I did not want my first post of 2019 to be a book review. I am, though, glad it was a book review of a book I loved reading. Now if I could only manage to write more frequently about other things in life.

Traveling

I am not huge on traveling as I was when my kids were younger or were in college. I went to Buffalo, Alfred, Oneonta frequently. I made a couple trips to the Hudson Valley. One fall semester I put over 13,000 miles on the car going to soccer games. Those were the days when I didn’t mind driving in the dark and didn’t care where I was headed. I didn’t have a smartphone at that time. They were new and expensive. Trips were planned on the family computer and directions printed off. I frequently had an atlas and several different state maps at my disposal.

That changed in mid-December. I was just coming upon that week before Christmas when I was going to bake and get gifts wrapped and have some me time before the rush of people coming, Christmas Eve Mass and other things. I had to take a driving trip to NJ. My sister was gravely ill and I couldn’t get a flight out until Sunday so I rented a car and drove up on Saturday. The ten and a half hour trip on Saturday, December 15th took me closer to 12 hours. I do like to stop and stretch.

The trip home on Friday, December 21 took me closer to 15 hours, making the 12 hour trip seem like child’s play. The 15 hour trip included several stops on an interstate that looked like a parking lot due to accidents and bad weather in places, including as I crossed into my new home state of NC. I made it, though.

Since then, I’ve managed to fly to NJ once also. I give props to those small regional airports where you get off the ground shortly after leaving your gate. On my flight back from NJ, we were on the ground at Newark for 40 minutes after leaving the gate. That entire time was in line to take off. I also want to go back to the days when planes were not always crammed full, when flight attendants actually had time to be helpful if needed. I fear those flying days are gone forever.

New Year

While my new year was spent in New Jersey, I’m diligently working on goals for 2019. I have several travel plans in mind – a class reunion I don’t want to miss, a bike ride in Buffalo for a great cause, maybe even a trip not related to anything but getting away. I will be going back to NJ in February. So travel is going to be a big part of 2019.

I will get my goals out there in the web-o-sphere for all to see soon. I want to make sure they are smart (maybe even SMART) goals so I am taking my time.

What About You?

Do you make goals for each new year? Or are you the type that sets a goal when it comes to you regardless of date on the calendar? How do you check in on these goals?