Out with the old and in with the new

Today is the last day of 2012.  I can’t believe this past year has gone by so fast!

Last year I talked about how for 2012 I was not going to set expectations like I had for 2011, which I called the Year of Adventure.  Well, I held true to that.

I don’t believe in making new year resolutions. Instead, I reassess things throughout the year and try to make changes as I identify areas I’d like to improve upon. After finally having an absolutely wonderful year, in spite of some bumps in the road (life would be boring if there weren’t some ups and downs, no?), I felt ready to let go of expectations and just see what the Universe had in store for me.  What was the result?

2012 blew me away!

alhambra, spain, granada, courtyard of lions

It has been such an amazing year.  Most of my life I’ve always looked forward to the new year.  Mostly because the fading year had been so rough, or I had gone through so much that I just needed something to give me the illusion of working with a clean slate.

This is the 2nd year in a row that I’ve been able to look forward to a new year not because I needed a fresh beginning but because I was simply excited to see what was coming.

basilica, quito, ecuador

While I’m not going to set expectations for 2013, I do have some goals I’d like to accomplish.

  • I’m concentrating more on my blogs and being a professional blogger.  I’ve always been one of those who considering blogging to be more of a hobby and writing more as a profession. Then a friend wrote a great article about travel prejudice, and he addressed this same concept. A travel blogger has to be a writer, editor, photographer, videographer, journalist, researcher, sometimes programmer, travel agent, etc.  We do a LOT more than simply write a brief post.  Well, many of us at least.  It really made an impact on me, and now instead of saying I’m a writer and photographer, I proudly answer I’m a blogger.
  • Ever since reading about Chiang Mai and learning of the Yi Peng lantern festival, I’ve wanted to experience it. Our travels have now brought us to that part of the world (we’re going to Thailand at the end of January), and I have decided that in November 2013, we WILL be there for the festival.  That’s my one big “must experience” for 2013.
  • We will most likely visit our 6th continent.
  • We’ve really missed the lights and energy of the holiday season, so in late 2013 we’re going to spend time visiting different European holiday markets. It will be a big temperature change from Asia’s version of winter, but it should be worth it.

agadir, sunset, morocco

One of the biggest gifts that I received from our life in 2012 was a conversation I had with my son while we were walking around the oasis. Tigger told me his big dream is being able to fly. He asked me what mine was.

It stumped me.

Didn’t I have any big dreams? Sure, I’d love to go scuba diving in the Galapagos. Antarctica is really big on my list (thinking maybe 2014). But what was my “BIG” dream?  It was a surprisingly tricky question for me.

Finally, I said: “My life is so awesome already, I can’t say I have any big dream. Except for it to continue like this.”

And that’s how I honestly feel.

It isn’t that I don’t have dreams and wishes, but I’m so used to living in the now and relishing every moment I have that . . . well, I just want to continue savoring the moment.

May 2013 be your best year yet, and may your dreams become your reality.

With love, from Tigger and me.

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16 Comments

  1. Great Talon, I really hope to meet up with you guys this year! You inspire me with each of your posts and this one was no different!

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    • I hope we get to meet up, too, Mary! That would be so freakin’ cool! And thank you! I really appreciate such a fantastic compliment.

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  2. About identifying that elusive “Big Dream”, Talon.

    It seems my entire life has been one long (and delicious) string of “Big Dream / No Dream”s.

    As a likewise single parent (but of 2 young daughters) my first “Big Dream” was to go back to school and finish a degree. Done. Took 6 years to do it and ended up with not 1, but two degrees. Then I likewise found myself again without a “Big Dream”.

    Ah but it wasn’t long (after working – happily – in my field for but a few years, suddenly yet another “Big Dream” materialized before me: Start my own adventure travel company specializing in Belize and Costa Rica (which, at the time the former, few had even HEARD of). Check. Dream accomplished – indeed, fully supported me for the next 20 years.

    But after 2 decades of romping through jungles and hopping amid sunny islands, even that can get a bit tiresome. So while I continued to enjoy visiting ever new lands (thanks to the perks of being “in the biz”), I again lamented that I had no “Big Dream”. Indeed, at this late stage of the game (my dd were now fully grown) I feared that there was simply no “Big Dream” big enough to surpass achieving a perpetual life of travel that many folks can only dream of.

    WRONG! Now, in my “retirement” (albeit stalking orangutans in Sumatra and milking yaks in Mongolia can hardly be compared to knitting booties for my grandchildren and playing Bingo at the local Senior Center), I suddenly had yet another “Big Dream”: Move to some g-forsaken rice paddy and start a wholly new career teaching EFL in Vietnam. Uh… done – indeed, presently doing. And most certainly the adventures, the new challenges, the learning experiences not over – not by a long shot.

    In short, I guess what I’m saying is – it’s natural to have plateaus of contentment even in the most wondrous life. But I have no doubt that it won’t be long before you, Talon will one day soon wake up and… some new crazy (even crazier?) new scheme will propel you forward towards yet another “Big Dream” for you and the Tig.

    And meanwhile, enjoy the sweet contentment of “savoring the moment”, and likewise wishing all the best for both of you in twenty-thirteen!

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    • You just never know. I think the key is being open to whatever comes. If another big dream comes, then you’re ready to go for it. Just like you’ve done. And I think that’s absolutely wonderful!

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  3. Talon, I realize you might be an atheist so please excuse the word “God” in this quote but it’s the first thing I thought of when I read your post.

    “This place where you are right now,
    God circled on a map for you.”
    ― حافظ

    Happy New Year to you and your son. Please know if you ever wish to visit your home town you would have a strangers couch to surf if you needed it.

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    • That’s a beautiful quote. Thank you very much! And for the kind couch offer. 🙂

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  4. Great post Talon – it’s lovely to know that you’re living your dreams!
    I love that you don’t make resolutions either. I’m wary that many people set themselves unrealistic resolutions to set themselves up to fail and then give up completely so this year my only resolution is to work towards my dream of getting to Australia by October…I’m going to do it! 😀
    Hope you two have a great year!

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  5. Mate, sounds like a brilliant year. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to say “I am living my dream” isn’t it? All the best to you and Tigger in the New Year!

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    • Yes it is! Same to you and be safe on that bike. 🙂

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  6. interesting about Tigger’s dream, Kai dreams about flying alot, and it’s his dream too….

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  7. Aww, that made me well up. I’ve enjoyed discovering your blog this year and the inspiration it’s given me. Keep it up and hoping 2013 will be fab for you both too.

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    • So glad you found it as well and that it’s been inspiring for you!

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  8. And love back to y’all…you warm our hearts and inspire our minds to think outside the box. Way to go, Windwalker duo. ❤

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