I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about going into a new year! For the first time since starting to work for myself, I feel like the 12 months ahead are going to be a healthy balance of working, helping others and also focusing on projects that are important to me. Here’s what I’ve got in the pipeline….

Mafia Island

Kick starting in style, January will be spent living in one of my favourite places, Mafia Island, just off the coast of Tanzania. I’m running 2 Love Her Wild expeditions on the island, taking a team of women out to sea each day to swim and collect data on the huge whale sharks that migrate to the area. Alongside practising daily yoga.

A move to semi-nomadic

Gil and I have decided that we want to find a base for the next year. While we are still going to be on the move lots, we feel that having a home will really help us work more effectively. After 3 years living as digital nomads, this is a move towards what I call ‘semi-nomadic’. Our aim is to have a base that is enough to feel like home that is small enough to not drain all our income so we can still enjoy the freedom of movement we have now.

We’ve barely spent any time in Bristol but we know it’s a great hub for adventurers and creators. It’s cheaper than London and has all the benefits of a city while also being close to nature. It’s just what we are looking for! Following our time on Mafia Island, we’ll be heading to Bristol to look for a place to rent and to start the process of making some new friends in a new place. Any of my readers from Bristol?!

#EcoAdventuring

Conservation has become really important to me so for 2019 I’ve decided to launch a project on my blog called Eco Adventuring. I really believe that adventure is a great way to help our planet. Adventures teach us to enjoy living with less, to use our bodies and to connect with nature.

Next year I’ll be going on more adventures with the planet in mind. Focusing on environmentally friendly expeditions, adventures accessible by trains and how we can also adopt an adventure mindset in the home to live a more sustainable way of life.

As part of this pledge, I’ll be working alongside an exciting drinks company who are as passionate as I am to protect our oceans. They’ve got an ambitious campaign in mind that I’m looking forward to being a part of. (Sign up to my not-very-regular newsletter to be the first to hear more)

Talks and events

Dotted throughout the year are a handful of events and talks that I will be involved with. I’ll be delivering talks at the Big Retreat Wales, the Heroines Journey and the BlogOn Conference.

I’m really looking forward to working on the Writers Retreat with Emma Rosen. And also a Build Your Brand workshop with Sarah Williams. There are still a handful of spaces at both these events….it’d be great to see you there.

After the success of the last one, I’ve decided to run 2 Love Her Wild Weekends – one in the North and one in the South. I’ll also be putting together a handful of free all-female expeditions to help more women who don’t have the opportunity or support to get outdoors.

Japan

I love love love love love Japan (apart from their fishing attitudes). The gardens and temples, the heated toilet seats and the couples wearing matching outfits. When I had the idea to lead an expedition to Japan I just couldn’t get it out of my head….so I began planning for the Top of Japan expedition.

In September I’ll be leading a team of 10 women to Japan for 2 weeks of exploring. Summiting Mt Fuji and also doing a special women’s pilgrimage hike along the way. I can’t wait…..and apparently the team can’t either as spaces sold out in just over a week!

The most awesome 6 weeks EVER 

Gil will be in Japan around the same time as me for work so we decided it made sense to stay on after for a bit of travelling just for us. Now, I’ve had a bit of a dream for a while that I want to swim with Humpback whales and Tonga is one of the few places in the world to do it. And as I was travelling all the way to Japan for work, surely it made sense to just see how much it would cost to add on a visit….

As I suspected the flight price was way too high – £2,500 to be exact!

I noticed that the flight back from Tonga included changing in New Zealand and then Singapore. So I split the flights to include a stop off in these countries to see how much it would cost (just because, you know, it’s really useful to know these things). The price dropped to £1,200 (considering my return flight from Japan would’ve been £700 this was crazy cheap)!!

I called Gil and told him I think we should just book it and I didn’t want to refresh the page unless we lost the flights…..we just went for it. Eeeeek! Here’s our plan:

1 week in Japan following my expedition (I’m hoping to visit Kanazawa, Takayama and Shira-go and maaaaaybe try to get some re-sale rugby world cup tickets!)

2 weeks in Tonga diving and swimming with Humpback Whales (literally freaking out)

10 days in New Zealand we land in Aukland and don’t really have a plan yet but I’d like to do some hiking!

2 weeks in Singapore we hope to catch the train into Malaysia to visit KL and to do a hike in the jungle

(Sidenote: I realise the environmental issues surrounding flying. I’ve made a conscious effort to massively reduced my work flights for next year by over half. All my personal travels will be done using train transportation with the exception of my Tonga trip which I’ll be offsetting. I also don’t have a car)

A few personal goals

Morning meditation – In between all those exciting plans above will be my usual daily work – admin, tax forms, social media and emails. I’d like to continue with my morning meditation so I don’t immediately wake-up and turn on my phone to start these tasks. It really does make a massive difference to my productivity.

Get fit – Christmas hasn’t disappointed and I’ve put on at least a stone. I literally haven’t moved in months. With no big expedition planned for next year, I’m going to sign up to a half marathon to help me get fit.

Meet new people – I’d like to make an effort to meet new people when we move to Bristol. And to make the most of the place so it starts to feel like home.

Thanks for reading……do you have any big plans for 2019? Or am I the only one who likes a plan and a list?!

Happy new year!!! 🙂

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