Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.

Hal Borland

This year was one heck of an adventure. It was full of incredible memories, a rollercoaster of emotions, and everything in between. It was one of the best years of travel, adventure, and exploration I’ve had in the past decade and reflecting on it has me all nostalgic and excited for another year of doing what I love.

I’ll be reflecting more in upcoming posts and sharing my yearly book stats soon, but I hope you enjoy my travel recap for the year! It’s something I’m really proud of myself for planning, doing, and then sharing with all of you!

States I’ve Visited

My goal last year was to visit a new state and I managed to get 3 new ones in there! Vermont was by far my favorite with Massachusetts coming in a close second. To be fair, we didn’t do much besides drive through Connecticut, but we plan to make it back again someday!

Countries I’ve Visited

I didn’t add any new countries to my list this year, but I did travel to a new part of France and explored the mess out of it. It was such a great experience. Hopefully I can add more countries to this list next year and the year after. We have big plans in the works!

2023 Travel Goals: How Far Did I Get!?

My goals for 2023 were:

• Visit a new state
  • Nailed it!! I visited 3!
• Take a trip with the dogs
  • We took two trips with the dogs and explored a ton with them locally.
• Go somewhere new in Pennsylvania
  • Heck yes we did. Lots of new places in Lancaster and York!
• Add 3 countries to my book by an author from every country list
  • I barely squeaked by on this one, but I did it! More on that in my next post.
• Travel internationally
  • Yep, France!
• Practice a language every day on Duolingo
  • Every single day! Alternated between French and Spanish.

• Take the Lancaster city walking history tour
  • Whomp whomp. Sadly, we didn’t manage to squeeze this in. Maybe next year!
• Try 3 new activities
  • I see your goal of 3 and raised it to 12 new things. One new thing a month! More on that in an upcoming post too.
• Plan a small group trip with friends
  • I sort of accomplished this. I met up with two friends for dinner in a new town twice and I’m going to count that as a win!

Least Favorite Destinations

Salem was really the only dud on our list this year. We had hyped it up so much and it just didn’t do it for us. Between the crowds, rude tourists, and overpriced everything, we just didn’t have the best time. We should definitely have gone outside of October and would’ve enjoyed it more. Regardless, we made the most of it and there were some great moments in there.

Bordeaux also was our least favorite place we went in France. We had a ton of fun, but it just wasn’t our vibe outside of the art installation we saw. We’re both glad we went, but I don’t think we’d go back.

Favorite Destinations

Turns out we’re suckers for French Medieval villages. It doesn’t matter which one we went to, we fell in love with all of them for different reasons and could see ourselves happily living in one.

Burlington, Vermont was another mega favorite. It was outdoorsy, not crowded, full of great food and drinks, extra dog friendly, and there were a ton of things to do. We absolutely LOVED our time there and can’t wait to go back.

Lancaster Local Favorites This Year

• Columbia Kettleworks 2nd Gear
• Gallery Grow
• Sweet Shoppe
• Tellus360
• Big 5 African Cuisine
• Built Supplements
• Drøm
• Sweetish
• Smucker’s Farm Market
• Inspire Pottery Studio

Month by Month Travel Recap

There are some months where we did a lot and other months where we kept it local and relaxing. Whether you travel once in your lifetime or are constantly traveling or are somewhere in between you’re still a traveler in my book. I wish I could be out exploring the world all the time, but I do the best I can and this year I felt like my life was so full. We only went on one international trip but we did do a ton of exploring locally and in places we’d never been before.

I love how this year turned out where travel is concerned. I can’t wait to see what next year brings. I laughed at myself the other day because I felt like I hadn’t done a lot of traveling this year. Then I took a step back and realized just how many new things I tried that are travel-related and how amazing those experiences were. Don’t overlook the local travel and experiences. They all count!

• January
  • Went to Lititz for date night at Blackworth inside the old Wilbur Chocolate Factory. We also walked around and explored a few local stores before dinner!
• February
  • Birthday shenanigans were so fun this year and were conveniently located just 30 minutes away. We tried pottery throwing together and completely loved the experience so much we signed up for classes.
• March
  • We kept it local to Lancaster and didn’t travel at all. There were lots of dog walks, quality time at home, and work.
• April
  • We celebrated our friends’ kid’s first birthday on a hike we’ve always wanted to go on at Shenk’s Ferry.
  • We dressed up in full costume, me as Madonna in her iconic cone bra outfit and Will was one of the Misfits with face paint, for an 80s prom night.
  • Went to our favorite hike, Kelly’s Run, with friends and the dogs
  • Rainn Wilson was having an event for his new book, so we headed to York for a fun night out.
• May
  • Went to an amazing place to hike, Lock 1 Historic Area, for my first-ever boudoir session. Had the best time exploring the woods and climbing on all the rocks.
  • Our neighbor friends got married! It was an added bonus that we got to explore a venue we’d never been to before.
• June
  • June was one of the most epic months of the year for us where travel was concerned. We drove to Knott’s Island, NC to drop off the dogs with family and hang out.
  • Then it was FRANCE BAYBAYYYYYY. We explored over 10 different Medieval villages, Bordeaux, and had a ridiculous number of adventures that we’ll never forget.
• July
  • We did a quick trip to Williamsburg to celebrate Will’s brother getting married.
  • July held another first for us! After living in PA for 6 years, we finally made it to Hershey Park.
• August
  • We spent a lot of time at some of our local favorites, especially Columbia Kettle Works 2nd Gear
  • We discovered a new adventure we didn’t know existed, rail biking! Highly recommend this as a fun day out.
  • Took an epic road trip to a brand new state. Stopped in Albany, NY on the way and had the best time at our halfway point to Vermont.
• September
  • Our road trip to Burlington and Stowe was one of the best trips we’ve ever taken, especially with the dogs
  • We got to see Leslie Jones and Keenan Thompson in Philly for her book tour
  • Beer fest in Lititz was full of great times
  • Ended the month with the Troegs Hop Dash 5k with the Lancaster Beer Runners group
• October
  • Met up with a friend I’ve known since middle school in DC for a great day of catching up and exploring
  • Got together with friends for a Halloween carnivorous plant terrarium workshop
  • Went on another road trip to Salem and Boston!
  • Work had a pumpkin carving contest which I had never done before. Took home the funniest pumpkin prize!
• November
  • We threw the dogs a joint birthday party with a friend hike in the morning and got together with more friends that evening for ice cream at their favorite place, Lancaster Sweet Shoppe.
  • Rode on a motorcycle for the first time!
  • Started Thanksgiving off on a high note with the Millersville Turkey Trot 5k!
• December
  • Another 5k, this time for the holiday lights!
  • Holiday themed adventures continued with a light tour with the dogs

Did We Have Anything In Common This Year?

Let me know in the comments below! Talking to my followers and fellow bloggers is always something I look forward to. I might be slow to respond, but believe me when I say I really love connecting with other travel lovers! Let me know what we have in common and what your plans are for the next year!