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In what has turn into a practice, I’m sharing my year-end assessment (per week late albeit). For a decade Alyssa and I’ve sat down on the finish of a 12 months to recap the highs and lows.
As a follow, it provides me a ton of gratitude. It’s simple to neglect about all the good issues that occur in a given 12 months.
Now we have a deal with the dangerous, however there’s virtually all the time extra good than dangerous.
I additionally like to learn different folks’s year-end critiques. If in case you have a 12 months assessment to share I’d like to learn it within the feedback!
So, with out additional ado. Right here’s my 2023 Yr in Assessment.
Issues That Went Effectively in 2023
Visiting Japan
Japan sat on the high of our bucket checklist for years. This 12 months we lastly pulled the set off. TBH, the value of the airplane tickets stung a bit. Let’s simply say it got here all the way down to touring to Japan or constructing a brand new deck on the again of our home (and the again of our home remains to be deckless).
I’m not mad although. We made reminiscences. We camped subsequent to Mount Fuji. We sang karaoke in Tokyo. We tried meals we’d by no means had earlier than and met some fantastic folks.
Additionally, we camped in a 16ft RV for 2 weeks with our two younger youngsters and lived to inform the story (Survivor has nothing on us).
So sure, touring to Japan was a win (the video above is one in all a number of from our journey).
Our Acquisition of RV Inspiration
We had no concept what we have been in for after we purchased our first web site final December. All we knew was that we would have liked to start out recouping our money movement after promoting all our companies.
Because it seems, shopping for a enterprise is way simpler than beginning one. (Extreme understatement.)
Regardless of not engaged on the enterprise for a number of months at a time whereas touring, we grew income by 65% this 12 months and could have the enterprise paid off in Q1 or Q2 of subsequent 12 months. So that’s cool.
All credit score goes to Alyssa and our staff of superior writers and editors. This can proceed to be Alyssa’s focus in 2023 as she’s cherished engaged on it and studying methods to make it thrive.
Perhaps we’ll purchase one other enterprise or two in 2024…
You may learn a few of our enterprise updates under:
Roadtripping throughout UK
This summer season we took my mother and father to Wales and England. Earlier than this journey they’d by no means actually left the US. We booked an RV for them and spent an unbelievable two weeks road-tripping across the UK countryside.
One spotlight from the journey was visiting the city of Wrexham in Wales. I’m a giant Welcome to Wrexham fan and attending to see the Racecourse and purchase a jersey was superior. It was a visit I’ll all the time cherish. (We ate SO a lot pub meals!).
Signed up for Boundless Life Program (3 months of “world education” in Portugal)
This fall we spent 3 months in Portugal enrolled in a program referred to as Boundless Life. This can be a startup firm targeted on creating world education alternatives for households. They supply a Montessori-style faculty, coworking area, and lodging in a handful of cities around the globe.
We signed up as an experiment. We’ve all the time cherished the concept of spending an prolonged interval in Europe. Nevertheless, with youngsters, it provides a contact of logistics. With Boundless, we felt that it might be a extra sustainable option to journey. The youngsters may make pals in a college setting and we’d have a while to work ourselves. Plus, we’d be in a brand new place to discover for 3 months.
General, it was a optimistic expertise. I really feel I may write a large quantity concerning the highs and lows of our expertise with Boundless. On the finish of the day, the children thrived and we met a whole lot of wonderful individuals who I consider we’ll have a continued relationship with. It’s one thing we’d attempt once more sooner or later if our visa restrictions/journey plans enable us.
Plus, I bought to check out browsing for the primary time and found a brand new sport (Padel!) that I cherished.
What Didn’t Go Effectively in 2023
Youtube
This 12 months we launched greater than 50 YouTube movies from our RV journeys around the globe (New Zealand, Japan, UK). It was by no means meant to be a enterprise or a option to make some huge cash, however we’d hoped to see extra curiosity than we did.
As we sat all the way down to replicate on the 12 months, each Alyssa and I spotted that YouTube wasn’t a match for us shifting ahead. (One thing we really realized in August, however we had commitments and a set runway to dedicate a full 12 months to Youtube.)
Whereas it was due partly to not getting a whole lot of traction in viewership, we additionally simply didn’t love the act of filming our travels. Hauling digital camera gear together with hauling two youngsters simply added a bunch of stress to our travels. The concept of with the ability to discover new locations with out filming sounded good to us. (Can’t emphasize sufficient that the digital camera gear weighed greater than carrying one in all our youngsters. And Eli is HUGE.)
We dedicated to a 12 months of creating movies and I’m proud that we accomplished that objective. On the finish of the day, we nonetheless had fairly a couple of folks tune in to our movies (in the event you have been one in all them, thanks!). Plus, we have now some wonderful household journey movies I’ll all the time cherish.
