2018 has been pretty good. I’ll tell you all about it on Monday because what better day to review the year than the last day of it? But today we look to the future.
First and foremost, in 2019 I’m going to be an outdoors activity instructor. Training and assessment starts in April; working will start after that. In the meantime, I’m going to have to get at least a bit fitter than I am at the moment. Climbing and swimming has already started.
And I’m going to take the adventures just a little further. I’m going to have my first ever flying lesson. Haven’t booked it yet, I’ll leave it until after the New Year rush, wait until the weather is better. In an ideal world I’d get a full pilot’s licence but my estimate is that it would cost £10,000 and I’ve got better things to do with that much money. What I do want to get is my paragliding licence. I’ve wanted to for years and I want to go for it next year if it’s at all possible.
I don’t have many travel plans and none concrete. But I very much hope to go to northern Norway in the first quarter of the year. I’d like to repeat the magic of my 2016 Hurtigruten trip but what are the chances of another perfect still clear day?
I will probably go to the Edinburgh Fringe again, even if it’s only for a weekend. Blessings be upon regional airports for making things like that cheap and simple. Tom wants to go again so that’s something to go in my diary.
I want to do another weekend in Paris. Regional airports again. Pick the right date and it can be cheaper & quicker to spend a weekend in Paris than London.
I’d like to go to Iceland in late June/early July, before the huge tourist high season, and spent three or five days camping at Thorsmork. The evenings at the campsites were a delight on the Laugavegur trail this year and I’d like to do that again without the near death experience of the trek. Thorsmork was so lovely and so peaceful.
And finally, I want to do my Big Russia Trip – this would involve visits to St Petersburg and Moscow and one or two lesser-visited cities. Ideally via Baku on the way or the way back but I don’t know if that’s going to be practical. Maybe that’ll be my dreary grey early November short trip. I’ve had my Russia guidebook for ages and it’s bristling with sticky flags as I spy interesting places. I’ve been nervous about Russia, both because of the political situation and because of the language/alphabet barrier but I think I can do it alone. I’m certainly a lot more confident with the Cyrillic nowadays.
As for not-quite travel plans/goals:
I say it every year but I’d like to start experimenting with making videos.
I want to write the Iceland book – it has two titles at the moment but no subtitles.
I want to write a shortish work of fiction – not for publishing, just for my own joy of writing.
I want to get outside more. I want to have more adventures. I want to be less fat and unfit. I want to go swimming.
I want my hair to stop being three colours.
I want to finish my Silver Voyage Award and get started on Gold.
I want to find some wood so I can do some whittling. The knife has been staring at me since late September.
So those are my plans for 2019. Well, wish-list rather than plans. What about you? Where are you going next year?