I know that January 1st only has as much meaning as we ascribe to it. Nonetheless, there’s something about the dawning of another year that always feels exciting and full of promise. As long as there are no resolutions involved, I’m happy.
I gave up New Year’s resolutions years ago because I am spectacularly bad at keeping them. Resolutions always seem to involve deprivation, and I am no good at deprivation. But I do like reflecting on the past year and setting intentions for the year ahead.
Setting Intentions, Not Making Resolutions
Eric and I have been busily planning out our next year of travels, which will take us to a mind-boggling number of new places. At the same time, I’m putting together a map of our last year’s journey, which once again involved a circumnavigation of the country. It would help immensely if we had a stretch of decent internet coverage.
My intention is to get this blog up to date in the next couple of months, but if you’ve been traveling along with us for a while, you know my good intentions don’t always align with reality (I’m blaming it on the fact that we do too much and too often have terrible internet). If nothing else, however, I am tenacious and I will get it done.
Really, the only intention I have is this, which is already in the sidebar of our blog but at New Year’s deserves to be front and center:
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.~Mary Oliver
And, of course, to be kind and generous and forgiving, with ourselves and all of humanity.
We wish you all the best in the coming year. May you find joy and peace, and may you also have the opportunity to realize your dreams.
What the heck are we doing here? Aren’t we supposed to head south for the winter?
Always love hearing from you, we perused your stops when we were there last month. We have housekeeping thing to tend to at home or we would be with you…
Are we planning Masters visit this April? Looks like our tickets are available. The friend always says, hey, if I live to see Dec. 31st the tickets are ours…he is amazing at 90+ a few, has had a stroke and is homebound but truly a sharp mind and wit. Love visiting him, we always leave better for the visit.
We put the Home Depot rolled insulation up under the pull down curtains in the RV and it made a huge difference in retaining the heat. I cut to fit the window, labeled with painters tape and it’s flat to store….best $20 we spent…good for blackout shades in Alaska too where it’s light 20 hours in the summer….
Julie, Eric is very excited about the possibility of seeing the Master’s Golf Tournament with Martin!
We’ve also fitted our windows with that silver quilted insulation stuff for nights when it’s really cold. It helps a lot. We take it down during the day so that we don’t feel cooped up. Fortunately, our trailer is well insulated and has good heat.
Eric, how in the heck did you arrange to walk the Masters?? Is this your first time?? Enjoy the day and say hi to a friend, Phil, tell him I will keep trying to get his Dad to come down from Westwood and caddy for me at Lake Almanor West G. Course, or at least drive the golf cart for and with me while I play 9 holes. Take care Eric and Happy New Year to you and Laurel.
https://www.mountainvalleyliving.com/page/1/?s=golf
Phil let me take a pic of him and his Dad and friend. What a nice guy??
That’s a great story, Rick! Eric was a golf pro in a previous life, and he’s always wanted to see the Masters in person. So fingers crossed, his wish will come true this year. :-)
We too are trying to stay warm in AZ and looking forward to this year’s adventure. We look forward to seeing where this year takes you.
Crazy winter weather in Arizona, huh? We look forward to seeing where this year takes you two, as well. Happy New Year, Deb!
I always feel so deprived at deprivation…..none of those resolutions for us. Be as kind as you can, be as happy as you can, do as much as you can for yourself and others. It’s a lifestyle not a once a year declaration…..Right?
I love your “instructions for living a life”…..they’re perfect!
Happy New Year to you and Eric. I look forward to seeing your planned path and hope ours crosses yours!
Sue, I’m so glad I’m in good company with my resistance to resolutions. I like your philosophy of life. And yes, it’s a lifestyle, not just something to consider once a year.
We are busy plotting how we can see you two (three!). We’re hoping for this summer. :-)
Great idea… lets change it from “resolutions” to “intentions”. Resolutions sounds so old school, and I think it is classic that so many of us never stick to our new year resolutions, because they are often more like “wishful thinking” but not usually based on reality.
Impressed that you guys can plan so much travel ahead of time. We try to do that too, but often it seems that plans made too far ahead with us tend to change and then change again. But it is worth a shot. Looking forward to reading you as I always enjoy seeing a new post from the two of you.
Wishing you everything of the best for 2019. More wonderful adventures, good health and of course JOY.
With love
Peta
Peta, I wish we could travel freely without plans or reservations—but alas, making reservations is essential in many places, particularly in state parks and national parks, which we prefer. Making plans also keeps us on target for the things we want to do, so that’s not a bad thing.
