2011 has been a great travel year for us. The top 3 destinations where we enjoyed ourselves the most are: 1. HongKong (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/05/ola-getting-excited-in-hongkong-hk.html), 2. Palawan (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/03/ola-marveling-at-palawans-beauty.html) which also won to become one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and 3. Mt. Rushmore (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/06/saluting-man-made-wonders-of-south.html). In 2012 we expect to be wowed by: 1. Nova Scotia, 2.Bahamas, and 3. Niagara!!! But what kind of a travel year will 2012 be?
This year has been predicted by some as a spiritually transformative and apocalyptic year! It will definitely see the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth on February 6 and there will be a total solar eclipse on November 13. It is also a leap year (men beware)! The fastest computers with 10 and 20 petaflops (quadrillion floating point operations per second) will also be launched by Intel and IBM, respectively, within the year. Many great happenings!
In our little corner of the world, however, the year will be what we make it to be. So these past 5 days after Christmas, we formulated one resolution each day to set the stage for our next phase of travels. This is how this week’s post got ready for publication, just in time! They are all interconnected and have arisen out of the lessons we have learned from our RV experiences in the past 2 ½ years. Here goes:
Dec. 27, Slow Down
Bill and I have to slow down and look at settling down a couple of years down the road. Let’s face it…we are both spring chicken no more. Bill had his big wake-up call early December (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/12/wow-getting-scared.html) while I have been having issues since last year. We (most especially I) have to learn to remain true to the real definition of the cruising lifestyle (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/03/cruising-as-lifestyle.html)
Dec. 28, Get Healthy
We have finally established our health care team here in Florida. Hopefully, we can do the same next year in Tucson, Arizona and San Diego, California. This should help us choose the area where we could slow down and even, eventually, settle down. Besides we really have to take better care of ourselves in a more preventive and consistent kind of way. Obviously, we need more help than just our usual healthy practices of eating well and exercising.
Dec, 29, Focus on Giving Back
We have toyed with various ideas for payback. One that we have sort of begun is a very informal study of best practices in parishes all over the United States (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/01/opening-door-on-bright-new-year.html). 2 other ideas have come up this year: Habitat for humanity and a soup kitchen. Certainly, we should focus more on this. It will be better for our heart and soul Remember the Latin saying, Mens sana in corpore sano? Helping others will certainly enable us to help ourselves!
Dec. 30, Write a Book
There are already 112 posts in this blog in over 100 or so pages that can be transformed into a book. Only 2 questions remain unanswered: 1) What is the best way of weaving them together and 2) Do I self-publish or look for a publisher? Now that we are in Florida for the winter months, I may be able to wrestle with these questions, decide, and begin! Hopefully, this activity (which interests me a lot) will not encroach on a truly cruising lifestyle!
Dec. 31, Be with Family More
On December 31, at 12 noon the Aberions arrived from Seattle, Washington and at 8 PM, the Vidallos from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This is our third year of reunions. 2009 was during Thanksgiving in Mexico (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/02/touring-mexico-with-family.html). 2010 was during late fall in Spokane, Washington (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/11/staying-awhile-in-evergreen-state.html). Now we are starting 2012 with a bang! We had only one reunion with Bill’s children so far…in Yellowstone National Park last fall (please see
http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/06/converging-yellowstone-moving-to-mt.html). Hopefully, we can grow the closeness despite the distance.
That’s it! Five important resolutions to make our cruising lifestyle even better! Each will be written about in more detail in the next posts. Thanks for listening to (reading, technically) my many wonderings on wanderings! Pardon me, but it’s that time of the year! Or better yet, I hope you don’t mind that my emotional side is showing!
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