Since starting this blog back in 2011 (woah) I think I’ve published some sort of New Years post, whether that be goals, reflections or so on. In 2015 I made a ‘plans for 2016‘ post that I’d actually completely forgotten about. I thought it would be interesting to measure up how 2016 compared with what was rattling around in my head December 2015 for the year ahead, which can we talk about the fact has gone by SO SO quickly. I think it must be an age thing, the older I get the faster time seems to go by. Wah.

1. Travel More

Ah this little cliche! I think ‘travel more’ is on a lot of peoples New Year goals but who can blame us, there’s nothing more exciting than exploring a new city. I would say yes I did achieve this, especially in comparison to 2015 where I think the only trip I took was to Florida, mainly due to being in my final year of uni! In 2016 I started the year in York for a little staycation, headed to Berlin in March, Madrid in May, Sicily in July (with a little island hopping) and then a final trip to Edinburgh in December. As well as this Charlie and I booked our biggest adventure yet, one month in the USA for June 2017. We’ll be hitting up San Fran, LA, Vegas & Yosemite Park among others and I can’t wait.

2. Save Save Save

This was my second and erm not quite as successful resolution. Whilst I did actually save a fair amount, I also then booked said USA trip which knocked me back a bit. Not a complete disaster though as I’ve been replenishing the savings quite consistently so I’m hoping to reach my big savings goal by the end of 2017. 

3. Invest In Quality

2016 was the year I feel I took a backseat from fashion which seems a little crazy. At one point fashion was my LIFE. I studied it at uni, I interned like crazy for fashion brands as well as blogging about my style at every free given moment. Don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE it and I’m sure we’ll rekindle our relationship in 2017 but this year I started to value experiences, travels and trying to save extra cash over 5 new coats. Although that being said I did JUST order two new coat but they were half price and yeah…

I also went vegan this year and cut out all leather, wool and silk from my life which also affected my love for fashion and desire to splash the cash. That designer bag that I would once drool over now seems insignificant to me. I still prefer to invest in quality though, and I would much rather buy a bag from an ethically sound brand such as Matt & Nat over a plastic bag from Primark.  I think in general my spending on clothing has gone way down, but I view that as a positive as it’s enabled me to travel and book our dream road trip!

4. Up My Organisation 

Yeah this needs some work in 2017.

5. Learn A New Skill

I’m upset this is something I never got around to. I have been looking into picking up french again though, and I think I may join a local evening class and perhaps even hire a tutor. As I said this time last year, I miss learning and would love to pick up a little extra-curricular activity. Do any of you guys have a hobby or attend any evening classes?

So overall, not a total disaster but I definitely need to work on some of these going into 2017. Organisation can be a little hard especially trying to keep on top of my blog when I also work full time as a marketing exec. Perhaps I’ll never discover the key to prefect time management but I will be starting by purchasing a diary and calendar!

As for 2017? The goals remain the same, travel more, try to save any spare cash and perhaps take a few more risks…

Here’s to an awesome 2017!