2013 Recap and Our Hopes for the New Year

January 1, 2014
/ By Charlie and Brittany
/ 7 COMMENTS

As we kiss 2013 goodbye, we take a few moments to reflect on our favorite moments from the past year and our goals for the upcoming year. We wanted to share this with you as we will continue to track our bucket list over the next twelve months, crossing things off as we go. We hope to inspire you, and challenge you, to make your own bucket list – add something crazy to it – and check each item off before the clock strikes midnight on January 1, 2015!

Let’s start with the Best Moments from 2013. We strongly encourage you to add these to your own bucket list!

bixby bridge big sur

1. Crossing the Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, California

big sur river inn

2. Drinking a beer in the creek at Big Sur River Inn in California

guide to driving the pacific coast highway san francisco to LA

3. Eating clam chowder and watching the sea lions play in Monterey, California

Cataloochee Ski Resort

4. Skiing (or attempting to ski) with great friends on the slopes of Cataloochee Ski Resort in Maggie Valley, North Carolina

bucket list golden gate bridge

5. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California

nong khiaw laos

6. Taking in the views in Nong Khiaw, Laos

kewlom houseboat lampang

7. Cruising Kew Lom Dam on a house boat

kuangsi waterfall luang prabang laos

8. Swimming in Kuang Si Waterfalls in Luang Prabang, Laos

Yi Peng Festival, Chiang Mai

9. Releasing our lantern at the Yi Peng Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Zip-lining in Thailand

10. Ziplining over waterfalls and rice paddies in Mae Rim, Thailand

elephants samoeng loop chiang mai

11. Driving with elephants on the Samoeng Loop in Northern Thailand

12. Taking a sunset boat ride on the Nam Song River in Vang Vieng, Laos

moving to thailand

13. Making the best decision of our lives – selling our crap and embarking on this journey abroad!

We had a remarkable 2013 and are so grateful for every minute of it! That being said, we are looking forward to many more travels and adventures in the upcoming year. So here we go….

Our Bucket List for 2014:

Acquire 8 new stamps on our passports (if not more!)
Drive our Honda Forza from Chiang Mai to Singapore
Make a point to try at least two new restaurants per week
Convince our parents to visit us abroad
Take a photography class
Take an overnight boat tour of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Take a Thai cooking class
Go elephant trekking in Thailand
Have a sunset cocktail at the Rock Bar in Bali
See the Symphony of Lights show in Hong Kong
Visit Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Reach 1,000 Facebook “likes” on Trading Traveler (help us out!)
Get in shape! We signed up for 6 months at the gym and we have a little bet going on regarding where we will spend Christmas next year. We will keep ya posted 😉

Have you already checked any of these items off your bucket list? Tell us how it was and let us know what you will be putting on your list for this year!

Wishing you a happy and prosperous Twenty14 full of many travels!

new years eve thailand

About the Author Charlie and Brittany

We are Brittany and Charlie - we traded the 9 to 5 and the so-called "American dream" to live our own dream and see the world. We sold all of our belongings and left the US in August 2013. For 5 years, we lived primarily in Thailand and built our online business and location independent lifestyle while we traveled to over 30 countries. We’ve had house sitting gigs on 3 different continents and we’ve even appeared on HGTV’s House Hunters International.

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Kim says January 5, 2014

I like #4…ALOT!!! I actually plan to scratch this off my bucket list this year… Visit my daughter in Thailand!!!

Brittany Bennett says January 6, 2014

Anxiously waiting… 😉

Whitney says January 6, 2014

Very inspirational. I can’t wait to see it for myself 🙂

I can’t wait for you to see either, Whit! And to do some of these again when you do visit 😉

Martin & Ying says January 23, 2014

Just helped you out on the 12th item on your list all the best to both of you. We have done the cooking,elephant and Angkor Wat..

enjoy!

Charlie and Brittany says January 23, 2014

Thanks so much! We will return the like 😉 We might have to reach out to you for tips on the above!

San Francisco to Los Angeles: Guide to Driving the Pacific Coast Highway | thetradingtravelers.com says April 15, 2014

[…] we were recalling our favorite moments from 2013, we nearly skipped right over our time in California. It seemed like years ago thinking about all […]

2013 Recap and Our Hopes for the New Year

About the Author Charlie and Brittany

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