Happy New Year!! I hope you have all had a safe and happy holiday season.

The new year is seen by so many as a time for a fresh start, a new beginning, a chance for a blank slate. I love reflecting on my past year, and usually have all kinds of grandiose ideas for the next period of time. Of course, like many others, I usually fall into my old patterns pretty quickly. Le sigh. (Pictured: Super cute burlap banner by Etsy shop Two Chikkadees)

Looking at my resolutions from 2013, I did, well, pretty badly. While I got to see my family as much as I wanted, and we did go on a fun vacation in Colorado, we didn’t do nearly as much family travel as I wanted. While we took the Mini Warrior on a couple of trips, I don’t feel at all that I’ve mastered baby travel. And if we took him on a plane now, at 16 months, it would be really, really difficult (to say the least). We definitely didn’t make it to Napa (sob), and while I got the Companion pass I didn’t get Exec Plat with American or Gold with Hilton. As far as non-travel resolutions, which were doing another triathlon and not being late anymore, let’s just be kind and say those didn’t happen.

So we’ve established that I wasn’t successful last year. Likely, the fact that I have a small child and that we moved are big reasons. But there may be another—if you compare the past several years of travel resolutions, they all kind of look….the same. Not that there is really anything wrong with that. It seems like, since we are about to undergo a renovation (and we’ve still got that small child!) this will be a hard year to do anything wildly different. Even coming up with something wildly different seems hard!

However, there is something very appealing about doing something out of the ordinary. Of course, I still want to go see my sisters, my grandmothers, and my husband’s family. But those aren’t really resolutions any more. I’m glad I focused on them for several years in a row because there were a couple of years where I didn’t see my family regularly. Now that it’s a habit it doesn’t belong on the resolution list. What does belong there are new, extraordinary (for me), shoot-for-the-stars, now or never items.

I will be working through Chris Guillebeau’s Annual Review process over the next few weeks. It’s comprehensive, and involves setting attainable goals as well as the scary dreams. I will be posting updates periodically. If anyone wants to join, please let me know! 2014 will be an exciting year, and I want to make sure I am ready for it.

Readers, what are your resolutions for the year, travel or otherwise?