Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
The start of a new year often brings reflection about hopes, plans, and goals. 2016 was pretty difficult, with multiple deaths in the family and a lot of really hard change. Needless to say, any resolutions I had did not happen!
Now that things have (hopefully) calmed down a bit, I’m ready to put some goals on paper. Most of these are travel-related, although there are a couple of non-travel goals. There are so many things I want to do, but I’m trying to be realistic as I don’t have a ton of time, and traveling with two 18-month olds is EXTREMELY HARD. Back before kids my resolution list would be something like, take two vacations! Travel to Europe! Hahahaha. Not anymore! Someday we’ll get back to that, right??
Here are my (realistic) travel-related resolutions for 2017:
- Status with Marriott. We recently got the Chase Marriott credit card with the 80k point bonus. One of the great things about that card is that you get 5 points for every dollar spent at Marriott. Time to make a switch! I’ve been Gold with Hilton for the last several years, but will be shooting for Gold with Marriott this year.
- Go on an anniversary vacation. Last year was our 10-year wedding anniversary. The babies were young so we didn’t have anything major planned, but we did have grandparents scheduled to keep the kiddos for 24 hours. Unfortunately, my grandmother died that week and her service was on our anniversary. I am really hoping that this year we can get away somewhere for 4 days or so and just relax. That 80k Marriott bonus should help! (Perhaps Puerto Rico, pictured?)
- Figure out the best way to travel with the kiddos. Deep sigh. Travel with mobile, active, delightful yet destructive 18-month old twins is so hard. That being said, both the Home Warrior and I have family in North Texas and it would be great to be able to visit them. So we need to figure out how to make trips with the kids manageable and not, well, awful.
- Take care of my skin. I admit, I’ve taken the easy (bad!) route on my trips lately and fallen into bed without washing my face. This year I will do better!! I’m going to try some different things to make it easier–right now wipes and cleansing water are on my list. But I am open to suggestions if you’ve got them!
- Be more active on trips. My business trips this past year were so jam packed that I got out of the habit of exercising during travel. And let’s be honest, in 2015 I wasn’t exercising on trips either since I was pregnant with twins. 2017 is going to be different! I promise myself I will be more active while traveling this year.
- Redefine my style. Over the past couple of years my body has changed, thanks to both bad changes from twin pregnancy (boo) and good changes from weight-loss (yay!). This year I want to figure out what styles work with my new body and comfort level. The comfort part is especially important with regards to travel. What looks good? Also important, what feels right?
Non travel-related, I also really want to learn how to change a light fixture. We moved this year and there are so many fixtures I want to change out! It’s the little things, right?
Readers, what are your resolutions this year, both travel and non-travel?
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Happy New Year! Just some comments about the Marriott card and status if you didn’t know. Lifetime status with Marriott is I think one of the easier ones to get – so just to keep that in the back of your head – the point redemption on Marriott hotels is by far so much better than Hilton (I started with Hilton when I began traveling but they devalued the program so much I switched about 6 years ago). You should get “bonus” nights with the Marriott card also – I think I got 33 the first year but it depends on the offer when you sign up so you may be able to get to Platinum – you also are rewarded on reward nights. Marriott is also one of the only programs I know of that allows night carry overs – last year I think I had 184 nights, so I carried over whatever was in excess of the required 75 – so I already qualified for 2017. And for a trip for you and husband – check out Marriott’s Scrub Island. Sorry for the excess of information – I adore Marriott!
I use coconut oil to cleanse my face. I keep a jar of it on my bathroom counter with some cotton rounds, and my makeup just wipes off pretty easily – plus, then it serves as great all-natural moisturizer at night. When I’m traveling, I scoop a dollop into a small 1 oz tupperware container (a little bit goes a long way with coconut oil) and just make sure it’s been in the fridge for a little bit before I travel, so that it won’t run the risk of being liquid when I go through security. It’s really easy, inexpensive, and healthy!
Happy new year to you! I’ve always thought about traveling to Hawaii to see the gorgeous sights, and at least say that I’ve been there at least one in my lifetime. Unfortunately, it’s not very easy to get to unless you can afford the airfare and hotel (and food, and amenities, and travel, and…)
Your comment about travelling with the kids intrigues me.
When we were kids, we only travelled on holidays in the car. Why not DRIVE to Texas to see the grandies, or instead, pay for them to fly to visit you? I really think that if travelling is hell for you all, and importantly, hell for other flyers, wouldn’t it be better to just not do it?
@MrsB I am talking about driving. It’s not the actual driving that’s hard–we’ve got that pretty well figured out. It’s staying somewhere, often in just one room, that isn’t babyproofed! That’s what we are trying to figure out.