However for now, the brand new reminiscences will go into my iPhone folder and never be uploaded to Youtube :).
Lack of Motion on Our Weblog (aka this web site)
We printed a handful of recent articles on HeathandAlyssa.com, however general we didn’t do a lot with our website. It’s not like issues went poorly with this website, however I don’t like having issues simply be stagnant. Movement is sweet.
One drawback we’ve had with Heath and Alyssa is struggling to determine the course of what we wish this web site to be about. For a very long time, it mirrored our journeys in enterprise, life, and journey.
That is superb, however our lives have taken some twists and turns. Because it seems, it’s exhausting to maintain up with a private weblog if you don’t know what you’re doing along with your life.
At some point we’re documenting a campground construct. The subsequent we’re touring with youngsters. Subsequent, we’re shopping for a weblog on renovating RVs.
These pivots could make it exhausting to remain constant on a weblog matter.
So, shifting ahead, we’ve determined to dedicate HeathandAlyssa.com to only ONE of the MANY pursuits we have now.
Trying forward, HeathandAlyssa.com might be a useful resource for folks planning RV journeys around the globe.
We’ll be publishing extra articles like:
Of all of the matters we’ve lined, we really feel like serving to folks make reminiscences via street journeys is one thing we gained’t tire of. Plus, we’ve realized via RV Inspiration the facility of specializing in a single matter.
Should you’ve loved articles like these or wish to journey to a number of the locations we write about, we’d like to have you ever stick round.
Should you’re extra fascinated about our private journey, we’ll nonetheless be sending these sorts of updates to our e mail checklist (simply not publishing them on this web site).
Trying Forward to 2024
We’re nonetheless determining what we wish our 2024 to seem like, however we do have some plans trying ahead. Listed below are a couple of private and enterprise goals that we have now.
Proceed touring as a household.
This summer season we’re planning one other journey to Europe. A number of months in the past I used to be having breakfast with some pals once they casually talked about that they had further tickets to see Taylor Swift in Vienna.
With out hesitation, I supplied to purchase them (with out speaking to Alyssa). As a giant Swiftie, Alyssa was bummed she didn’t get to go see her within the US. After I informed her I discovered us 4 tickets to Vienna, she was ecstatic.
After I informed my good friend I’d purchase the tickets he requested, “Are you planning to be in Austria subsequent summer season?”
“I’m now,” I replied.
We’ve 100% gone to nations for much less of a purpose than to see Taylor Swift.
All this to say, we invited a few our closest pals and are going to make a giant journey out of it. Earlier than and after we haven’t booked something however are tentatively contemplating UK in the summertime and Spain within the fall.
Ellie and Eli nonetheless aren’t school-age but, so whereas we have now a window to be extra cellular we’re going to soak it up.
I’m driving the Tuscany Path (once more)
In 2022 I rode a motorbike throughout Italy with a bunch of pals. I cherished it. It not solely was a bodily problem, however an unbelievable option to discover rural Tuscany. I biked via fort cities (even one evening slept in fort ruins), ate the most effective meals of my life, and met some unbelievable folks.
We biked over 300 miles and in addition the equal in elevation achieve of Mount Everest. Final time we did it in 6 days and with a help van and my objective this 12 months is to do it unsupported and in 4 days (70 miles per day). PS Should you really feel like becoming a member of me, there are nonetheless a couple of spots left however they’re virtually full!
Under is a video our pals Kara & Nate did from our time on the path.
Writing my first (actual) e-book.
On my to-do checklist yearly since I can bear in mind is to jot down a e-book.
One idea that I’ve thought essentially the most about for years has been the concept of runway (particularly, emotional runway). I’ve even given a few talks on runway at startup occasions. Folks appear to latch on to the concept.
Should you’ve ever listened to the RVE podcast or learn different articles on this website, you’ve most likely heard me speak about this idea.
The concept of an emotional runway is one thing that helped a ton whereas constructing Campground Reserving. I hit burnout exhausting and wished to give up a bunch of instances. Determining easy methods to keep within the recreation lengthy sufficient and benefit from the course of by extending my runway was big in finally seeing an acquisition via.
I’m early within the writing course of however my objective is to publish a e-book this fall (saying this out loud for accountability). I hope to assist different people who find themselves working to deal with large tasks or startups themselves.
Your 2024 Objectives & Tasks
Should you made it this far within the put up, I’d love to listen to what you’ve within the works for this 12 months. What are you most enthusiastic about? What are you constructing or engaged on? The place are you touring? Can’t wait to listen to from you.