2023: A Year in Review

It’s that time of year! I love to end every year looking back at everything I’ve done, everywhere I’ve been and every change in my life.

Some years are bigger than others. I’d say 2023 wasn’t a big year – no weddings or moves abroad – but it did have some big moments.

2023 also felt like a year of coming more into my own. I feel like I’ve learned more lessons, am more comfortable in my own skin and have more peace going into the new year. Probably not a coincidence that 2023 is also the year I got back into therapy!

That’s not to say there weren’t rough patches in 2023. As someone who struggles with routine and monotony, I do wish the year involved more travel or big life changes. But I’m working on that and trying to find the excitement in the everyday.

So join me in taking a look at my 2023, a year in review, plus check out my predictions for 2024! 

2023 travels

Since this is a travel blog, there’s no better place to start than looking back at my travels in 2023. While this wasn’t the year I travelled the most, I definitely went on some pretty amazing trips this year. Quality over quantity, right?

Semi-solo spontaneous trip to the UK

The year started off with a spontaneous and semi-solo journey to the UK. I jumped on a great flight deal and spent a few days in London, Cheltenham and Bath.

In London I got to meet up with a Twitter-turned-real-life friend and an old friend from university while seeing so many incredible West End shows and eating one of my favourite meals of the year at Dishoom.

Then it was off to Cheltenham with my university friend to see where she’s been living. It was fun to check out a new part of the UK, catch up with a great friend and binge all of Heartstopper season one.

Lastly, I enjoyed a long weekend in Bath solo. This was my first trip to Bath and I totally fell in love with it! The city is so charming and there’s so much to do (and eat!).

Bucket list trip to New Zealand

My big 2023 trip was three weeks in New Zealand with my husband, Colin.

New Zealand has been at the top of my bucket list for a long time and I was so glad to finally experience Aotearoa (the Māori word for New Zealand) in person. It totally lived up to the hype!

We started our trip with a couple of days in Auckland, then picked up a car and road tripped through the North Island visiting hobbit holes in Hobbiton, geothermal parks and pools in Rotorua, Māori carvings and waterfalls in Taupo, glowworm caves in Waitomo, and incredible gardens in Hamilton.

On the South Island we took in the views from Queenstown, drove to Milford Sound and saw dolphins on our Milford Sound cruise, were wowed by nature in Doubtful Sound, relaxed in Wanaka, and went on the best hike in Aoraki Mt Cook.

Local trips in the summer

Summer is never a huge travel time for me, mostly because it’s too hot, too crowded and too expensive. So rather than travel internationally, I prefer to keep things local in the summer.

This summer I went on two camping trips with Colin’s family: our annual family reunion at Pender Harbour with his mom’s side of the family and then RV camping in Hedley with his dad’s side of the family.

While I’m still not a huge camper, I do love seeing more of my beautiful province and hanging out with family.

We also made a quick trip back to Toronto this summer in order to meet my best friend’s baby! She’s the first of my high school friends to have a baby and I was so excited to meet her daughter and see a few family members on a very brief long weekend in Toronto.

Family road trip through Arizona

In October 2023 I got to go on an awesome family road trip with my husband, dad, stepmom, sister and brother through Arizona.

I haven’t travelled with my family in a little while – the last time was probably our Spain trip with my siblings in Feb 2020 – so it was great to be out on the road with everyone again.

It was also nice to mix it up. I often travel back to Toronto to see my family but visits always feel rushed as there are so many people to see in just a week or a weekend. But this time, we had a full week with just us six, which was so special.

We met in Phoenix where we actually got to have a Thanksgiving brunch with Colin’s mom, aunts and cousins. Then we started our Arizona road trip through the red rocks of Sedona, seeing the epic Grand Canyon, and finishing with Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon in Page.

2023 at home in Vancouver

When I wasn’t travelling in 2023, I was enjoying life in Vancouver, Canada.

We moved into our new apartment in late November 2022, so a lot of 2023 was spent exploring our new neighbourhood and getting used to our home.

We ran into a few issues – a ceiling leak reminiscent of the ceiling leak that kicked us out of our previous apartment and a sink that required multiple repair visits – but we’ve been so lucky with how responsive our landlord has been to these issues.

Every time I had to text her, I remembered how grateful I was to be renting instead of owning and not having to deal with these issues myself!

Of course, there were lots of good moments in our new home. I love that we have a large patio that doesn’t get direct sun – perfect for easily sunburnt people like me. We had some nice late night dessert dates and reading time out there this summer.

We also got to explore our new Fairview neighbourhood, trying out new restaurants, working at the nearby coffee shops and taking Ellie to the local dog park. It’s been fun trying new spots and I hope we try even more in 2024.