May this new year be filled with all the best for you and Ben, as well. I enjoy so much reading about your exotic adventures. Hugs to you both!
Exactly, what are you doing there in the cold! You could be here now in sunny and really warm Florida :) In a way, it’s a good thing you are there, you see a different view of snow-covered West Texas, I can just imagine how pretty it is there now though cold.
I agree with you resolutions are meant to be forgotten or simply a memory blur.
I just love your instructions for life, and it seems to be directed mostly to us travelers. And its because we are paying attention and getting astonished that our blogs are always behind :) so we thought. It’s only us bloggers who think its behind.
Can’t wait to see your new route for 2019.
Here ‘s to you and Eric, more new adventures, more fun but most of all good health!
Ha, no kidding!! What are we doing in the cold? Although I must say, it is spectacularly beautiful. I’m so glad you’re getting good weather now in Florida, MonaLiza. You deserve it after all of the terrible weather you’ve had this fall.
I like the way you think—our blogs are behind because we’re focused on paying attention and being astonished by life. :-) We wish you and Steve excellent health and many more grand adventures this year. We’ll see you soon and have more astonishing times!
Hello, travelers, Thanks for keeping those beautiful blog posts coming. I would love to see your 2018 travel map; it would be great if you post that as well.
You’re welcome to come to Albuquerque and use my internet. It would be wonderful to see you!
I’m so happy to hear from you, Beth! Sure wish we could swing by Albuquerque, but we’re on our way to Florida. We’ll figure out a plan to meet up this year, though. We would love to see you.
As for the map, I’ll post it on the blog, and there’s also a “Map” category in the sidebar that has maps for previous years. I hope they’re helpful for you.
Many of us in the west are a little chilly but not as cold as you are in TX. We left Boulder City just before the coldest night. Luckily, we only had one night below 32 and we missed it. Only got to 33 here last night in Borrego Springs. The nights quickly warm back in to the 40’s which is fine. We are sure glad we didn’t choose to return to Tucson this January with the snow they are getting. Crazy!
Happy New Year to you and Eric! Wishing you a happy, healthy year full of wonderful, exciting adventures as you take on brand new territory.
Pam, 22 degrees is kind of ridiculous. Good thing it’s so beautiful. And we’re also grateful that our little rig is so cozy and that we don’t mind at all getting out and hiking in the cold (as long as it’s not windy or rainy). Better cold than too hot, right?
Borrego Springs sounds wonderful…we love it there. Have fun and Happy New Year to you and John! Hope we can figure out how to see you again this year.
I think Mona Liza might have a point – us bloggers are really the only ones who ever notice that our blogs are so far behind. If you stick with your new motto, you won’t even care. 😂 In the meantime, I think you should do exactly what you’ve been doing- making the most of every day, getting out and exploring each place you visit, taking stunning photographs, and writing about your travels in the most beautiful way. Mary Oliver would be proud.
Happy New Year!
Thanks, Laura. I’m delighted that you think Mary Oliver would approve. She’s one of my spiritual guiding lights for living a good life.
Between you and MonaLiza, I’m feeling better about being so ridiculously far behind on our blog. Believe me, I’ve been reciting the mantra you gave me every day, haha!! But…tell Kevin that I no longer trust myself when it comes to the use of commas and that is slowing me down considerably, LOL!
For the frat time n several years I’m actually glad I didn’t go west for winter. 22 degrees, OH MY! So envious of your ability to plan a new year. Anxious to hear where you’ll go. Wishing you a wonderful and healthy 2019. Sure hope there is some way to see each other in this new year.
Make it first time. SIGH
Sherry, Florida is sounding mighty good to me right now! I hope the beautiful weather holds for when we arrive in February.
We’re excited about our upcoming year—we have big plans and are in the process of figuring out how we can make it all work. We wish you and David all the best in the coming year, too—we’re hoping to see you in Florida!
Wishing you both a very happy year filled with lots of travel. May the year bring you all that you wish for and more. We’re flying back to the US tomorrow … hope to finally get our 2018 summer road trip story wrapped up once things are settled again. Whether intent aligns with action … well, we shall see.
Thank you, Erin. We wish you two a wonderful year of adventures, as well. I look forward to reading about your 2018 summer road trip, whenever you have time to write about it. And I’d love to hear about your international travels, too!
I always look forward to your beautiful prose Laurel. Like you I look forward to this new year with a fresh set of eyes, ready for new adventures, my goal always to live a life of grace and compassion. At times I fall short but try to get back on the path. We would love to cross paths with you and Eric this year. There are some folks we have met on the road who we know will leave a lifelong imprint on our hearts. You and Eric are that for us. Here’s to a year of new adventures, lots of laughter and love, and countless memory-making moments. Love you two!
