We are a little over halfway through 2020 and we wanted to give an update on our 2020 travel goals. If you want to go back and look at our goals at the beginning of the year you can check them out here: 2020 Travel Goals.
Now, we made these goals before Covid-19 shut the whole world down so we are giving ourselves a little grace. However, we have made some significant strides even in the midst of the devastating global pandemic.
The red headings are the goals we have not met. The green headings are ones we have or are really close to meeting. The black headings are too close to call. So, without further ado, here is our update…
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Go To Canada
We had a trip planned to Canada for the beginning of July. We were booked to visit both Banff and Jasper. However, our flights were cancelled and the border was closed. So, because of that, we have not checked this one off of the list. We will be there one day, might not happen this year because of the restrictions and we are ok with that!
Visit 30 National Park Units
We are on a mission to go to all 360 National Park Units in the Lower 48 by the summer of our son’s senior year of high school. So far this year we have been to 23 parks. We have been to some great ones too – Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and the Badlands to name a few. We think we are going to reach this goal and even go beyond it! The National Parks are doing a great job with their facilities during this pandemic. We have felt completely safe wherever we go.
Go To 5 New States
Well, because our Canada trip was cancelled we were able to go on an extended road trip across the U.S. We have surpassed this one by a lot already. We have visited Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, and Missouri. By our count that is 10! We bought this cool frame from Thunder Bunny Labs and are excited about being able to add some new pics to it.
Write 100 Blog Posts
So, we aren’t even close on this one. We started out strong and were on pace but then the Covid happened and we didn’t feel like people wanted to read about travel (and we felt weird writing about it). We are not going to feel bad about this one because of that, but we are going to pick up writing again. We won’t hit 100, but we can still get 60-70 easily.
Go Fishing
We have spent a lot of time hitting up our local ponds and lakes fishing together. Fishing is incredibly relaxing and something that Silas enjoys a ton. We aren’t the best at it, but we are improving every time. We had a really sweet friend give Silas a telescopic fishing rod that we carry with us whenever we go hiking now. If we see a good spot we throw it in and take a little break. It is really awesome!
Drink More Water
We are crushing the water drinking game. Mainly because of this water bottle.
Be Challenged With Food
Most of our traveling has been outside in nature – National and State Parks – so we haven’t spent a ton of time in towns or cities. Not to mention, many restaurants have been hurt pretty bad with doors closed so we really have not had an opportunity to expand the palate. We did recently try Huckleberry ice cream for the first time in Yellowstone! Was this a challenge or a delight though, let’s be real?
Cross The Swinging Bridge
Yes! We went to Grandfather Mountain and crossed the Mile-High Swinging Bridge. We had the whole park to ourselves and had a blast. There is a lot more to do on top of the mountain – the trails at the top are incredible. We will have a post up soon about our experience there so be on the look out for that! This was a fun 2020 travel goal for us to meet!
Renovate A Bus
Ok, when we put this one on our list we were half-joking. However, we went in with @finnthebus and bought a bus. We have spent the last three months working on it and have made some great progress. It is a little slower than we thought because of other things going on in life, but it has been an absolute blast! We can’t wait to reveal the finished product.
Make $1 On The Blog
Nope, haven’t even made a dime. But, we haven’t worked on that aspect of it at all. We still have almost 6 months left though!
Connect With People
So, this one is a little tricky but we think green is appropriate. We actually had some plans to meet up with some of you before Covid hit. Because of that, those plans were postponed. We have had so much fun though interacting on Instagram, Facebook, and the blog. That is what we are doing right? Physical, not social distancing.
Be More Active
This is just a roller coaster so it stays black. There are good spurts and bad spurts. We need to be more consistent the last half of the year to turn this one green. We have done some pretty epic hikes this year with ladders and ropes, like this one in Grandfather Mountain. But, it’s the day to day “active” that we need to work on!
Use Our Annual Passes
We have done a pretty good job with this one. We bought the National Park pass for $80 and have been to parks that would have cost $235 so far – so we are definitely getting our money for this one. We received a N.C. State Park pass for visiting all of the parks last year but haven’t had to use it yet because most of the parts of the parks that charge money are closed.
Take People With Us
We started strong with this one, however once Covid hit things changed. We look forward to going the adventure way with others as things continue to open up. The times we did get to go out with people were so much fun! This is one of those 2020 Travel goals we are glad we started earlier rather than later!
Sleep Under The Stars
We have not camped out one night. We know, we know.
Go On Longer Drives
Boy have we done this. We recently completed a 6,200 mile two-week road trip. That is the longest trip we have ever done. Even if you took that out, our main quarantine activity outside of going for hikes and walks is simply getting in the car and going for a drive. There is nothing like driving the open road.
Go To Disney World
We haven’t gone and it isn’t looking too good for us to return there in 2020. There are a ton of precautions that Disney is taking because of Covid such as restricting the number of people in the parks along with requiring face masks at all times in the park. We understand the reason behind both precautions, but being in the Florida heat with a mask on all day does not sound fun to us, no matter how much we would love the low crowd levels!
Check Out A New Stadium
This is another Covid related 2020 travel goal failure. We want to go to all of the MLB stadiums at one point. We have been to a couple of cities where there are professional baseball teams this year, but the start of the season was postponed and it looks like when there is a season fans will not be admitted. Unless Justin signs a 30-day contract with the Red Sox this one will not happen this year.
No Debt Travel
So far, so good. That might be because we haven’t been to Disney World!
Get More Rest
This is a tough one. We are resting in our faith and resting in our travel, but we fight it like everyone else. I think our recent road trip helped us rest a lot, hopefully we can carry that into the second half of the year. It stays black for now.
So that is how we are doing so far this year. It has been a tough year for everyone and we are grateful that even in the midst of the craziness we have each other and can still Go The Adventure Way. We have been able to adventure locally more than ever and even get out on the road for an epic road trip. Have you been able to get out a little this year? Are you adjusting in these crazy times?
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