2023 was a year of great shows in Vancouver. Colin and I went to a couple of comedy shows, as well as a few musicals, Hadestown (which I loved!) and Little Shop of Horrors, of course, to see Barbie.

We kept up our tradition of seeing a Theatre Under the Stars show with friends in Stanley Park and my mom took me to my first Bard on the Beach show for my birthday.

My 2023 freelance writing career

2023 was definitely a year of ups and down for my freelance career. I’d say the year started pretty status quo; I was continuing to work with my long term clients.

But then summer hit.

All of a sudden, work was drying up and my hours were way down. I called it my Summer Slowdown. I think it was a combination of some of my clients taking summer breaks, some pivoting in their business, and some reacting to the increase in AI content.

Honestly? It was kind of nice. I liked taking it easy in the summer. Though I was a bit worried about it lasting into the fall.

To try and combat that, I did a 30 day challenge from mid-August to mid-September where I would pitch or apply to at least one thing each day.

While I certainly didn’t land everything I applied for, it was a great practice in pushing past imposter syndrome and throwing my hat in the ring. I didn’t have time to stress out over applications or overthink about the result – I just had to do it each day.

Plus, the challenge did help me get some new gigs, including co-writing with Adventurous Kate, one of my blogging idols!

Speaking of pitching, another big thing I did this year was actually pitch articles to publications.

While I’ve been a full time freelance writer since late 2016, I’ve mostly worked with long term clients who have regular writing work for me. I haven’t really had the proper freelance experience of pitching ideas to publications and building up a portfolio – until this year!

I finally worked up the nerve to start pitching this year and was thrilled to see my work published in places like Going, Tripadvisor and Business Insider. I just dipped my toe into the pitching world in 2023 and am really excited to continue pitching (and hopefully landing pieces) in 2024.

Blogging at Teaspoon of Adventure in 2023

2023 has been a pretty great year for this little blog of mine! There’s been lots of growth and some new changes that I’m feeling excited about.

Blogging growth

For the longest time I’ve resisted getting serious about my blog and putting in the effort to make it grow. Partially out of a lack of interest and partially out of a fear of failure, I was happy to just keep my blog as a fun writing hobby for me. But this year, that changed.

That’s not to say that I don’t love writing here. In fact, multiple times this year I’ve said no to growth opportunities because I knew they would decrease my love of writing. I always want Teaspoon of Adventure to be a labour of love.

But I also want TOA to be helpful. I want to get my blog in front of more people, inspire and encourage them to go on great trips and, sure, earn a little blogging income at the same time.

So this year I put some effort into growing my blog. I started by using tools, like Keysearch, that help me write blogs that people want to read.

I also got an image optimizer going on my blog to help speed up the site – though I initially chose the wrong setting and deleted my back up so I didn’t totally nail that one.

I’ve learned a lot about SEO and blogging best practices this year, joining communities and following experts online. I’m still working to put what I’ve learned into practice – and trying not to get lost in any one expert’s opinion – but I’m already seeing a lot of growth based on what I’ve done so far.

When I checked in the summer, I was receiving about 10,000 page views per month. But by November 2023, I was up to 20,000 monthly page views!

Looking back, I was growing steadily each month since the summer, so November’s numbers weren’t just a fluke (and I avoided getting hit by the big Google updates in the fall).

More than just the numbers, I’m also feeling really inspired by my blog, which is such a nice feeling!

There have been periods of time over the years where I haven’t wanted to write – and many more periods where I didn’t want to do any backend work. But this year, I’ve been inspired to keep improving, updating and making Teaspoon of Adventure a better site for me and my readers.

Of course, none of this would be possible without you reading. So THANK YOU!

Top blog posts of 2023

According to Google Analytics, these were my top three blog posts of 2023:

• 7 Day Paris, Brussels & Amsterdam Itinerary
• The Ultimate Cross Canada Road Trip Itinerary
• How Much Does a Trip to New Zealand Cost?

Blogging income

Before 2023, I don’t know that I would even count my blog as a source of income. Sure, I made a little money through some affiliate link purchases, the odd sponsored post and I had worked with a few tourism boards.

But in 2023 I really started treating my blog more like a business and I think it paid off.

I started the year with my very first hosted stay in the UK. I thought I might work with some more tourism boards or brands this year but I didn’t do a great job of reaching out to any for my New Zealand and Arizona trips. Maybe next year!

I switched over to a new affiliate network this year which has made including affiliate links easier, but I still haven’t really cracked the affiliate game.

(PS: If you don’t know, an affiliate link is a link to a product/service that allows me to earn a commission when you click through and purchase at no additional cost to you.)

I know some bloggers make thousands of dollars every month just from affiliate income, but I don’t think that will ever be my thing. I don’t feel comfortable recommending a ton of things I’ve not used myself and would actually find it really boring to write a whole post on, say, the best Toronto hotels with rooftop pools.

