Looking Back on 2019: A Year Of Highs and Lows

Posted On Jan 15, 2020 Podle admin S Komentáře vypnuty

And just like that, 2019 is a wrap. It seems like every time I sit down to write these thinkings uprights, I can’t believe just how fast the year went. As I’m writing this article, I have my furry friend( Spare Dog) at my feet, my furry Nick next to me( he are needed in order to scrape !), and I’m looking out to the sea and mountains beyond.

This past year was fitted with adventurous travel to new and echo countries, high-flowns and lows on the business and personal front, cherish and humour on the relationship side and lots of fun here in Grenada. So much has happened, that I had to consult my iPhone photostream to remember all of the amazing things we got up to!

Images of ridges, colonial cities, ancient locates, and tropical islands predominate the feed. It’s been a pretty great year. Every 12 months has a feeling, a vibe, or some sort of big-hearted episode that stands out. For 2019, I’m dubbing it” A Time of Highs and Lows “. And you’ll appreciate why after learn — the year was amazing, and then seemed to plummet at the end.

Here’s a recap of the year, and what we have projected moving forward into 2020.

Galapagos Islands Travel Travelling around the Galapagos was a highlight of our year!

I’ve been doing these summary announces for quite a few years! Here are the ones from previous years if you’re interested 😛 TAGEND

2012: A Very Memorable Year 2013: A Year of Firsts 2014: Started and Ended With Mexico 2015: A Time of Spontaneity 2016: A Year of Big Decisions 2017: A Roller Coaster Year 2018: A Time of Achievements

grenada Celebrating our 12 time anniversary! Achieving Destinations Set For 2019

At the end of each yearly roundup article, we set some purposes that we want to achieve in the coming brand-new year. This is what we wanted to achieve in 2019 😛 TAGEND

Being more actively involved( disappearing hiking more and meeting yoga again ). Exploring more of Grenada Continue to create and provide useful information on our website Assistance out( volunteer activities, subscriptions, environmental lawsuits)

I’m happy to report that we achieved those goals!

Being More Active

This year, we got back into” hashing” here in Grenada, and while we didn’t join the hikes every weekend, we did do quite a few. I’ve also affiliated yoga and attend years two times a week, most weeks. And, we now do something much going then we access to, plus some at-home workouts as well.

Nick and I both did a couple of detoxes this year, one with natural lozenges, and one simply with smoothies and fasting. We actually just finished up a two-week booze detox and smoothie diet which is something we previously did when we were feeling a little heavy.

We thought it was a good idea to slim down and dry out before the celebration season! Nick lost 10 pounds, and I lost 8. In case you missed last year’s post:” We Got Fat- Dealing With Blogger Bod “.

When we’re living somewhere, we find it hard to be active. When we’re wander, it’s much easier as we’re always out walking around new municipalities, hiking to brand-new places, or merely strolling aimlessly. Since we’re not getting any younger, we’re position health and wellness at the forefront of our goals.

hashing grenada Hiking is our favourite room to stay active Exploring More of Grenada

Even though we’ve squander 5 years in Grenada( on and off ), it always amazes me that there is always brand-new locates to discover. This time we explored got a couple of brand-new hikes and sauntering ways, offtrack beaches and some great brand-new eateries that have sounded up.

On top of time concluding new places to walk and feed, we knew ourselves attending innumerable incidents — wine-coloured festival, Carnival, music fair, and chocolate celebration. Plus, we explored the oceans and seas by sailboat on numerous occasions, did some deep-sea fishing, and Nick checked out the underwater world on scuba.

We too celebrated 3 birthdays with staycations now on small island developing. One on a cacao raise, in a treehouse cabin, surrounded by nature. Our four-legged friend likewise joined in on that bday weekend! Můj 35 th birthday was celebrated with live music, beach bar liquors, and sleepy kitty dates at one of the inns now, plus a private sunset sail. Nick’s 35 th was recently depleted enjoying a dinner party, followed by a night at a store seafront hotel in a cute bungalow.

Yep, I’d say we did Grenada justice this year.

sailing in grenada Sailing into 35! Continuing to Provide Useful Content on Our Website

As with each year, we are always creating new commodities, videos and uprights on our social media directs to hopefully invigorate and assist others when it comes to making money on the road, and crossing the world.

v 2019, we publicized 157 commodities on Goats On The Road, filmed and revised 20 YouTube videos and posted on social media 237 experiences!

