Make 2016 the year of adventures

My New Year didn't start with a midnight kiss - nope, it started with a drunken stranger poising the romantic question of 'Any Chance?' whilst leaning in with an intoxicated look of expectation. I politely declined, offered a reassuring tap on the arm and danced out of his firing line. Seriously awkward. 2016 may have started kiss-free but it's a year filled with the promise of adventure and I'll happily take adventure over drunken kisses with strangers, anytime.

I don't have any resolutions this year. Well, that is unless you count 'to continue being amazing' as a resolution. I'm joking but in all seriousness, resolutions are so easily broken or forgotten about that I just don't see the point in making them. They get tossed aside and disregarded within days. By February, I imagine that 90% of resolutions will be rendered defunct. So, instead of creating some half-hearted resolution this year, I'm just going to keep doing me but with a little more pizzaz. 2015 was a necessary selfish year and now it's time to shake things up a bit. It's time to move on and enrich my life with exploration and adventures.

The only way I plan to change the way I do things in 2016 is by making sure I do more things. It's as simple as that. I'm just going to do my best to get the most out of my days in 2016. I'm not saying every day will be a whirlwind of fun-filled ventures. But I sure as hell expect that some of them will be. I'm not going to let working 9-5 stand in the way of adventure and neither should you. You need to take control of situations and make the most of your 5-9 living instead. When I wrote about breaking free from monotony, I think this is what I was getting at. It's about taking life by the horns, jumping in with both feet and seeing where you end up. It's about not letting yourself get tied down by your routine. It's about focusing on your 5-9 living and living a life jam-packed with experiences and memories. I want a year filled with micro-adventures and giant adventures. I want a year that I can look back on with fondness, thinking to myself "Yeah, I did that".

This 2016, I want all kinds of adventures from tiny trips like country walks to the petrifying pursuit of a long solo trip. I want to spend my evenings laughing with friends, creating new memories and I want my weekends to be filled with experiences. I want to fall in love with new cities, discover new coffee shops, eat more cake, camp in more fields, try new hobbies, watch more movies, visit new countries, experience new things. I really don't mind what I do this year, as long as I have fun along the way.

Every year since my Dad moved to America, I've told myself I'll get out there and visit him. But, every year something has stood in my way. Whether that thing standing in my way was money, work, or just my own damn fear of reality not meeting my expectations. Whatever it was, it stopped me from booking the flights and going. For 6 years, I've told myself I'll go. This year is different though. This year I actually will go because today I'm going to book my flights. I'm planning on visiting Los Angeles and Las Vegas before winding up in Idaho to see the place my Dad calls home. Then it's time to fly back to my home and back to the reality of the 9-5 job. This year I will scratch America off my list of places to visit.

Another exciting part of 2016 is that I've finally got myself some provisional car insurance which means I can finally start driving. I've been itching to learn to drive since I was 17. 5 years later and I'm actually going to start lessons and get myself behind the wheel. This year will be the year of driving, as well as the year of adventures.

For 2016, I'm also toying with the idea of a solo vacation. I just need to stop being so indecisive. I'm torn between keeping the trip short and sweet then settling into a home and career or going for a long time and coming home with empty pockets but a wanderlust-filled heart. Last year, I was set on going for a whole year. But as time goes on, the idea of going working on my dream home and career with money behind me sounds just as appealing. For now, I'll continue to save up those pennies and I'll let my heart make the decision when the time comes. After all, I'm bound to change my mind another 85194 times between now and then. But that's okay, because whatever happens, I know it's going to be one hell of an adventure.

It's fair to say that 2016 has potential to be a pretty exciting year for me.

N.B. photo sourced from Tumblr