Reflections and Goals: Goodbye 2023, Hello 2024

It’s that time of year–when we all start to think about the past year (the lessons learned, the joys experienced, the special moments) and we start to look ahead to the next year (what’s going to be different? What do I want to accomplish?)

Naturally, I’m doing the same and specificly looking at my reading, watching and traveling for the past year and goals for the new year.

I’m writing this down mostly for me (if it’s written, it’s more real!), but I also wanted to share it here (if others see it, then I’m more likely to stick to it).

Goodbye 2023

• My goal this year was to read 85 books–I smashed that one and read 151!
• This is the first year I used the app Storygraph and it was interesting to see some of my stats–fiction vs. nonfiction, digital vs. print vs. audio, genres and themes in my reading.

• I specifically chose not to do any book challenges this year, so my reading probably wasn’t as varied as it could/should have been, but I wanted to focus on the books I wanted to read (and my always growing #tbr).
• I joined the online book club of #iamawanderlustreader and have had a great time talking books and travel with those ladies. (You should join us!)
• I wrote a review on my Instagram page for every single book I read this year (did you see I read 151?!?).
• I posted on my blog for the first time since March of 2022 and on my Bookstagram for the first time since November 2022.

• I put together 3 lists of book and movie recommendations:
  • Ten Books and Ten Movies about Cruising
  • Books about the Camino de Santiago and Movies about the Camino de Santiago
  • Ten Travel Books and Ten Travel Movies for the Holidays
• I posted a Book Club Guide for Three Holidays and a Wedding
• I volunteered at my first Book Festival (so much fun!).
• This was my first year really working with @Netgalley and I reviewed 32 books for them (and have 12 more to read/review as of this posting.)

• I took a Caribbean cruise, spent a long weekend exploring the Alsace region of France (I specifically went to the towns that were used as inspiration for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast), spent an afternoon in Luxembourg, and knocked off a major bucket list item—walking the Camino de Santiago.
• Those trips mean that overall I traveled to 9 countries: Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Grand Turk, Bahamas, and France.
• Stateside, I spent time with family in Wisconsin (several times), babysat my niece in Arizona, explored hiking and wine-ing in Ohio, and made the most of a roadtrip home from Wisconsin by seeking out bookstores, wineries and hikes along the way.
• And, of course, I did a few solo weekends away here in Virginia and Maryland where I find a cute place to stay and eat good food, drink good drinks, and read good books.
• I’m not as good about keeping track of the movies I’ve watched…but I know I saw some good ones (and revisited a lot of old favorites).

Hello 2024

• I want to return my blog/Instagram to the original focus of Travel Books and Movies—a site about books that have a great sense of place, movies that inspire wanderlust, and travel that’s been inspired by books and movies.
• Meaning I want to get back into more writing (not just reviewing)—and I’m starting those efforts by taking a class on Food Writing in January!
• I want to publish at least one book/movie list, one book club guide, and one movie guide a month—I enjoy doing the research and being a (hopefully) helpful resource for those looking for inspiration, looking to learn something, or looking to remember one of their favorite trips. (Eeek, I’m really going to need to carve out some time for that goal.)
• I’m also working on a newsletter to share all of the interesting things I come across; sign up here to receive it!
• I always want to support small independent bookstores, so I’m working on my Bookshop.org Store which will feature lists of travel books based on location or topic.

• I hope to do more fun/adventurous/new traveling, too—I already have plans for one bucket list trip: the Galápagos Islands in February!
• There won’t be a full written review for every book I read—as much as I enjoyed that task and do think it helped me think critically and remember some of the books I read, it became a little bit of a chore and I do think it took away from what I want the focus to be.
• As I mentioned, StoryGraph has helped me see some interesting facts about my reading, so I’d like to even out my audiobook vs. physical/digital book reading and definitely read more nonfiction, but I’m also not going to give myself any specific number goals.
• I still don’t think I’m going to do any reading challenges—my #tbr is just so long (I have a big stack of physical books…and there are many more on my tablet, on NetGalley, and new ones being published this year), but I am considering making specific efforts to be more intentional with my geographic choices. (Does that count as a challenge?)

But, after all that reflecting, I know that most of all, I just want it to be a good year—full of joy, peace, learning, and laughter–for myself and for others.