All that to say, I do really appreciate it anytime you make a purchase through one of my affiliate links – and those links will always be disclosed to you and never cost you an extra penny. But don’t expect them to take over my site anytime soon!

Another big change on my blog in 2023 was ads. At the end of August, I joined an ad network and put ads on Teaspoon of Adventure for the very first time.

I know nobody loves ads but I think they’re a good way for bloggers to make money without charging their readers. Plus, I’m hoping mine aren’t too intrusive (but please let me know if they are!).

I’m still at small numbers compared to many, but it’s been exciting to watch my ad revenue tick up. So thank you for scrolling and supporting me (and turning off that ad-blocker).

Social media in 2023

I don’t usually include a social media category in my annual reviews but it felt pertinent this year, so why not?

Twitter (X)

2023 was the year we all thought Twitter (or X, if you’d prefer) was dying. But believe it or not, it’s still kicking!

When everyone claimed they were leaving Twitter for Threads, I was almost tempted to make a Threads account. But I’m glad I held out. I don’t have the interest or energy to start on a new social media channel (which is why you’ll never find me on TikTok).

I know Twitter is usually seen as the cesspool of the internet (or is that Reddit?) but Travel Twitter is actually a pretty fabulous place to be. There are so many incredible photos, stories and people travelling the world.

I find my Twitter community really inspiring. It’s also a great resource anytime I have a blogging or travel question, and is where I find a lot of travel writing opportunities. Plus, I’ve made some great IRL friends from Twitter!

If I’ve convinced you, come join me on Twitter!

And not that numbers are everything, but I’m pretty proud of the community I’ve built up on Twitter. I ended 2022 with 11,000 followers and will be ending 2023 with 16,698 followers (as of Dec 30).

My most popular tweet of 2023:

What are your favourite “second” cities in Europe?

So not the big iconic cities but somewhere a bit smaller. It’s still a decent sized city but it’s cheaper and less popular.

For example, Brno might be a second city to Prague in the Czech Rep.

— Riana | Teaspoon of Adventure (@tspadventure) January 12, 2023

Instagram

2023 was the year I left Instagram and I could not be happier about it.

I stopped posting to my Teaspoon of Adventure Instagram account years ago but still had a personal account up until this summer. Like most people, I spent so much time just mindlessly scrolling through my feed or Stories.

After a therapy session in June, I was inspired to take a break from Instagram. I realized that it was actually really rough on my mental health to constantly be comparing myself to friends and influencers who appeared to be living life better than me.

I logged out in summer 2023 and haven’t looked back since!

Facebook

Yes, I know that Facebook is primarily for Boomers. But one thing I do love about Facebook is Facebook Groups.

I’m part of a couple of groups that have been super helpful over the years: Buy Nothing (for gifting and receiving items for free in my local community), and a number of travel planning and travel blogging groups.

Facebook Groups are actually a great resource and members are really active. I’d highly recommend them!

Pinterest

I include Pinterest here as I do have a Teaspoon of Adventure account, but I can’t honestly say I use Pinterest much. I schedule pins through Tailwind and seem to get pretty decent traffic to my blog, so I keep it up.

I used to go on Pinterest as a user and do think there’s great value on there, so if you’re a Pinner and love travel content, find me on there!

My top pin of 2023 was:

Best books of 2023

My reading took a bit of a nosedive in 2023. I started out the year so strong! I read nine books in January. But that fell to a dismal one book in October and none in November.

I’m not sure exactly what happened. I think I hit a series of books I couldn’t get into and then just fell into the trap of playing games on my phone instead of reading.

I would like to get back into the habit of reading. But as I’ve said a few times on this blog, I don’t want to force it or judge myself for not reading more or for not reading books I “should” be reading.

The whole point of reading, for me anyway, is to enjoy it. So I hope in 2024 to find more books I enjoy and spend more time reading – but I won’t be forcing myself to hit any specific reading goals.

All that said, I did finish 38 books in 2023. My favourites were:

• One Two Three by Laurie Frankel
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (and I loved the TV show!)
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (we saw Ruth’s bookshop when we were in Doubtful Sound!)
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
• America the Beautiful? by Blythe Roberson

Looking back on my 2022 predictions for 2023

3000 words in and we’ve finally arrived at my favourite part of these posts! I love looking back at the predictions I made for 2023 in December 2022.

Last year I was bold and made a number of “I will…” statements for different parts of my life. So let’s see how my predictions stacked up to the reality of 2023!

Freelance work

The predictions

• I will work outside the house 1x per week.
• I will take off the week between Christmas and New Year’s and do no work.
• I will raise my rates and/or take on 1+ new client.

How’d I do?

I actually did pretty well on this one! I don’t think I’m quite at 1x per week working outside of the house but maybe three times a month? So not bad.

