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Wow 2019, my first full year blogging, is over! It was also my first full year working in Corporate America. Honestly, 2019 was a lot of things. With my continuous evolution, throughout the year my plans kept changing but my future outlook remained the same. I would say as I review 2019, it was merely an “okay” year in regards to blogging but amazing in other aspects of my life. Before I dive into the details, let me just say, as much as I blog, I’m still a somewhat private person so don’t expect to see everything laid out here.
2019 Goals vs Reality
From my last year post, these were my public goals:
- Publish more: Aim for once a week (This is very ambitious)
- Go on at least 2 international trips
- Make more merchandise
- Publish more career posts here or on LinkedIn
- Have an amazing year!
Reality:
- I failed so badly at this 🙁 I only published six posts last year. I made the most trips I’ve ever made in one year but didn’t publish as much. There are still some last year files in drafts and I should probably get around to publishing. I can’t lie it was tough balancing work plus blogging but I will try harder this year even though my goal will not be to publish as often as weekly.
- I can’t believe I started 2019 with the plan to make just 2 international trips and ended up traveling to NINE countries!! (4 of which I went to twice or more). 2019 was by far the year I went to the most countries & places. It’s definitely the first time I had more international than local trips. I’m very excited to see what 2020 holds but I doubt I will be able to beat that record.
- I didn’t make more merch in 2019. Infact, I put a hold on it. I’m restructuring my strategy 😉 Stay tuned..
- As I didn’t publish as much as I wanted to, I didn’t post at all on linkedin. I promise to do better this year.
- I achieved this!! Starting 2019, I didn’t expect to have my best year yet. 2019 was so much fun for me. I got to travel to new places that I had only dreamed of, I got a new job & I had quite a few blessings throughout the year. Having an amazing year is a goal I’m definitely going to keep for 2020.
2019 Highlights
Blog
My first full year blogging! Sheesh. As I mentioned earlier, I definitely didn’t post as much as I wanted to but I still got some pretty nice traffic. At the end of 2018, my blog had been viewed in 58 countries. I’m excited to announce that since starting my blog, it has reached people in 106 countries (98 of which happened in 2019 alone). That is so exciting for me as I have officially reached over half of the world. One day I decided to setup a blog and get my voice out there with hopes of inspiring people through my life and I’ve been able to get my voice through to over 100 countries- that’s pretty cool to me. This means a lot and I’m interested in seeing what 2020 holds as I plan to increase my posting and engagements.
Check out my most viewed posts of 2019:
Travel & Career
I got a new job that I love within my company in August. I travelled to 9 countries last year (Some impacted my bank account and some were sponsored- thank you sponsors 🙂 ). Here’s a rundown of my year:
January: I crossed over in Madrid then travelled to London Jan 2 & then by the 5th, I was in Germany for the rest of the month (for work). While I was in Germany, I took a quick trip to France. (Whew! 4 countries in the first month of the year was no joke)
February: I returned to the US. Made a trip to New York & Seattle
March: I bought my car & didn’t travel all month
April: I travelled to Tallahassee, Florida (2days) & Atlanta (1 week) for work
May: No trips May
June (My Birthday Month): I went on a solo day-trip to Orlando on my birthday. I also travelled to Atlanta again for a week for work.
July: I went on my FIRST ANNUAL CRUISE (stopped in Mexico & I’m yet to post about this)
August: Went to Toronto for Caribana weekend & did a weekend trip to NY.
September: I closed on my house this month #Homeowner. I also made my first trip to Italy (Milan), Ireland (Dublin) & Croatia ( Dubrovnik, Korcula, Hvar & Split).
October: Went to see my fam
November: Made some trips here 😉
December: I had a European holiday season as I was in Rome, Paris & London
For someone who doesn’t travel that much for work, I made a lot of trips 2019. I don’t think I can do that much in 2020 but 2019 surprised me a lot during the year so I can’t confidently say what will happen this year. What I know for sure is that I was able to get a lot of those done with proper planning. Australia is still my ultimate travel destination even though i’m not certain I can make that happen 2020. Regardless, I’m excited to see where I land in 2020!
Personal
There were ups and downs throughout the year but overall more ups. I bought my first car and my first house. I ran my first 5k (with only a week of training for speed). There were some people I cut out of my life and gained new amazing ones. It was my first full year living in Philadelphia – even though a huge portion of my 2019 memory was of me traveling, I did officially live there all year. I went on my first international solo trip – to Paris. Even though I travel quite a bit, it was a pretty big deal for me especially as I’m not fluent in French. I went on to do another solo trip (Milan) so I’m feeling pretty unstoppable. Overall, I’m making strides to stay away from toxic energy and focus heavily on my happiness. Traveling does make me happy so #Catch me in your nearest airport 2020 is underway. P.S: I’ll still spend quite a bit of time during the year in my new home in Philly.
2020 Goals
- Keep up 2019 momentum in all aspects of my life
- Make at least one Asia trip
- Release more blog posts than 2019
- Increase social media engagements
One thing I learnt last year was that as much as it’s nice to count the number of countries you’ve been to, that’s not all that matters. For example, after my first trip to Italy in September, I loved it so much that I was eager to return ASAP and I found myself back there in December. That’s why one of my 2020 goals is to “make at least one Asia trip” and not travel to “X countries in Asia”. I’m excited for my 2020 trips but I have to be more strategic in taking vacation days because Asia is so far & expensive to get to that there are only so many of those trips I can make while working. All I know is I’m going to figure out how to make it work.
How was your 2019? Any changes planned for the new year? Let me know in the comments. Also, if there are things you would want to see more of with okeventures, please let me know by sending a DM on Instagram or send an email.
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