This year, we also kicked it up a notch and procreated a digital course to help bloggers progress from pastime bloggers to a profitable business. And by we, I intend Nick.

Nick contrived, filmed, and generated the SEO Made Simple online track — spend hours to ensure it was detailed, professional and more importantly, actionable. Each of the 300 students who have bought the course are also in Nick’s VIP Facebook group where he shares his insight and advanced methods for SEO. It’s been very rewarding for both of us to see the students’ progression!

Because Nick generated that track, we were invited to be a part of the Paradise Pack v 2019. Pro minulosti 3 years, we have promoted the bundle( because it’s filled with awesome makes ), but this year we were invited to have our course in the bale of online resources.

We were ecstatic!

Chatting with Travis and Jason from the Paradise Pack was a lot of fun

We did an hour-long live chat online with the creators of the battalion( Travis and Jason ), with over 3,000 parties watching at a time! We then did an hour+ podcast with Jason, where we spoke about our lives as digital nomads and travellers. Chatting with online colleagues is always a lot of fun, and we enjoy this form of interview.

Special!

If you’re interested in learning some of our SEO secrets, but aren’t sure if you want to purchase the SEO Made Simple course, we’re offering a free 1-hour session, tady. Helping Out

Konečně, our last-place aim for 2019 was to help out more. v 2018, we were able to do quite a few things in Grenada, but this year we wanted to do more, both at home and away — there’s always more that can be done.

As with last year, we patronized an eight-year-old girl from the orphanage so that she could attend a four-week summer camp now on small island developing. Her weeks were filled with arts and workmanships, biography and cultural activities, boasts and activities, plus a couple of jaunts to the beach to learn about marine life and the environment. I hope that this summer camp continued on these children as it’s a great initiative.

We too expedited an craftsman in his” Beautify Grenada” projection where he sources out blank walls around the island and searches to brighten up the community by draw peculiar epitomes on them. “Our” wall that was drew is one that we drive by every day. It’s is in front of a preschool and is now home to colorful turtles, bags, trees, youths, and of course, goats! I hope this talented creator continues his pastime of beautifying small island developing.

Plastic is a problem worldwide. Our eco-blogging, travelling friends from The Dharma Trails put together a” Green Up Grenada” project to deliver awareness to the plastic issues and to cleaning process the coasts( and underwater ).

diving in grenada Nick heading out on a dive to cleanup the underwater world

We participated in the clean up of La Sagesse Beach( 323 pounds of debris was compiled ), and the scuba diving clean up at Grand Anse Beach where 150 pounds of garbage was drawn from the sea. This was a great campaign and hopefully it conjured more awareness about the unnecessary use of plastic now on small island developing.

Utilizing Our Home as a “Base”

A month after echoing in the New Year in Grenada, it was time for us to pack away the household components we had accumulated over the past year, load up our knapsacks and punched the road. Every February, the owners of the chamber of representatives we hire return to spend 5 or so weeks now. This means we have to vacate — which is OK as we go travelling again!

We had been pretty much stagnant for most of 2018, and not really utilizing our residence as a basi, which was the whole point of determining now — we planned to stay, and then travel, and repeat. Namísto, we felt a pluck( is it actually called a ” drag” if we don’t go anywhere ?!) to stay put.

This year, we were ready to properly make use of our base. Live, hurtle, reproduction. It was time to get back out into the world. And, we actually resolved up doing quite a bit of circulating this year — 5 months to be precise.

grenada Eating bbq chicken in the oceans and seas with Spare Dog, after hiking- a great day!

Travelling for almost half of its first year and staying still for the remainder seems to be the excellent match for us. It allows us to have provoking escapades, test new menus, and learn about brand-new cultures, but too leaves us enough downtime to rest, cultivate and catch up with friends.

I don’t want to jinx it, but after travelling for 10 times, and blogging for 7 of those times, could it be possible that we’ve finally found a work-life balance that suits our lifestyle ?!

Having explored Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, a Colombia v 2017, we knew we loved the continent of South America. Tak, when considering where to go in February, we took a look at the map and decided on Ecuador and Peru for our next adventure…and what an adventure it was.

