It’s that time again—time to reflect on what the last 365 days have brought and start planning for the next year of adventure. Unless it’s a leap year, then you’re thinking about 366 days. Does anyone else also think that leap year is so very strange? Here I am—getting off-track already. Let’s talk about some 2019 travel plans and goals, shall we?

The project manager in me loves a good list so last year I compiled all our travel plans and goals. I thought it’d be fun to see how many plans came to fruition and how many things changed. Before we jump into some full-blown reminiscing here’s what our year looked like by the numbers:

• 15,386 miles driven (believe it or not, I can take zero credit for this very precise number—this is all Tom’s bookkeeping skills—seems there’s a project manager somewhere in him too)
• 8 national parks (6 US, 1 Costa Rica, 1 Italy)
• 20 US states
• 3 countries
• 1 new starter for Stan the Tan Van
• 1 new set of brakes (again), this time they came with a warranty
• 0 tows (whoohoo!)
• 2 canoeing excursions
• 1 encounter with a one-eyed hissing alligator
• 1,000 lbs of cheese consumed in Europe (okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I doubt it)
• 1 trip to the emergency room (again), but fortunately not related to meeting the one-eyed gator

Did We Fulfill our 2018 Travel Plans and Goals?

2018 Travels

Florida Everglades: As planned we spent a couple of weeks in southern Florida. We paddled through the Everglades, saw an insane amount of colorful birds, were bitten by a million mosquitoes, and met the aforementioned cranky gator. I don’t really blame him though—I’d be cranky too if I was missing an eye. You can read more about our Everglades highlights (and where to meet one-eyed gators, if that’s your thing) here.

Jaco, Costa Rica: This destination wasn’t anywhere on our radar for 2018, but we had an opportunity to travel here with family, so we took it. Costa Rica quickly captivated us with its brilliant sunsets, lush tropical forests, welcoming culture, and relaxed atmosphere. We wrote a post about our favorite things to do in Costa Rica.

France and Italy: I could go on and on about our time here. We spent 3 months (well, 88 days to be exact) backpacking through France and Italy. Why France and Italy you might ask? Two words—cheese and wine. Yes, technically that was three words, but you get the idea. For real though, Italy and France have long been at the top of our places to visit list. We wanted to see the art and architecture, eat the food, learn the history, and experience the culture.

With the exception of what we refer to as, the Nightmare in Nice, our travels in France went exactly as planned. In Italy we didn’t make it to two of the places on our original list—Genoa and Siena. Instead we added four additional destinations including Aosta, Bologna, and Umbria—three less visited areas perfect for getting away from the tourist crowds and settling into the flow of daily life.

We learned a lot this year about how we like to travel. Last year, we moved fast from place to place quickly. Gobbling up all the experiences we could as swiftly as possible. This year, we realized that slow travel is much more our style.

US Southwest: We eventually made it to the southwest, but took a pretty large detour across the country. After Europe we headed west to the South Dakota Badlands and Colorado, eventually arriving in Oregon for Descend on Bend and a visit to our old Portland stomping grounds.

Our next stop was California, so we took HWY 101 all the way down the Oregon coast and wrote a detailed itinerary about it. We (and by we, I mean Tom) created a new-to-us style video that is our favorite to date. Then it was onto the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, natural hot springs, old west towns, and eventually Death Valley.

Our last destination for the year was Arizona. We attended a van build event, soaked up the desert heat, and saw the petrified remains of 225-million-year-old trees. Ironically enough, we didn’t make it to the one place we planned to go in the southwest—the Grand Canyon. That stays on the list for this next year.

2018 Goals

1. Expand our van cooking repertoire or as we like to call them vanipes. Check! We’ve been sharing some of our favorite van recipes in our Instagram stories. We even did a stint of vegan eating this year. Don’t worry—we’re very much back on cheese.
2. Try Astro Photography. I didn’t delve nearly as deep into this as I’d like to, but I began experimenting. Here’s one of my very beginner night photos.

