Year 2022 In Review
First and foremost, I wanted to thank my wonderful clients! Whether you’ve been with me since the beginning in 2016, or are new to working with me, I’m so grateful for you and your business. I’m also grateful for your continued referrals. It means a lot that you trust me not only with YOUR personal vacations but also your loved ones’ vacations. December is by far my slowest month of the year. It gives me time to focus on planning my own vacations, work on follow ups and past leads, and just get organized for Q1.
The first quarter of the year is always my busiest season where I close the most bookings. So I like to use this downtime for some housekeeping and cleaning up of emails, archiving, and filing things away. I’m VERY excited for next year’s schedule of trips, which I hope to share with all of you soon. You’ll find this under the “Upcoming Trips” section of my website. In the meantime, check out my year 2022 in review!
Cole Turned ONE!
My son, Cole, turned ONE last month! I can’t believe how quick time flies. Our little guy loves eating and never misses a meal! Some of his favorite things to eat are dino nuggets, fries, applesauce, goldfish crackers, and honey teddy grahams. He enjoys spending time with his family and friends, working out at mommy & me classes, playing with his toy cars, and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
He is VERY close to walking – scooting around from the ottoman to the couch. He has a few teeth at the bottom and a few from the top coming through! I’m so excited to take him to Disney World next year. Though, I think this trip to Orlando is more so for my husband Corey who is a HUGE Harry Potter and Star Wars fan!
Moving
Next, on year my 2022 in review… moving! Our house was on the market this past spring/summer, but after much back-and-forth with buyers and having them eventually back out we had to take our home off the market. 2022 was a rough real estate market due to the high inflation rates, and we are going to re-list this coming Spring 2023. Wish us luck!
Traveled to Barbados for Crop Over Festival
After 2 years of the annual Crop Over Festival being on a hiatus, this year was the great return. It was on my bucket list for quite some time, and I’m glad my husband and I were able to make it out this year. Shoutout to my mom for holding down the childcare fort so we could get away for a full week. Barbados is a magical Eastern Caribbean Island with rich history and a storied past. While you may only think of beautiful beaches and Rihanna, when Barbados comes to mind, I promise you there is so much more. You need to go and see for yourself! In the meantime, check out my blog posts with tons of travel tips:
- Visiting Barbados During Crop Over Festival
- Barbados Grand Kadooment
- Top Things to Do in Barbados
- Barbados Island Tour
- Barbados Snorkeling with Tranquility Cruises
- Hotel Review: Sandals Barbados
- 1 Week in Barbados for Couples
Increased Sales
My sales have increased YoY by 46.00% and my wonderful clients are to thank for that! YOU rock! My goal next year is to increase sales by 50% from this year. I’m motivated and ready to sell, sell, sell as Q1 is around the corner! January – March is whenever most travelers are locking in their year’s vacations and there’s a madness frenzy.
Nephew Graduated High School
My nephew graduated from high school this summer. He’s now enrolled in college while working two jobs. He is an extremely hard worker and I’m very proud of him! He has big dreams of going into the Food Science industry and his dream job would be working for the FDA. We celebrated with a trip to Mexico, where he got his first passport stamp!
Cole’s First International Trip
For my nephew’s graduation, we visited Cancun and had an incredible 6-night trip. I brought Cole (7 months at the time) on the trip along with my mom so that was a wild ride! But ultimately, we had a great time. You can read more here:
Family Time
I spent a LOT of time with family this year and I plan to repeat that next year and beyond. With my parents a quick 15-minute drive from us (and our daily childcare), I see them just about daily. I have been focusing on having a better work-life balance and trying to stay as close to my office hours as possible. Of course some nights and weekends are required, that’s just the nature of this business where clients are traveling around the clock!
2023 Goals
Concluding my 2022 in review, I want to set next year’s goals. This helps me stay motivated and also holds me accountable if it’s “out” in the universe. So here are next year’s goals:
- MOVE! – this is the first priority next year. We have got to get this house sold so we can plan on moving into our “forever” home. This year being on the market was very frustrating, and we learned a lot of mistakes. I’m going to get through Q1 (my busy season) and then springtime it’s real estate time.
- Go on a family trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando – I’ve only been once when I was in high school and it’s all a blur. My husband has been non-stop researching all of the Star Wars and Harry Potter things. I’ve been non-stop searching all of the FOOD things. Shoutout to Disney Food Blog!
- Spend more quality family time together – now that Cole’s getting older and can enjoy more things I’d love to be able to do more things as a family outside the house. Especially when the weather is nice. I’d also love to take my dad on an exciting fishing trip next summer! He really enjoys fishing.
- Take a thrilling trip this summer for my birthday to Kenya on an African Safari – this is a reach goal but I’d love to make it happen!
I’m wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
