Reflections On 2017

My Reflections On 2017

Another year is almost over and we’re looking back on everything that’s gone on over the last twelve months. It’s been a whirlwind and an adventure, to say the least.

 

House Sitting And Becoming Nomadic

Without a doubt, the biggest decision we made this year was to become nomadic. We decided we wanted to focus more on the blog, and although the company we worked for made it easy to travel, it still didn’t give us time to write and do so many of the other things needed to run a blog.

 

Therefore, we decided not to renew our apartment lease at the end of September and have been traveling and house sitting with Trusted Housesitters ever since. If you had told us a few years ago that we’d be making this lifestyle change, we would have laughed in your face. We used to always say that we liked having somewhere to come home to; that we liked our stuff and would never sell any of it.

 

As things progressed with the blog though, it just seemed to make sense. Yes, it was a little scary. But definitely not as scary as I thought it would be. We have no regrets so far and we’re looking forward to seeing where we will travel to in 2018.

 

You are the author of your own life story. You can start a new chapter anytime you choose.

 

Where We Traveled To

This year we traveled out of the country a few times, around the US, and also within our home state of Florida. The biggest bucket list item we were finally able to cross off was visiting Iceland. Although we didn’t get to see the Northern Lights because of bad weather, it’s a spectacular country and we had a great time. We were happy to finally see so many of the places we’d only seen in photos.

 

Skógafoss, Iceland in winter
Skógafoss, Iceland

 

Within the US we traveled back to a few favorites like Denver and Seattle, but we also visited new places like Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Huntsville, Alabama. Our biggest surprise was Detroit, however. The food, museums, and street art were all really incredible.

 

Inside Outdoor Adventure Center
Goofing around in Detroit’s Outdoor Adventure Center

 

Of course, we explored more of Florida as well. From the panhandle to The Keys, we traveled all over the state. Probably our most memorable experience was swimming with manatees in Crystal River. Those suckers are so ugly, they’re cute!

 

Swimming with manatees in Crystal River
This baby manatee kept coming over for belly rubs

 



 

Blog Growth

Since focusing more on the blog, we have seen some growth. Most notably on our main Instagram page; we’ve reached over 10k followers, with our top photo getting over 1,700 likes. We also started a food Instagram page which is purely focused on what we eat during our travels.

 

2017 Best Nine Instagram Travel Photos
2017 Best Nine Instagram Photos

 

We have also been working on ways to make money through our blog. We have started adding affiliate links to our posts, sometimes in the form of text links and sometimes in the form of photos in a table (we’ve placed an example below).

 

The idea is that should you click on the affiliate link, it will take you to Amazon. Then anything you buy, whether it was the original item you clicked on or any other items you choose to buy, we get a small commission at no additional cost to you. So far, we’ve only earned a couple of dollars here and there, but every little bit helps.

 

Click below to see the items we recommend for your visit to Miami

 

We also created an online store that has various products with our logo on it. We’ve bought a few items ourselves and love how they’re a conversation starter. We especially love our hoodie!

 

The traveling monkey products

 

Personal Life

Believe it or not, it’s hard to maintain a social life when you’re always traveling or behind a computer. But still, we spent time with family and friends when we could and tried to take detours while road tripping to our next destinations so we could see friends along the way.

 

I was even able to date. I never mentioned him on the blog or social media, but we were together a few months. Some of you may recall a Facebook Live video I did back in November, announcing I was going to be traveling to Germany for a few months. Yeah, that was to see him.

 

Then when I got there, he decided to tell me after two days that the long distance thing wasn’t going to work. To say I was heartbroken is an understatement. I was left scrambling to find a flight back to the states. I also had to figure out where I was going to be living/staying over the next few months since I’d planned to be in Germany.

 

I stayed off social media for a bit. Not gonna lie… it’s been hard to write. But, I decided that it’s time to get things rolling again. I don’t want what happened to affect what I’ve worked so hard on. So, I’ve been setting up house sits and figuring out what cities and countries we’ll be visiting in 2018.

 

New Beginnings Are Often Disguised As Painful Endings.

 

Thank You To Our Followers

We must say, once again, how overwhelmed we’ve been by the amount of love and support you all have shown us. During this difficult personal issue, while we were going through Hurricane Irma, and when we first announced we were becoming nomadic… each time we received messages of encouragement. Your concern for us always touches our hearts and we are eternally grateful.

 

It’s for you all that we continue this blog. We hope that we can continue to inspire you to travel and we hope that 2018 brings you many wonderful and exciting adventures.

 

Much Love,

Vicky and Buddy

 

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10 Comments

  1. Here we are in Guatamala. So sorry to hear of the less-than-you-expected in your trip to Germany. Best wishes for a fantastic 2018.

  2. I’m positive that 2018 will bring you plenty of joy. 😉
    I’m looking forward to see what adventures you’re on next!

  3. Sounds like you’ve had a fantastic year. Also, a few downs as well. Here’s to an even better 2018! xox

    1. Thank you Stephen. I hope you have a great 2018 as well!

  4. The Iceland waterfalls are my favorite. Glad that you got to see Skalgafoss. I hope that you were able to do the walk behind falls. (Forget the name.) Anyway, may you and your buddy have much fun.

    1. I did walk behind! I got soaked, but totally worth it lol. And thanks John! 🙂

  5. Seems you had a wonderful year and you had started your life with a beautiful chapter. Your dreams will come true soon and may you earn more dollars plus explore more places 🙂

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