2014: Looking ahead

With 2014 so new, it’s probably a good time to look ahead.

One thing I’ve always said is I don’t make resolutions. I don’t buy them. Why is it everyone makes all of these resolutions? The odds are they won’t finish them.

Such as losing 50 pounds or something like that.

It’s one thing to make those long-term goals or something more reachable. I always wondered how big of a boost gyms get in memberships in early January. And I also wonder how many of those memberships last? I’m sure I’ve done it before.

So this post is my annual goals list. There are certain things I’d like to do over the course of this year. Last year, I made five goals, which I thought were doable. This year, I’ll do the same.

Will I succeed in all of them? Only time will tell. But this helps give me something to aim for as the year goes on.

1. Better my blog

I’m putting all of these items together, because in the end, it will make this blog a much better place for those who visit. In the end, I do this blog because I enjoy the aspect of it, but I also really love the blogging community. I love interacting and finding new blogs to visit. In the end, it all works together. Some of the things I’d like to do with the blog includes:

• A slight re-design (not full, but a new header and a few other things to make it more me)
• More photos, or photo-related things
• A few giveaways
• Work on my current “features” and either tweak, keep or send packing — then add as needed
• Have at least 275 posts this year

I do realize, too, that I might work on some other things when it comes to the blog. I really have enjoyed growing this blog and look forward to trying to make it better than ever.

2. Photography

One thing that seemed to have taken a backseat last year was my photography. I missed going out with my camera (not just my phone) and exploring. Now that I’m settled into a job and have a paycheck, too, I can start thinking about renting lenses on occasion for doing different things. That’s something that is exciting, too.

With this in mind, I plan on purchasing an Empire State Pass (for state parks) this year and actually utilizing it. I received one for Christmas last year and never used it. Call it a lack of funds, call it a lack of time — call it whatever you want — but I didn’t use it. Part of the problem is I worked pretty much every weekend. This year, that won’t be the case. So I’ll be able to explore.

That part of the goal goes hand-in-hand with a couple of other goals — such as geocaching and travel. New York State parks are really a group of amazing gems and I look forward to seeing many of them. Hopefully, this will help my photography as it should give me many chances for great images.

The biggest part of this goal would be to get back into using Flickr more. The past year, I kind of got away from it. I look forward to checking it out more, becoming part of that community again and seeing what’s out there!

3. Geocaching

The ultimate goal this year is to find No. 4,000. I’m 416 finds away, which would put me in line to find it this year because in the six years I’ve caches, I’ve only found fewer than 400 finds one time.

That being said, I’d like to push myself to get it during the warmer months so I can hopefully find a good one for that milestone. I don’t get into the milestone caches much, outside of every 1,000. I like to try and make those a little more special.

I’d also like to do more in my area, which includes more events (I have some ideas), as well as placing more caches. My actual caches placed (events included) is at 77. Of course, they aren’t all active, but that’s what I’ve personally placed. I’d like to reach 100 placed caches at some point this year. I have a lot of ideas to work on and get out there. Hopefully I can do that and get more cachers to visit the area!

One other goal is I’d like to add another state or two to my total. I’d really like to land Ohio as it would connect some states. In a perfect world, I’d get Ohio and Kentucky because it would square things off a bit. And heck, if I could do it … Tennessee and North Carolina would make it look cool, too. But I’d be happy to start with Ohio!

There are a few side goals I’ve been working on, which include finishing a few challenges and such. I’m hoping this is a good year for geocaching as I’d like to get back into it a bit more, at least to the point where I truly look forward to going!

4. Travel

With a job in hand, I’d like to actually do a little traveling. I realize I won’t be able to do anything major, but I’d like to do some.

Travel could be hitting a state park or two during a weekend. Or visiting some friends in the city. Or going on a geocaching weekend. But I also want to do something memorable.

Hopefully, that means Montreal.

Many of you may know how much I love that city. A few of us were supposed to go last summer to celebrate my milestone birthday. Alas, it fell through because of funds.

I’m planning on going this year.

I’ve been to Montreal 10 or 12 times. I love the city, but I haven’t been since 2009. It’s time for me to revisit my love of that city. I’ve already started to save and I look forward to spending a (hopeful) long weekend up there and remembering why it’s my favorite city.

I also hope, obviously, to hit the Jersey Shore in the fall again.

And baseball games. I have plans for baseball. There are so many good minor league stadiums within two or so hours of me. I’d love to hit a bunch of them.

In the end, I just really would love to see a few places. It just makes me feel like I’m living again — which is something I need.

5. Disc golf

I need to get back into disc golf.

This goal isn’t going to go deep, I can assure you of that.

I think last year, if I remember right, I played 4-5 rounds of disc golf. All year.

That needs to change. One way would be to find a course a little closer. Though there’s one in Binghamton now, it’s still a haul for me. I’d still love to see one go in locally. Maybe this could be the year? I’m not holding my breath, but it would be wonderful to see it happen, that’s for sure.

Maybe, however, I can mix it in with my travel goal. I’ll start looking for courses a bit more when I travel and maybe that will help me get a few more rounds in this year.

I’ll likely only play in one tournament, though, as I’ve truly found it’s way more fun to just go out and throw some plastic. The one tournament I will play in is one I’ve tremendously enjoyed since I’ve played in it.

And there you have it. I have some personal goals, too, such as chopping away at my debt, working at becoming better professionally etc., but the five above are ones I’d like to work on and see where they can go as well. For the first time in a few years, I’ll be looking forward to seeing my results at the end of the year … but I’d rather this year was a little slower and more enjoyable than the past few.

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