   

3. Focus on capturing moments and details. For the new year, I’m changing this to be “focus on being present for moments and details.” My goal last year was to share more about everyday life on the road. Writing about not just the highlights, but also the challenges and stressful parts of travel and nomadic living. This is something we’ve been doing and will continue—mostly on Instagram and the occasional ramble here, of course, but overall this year I want to focus on putting my camera down more and just enjoying the moment.
4. Get comfortable not having a plan. This one I can honestly say we’re getting pretty good at. What I’ve realized in the last year is that sometimes it’s good to have a plan, but over planning is the worst. I think there’s an art to travel planning. Educate yourself enough about an area to feel comfortable and prepared, but don’t plan out every moment of every day. Also, listen to yourself. Sometimes you get planned and traveled out and you just need to take a day (or a few days) and do whatever feels right in the moment.
5. Try rock climbing for the first time. I 100% didn’t do this last year. I most definitely still want to try rock climbing and really put my fear of heights in its place, but I’m not in any rush. This one stays on the books for the future. Don’t be surprised if it’s on my 2020 list too—remember that whole “we move slowly these days” thing?

While we certainly had moments where we felt in over our heads (see how to make an ass of yourself in Paris) this was the year we really settled into a life on the road. Instead of running to one destination after another on a never-ending list, we stayed put longer. Only moving after we felt that itch and pull to find something new. We learned to “unplan” and to say yes to unexpected opportunities. It was also a year full of connections. We visited loved ones across the country and met amazing new friends that we can’t wait to see again.

2019 Travel Plans and Goals

2019 is shaping up to be a particularly high-mileage year for Stan the Tan Van. While we’re always open to new opportunities, the majority of our 2019 travel plans thus far are domestic. By the end of the year, it’s possible we’ll have visited all 50 states. Here’s what’s in the works.

Cancun, Mexico: First up is something that we’ve wanted to do for years—take a family vacation! We’re headed to Mexico in just a few days with my parents, siblings, brother-in-law, and niece. This will be the first time since I was a child that my entire family has traveled together. You can bet there will plenty of Griswold style shenanigans!

US Southwest: Sadly, we won’t make it back to the desert in time for the RTR (aka Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, not be confused with Rent the Runway—two very different things). We’re hopeful that three times a charm and we’ll finally make it to the Grand Canyon though. We have a whole list of places that we’ve yet to explore in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California so we’re headed that way this winter.

Alaska: There’s a lot to say about this destination, but for now, I’m leaving this here. We have some announcements planned in the coming weeks so more will be revealed soon. Mysterious, right?

US Northeast: The biggest part of the US that we have yet to explore is the Northeast. It’s not known to be the most van life friendly place, so this will put our budget camping skills to the test. We’re hopeful that timing will allow us to chase the fall colors through the Northeast this year. If you have any recommendations, favorite places, or tips for traveling on the east coast, send ‘em our way!

If you read last year’s post, you might notice that I didn’t include any personal life goals for 2019. That’s because other than that whole rock-climbing thing, most of my goals pertain to surprises we have coming on the blog. We have announcements and projects in the works and if I told you about them now, they wouldn’t be much of a surprise. What I can say is that there will be a whole lot of new content and big adventures coming this year. We’ll be sharing more (in a much less secretive fashion) soon!

As always, we’re so grateful to each and every one of you for supporting us on this journey by reading and following this blog. The last year and a half have really been a roller coaster of experiences, ideas, and emotions. We’re so encouraged and inspired by the comments we get from you here and on our social channels. Wishing you all the very best year yet. Happy 2019 friends!

Do you have any 2019 travel plans or goals? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

Related Posts:

• 2018 Travel Plans and Goals
• How We Accidentally Became Minimalists
• How to Build a Camper Van on a Budget
• 7 Things We Learned from a Year of Travel

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