The Check In – 2010 Annual Goals Review

Ok, this January I posted some lofty goals for the year and my career as a travel writer / travel blogger. I wanted to check in at the half-way point, but I am three months late. So, now with the year more than three-quarters complete, I decided to finally review my goals. Here goes:

• Start my new personal travel blog and website titled  – stayadventurous

The blog (this blog) has grown bigger than I imagined and with more posts than I envisioned.

From my recent 20 day Mexico tribute to the weekly Sunset Sunday. I am glad to see it grow each week and I appreciate the readership.

And as for the website. It’s still a 2010 goal. Stay tuned.

• Continue to freelance write for travel related blogs

I wrote guess posts on other travel blogs titled Experiencing the World Cup, Travel to Puerto Escondido and I continue to write for Cheapflights.com with a focus South of Border. I just published Destination Spotlight on Playa Del Carmen and also remain  contributor to Suite 101. So I am on target here.

• Travel to 1 new continent; 2 new countries; and at least 1 new US state

New continent. Yes. Africa.

Actually I dedicated the entire month of August to stories about Africa. All Africa – All August. I traveled through five countries on the journey; South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia.

Surprisingly, I did not hit a new state, well not yet. I am still on 41, but overall, this goal was to travel to new places. I did accomplish that including new places in States I already visited in America’s Southeast.

• Get published in print for a major travel magazine (before they all disappear)

Not  yet. I need to pitch smarter and continue to build my credentials. I know I am ready, I just need to make them know the same. And I inched closer with being published in print a few times.

You can read one story thru a link on my blog: The Shanghai Surprise.

• Publish a novel I write or ghost write

I realize I don’t have complete control as a ghost writer to ensure the work is published. I helped a few writers this year, but if I want to be part of a published novel project, I may need to stick to a novel I write. So, that might be a 2011 goal or maybe even 2012.

• Expand my photography portfolio and publish a photo for $ (not just credit)

I expanded my photography portfolio. I upgraded my equipment and deepened my study for the fine art. Plus, I take many more pictures. I believe all those actions helped improve my skills  and confidence.

But even with some of photos classified as award-winning (such as: The Man from Malpica) I am still looking for more than photo credit. The (photo) payday is still in the future. I sense the near future.

i am becoming addicted to taking waterfall photos...

• Secure other revenue sources related to travel such as: assisting Indie travel magazines, overseas freelance consulting projects, or even some tour guide – teaching travel related work.

This didn’t become as large of piece of the pie as I expected, but it’s growing. And the pie now includes work in Social Media along with improvement consulting strategy work. After a slow start, it’s gaining much (needed) momentum.

• And of course…Encourage others to ’stay adventurous’ in mind, body and spirit. To inspire them to take and make adventure in their life

Yes. I believe I have continued to encourage. I receive emails, comments on my stories, or even tweets to that effect on @stayadvenutrous. And, I just received further confirmation.

I keep a post card collection and a traveling friend sent a post card. Her sign off says it all… stay adventurous. Yes, it’s working.

So let me know how you are doing on your New Year’s goals? Do you even remember them? Either way, I hope after you read this, you take a chance to refocus on what is important as we all head ‘down the stretch’ of 2010.

Stay adventurous, Craig