LuAnn, thank you so much for your loving comment. You know we feel the same about you and Terry. We have wonderful memories of the times we’ve spent together, and are looking forward to spending more time together somewhere soon.
I hope your new year is off to a glorious beginning in Albuquerque. Here’s to many more soul-nourishing adventures in the year ahead! Love you both!
Seems that cold weather has dipped pretty far south. Phoenix has been unusually cold as well and the snow landed as low as 2500 feet. That made for beautifully scenery, but I’m ready for it to warm back up. I look forward to seeing where your adventures will take you in 2019.
Ingrid, we know that West Texas can be wintery in January, but a high of 22 degrees was a lot colder than we expected. It was beautiful, but we’re very happy to now be in warmer temps.
Enjoy your winter in Phoenix!
I wish I’d captured more pics of the amazing frost!! It was so magical.
Love that our year started out with a visit with you two! Safe travels as you take on new roads this year.
That hoar frost really was magical, Jodee. It was a true winter wonderland!
So fun that we got to meet up in Marfa. Hope your water pump has thawed and that your travels take you to warmer places soon. :-)
Mary Oliver always has the right words!
Wishing you both a joyous and healthy 2019. Let us know if you come through Prescott!
Lisa, I agree—Mary Oliver always seems to say just the right thing, in the most beautiful and simple and elegant way. Wishing you and Hans a wonderful 2019 in your new home! We would love to see you in Prescott.
Snuggling up together when it’s unseasonably cold is second only to flashlight tick checks! 😂
Resolutions-schmesolutions! I love your use of the Mary Oliver quote so much. It is perfect for the life we perpetual travelers lead. As long as you don’t stop posting altogether, we will be happy to read about your adventures when you can share. Being “behind” just means you’re in the most spectacular places.
I hope your 2019 is filled with all the wonder you can handle, and I especially hope it will find us together again at some point.
P.S. I don’t know what kind of hassle that Kevin guy gave you about commas, but if you ask me, present-day writing suffers from an underuse of them. AND I will hold fast to my adoration of the Oxford comma. 😁
Hahaha, I will never forget your story about the flashlight-under-the-covers tick check, Joodie!
As far as commas go, I completely agree with you. Commas offer some relief in sentences. I think Kevin probably is with us, too. I just started doubting myself one evening over a glass of wine (or two) and a conversation about punctuation. And the internet is NO help at all. So I’m going with your rules.
Wishing you and Mark (TBG) a glorious new year—we’re hoping to see you sooner rather than later!
We’re with you on not making resolutions. It just sets you up for disappointment!
Sorry we missed you in the Phoenix area last month. We WILL make it happen one of these days/years :-)
Oh good, I’m glad you don’t like resolutions either, Gayle. We’re going to get along wonderfully when we finally meet up in person. :-) We’re sorry we missed you guys, too. We were so close!
Happy New Year! I, too, am woefully behind with my travel posts. I have 37 days to write about! However, my book reviews are finally up-to-date, which makes me very happy. Now I just need to keep up on them.
Love Mary Oliver’s words. I want to read more of her poetry this year…
Happy travels. Stay warm!
Les, congratulations on getting your book reviews up-to-date! You’ve already given me some great ideas for new books to read, so thank you.
Enjoy writing about your travels, that’s the most important part of travel blogging!
Happy New Year you two! We attended my Nana’s funeral on January 2, so New Years wasn’t very festive. The last couple of months really have been rough. Here’s to hoping that 2019 will be a bit more cheerful. Need to plan some trips with the Casita. That should put us in a better frame of mind when the weather gets better. Stay warm in your travels.
Brenda, we’re so sorry that you lost your beloved Nana. Take good care, and we hope that the new year brings you peace and many wonderful moments. Hugs to you both.
Happy new year! I hope you enjoy all the new sights and experiences ahead! 😘
Thanks, darlin’!! We’re excited about the journey ahead. We wish you the same, and feel certain that you’ll be manifesting all kinds of magic in this year. oxoxo
Thank you for keeping us up to date on your adventures! We miss you very much here at “The Spit” and hope to see your smiling faces soon. Much Love from Lopez Island!
Mehgan, we’re so happy to hear from you! We miss you, too—I was just looking at photos yesterday from our summer on Lopez. So many great memories, and more to come in the future! Hugs to you!! :-)