Dear Hive,
2023 has been amazing, of course with some ups and downs but it has been one of the best years of my life and I have a strong feeling that 2024 is even gonna be better! I am curious where the road will lead me, as the road is yet unknown. I am looking forward to the new adventures I will encounter and to what this journey is gonna teach me. I am looking forward to the new connections I will make. I am looking forward to the problems I get myself in and get myself out of. I am gonna try to embrace every moment in its own way. Good experiences to enjoy, the bad ones to learn from.
There are also things I wanna do or do differently or new in 2024. That's why I'm gonna write down some of my new year's resolutions which will make 2024 even more Epic!
A fortunate cookie I got from my Austrian neighbor. The cookie said ''A journey is waiting for you''. 2024 surely is gonna be a new journey. A new chapter!
Looking back on an amazing 2024, an amazing year 7 month long roadtrip through Europe, many memories made and new skills learned. I feel like 2024 is gonna be even better!
My new year's resolutions
My new year's resolutions
- I am finally gonna learn how to play the ukulele. I bought it a couple of years ago and as soon as I started playing my younger sister started complaining -must be my talent😂- It is not the most motivating way to learn a new skill and was for me the reason to put it away. However, I started again and I am not gonna stop this time I promised myself! So far it is going pretty well :)
- I am planning to start with Via Ferrata's. It is something inbetween hiking and climbing on a trail in the mountains. Something that would definitely give me some little pinch of fear and some free adrenaline. It will be a good new challenge! I am really looking forward to trying it out.
- I want to try some days of winter camping with my van and experience how that is. On my free days I can go Snowboarding and try to gain some new skills.
- I am gonna eat healthier. I am gonna eat a little more of what I eat too little and a little less of what I eat too much.
I am gonna eat less animal products (mainly less dairy, milk is really my comfort "food" where people in the movies grab a bottle of Whiskey I would grab a bottle of milk). I am also gonna quit my daily cereals and replace them with pancakes or oats. I am gonna eat more protein as well. Also, I often go for a hike or so without eating or get breakfast at 4pm. If I go for a hike I should eat breakfast at least. I barely feel hunger so the busier I am the less I eat. Sometimes I realize that I haven't had breakfast yet when it is almost dinnertime.
- I am gonna spend more time learning to make more & new things in my kitchen. Especially Healthy foods. I wanna start making Tempeh and Kimchi and Vegetable burgers, Masala Dosi, & home made Oat Milk.
- I am gonna travel slower. Instead of wanting to see a country in a couple of weeks I should take it easy, it is okay to stay one week in one place and spend an off day cooking, cleaning and maybe going for a walk, a roller skate or a swim instead of doing anything touristy.
- I am going for at least 4 weekends to camp with just my tent and no artificial light, alone. Maybe in the mountains, maybe along the river. I don't know exactly where yet but at least in nature. I believe that spending a day or two without any artificial ligt and just having the moon and stars around have something special, something magical. It feels like how it is supposed to be and it feels like a retreat for my mental health. However, since I have lights in my van I aways turn the lights on in the evening, in winter especially. It is some form of toxic comfort to me. Like hot showers and unhealthy comfort foods and TVs. I believe everyone should experience at least a couple of days without artificial light and experience the rhythm of the sun and the moon.
- and Finally: I want to be more creative with my photography and Hive and just post it instead of leaving it in my drafts! I guess I still have more than 100 things left to share on my camera and a lot of drafts saved on my Hive. Sometimes I'm just lazy since I put a lot of time into my travel blogs. With other blogs I often feel like it is not good enough to share or sometimes I am just afraid that people just think that I am stupid (I have a whole Sunset thought series in my drafts with all kinds of subjects I think about, usually about life). But in the end, It shouldn't matter too much what people think and nobody here ever gave me a reason not to share my blogs or thoughts so I should just get over it and share a little more instead of using my drafts as a personal diary of thoughts :)
Byebye last year, Hello New Year, new changes and new chance to improve myself, gain new skills and enjoy life even more!
Thank you for reading my new year's resolutions! It is still January so I hope it is not too late to share it but my New Vanlife Year has actually just started so that might justify it a bit.
Do you have New Year's resolutions as well and how is it going so far? Or have you already given up on them?
Regards,
Sascha
Sounds great! Looking forward to the updates 💫
Hahaha, I bought a Ukulele during lockdown, I know how to play "Happy Birthday". I really want to do it again and I've been saying that for months.
As for Via Ferrata, I tried one once and cried. But literally, I cried with fear because I'm afraid of heights 😃
I really hope you make all your wishes come true. In fact, I wish you more than anything. Even though I don't know you, from what I've seen and read, they really do look like you.
Why did you try the Via Ferrata if you have fear of heights haha. Brave try though!
It might help me to find motivation for the Ukulele that I live in a small space so my ukulele is maximal 3 meters away from me + if you leave with a van for a new trip it feels like a new chance to do better. I also chance my diet in every country. In Italy I eat plenty desserts and no candies at all, in Austria I have the habit to eat a bag of candies during a mountain hike but I pretty much never eat desserts in Austria 😅 In Spain I don't know yet which unhealthy habit to choose yet.
I don't know haha, maybe to try and overcome my fear of heights 😉 Sometimes, stepping out of our comfort zone can lead to the most memorable and enriching experiences. And also, I really feel limited in my hiking otherwise.
Yes, you're right, I'm going to get my ukulele out of the cupboard, put it well in front of me and after a while I'll definitely be motivated. Good idea 👍
For Spain, you're bound to find a few tapas to nibble on 😜
Sounds like a goal to get rid of your fear of heights. My biggest fear are spiders but I will never even attempt to overcome it. I will forever run away for this fear
I don't know if there's anything worse than spiders in this world. I honestly don't think so. We often hear that we're at the very top of the food chain. But I'm sure we're not, it's the spiders. They really are horrible insects - useful, but horrible!
I can't agree more 😂😂
Hello beautiful! I wish you'll accomplish all of your plans.
You have a wonderful "to do" list for 2024!
I think eating healthy and learning howto cook all those healthy stuff is amazing. Also I like the one staying more than one week in one place. Sometimes being on the go all the time, too fast, drains your energy out. And plus, I'm sure there were and will be a lot of places that worth at least one week.
Stay safe!! 💓
Exactly! Traveling and moving can be tiring and especially the places with "nothing" to do are good places for cooking and living, exercising.
I bet they are. It sounds so idylic! I envy u! Enjoy your trips and stay safe! 🥰🥰
I was looking at your previous post and visiting so many places you could write a guide at least so I think at least 100 things to post or more jejeje what a wonderful time you have in your hands, your blog for many is kind of a movie, living on a different country every other week, wake up with the ocean view, I also made a resolution for 2024, a lot of goals to achieve and to keep track of things have set a reminder every 3 months to review my progress and see if Im actually making progress and what have change, stay safe ✌️
Thank you so much! I try my best to make the most out this time :) I wish you the best with your Resolutions!