I did take off the week between Christmas and New Year’s and while it was stressful to get ready for it (more stressful than I anticipated), I’m so glad I did it. I’ve been loving having this week to get organized for 2024.

And I did raise my rates and take on new clients this year. Yay me!

Teaspoon of Adventure blog

The predictions

• I will double my page views.
• I will collaborate with 5+ brands.
• I will hit my income goal.

How’d I do? 

As I shared above in my blogging growth section, I did double my page views! In fact I doubled them from summer 2023 to fall 2023, so I bet I more than doubled them if I’m comparing January 2023 to December 2023.

I thought I’d be collaborating with more brands and tourism boards this year, but that didn’t really pan out. But I did work with some brands through sponsored posts, so I might be able to round up to five.

And I did hit my (albeit modest) income goal for my blog. In fact, I more than doubled it! I’m excited to set an even bigger goal for 2024.

Life at home

The predictions

• Health: I will keep my phone out of the bedroom while I sleep & get back into YouTube workouts.
• Loved ones: I will host more people at our house.
• Marriage: I will go on weekly date nights with my husband (phone-free!).
• Finances: I will hit my savings & investment goals.
• Personal: I will get back into reading.
• House: I will get to know our new neighbourhood and make use of our patio in the summer.

How’d I do? 

Overall, I’m going to say A for effort on these predictions, but definitely not a perfect year.

I did keep my phone out of the bedroom for about a third or half of the year, but fell off the wagon over the summer and into the winter. I was also good about YouTube workouts in the first half of the year, but lost steam in the summer.

We didn’t host tons of people at our place, but we did have a few people over. Same with date nights, getting to know our neighbourhood and hanging out on the patio – we did some but could have done more.

My reading progress I mentioned above. I’d say I did get back into reading but by the end of the year I was kind of back out.

And happy to report savings and investment goals have been met and surpassed! I know 2023 was a very tough financial year for many, so I’m very grateful that we’re privileged enough to still be able to save and invest.

2023 Travel

The predictions

• I will travel to the UK in January, New Zealand in April, and somewhere international in October.
• I will see my family from Toronto.
• I will go on 2-4 local getaways.

How’d I do?

My travel predictions are always the most dependable, as I often have my next year planned out by December of the year before.

So yes, I did go to the UK in January, New Zealand in April and somewhere international (Arizona) in October. And bonus, I got to see my Toronto family in Toronto over the summer and in Arizona in October.

While I did have my Toronto long weekend and camping trips in the summer, I’d like to do better at local getaways. It’d be so easy to plan a long weekend on Vancouver Island or in Seattle and yet we never seem to.

My 2024 predictions

Every year I struggle with how I should make my predictions. Should I treat them like resolutions? Should I make one or two big goals or a bunch of little ones? Should I predict realistic, but kind of boring, things or shoot for the stars and maybe wind up disappointed?

Last year I thought through the different areas of my life and created little goals for myself. While I liked being that thorough with my goals, I think it was unrealistic to have so many goals to keep track of.

It felt like a laundry list of things to improve and likely explains why I was only mildly successful with most of my goals.

But it also feels a little anticlimactic and vague to have just one big goal for the year that is supposed to encompass everything. So instead, I’m going to try and find the middle ground – one big goal but for each section of my life.

So without further ado, here are my predictions for 2024:

• Freelance work: I will publish 12+ freelance travel articles and land at least one in a big name publication.
• Teaspoon of Adventure blog: I will double my page views and triple my blog income.
• Life at home: I will choose how I spend my time at home intentionally, not just defaulting to a screen.
• Travel: I will go on an epic trip to Asia with my husband, mom and mother-in-law in November and a solo or friend trip in the summer.

Right now I’m feeling very passionate about my blog and freelance travel writing work, which I think explains why those goals are so specific and also so big. I’m excited about pushing myself to meet them.

My home goal is quite vague, I know, but I think it nicely sums up all the things I want to do.

I still want to workout more, read more, go on more date nights, invite more people over, and pick up a hobby like cross stitching – but all of that means making an effort to do something that isn’t just watch Netflix and scroll on my phone.

As for my travel prediction, this one just makes me smile! Besides a trip to France in February (where we’ll visit the Menton lemon festival and Nice Carnival), no other travel plans are set in stone. But I am very excited about making these summer and fall trips happen.

Of course, I always look forward to travelling. And I will welcome a few more surprise trips in 2024 if that’s what the year has in store!

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A huge THANK YOU to you for reading my year in review post and any other posts of mine that you’ve read this year.

I really appreciate your support and it means so much to me that you’re following along on my adventures – and hopefully getting inspired to go on an adventure of your own!

I hope you had an amazing 2023 and I’m wishing you the best for 2024!