I’ve spent more of these December days thinking about 2018 and looking forward than thinking about and looking back on 2017.   However, a reflection seems appropriate before excitedly charging into a fresh batch of days.

Lots happened in 2017, and the best bits were probably the unexpected ones.   I traveled.   Lots.   Too much.   To too many places.   I finally made it to Tasmania and Alaska.   I learned more about myself than I expected and for different reasons than expected.   I didn’t say very much about meeting the male version of myself and getting really excited, mostly because I eventually and abruptly discovered that we don’t actually have as much in common as I thought we did.   Oops.   I also didn’t say much about getting into an overwhelmed funk several times this year or finally starting therapy.   Actually, I don’t know if two sessions several weeks apart followed by months of an intention to schedule another one counts as “starting therapy.”   But I did like briefly making deep connections between seemingly disparate things I’d like to change about myself.   I also realized that behavior change on multiple fronts while traveling is a tough nut to crack.

I set some goals at the beginning of the year.   I achieved one of them.   I gave up on the other three, but not in the order I would have suspected.

• The first to go was my greeting-goal.   It seems my lack of appropriate hellos and goodbyes is a symptom of deeper perspectives that take more work to change than I was or am currently prepared to do.
• Next, I stopped meditating.   I just don’t like it.   A few of my friends posited that I already have the benefits that meditation brings to many.   Maybe.   What I don’t have is a desire to stop my daily flow to spend time “quieting my mind.”   If I want a quiet mind, I take a nap.   On this front, I decided “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
  

  Provided you’re otherwise mentally and physically healthy, this is a completely appropriate place to be at any time of day. Anyone who thinks naps are “lazy” ought to think again.   Quoting from TIME: “…daytime sleeping that lasts between 15 and 90 minutes””can improve brain functions ranging from memory to focus and creativity. For some people, naps are as restorative as a whole night of sleep.”   photo: pixabay

• The last to go was storytelling.   That lasted all the way into July when I attended and performed at the annual National Storytelling Conference in Kansas City.   After meeting individuals who successfully riding the storytelling gravy train ¹defined by me as easily getting bookings, having people come to you, making the amount of money you want to make, I realized that – as with anything in life – you don’t get icing on the cake without baking a cake.   Regular readers know that my greatest love is learning.   I’m a mile-wide, inch-deep kind of person.   I love knowing a little about everything, but I’m just not that interested in knowing a lot about anything.   It’s the reason I didn’t run away with the circus.   It’s the reason I’ve had a gazillion jobs.   It’s the reason I’ve never, ever, ever been interested in a career.   After the storytelling conference, I could clearly see I couldn’t get to gravy-train storytelling without investing the bulk of my time and attention.

My photo a day goal worked out.   I sung its praises most the year, although it got a little tedious in the homestretch.   I’m hoping the habit of taking the kinds of photos no one does anymore (or the kind that have been replaced by a deluge of selfies?) sticks around well into 2018.

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2017 Snapshots

Each month this year meant different locations, lessons, people, and scribbles.   Here’s where I went, what I learned, who I encountered, and what I published.

January 2017

Went:

• Tucson, Arizona
• Austin, Texas
• Hippie Hollow, Texas

Learned:

• Being the last performer after six other disorganized and under-practiced performers is hard.
• My Myers-Briggs type is the most likely to be mistaken for a sociopath.
• It’s possible for people to get offended by  my idiocy.
• Social-justice warriors can be dogmatic hypocrites who create the very same conditions they rail against.
• At least one sensitive man-bun type from a dating site has  mismatched words and actions.
• Picking up trash while having philosophical conversations with a fellow introvert and fiscal conservative is… fun!
• Austin “hill-country” is overrated.
• Crying about a movie feels just as good as crying about the thing you’re actually sad about.  
• A good back-up PA system in crowds: have those nearest to the speaker repeat the speakers words.
• Providing consistency and routine to a child is inordinately difficult, but worth the payoff.

Encountered:

• Two amazing and dear new friends
• My yoga youtube instructor in the flesh!
• The most intense and interesting work exchange hosts I’ve ever helped
• One of the most fun and then suddenly the weirdest couchsurfing host I’ve ever had
• The publicist for the podcast taping I attended (she drove me “home”!)
• A fellow storytelling aficiando who became my date for another show and evening of fab conversation.
• A fellow nomad who I thought I’d never see again, but who ended up playing a three-month role in my life.

Published:

• How Smartphone-Free Travel Rocks Your World
• Photo-a-Day: Week 1
• Photo a Day: Week 2
• Photo a Day: Week 3
• Photo a Day: Week 4

February 2017

Went:

• Tucson, Arizona
• Benson, Arizona
• Summerhaven, Arizona

Learned:

• The thrill of travel will probably never die.
• Consequences of neglecting wordpress backups are scary.
• Americans are reluctant to listen to those who don’t agree with them.
• Land acquisition is a tangled web of bureaucracies requiring tacit knowledge.
• Do not take a toddler with you to a county planning department.

Encountered:

• a neat group of activists
• some interesting locals on an inspired road trip to a small town

Published:

• What Happens When Foolhardy Teens Climb Mountains
• Photo of the Day: Week 5
• Photo of the Day: Week 6
• Photo of the Day: Week 7
• Photo of the Day: Week 8

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Nevermind.

If I’m bored writing it, you’re probably bored reading it, right?

I liked 2017.   I’m looking forward to 2018.   I learned some lessons.   I hope they stick with me.

Happy Travels!  ♣