I’ve been taking mental notes (and some scribbles in my notebook) over the last couple of weeks about what I want to say in reflection of 2016. If I could choose one word to sum up our year, it would be: opportunity.
I started this blog in the fall of 2014 as a tiny corner on the internet using a free Weebly site to share my thoughts and travel dreams with friends and family. In January 2015 I made a decision to really hunker down and get some kind of consistency with my posts. That year, I also became a travel contributor for Examiner.com which gave me more exposure for my blog. They unexpectedly shut down their website in June of this year which was chaotic (that is a whole other story for later!)
We took a leap of faith and bought our domain in August 2015 and I began partnering with brands where I was given the opportunity to review their products on the blog. I’m glad I did because it opened many doors for us in 2016.
What We Did in 2016
You know the saying “you get what you give”? We worked hard on our blog this year. From opening an Instagram and YouTube channel, to working on a daily basis networking our blog with others on top of working our full-time jobs and raising our son. We switched website hosts and painstakingly moved our old website from Weebly to the one you see today.
In return, not only did we partner with more products and campaign for brands, but we began to expand our partnerships with various trips, hotel stays and events. 2016 has been a dream come true! In almost 1 1/2 years our blog has come a very long way but this is only the beginning. There is still more work to be done.
What You Will See in 2017
In 2017 we hope to see it as a year of positive growth. We know that hard work and dedication is essential when you want to achieve a goal. Sure we have a goal to take our blog as a profession, but we have goals outside of it too.
For instance, we still have regular day to day priorities that need attention (i.e. the mortgage, student loan, daycare, household repairs, etc.) It has been an uphill climb but we are getting there thanks to Meshach’s money management. What will that mean? Less debt equals more freedom!
Tristan is getting older which means he’ll be in lots of school activities (and I hear that can cost a lot!) We want to reach a point in our lives where we will not have to always second guess our expenses. We will always spend responsibly, we’re not greedy, but it would be nice to be able to afford certain things and not have to think twice about it. It would also be nice to contribute more to those in need.
In 2017 you will also see a lot more “lifestyle” type of posts. Travel will always be #1 on our blog but honestly, we don’t travel all the time. We have a lot going on in life outside of travel. There are things that we are interested in and our website is a good platform to share our ideas and stories with our readers so they can get to know us better. I promise it will not be boring!
Blog Goals for 2017
- More traveling!
- More videos
- Publish helpful blog tips (we’re not experts but happy to help!)
- More blog collaborations (we enjoyed past partnerships and looking forward to future ones)
- Put more energy into increasing traffic to our blog and social media following
Whew! This post is longer than I expected it to be. If you made it all the way to the bottom – you are awesome! Whether you’re a new reader or long time one, from the bottom of our hearts thank you so much for supporting us! We hope to keep you entertained and informed.
What are your goals for 2017?
