I’ve never been a big New Years resolution person, mainly because I don’t believe you need to wait until the start of a new year to begin making changes. But, I do believe in the power of visualization, goal setting and reflection.

This year, I’m setting some pretty big goals for myself, personally, and for this blog.

As far as YaleWanders goes, I’m proud of what I’ve built in the past year. When I started this blog, it was because I wanted to share something I love- travel- with others so they could find joy in it too. A lot of people resolve to travel more each year, which sounds like a reasonable goal at first glance. But, we all know prioritizing travel is often easier said than done.

Time and time again, I hear people say they can’t travel because it requires resources (time, money, etc.) they don’t have. However, that’s just not true.

Through #Take12Trips this past year, I really came to believe that traveling is a mindset. It doesn’t need to involve a flight to a new city, a car ride to a weekend getaway or even sitting on a train for a few hours. Travel can be a staycation in your own town, or if you’re like me and live in a major city, a day trip to a neighborhood you don’t spend much time in.

Over the course of 2016, there were awestruck moments, learning moments, moments I loved, moments I hated, and most importantly- moments that reminded me why travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer.

This year, I’m determined to keep traveling, keep writing, and keep waking up in the morning with a smile on my face.

Goal setting and planning on a rainy morning in New York. The “One Line a Day” journal is one of my favorite ways to capture and reflect on moments.

What’s Coming to YaleWanders in 2017

• Continuation of the #Take12Trips challenge: I’ve decided to not only continue the #Take12Trips challenge for a second year, but also to try and visit 12 countries- ones I’ve dreamt of going to for a while, ones I’ve been to before and loved, and likely ones I haven’t even thought of visiting yet
• Creation of (and promotion of) content in more places: More to come here, but think channel specific strategies for Instagram, Pinterest, Google Maps, Foursquare, and hopefully YouTube (travel vlogs!)
• Collaboration with fellow travelers :)
• More writing, more tips and tricks, more storytelling: Before moving to New York City, I wrote every day. Somehow, I lost that part of myself for several years, and I’m so happy to have rediscovered it as a passion as part of starting YaleWanders. To date, I’ve been focused on writing what comes easy (city guides, how-to recos for traveling, and so on). This year, you’ll see more stories about moments that strike me. I want to continue discovering great places to eat or things to do in each destination I visit, but I also don’t want to forget the exchanges, conversations and moments that define those trips for me
  • Established post series (#Take12Trips, City Guides, Weekend Getaways, Travel Crush, Travel Diaries post-trip), and a few new additions (monthly Foodie Friday spotlights, travel stories, running as a means of sightseeing guides)
  • Europe-focused content: I’m moving to the U.K. the first week of January, and can’t wait to explore my new city, London, but also to spend more time in countries I haven’t been to yet, or have only scratched the surface of

And, in case you’re interested, these are some of the personal goals I’ll be working towards in coming weeks and months:

• Become a morning person (the reasons why this hasn’t happened reads like a laundry list of excuses)
• Take better care of myself
  • Meditate daily (~5-10 minutes)
  • Nutritionally, better adherence to the 80/20 rule & drinking water, water, water
  • Fitness wise, this will be the year of becoming stronger and bendier (weekly yoga, continuation of running & lifting)
• Run 2-3 half marathons and one full marathon (running my second full marathon is a HUGE goal for me)
• Find a cause to support (I already make regular contributions to a few charities, but really want to focus on supporting one cause above others in 2017, and giving more than financial support)

If you set goals or resolutions, what are you looking forward to accomplishing this year?