Update to this Post – It wasn’t quite the year I thought it would be which is why you can have many New Year’s Wishes, Dreams and Resolutions but real life smacks you in the face with reality and in my case blows your life up!  It would become an EPIC adventure that I couldn’t predict when the close struck midnight and rang in the New Year.

New Year’s Reflections of the Past – If you are like me, you are reflecting on past year (in this case 2014), looking back at the good, bad and ugly and looking forward to the potential of the new year (2015) – a clean slate to start over to reinvent yourself with a new chapter in your story.  We get to decide what happens in our story – it took me a while to learn that and not rely on others to dictate my path (hence, solo traveler now). On New Year’s Eve, rather than make resolutions, I write down places I have yet to visit and then put it away in a drawer to surprise myself the following December 31st.   Looking at last year’s list I always ask – Can I cross off a destination? Do I still dream of a prior entry?  What has changed? Did I go somewhere never imagined?  Being able to cross off a visited destination and dream of more is a great way to start the year for me.  This list isn’t “the bucket list” but rather a short list of five US and International destinations.

For me, the term “bucket list” is too fraught with failure and disappointment, however, it does work for others as motivation so to each their own.   I’m not a fan of the “bucket list” since I’ve sadly seen too many people leave the world well before they should have and rarely did I hear them say “I didn’t complete my bucket list”, most said “I wish I had more time”.  Those experiences remind me everyday to make the most of my time now and not wait when it comes to travel and much of life.  I don’t want to have regrets now, in the present. I want to use my time to experience the world. I don’t want to come home and say “I shoulda, woulda, coulda done this that or the other if I only paid more, feared less, etc.”  This is why I travel to experience it all now while I’m healthy, can afford to pay my credit cards and am relatively young (knock/touch wood).

Last New Year’s Eve, I was happy to say “Goodbye to 2013 – The Year of Suck” as a dark cloud (and the rains) followed me after my father’s unexpected passing.  Emotionally and physically draining, 2013 was also a big year of travel, travel which, despite the rains, helped to build me back up (slightly) as I drowned in a sadness that chocolate couldn’t heal (see A Year of  Chocolate, Cities and Challenges).  So I didn’t do a travel list for 2014 because the year had to be better and I was going to go where it took me (see Blog Year Two – A Year of Reflection, Repeats and a Really Hungry Niece). I do know that on my 2013 list, Iceland was number four so I get to cross that off and add a new international destination for 2015.

For 2015, here is my Travel List, I’m sharing it rather than hiding it in a drawer this year. No resolutions, no “bucket list”, no pressure to get to the destinations – I’ll be where I end up this year and I’m sure there will be wine and hopefully chocolate (this is why the “lose weight” resolution is always lost on me)!

The U.S. Travel List

My U.S. travel list hasn’t changed much as I haven’t figured out  how to visit solo without just renting a car and driving.  Since I drive everyday to work, a driving vacation never seems appealing to me.

Montana

Wyoming

Colorado

Hawaii

Alaska (I need a do-over after cruise break down)

The International Travel List

My International list gets a new entry now that Iceland has been crossed off.  For years, the top three spots have been taken by the more expensive (for a solo traveler) destinations, so lacking a lottery win in 2015, they may just stay there, but you never know…..

The Galapogos

Antarctica

Maldives

Morocco

Vietnam

The fun of my Travel List is that I may end up somewhere completely unexpected like Easter Island and isn’t that what the New Year is about?  The unexpected opportunities that await…..  If you are making a Travel List for 2015, do share your destinations in the comments below.

Wishing you Happy New Year and Safe Travels – don’t forget the emergency chocolate!