We were offline for this entire trip and had a great time backpacking around these two countries. You can read about our thoughts and spotlights of this journey in our roundup commodity tady.

travel to otavalo The hiking around Otavalo was amazing! Read Our Ecuador Articles Here 😛 TAGEND

12 Things To Do in Quito, Ecuador Mindo: the Complete Travel Guide Otavalo: The Ultimate Guide for Travellers Hiking the Quilotoa Loop: A How-to Guide Galapagos Islands Travel: A Guide To Travelling Independently

Press Trip Partnerships

Pokračujeme press excursions/ FAM jaunts isn’t our main blogging income model, but when we’re invited somewhere that resonates with our jaunt mode and interests, we gladly accept the offer.

This year, we were invited on 6 press outings and had an incredible time exploring brand-new destinations — all of which were a great fit. Sure, we had been to these countries in the past, but the provinces, metropolis, and islands that we visited were new to us.

Nova Scotia

Even though we’re Canadian, we’ve seen very little of our different countries. So when the Nova Scotia tourism board invited us to experience what the little district has to offer, we climbed at the opportunity to see the east!

Jagged coastline, hiking routes, fishing villages, fresh seafood and welcoming neighbourhoods — this is Nova Scotia. We are caught up our rental gondola and had an incredible time artery jaunting around the province for 3 týdny, while experiencing all the fun things to do in Halifax, and beyond.

With so many places to visit a adventures to have, we would definitely return and explore more of different cultures, cuisine and quality.

Read more about our experience in Nova Scotia on the blog, tady.

Beautiful nature in Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island Indonesia

This island nation is one of the countries we visited on our first backpacking trip v 2009. We then returned to live in Canggu, Bali for a couple of months, and Nick went on a scuba diving trip with the Indonesia Tourism Board.

This time around, we were invited by Lotus Hotels, to experience their dive recourses and share our receives with you.

We travelled to 4 different destinations during the course of 15 eras — Gangga Island in North Sulawesi, Birie Island in Raja Ampat, Candidasa on Bali Island and the island of Gili Trawangan. Even though we were on a trip that was planned for us, seeing these ends( some of which are quite offtrack) was an incredible experience.

sunset gazebo gangga Sunsets on Gangga Island were shocking

The majority of the outing was centred around the epic scuba diving and snorkelling that Indonesia is known for, which was perfect for Nick! The adaptations were lush, the natural glamour was out of this world( particularly in Raja Ampat !), and we enjoyed visiting hamlets, dining on phenomenal food and interacting with the welcoming inhabitants of each island.

The beauty above and below the sea, the friendly people, the appetizing cuisine and the overall vibe are the reasons we find ourselves returning to Indonesia. There’s just something mystical about this country, and we’re always happy to come back.

drone view of raja ampat islands Drone’s eye deem of the FAM islands in Raja Ampat

In between Indonesia and Japan, we hop-skip over to the Philippines for our friend’s wedding. We experienced some downtime with friends, a lovely wedding ceremony, and some exploration of Siquijor Island by scooter!

Japan

Just a few dates after being invited to Indonesia, we received an offer to travel to Japan and check out some of the more offtrack prefectures( which are similar to responsibilities/ commonwealths ). v 2017 we inspected Tokyo, Takayama and Kyoto and experienced the culture shock, cuisine and beings of Japan.

This time around, we were going to experience more of the natural grace, plus an offtrack municipality and learn about the culture of robbing in a sento( public shower ).

Four different tourism timbers and associations invited us to visit their destinations, which were all places we hadn’t been to hitherto — Akita a Aomori in the Tohoku Region, Okayama City, Nakatsugawa City and the Tokyo Sento Association.

hiking nakasendo trail Hiking the Nakasendo Trail in Nakatsugawa, Japan

We lined it up so we could visit all ends during exactly one junket to Japan. There were got a couple of free daytimes during our 16 -day trip, including some time in Tokyo to hang out with our friend Jason from the UK who we encounter while backpacking around Central Asia v 2013!

This time around, we felt as though we learned much more about the intricate culture, and were able to dig a little deeper into the history, customs and cuisine. There’s much more of Japan to see and we can’t wait to return.

