Arizona and Seattle to see family for the holidays
Goal destinations: South Africa, Malta, Italy, Hawaii, Central/South America, Thailand/Southeast Asia
Go Seek Explore blog & community in 2017
Since I was working online doing freelance marketing for various clients for most of 2017, I honestly didn't focus on GSE as much as I have in previous years.
There were some collaborations with brands and lots of blog posts, but to be honest my content was more focused on my email newsletters and Instagram photos.
Over the summer I introduced my weekly #MotivationMonday emails and they were a hit! I've been sending these out every Monday morning since. Make sure to subscribe so you can get these delivered to your inbox!
The Adventure Club - book
Over Thanksgiving I decided I wanted to self-publish an ebook before Christmas and donate a portion of the net profits to one of my favorite charitable organizations, Pencils of Promise.
I set a goal for a December 20th release date, and The Adventure Club (ebook and paperback) went live on Amazon!
A number of you pre-ordered a copy, which made me excited and even more motivated to complete it on time.
And even more of you have purchased a copy since then, for which I am so so grateful! Your support means so much to me and I hope you've found the book helpful and inspiring.
2018 Goals for Go Seek Explore
A few 2018 goals for this blog and brand:
Donate more money to PoP through book sales and other projects
Send #MotivationMonday emails to subscribers every week
Launch an online group program (still mapping this out...details to come, which will probably come on a #MotivationMonday email)!
Stick to my editorial calendar... :)
Grow my team - looking for a virtual assistant to start, and later a graphic designer and digital ad strategist. If you or someone you know is looking for part-time freelance work, please get in touch with me at hello@goseekexplore.com!
Overall, I can't believe how much happened in 2017.
It was a great year, and I'm so grateful to all of you for being part of it!
Cheers to 2018! Let's make this year one filled with travel, love, and life!
READ Past "Year in Review" Posts: