2023 was a weird year. It wasn’t a bad year, it was a great year with lots of fun travel and adventures. It was a busy year, with COVID in the rear view mirror (at least in the eyes of the public) we went back to our lives of busy activities, visits, and other activities. I looked around and realized I had a full blown teenager and solid tween which brought it’s own changes and challenges. And I worked on a special project all year that took away time form blog post writing and social media, but is so satisfying and I can’t wait to share.
Travel Round Up
January
Girl Scouts finally felt ready to open up camping again in late 2022. We did a mother/daughter trip to the winter camporee in the area, staying out in the woods (thankfully in dorms) during a torrential downpour and the wettest season of the year. We mostly stayed inside singing songs, making crafts, and running between buildings in the rain. But my favorite part was sitting up late at night with my fellow Girl Scout moms telling stories and laughing about the funny things we have all been up to.
February
This was our first big trip of the year and the only international trip. I found a great miles deal on tickets to Mexico City, and decided to head south for the February school break. My dad and his wife joined us, and we were able to not only meet up with our Mexican family, but also got to explore an amazing city. I had heard so many people fear Mexico City, but we fell in love. Fantastic food, proud and industrious people, and a plethora of museums and history to explore. We did an amazing walking tour, saw ancient pyramids, explored the street art, and ate like our lives depended on it.
March
The beginning of March was harder. At the end of 2022 I lost a dear friend unexpectedly. She died at Christmas time when it was next to impossible to gather to grieve together. After getting back from Mexico I was almost immediately on a plane to Indianapolis to gather with my friends and mourn her loss. We laughed, we cried, we laugh/cried. The last time we had all been together was Las Vegas, so it was a bittersweet moment. But we made plans to get together again, because we knew she wouldn’t want us to stop our girls trips.
At the end of March, I got an amazing opportunity I never expected. I spoke at the largest travel conference aimed at Latino travel creators and travelers, the Latino Travel Fest. Vanessa Fondeur-Adams conceived this idea and hosted two virtual conferences in 2021 and 2022 which I attended. I was so proud to host a session on family travel, and share some of the expertise I had gathered through the years. At the conference I got to meet so many new creators that inspired me so much this year. I got to be among people who were as passionate about travel as I was, something I had never encountered. Sometimes when I immerse myself in Instagram, I feel isolated because I don’t have the same type of friends who understand what I am trying to do. To meet so many in real life was a validating and inspiring experience. I also got meet my idol, a woman who had created one of the biggest travel brands, Travel Fashion Girl. And she is as nice as she is online. It was amazing, I loved every minute, and have already bought my tickets for 2024.
April
I came back from the Latino Travel Fest and turned around for our Spring break in San Diego. We wanted easy and San Diego was just right for us. We visited some museums that were new to us, like the Comic-Con Museum, and some old favorites like Old Town San Diego. We checked out a few different beaches this time around, and indulged the Beach Club at the Hotel Del Coronado. And of course the kids managed to fly once again with iFly. This was a more laid back trip, not much planning, just relaxing and enjoy San Diego, exactly what we needed.
At the end of April we flew back to New Jersey, the whole family this time. My husband was attending the wedding of the child of a close friend. The kids came along to enjoy time with family. We didn’t do anything big, just spent time with family and celebrating love.
Summer
This summer was the summer of camps, school and independent travel.
My daughter the first week of summer went to Girl Scouts Sleep Away Camp. She was so nervous before going, but had a fantastic time the minute she was on the campground. She made friends, did a ropes course, archery, hiking, and swam every day. Her last morning she participated in an age old tradition of the polar bear plunge. At 6 am in the Marin headlands it’s cold. All the girls put on their suits, go to the pool and jump in, then get out and go to breakfast. She was sad when I picked her up, she didn’t want to come home.
My oldest had a different experience this summer, he took a course at UC Berkeley three days a week. He learned to take the train by himself, hang out on campus, make friends, and learn a little HTML and CSS coding. He was so nervous, but gained confidence in his ability to be independent, and spend all day on campus. At the end, we was sad to leave the program, and was ready to do it again in the future.
The kids ended the summer with a solo trip to New Jersey. They had been begging to do unaccompanied minor to NJ since 2020 and I finally felt comfortable enough to let them do it. They flew solo to New Jersey and swam every day, went to the beach a few times, and even got to see Wicked on Broadway, a dream come true for them. Afterwards they were playing the Wicked album on repeat for weeks.
While the kids were away in New Jersey, my husband and I took a few days to escape to Vegas for a couples trip. It was, believe it or not, relaxing. We aren’t party people so we just relaxed. We walked the resort and the strip. We did we some shopping. We swam in the pool and spent time in the spa. We ate some amazing dinners. And we napped during the day, a true treat. People were surprised that we came from Vegas so refreshed.
October
After making this a goal for four years, I FINALLY did a solo weekend trip. I got a hotel in Livermore, and I was just by myself. I did some self-care and yoga, I did some hiking, and I did some wine tasting. But mostly I spent the weekend working on my year-long project.
November / December
November became surprisingly busy. Over Veterans Day, my husband turned fifty years old. We were supposed to go to Spain at Christmas to celebrate, but due to a variety of reasons we decided to postpone until Summer of 2024. However, we didn’t want to let the occasion pass without a celebration, so we decided to take a weekend trip up to Portland. It was the only place I could find, where I could use our hotel points and flights were close and reasonable but we did have a lot of fun. Everyone thought we were weird but we ended up finding a vibrant food scene and a fun place to explore. We saw waterfalls, we ate to our heart contents, and we just walked the city. Everyone enjoyed the trip, and it was an amazing experience we loved and needed.
We came back and immediately turned around and went back to … New Jersey! The kids had a week off for Thanksgiving and we decided to go to New Jersey to celebrate with my grandmother and my family. After Thanksgiving my husband and son flew home while my daughter and I stayed an extra week. She was in a wedding the following weekend and there was no point in flying back. So, while we had some mother/daughter time, we went to New York and finally saw the New York City Ballet production of the Nutcracker, something on our bucket list for a long time.
Before you knew it, it was time for the wedding. My husband and son flew in for wedding. We attended the wedding of the flower girl form my wedding. It was a surreal experience being at a wedding in the church I got married in, watching my flower girl marry her love, with my daughter as one of the flower girls. We were also able to get my grandmother to come to the church. She had not been out of the house in over a year, so it was a very special experience to have her there.
Professional Updates
There was a lot of amazing growth on the professional front this year, which to be honest surprised me. I did not write as much on my blog and I was not as present on social media. As the business of my consulting and my kids lives took over, I didn’t have time that I wanted. So imagine my surprise when I went to check my blog visit numbers in September to discover that 3/4ths the way through the year and I already had 150% more visits than the previous year. Ending the year, my blog has the biggest number of visitors in it’s history. I am finishing the year with double the visitors from 2022 and for that I am so incredibly grateful.
Many of the Top Blog Posts are NOT articles I wrote this year, but actually ones I wrote last year, many are articles that seemed to hit the SEO gold standard. The work I’ve put into creating articles that are more helpful, evergreen, and provide people valuable information is working. The top blog post written in 2023 was about the Rick Steve’s Europe Audio Tour, which I shamelessly plug, even though I’m not paid, to everyone I know headed to Europe. All I’ve ever wanted to do with this blog is help and inspire other families to get out and travel, and the fact that I am reaching even more people is warming my heart.
But it wasn’t just my blog. Attending the Latino Travel Fest gave me my first opportunity to speak professionally on Travel. I have done it a number of times in financial services, but never to such a varied audience. It was exhilarating experience, and to have people come up, ask questions, and use the resources I provided made me feel like my work mattered and was valued. I got to meet and collaborate with other creators. My follower numbers grew, my engagement rate skyrocketed, and I found I was reaching a wider audience. I had the confidence to reach out to more brands and had them interested in working with me and sharing the content I created. I am excited for all that this may lead to in 2024.
Personal Updates
The biggest personal change that happened this year was learning that after twelve years dealing with the side effects of a major stroke, several heart attacks, and the effects of heart disease, my grandmother, father and I decided it was time to switch my grandmother’s care to comfort and hospice care. Patients on hospice for heart failure are a little different. It’s our understanding that she won’t have a steady decline, but instead will likely be “normal” until a steep decline and then the end. It was a difficult conversation and decision but my grandmother made it very clear she was done with hospitals. She wants to spend the rest of her life at home and we are respecting that wish. Making the decision to move someone to hospice is never easy. Once the decision was made, we as a family decided to spend the Thanksgiving holiday home in New Jersey for the first time since before my kids were born. It was a special meal, and it was wonderful to spend time with her, my sister’s family, and my dad. My husband did a lot of the cooking, and we all were able to enjoy a big meal together. A week later, determined to see my cousin’s daughter married, she made it out of the house for the first time in over a year (aside from hospital visits in an ambulance). Saying goodbye was different this time. I may see her again in 2024, I may not. But I know that whatever happens, it was her decision and we are doing our best to honor that path.
My Special Project
The reason I didn’t write as much for the blog and social media this year is because I was writing for something else. It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little girl. I had it on my five year wish list when my career coach saw it and asked why it wasn’t what I was focusing on right now. I told her I didn’t think I had the talent, I didn’t think I had the discipline, blah, blah, blah, insert excuse here. She pointed out to me that I have had the discipline to keep a blog for ten years, I could use some of that for what I really wanted to do.
So for all of 2023, twice a week I have been leaving the house for two hours to go to Starbucks, a local café, the library, and even Safeway to write. I am proud to say that as of the publication of this blog post I have
- 14 Chapters
- Over 100,000 Words
- 191 pages (in 12 Point Arial Font)
All of that is the first draft of my book, which I plan to publish in 2024.
That’s right. I have written a book. It’s stories and adventures from our travels, and lessons that we learned along the way. This is not a how-to guide. This is a personal and raw piece about our ups and downs, but how all of this has lead to the happy life we are living today. Thank you for your patience with me this year and stay tuned to this channel. I can’t wait to share what I’ve written with you.
What’s Coming in 2024
Hopefully a lot! First I’ll talk about travel. At this point we have planned:
- A couples trip to Savannah, Georgia
- A family spring break trip to Las Vegas
- An independent trip for my oldest to Washington DC and New York City hosted by their school
- A summer trip to Europe ending in the Taylor Swift Eras Tour Concert in Warsaw, Poland
- India at Christmas?
As for the book, I expect to spend the first half of the year editing and preparing my book with the goal of having it ready for print and publication by this summer. I’ll take you along for the ride as I pitch publishers, figure out self-publishing, editors, layout and cover design, and how to actually get this book to print. I’m excited to get my work out into the world!
Personally, our family is in for a big change in the second half of the year. My oldest will leave the school he’s been in since kindergarten and enter – High School! We are spending this time and the beginning of the year on applications to various competitive, private, and charter high schools, so we don’t know how big of a change until around March. Wish my oldest the best of luck as we navigate this new process.
But above all expect more of the same from me. More blog posts to help you with your travel needs, more content that you find helpful, and more stories to show you that whatever mishap you had, it’s normal. Wishing you all a wonderful 2024!
Edited by SKS
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