The Ups vs. The Downs

We arrived dwelling on a high. We had just enjoyed an incredible couple of months travelling around Asia, we reconnected with some great friends on the road and our website was doing well in terms of partnerships, traffic to the site, and income.

We caught up with my best friend( including Spare dog) when we got home, presented in accordance with the excursion and the year as a whole and were aroused about the vacation season. More importantly, formerly “were having” finished our deliverables for the Indonesia and Japan safaruss, we had lots of plans for how we were going to improve our business — we were aroused!

Ale, between the time we arrived back in Grenada from Asia( November 9th ), to when this article was published( precisely over a few months last-minute) it feels like all of our amazing accomplishments, escapades and “ups” from the year have been snuffed out.

sunset in grenada A beautiful sundown from our live

Goats On The Road was one of numerous websites that made a huge hit during the November Google algorithm update. What does that planned accurately? Well, Google changed the action it indicates content to those who are searching.

So let’s say for example you were searching for” things to do in Thailand”, rather than just us is an indication as# 1 or# 2 because we’re a well-respected travel blog with long, instructive content, we have now dropped down and “youre gonna” being testify more “authoritative” locates( ie: big companies ).

Why did this happen? We don’t know. Which is incredibly frustrating.

Our traffic has quitted and we’re scrambling trying to figure it out. traffic alters our revenue and partnerships, and how many parties “il be seeing” our send, which is why it’s such a big deal. One thing is for sure, we will continue to create beneficial and informative articles for you and hopefully, Google will be happy with us once again!

This update pretty much altered areas across the board in the recipe and tour industries and while we still have a lot of traffic, it’s difficult to see it go down overnight and knowing there’s nothing we can do to fix it.

nicméně, business and money are insignificant in comparison to what happened 4 days ago.

From the time I was basically finished writing this article, to the time it was published, my best friend Spare Dog passed away. This has been incredibly hard-bitten on us as even though we were his petsitters, we was just thinking about him as our own, and depleted so much time together.

our story Spare Dog will be loved and missed

Spare was the reason we came to Grenada in the first place back in 2014 and was the reason we hindered on returning. He was the first( and simply) bird-dog I ever enjoyed — no others will liken. This time has ended with sadness for us, but we’re trying to focus on the marvelous life he led, and all the undertakings he enjoyed — he explored more of Grenada than anyone we know!

This little furry person made an impact on everyone he met and thought of himself as human, rather than animal. From cascades and private islands to offtrack paths and brewpubs, Spare went everywhere and everyone knew him.

Nick and I are grateful for the last 10 dates we had together with Spare at our residence, and that his parents returned from the UK in time to say goodbye to their sweet boy. We’ll miss Spare( Doodle) Dog dearly and Grenada won’t be the same without him.

travel blogs haha, this photo is my favourite! Excited for an adventure, Spare ?! Moving Forward into 2020

I’ve been speaking with blogging peers and wandering friends who everyone has their 2020 calendars filled with proposals. Currently, for us, “there arent” means — which I think is great! No labour commitments scheduled , no flights booked, and nowhere we have to be.

We’re thinking of 2020 as a blank slate. It’s a fresh, pure year waiting for us to colour in the time slots as, and when, we want.

For me, 2020 conveys “vision” a “clarity”. And while everything is a little bit misty at the moment due to the stress of the past weeks, formerly we move into the new time I’m certain some explanation will start to appear.

I have a feeling there are some epic changes on the horizon and we’re agitated to see where we go, and what we end up doing!

grenada couple Wishing you an amazing time ahead!( photo taken during Nick’s birthday surprise)

Since this is a travel and lifestyle blog, we’ve always been honest and upfront with you, with the hopes that you’ll appreciate the real parties behind the words. Preferably than being merely a generic proceed website, we study temperament and personability are an important part of sharing and connecting with our books.

As we head into 2020, Nick and I want to sincerely expressed appreciation for following our jaunt this past year, and we’re looking forward to sharing our upcoming undertakings( whatever those may be !) with you in the brand-new year.

We hope to inspire you to travel to some new destinations and maybe even find work doing what you adore while on the road. We’d love to hear from you as well, so provide comments down below, or send us a private email.

Wishing you state, euphorium, and cherish in the coming year.

Dariece& Nick( the Goats)

The post Looking Back on 2019: A Year Of Highs and Lows appeared first on Goats On The Road.