2013 Evaluation

It’s been a little over a year since I started this blog, and to be honest, I’ve kept up with it much more than I thought I would.  I have a habit of starting a bunch of projects and abandoning them after about a month, so this might stick for good.  Last year around this time I made a post with 20 fun/travel resolutions I hoped to accomplish in 2012.  I plan on doing the same thing for 2013, but first want to evaluate I fared in 2012.

Last Year’s List:

1) Travel Abroad: Success-

This was my number one goal for the new year and honestly if I didn’t check off any other item off this list, I’d still consider the year a success.  Up until this July my ex-pat experiences (if you could even call them that) were Bermuda and Canada.  I went to Ireland for a little over two weeks and it more than lived up to every expectation.  In fact, it left me kicking myself in the ass for waiting this long to leave the country.  I’m already itching to go back.

2) Maine/New England Roadtrip: Failed-

I was unable to take the dream NE Roadtrip I’ve been wanting to go on for a while, however my trip to Boston last St. Patrick’s Day satisfied my craving for lobster rolls and Kennedyesque accents.

3) Windsurfing Lessons: Failed-

I didn’t get around to taking  windsurfing lessons, but I did do an awful lot of paddleboarding, so I’ll use that as a substitute.  This is going back on my 2013 list.

4) Kayak the Chesapeake: Failed-

I’ve recently gotten in kayaking (read: I’ve gone more than twice a year).  Last spring, I attempted to get friends together to kayak in Havre De Grace Maryland.  It’s only an hour from Lancaster, and looks like a cool little waterside town.  We had a date set but the weather didn’t agree.  We ended up rock climbing outside of Philly instead.  I’d still like to make it to Havre de Grace and got close this October when we did the Zombie Run.

5) Zipline at Night: Failed-

I wanted to try doing more sober/outdoor/active activities at night time.  I bought a headlamp, so took a step in the right direction but my nighttime activities more than not involved a bottle(s) of beer.

6) Experience Pittsburgh in the Summer: Failed-

I didn’t make it out to Pittsburgh in the summer, and I’m blaming my brother for this one.  He decided to move out there when I was in Ireland!  I did go out in February for my cousin’s 21st birthday.  We made it to the Hofbrauhaus and a Penguins game.  Now that my brother’s settled (he started Law School at Pitt this fall), and gotten his first semester out of the way, I’m sure I’ll be out there more often.

7) Southern Road Trip: Failed-

Major fail, with no excuse.

8) Cross Country Ski Trip: Partial Success-

Technically we went to Lake Placid last year to Cross Country Ski, but it was more of a family bonding trip than the sort of venture that leaves you aching in the good way afterwards.  I’m thankful for that trip, last year sucked for snow in PA.  This year’s already proven to be more fruitful.  I got out skiing three times over Christmas break: one nice brisk ski with my brother behind our house during a storm, a jaunt through the fields of Pleasant Mt. PA, with a stop at the Orson for wings afterwards, and a 6.5 mile ski from my home to my grandmothers on PA’s rail to trails.  This year we have a cross country ski trip planned for Lake Placid again in February.

9) Visit a Shooting Range: Success-

I successfully went to the shooting range the second time kayaking in Havre De Grace fell through.

10) Kayak or Jetski the Susquehanna: Partial Success-

I haven’t been in the Susquehanna, but my buddy Eric and I did a three day kayaking trip through the Delaware Water Gap.

11) Southern PA Brewery Tour: Success-

Lancaster is chock full of breweries and I visited all of them during the course of the year.  This past year I learned to appreciate “good” beer (don’t let that fool you too much, I still usually tap the Rockies) and experienced my first brewfest .

12) Go to Quebec or Montreal: Failure-

This is an unexcusable failure too.  My goal last year was to do Montreal for New Years, but like every year, once New Years comes around I’m exhausted by the holiday season and want something low key and easy.  I know, I’m 65.

13) See Bruce Springsteen Live: Great Success-

I saw Bruce twice.  He’s the Boss for a reason people.

14) Visit Centralia: Success-

Centralia is PA’s resident ghost town.  I stopped there for an hour look around this summer.  It was interesting and eerie.

15) Hit up at Least One Booze Cruise: Failure-

I didn’t drink on any boats, but I did drink on a school bus.  One of my friends rented one for us to attend the Summerland Tour in Bethel Woods New York.  Drinking on a school bus might beat a boat.  Might.

16) Lancaster to Philadelphia Bar Crawl: Failure-

Since I’ve been living here, Route 30 between Lancaster and Philadelphia has mesmerized me with its weirdness.  I drive it regularly but have yet to stop at any of its bars or strange roadside attractions.

17) Visit Austin Texas: Failure-

Another Irish casualty.

18) Go Old School Camping: Success-

I wanted to go camping without all the frills we normally have during our annual Kittatiny rafting trip, and I got that when we kayaked the Delaware.  Our first night we cheated by stopping at a campsite with a general store and showers, but the second night was the real deal.   I ate MRE’s, didn’t shower for 48 hours, and drank warm cocktails in the pitch black to fall asleep.  It was magical.

19) Attend a Music Festival: Failure-

In my defense, I had tickets to go to the Peach Festival at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain, but ended up selling them to fund Ireland.

20) Take Boxing Lesson: Failure-

I wanted to take boxing lessons as it’s something alittle out of my comfort zone and find a new way to stay in shape, but I honestly didn’t even have time to look into this one.

Prognonsis:

So I’m 8 for 20.  Maybe in hindsight I aimed too high for both my time and budget, or maybe I just wasn’t proactive enough.  I know that I have to spend less time just wasting time on garbage (TV, YouTube, etc).  Either way, I consider the year a success if only because of Ireland and the fact that I kept up with this blog.  I’ll be creating another list for 2013 and am happy to announce I already have several trips in the works for the beginning portion of the year.

I hope to make it to Pittsburgh in January or February as my brother said that’s when he’ll have the lightest workload.  I’m not sure what we’ll have in store, but if it includes a jaunt into WV, I’m not going to complain.  February 22 I’m going to Lake Placid again.  This time, we’re going snowshoeing and full moon xcountry skiing, and I’d like to maybe drive in a dogsled, which will bring us to March, what I work towards all year.