Top 20 Adventures of 2014 and New 2015 Goals

Happy New Year!  2014 has come and gone.  What a busy year it’s been!  I’ve been so fortunate to experience so many different things this year.  Many were life altering experiences that have motivated me to set my sights to do even more.  I’ve become much more comfortable exploring and being in solitude over the last year.  I’ve pushed myself beyond physical and mental boundaries that I never knew I was capable of.   I’m a little late, but here are my reflections of 2014 featuring my top 20 adventures of last year. 

1. Hiked and rock climbed waterfalls in the rainforest of Puerto Rico — no paths, just rocks, water, and rope!

2. Visited the only natural waterfall in Florida at Falling Waters State Park

3. Discovered the beauty that is Blowing Rocks Preserve, the longest expanse of exposed limestone rock along the entire Atlantic coastline

4. Designed the Outdoorsy Diva logo

5. Took my mom and son to 4 Caribbean countries, and 2 US territories – Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Maarten/St. Martin, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico

6. Zip lined with my mom in St. Kitts, helping her check off a life bucket list item

7. Swam with sea turtles off the coast of Barbados

8. Stayed in a Yurt and discovered my love of glamping

9. I was there for all of the major moments during the Diagon Alley expansion at Universal Studios.  One of the first 100 people to ride the Hogwarts Express train at Universal Studios and one of the first 100 people to experience Diagon Alley during the soft openings and one of the first 20 people to ride Escape from Gringott’s on grand opening day.

10. Participated as a masquerader in Trinidad Carnival parade of bands (and we came in 2nd place!)

11. Ate shark meat for the first time (and loved it!)

12. Visited Cedar Point Amusement Park, roll coaster heaven and conquered The Maverick and The Gatekeeper

13. Fell in love with the Lake Erie island of Put In Bay, Ohio and explored the largest natural geode cave in the world

14. Discovered the yummy goodness that is Trini Doubles

15. Got ranked in the top 10% of reviewers for TripAdvisor in the Tampa Bay area (completely unintentional but pretty darn cool)

16. Booked a plane ticket and traveled the same day.

17. Played in a pumpkin patch along the side of the road in Ohio

18. Tried (and failed) at stand up paddle boarding thanks to Tradewinds Resorts

19. Rode a zip line coaster with my son

20. Conquered my hate of Brussels sprouts

 

I’m tired just rehashing some of these memories.  It’s hard to believe that even with the demands of motherhood, family, career, etc I still found time to do some pretty amazing things.  So after all of this what’s next??   Here are some of 2015 goals.  I didn’t write them down last year so that I could gauge my progress.  This time I’m making them plain so that I can keep myself accountable.  It’s ambitious but I think it’s totally doable.

1.  Travel solo internationally (I’ve booked a trip for March! You’ll have to subscribe and stay tuned to find out where I’m going.)

2. Whale watching

3. Swim with manatees

4. Snorkel in at least 3 Florida springs I haven’t visited before

5.  Hang glide

6.  Plan another glamping trip

7.  Ski

8.  See a volcano

9.  Do more waterfall hunting (domestic and abroad)

10. Visit the Everglades

11. Stay in a yurt out of state

12.  Visit Dry Tortugas National Park

13. Visit the Florida Keys by boat

14.  Stay in a house boat

15. Stay in a tree house overnight

16.  Speak to young ladies/girls about appreciating nature and the benefits of traveling.

17.  Attend a blogger convention

18. Go water biking

19.  Get scuba certified

20.  Visit Discovery Cove

What are your adventure goals for the new year?  Are any of my adventure goals on your list?  If so I have some great news for you!  We had our first Outdoorsy Diva and Friends event in November and we had a blast!  If you want some adventure inspiration or you think you might want to join us on our next adventure, then join the group and add your friends too!

Lauren G. , Outdoorsy Diva™

“It’s only the great outdoors…what are you afraid of?”