30 Days of Indie Travel: Day 1, Goals

Posted by Ian in Reflection

Eager Existence > Reflection > 30 Days of Indie Travel: Day 1, Goals

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[box] Throughout the month of November, BootsnAll is inviting bloggers from around the world to join them in a daily blogging effort — the 30 Days of Indie Travel Project — designed to reflect on how our travel experiences over the last year – or whenever – have shaped us and our view of the world. Bloggers can follow the prompts as strictly or loosely as they like, interpreting them in various ways and responding via text, photos or video posted on their own blogs. [/box]

Prompt: What were your travel goals last year? Did you accomplish them? What travel goals do you hope to accomplish this year?

I wrote a generic post back in 2010 about my goals, but didn’t end up putting my best foot forward (and beginning to travel) until 2011. I like to think I accomplished all the goals I set out to achieve. Nothing was too specific, or set in stone, I just had the grand plan to quit my job, get out of the cubicle, and travel Europe slowly for up to 2 years — and work in the UK when my 90 day Schengen allowance expired.

Of course, plans change.

As returning readers know, I got sick of living out of a suitcase after 6 months in Europe, so I moved to Madrid to study Spanish for a few months, recover from all the travelling, and just take things nice-and-slowly. My immediate goals are to get an intermediate proficiency in Spanish, travel to Poland for Christmas and enjoy a White Christmas again.

As far as 2012 goes, I might head down to Portugal and explore for a few weeks, then hit North Africa, specifically Morocco and Egypt before heading back to Australia for a friend’s wedding. I still feel like there is much of Europe I haven’t seen, including most of the UK. So that is on my list to complete in 2012 or 2013. But more pressingly, I want to travel the length and breadth of South America (and use the Spanish I’m learning now). After discussing, at length, with a few travellers I have met in Spain, I’m thinking of chasing the sun from Mexico south.

Up for some adventure in Brazil (flickr: Marcin Wichary)

In no particular order, I would like to explore Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Galapagos, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.

Machu Picchu (flickr: ShashiBellamkonda)

That’s quite the mouthful. Of course, I’d like to spend around 6 months on the trip; and if dreams may come true, I’d like to finish off with a trip to Antarctica.

It’s always been a dream of mine to travel to South America, at least for the past 15 years. I think living the expat life in Spain and learning Spanish right now is definitely a micro-goal accomplished, and a step in the right direction to achieving the goals of the next 12 months. My next micro-goal for the immediate future, to learn how to Salsa and cook Paella.