It’s that time of year again. When I look back on similar posts I have written the past four years I am amused and surprised.

For one, choosing REFINE as my Word of the Year for 2013, 2014, 2015, and let’s face it 2016, when I selected REDEFINE, was a total cop-out. My intentions were good, but the result was that not much happened in terms of making decisions.

For 2016 it should have been Escape. Our sabbatical was baptized Project Escape. Escape from California. Escape from routine. Escape from life as we knew it. My restlessness had reached a climax and we pulled the trigger and said, “we’re out of here!”  I plan on writing more about our year and what life on the road in an RV was like, but what I can say is that it was not a mistake. I have no regrets and I enjoyed every single minute of it, not taking any moment for granted.

Now that the end of Project Escape is around the corner, it’s time to move on. Refine will not be showing up again

My word for 2017 is….

(re)DISCOVER

For 2017, my number one priority is getting a new job. Of course, Mr. Misadventures is always at the top of my list.  We’ve been together fifteen years and we’ll be celebrating our ten year anniversary in 2017. However, for the rest of me, these are my three life priorities for the year.

Discover(ing) Portland

We lived in our house in Berkeley for eight years. I loved the house but I was ready to move around year five. I had never lived any place longer than three years prior to that.

I love change. I thrive on it. The fact that we are moving to a new city (and a new state) is thrilling and I can’t wait to discover every corner of Portland and the Pacific Northwest.

As I explore I will share my experiences about my new hometown with you. Watch out for my new series, Portland Picks in 2017.

Discover(ing) Exercise

I’ve said it before, but didn’t do much about it. I have lamented that I was as out of shape as I’ve ever been. But now I’m in worse shape.

I’ve always joked I’m allergic to exercise.

Well the joke is over.

I have to discover a form of exercise that I can consistently do. I eat well, but need to cut down on quantity. And I need to exercise.

Follow my journey as I take on this challenge.

(re)Discover My Blogging Mojo

This week I watched a movie. It was really well conceived story, a psychological thriller, one of my favorite genres. However, despite an incredible cast (Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Colin Farrell) and all the best intentions, the movie fell flat.

It’s got me thinking about blogging.

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

I think you can have the very best intentions, good content and blogging experience, but that doesn’t always mean that the math always add up to be a successful blog. There are many ways to define success, but when all is said and done, I really just need to rediscover why I’m doing this.

Join along as I re-imagine the next iteration of Misadventures with Andi.

[P.S. If you know a good blog coach you can recommend – not an ebook, ecourse or mastermind group, but a real one-on-one coach, I’d love to be connected with them.  I am really great at coaching others, but can’t coach myself!]

2016 By the Numbers

Number of posts: 144 (11 sponsored)

Top 5 most popular posts of the year:

• A typical French breakfast – a post written in 2012 which the different types of French breakfast items.
• Falling in Love with Monterey County – my love letter to Monterey and what this area of Northern California means to me.
• Sex & The City Paris – from 2010, this post has been in the top 5 since it was published.  I’ve got an update coming in 2017!
• Osaka’s Kuromon-Ichiba Market – adventures in eating at the main food market in Osaka.
• 7 things Scarlett O’Hara taught me about life – popular among Gone With The Wind fans, this one is from 2009.

Top 5 most popular posts published THIS year:

• Falling in Love with Monterey County – my love letter to Monterey and what this area of Northern California means to me.
• Traveling the World via my Stomach – Hole in the Wall food subscriptions – travel + food? Yes!
• Five Things to Do While Staying in Santa Fe – we had so much fun in this area of New Mexico, want to go back.
• J’adore – Jord Wood Watches – a new wood watch to make me feel more grounded to reality after traveling in the RV.
• Discovering Art and Culture in Gainesville – the amazing cultural scene in Florida, especially the murals project.

>>>> Lesson learned: 4 of the 5 top posts written this year were sponsored posts.  I spent a lot of time making sure they get a lot of love.  What I realized is that I should make sure that my regular posts get as much love and I haven’t done a good job at doing that!

Number of places I traveled to: I traveled all year in the RV, but for the most part I’d count 34 plus Portugal.

Favorite trip of the year: Portugal in May and Yellowstone in September.

Favorite meal: Lunch at Maria Pia in Cascais, a seaside town in Portugal. Fresh seafood in a gorgeous restaurant right on the ocean.

Blogging friends I met (or met up with) IRL: Katie of Domestiphobia; Christina of Christina’s Cucina; Cynthia of What a Girl Eats; Kelly of Tasting Page; Lois of Midlife at the Oasis – while attending and speaking at the Women In Travel conference in Los Angeles in March; and Esther and Jacob of Local Adventurer who we met up with in Colorado.

Most bummed about missing Kristin of Camels & Chocolate. We were supposed to connect after our trip to Red Bay, but we ran out of time and couldn’t get to Nashville.

That’s 2016 in a nutshell.  More on trip highlights from Project Escape coming in February.  I’m looking forward to our arrival in Portland in February, let the discoveries begin!

How about you? Do you have a Word of the Year? Do tell!  If you haven’t got one, what do you think of mine?

The post Happy New Year 2017 – Word of the Year appeared first on Misadventures with Andi.