Happy New Year 2025

Well, we made it through another year and after finally coming out of a crazy pandemic, it looks like we may be going into another bout of uncertain times. My pantry is stocked, my freezers are empty of unnecessary items, and I’m preparing for a worst case scenario, but hoping for not much to change. 

2024 was pretty good to us. I was able to return to visiting The Travel Goods Show, and visit 3 other destinations, 2 of which were new to us. How did I do on my travel “resolutions”?

Do more local activities

I don’t think we did more, but we didn’t do less than we did in 2023. We went to new markets, we tried new restaurants, we volunteered more. We already have more things planned in 2025 that are local and with how iffy travel might be in the coming year, we might find ourselves road-tripping on the weekends around our state.

Meet up with more friends on my travels

This didn’t exactly happen. I couldn’t make my plans match up with anyone else’s, except when visiting Vegas for the Travel Goods Show. I was able to meet an online friend after years of never being in the same place at the same time, and it lined up with another friend’s visit to the city as well. 

Try something new

This was pretty open, so it was also easy to achieve. I ate new things, I met new people, I went new places, and I took on new responsibilities. Were they all exciting? No, but it was new and that was my goal.

Bring back 48 Hours posts

Honestly, I completely forgot to make this a priority and I floated the idea of starting a Patreon where I would post more of those kinds of things, where people could vote on what destinations they would like to see. If that’s something of interest, I’ll likely work on some of that.

Do more holiday-/month-specific posts

I feel like I did an okay job at this, but I’d like to do more still and will continue to push myself to work harder to achieve this goal this year.

Create more reels for Instagram

I’m not sure IG is that lucrative for me, as my follower count never really changes, no matter what I do. I did make more reels, but they don’t do better than carousels, except for the static reels that I just add words and animations to. I’ll keep doing my best and creating things that make me happy. If you aren’t following me already, I’d love for you to do so. 

Support more local artists and businesses

This is easy for me. I do a lot of event vending with my fandom non-profit, so I am near a lot of artists throughout the year. I commissioned a piece from an artist friend of mine. I have also been going to more local shops and restaurants at home and when I travel.

2025 additions

More events. My hope is to get to at least one event a month

All the coffee shops. I want to bring back my Portland coffee series, where I try new, or new to me, shops and give my honest feedback. 

I’d like to bring back Destination Date Nights in some way. They will never be as frequent as they were during the pandemic, but one every few months should be doable. 

Visiting new places. This is pretty much always on my list, but if things work out this year, we’d love to visit New Mexico for Meow Wolf’s installation there and I’ve set my sights on either Greece or Malta, depending on where I can find a place to stay and airfare costs. 

Start a paid subscription service. I have been thinking about this for a while and may or may not find time to work on videos and extra posts that may be more in-depth, as well as things like packing lists for specific trips, packing videos, and anything else that sounds helpful. I’ll still be posting here like always. This will just be extra content.

Here’s hoping for a surprisingly good 2025. I hope the start of the year is already awesome for you. Let me know your resolutions for the coming months, no matter what they are. I want to read all your comments!

Want to read more tips for traveling worldwide on a budget? Check out my blog at Shereen Travels Cheap or find me on Facebook or Twitter. You’ll also find product and website suggestions, packing tips, current deals and a whole lot more to help you travel better for less!