At the end of 2019 and the holiday season, we turn our attention to the new year, goals and travel plans for 2020. And a good place to start is reviewing the past year for what worked and where we can improve.
For us, 2019 brought great exploration as we continued our travels in Big Al and visited Europe for a month (without Big Al). Along the way, we discovered wonderful places, tried a lot of new things, and visited with friends and family around the country. We settled into a groove as we got more comfortable with this lifestyle and learned what works well for us. This meant spending more time in some places and getting a routine to balance work and play.
As in any life, we experienced some ups and downs this year. Luckily, a lot more ups. Negatives like black tanks and no dishwasher are offset by the freedom of exploring, while having the comforts of home and our own bed nightly.
But so offset by lots of high points!
As we look toward 2020, we are excited to explore some new places and return to some favorites. In first quarter, we will be returning to Savannah, GA where Barry is holding a photography workshop so we can share our love of this charming city and help others capture its beauty.
Then we will go to Alabama for the annual RV Entrepreneur Summit to learn more about this lifestyle and visit with friends. Starting in April, we will be heading north to the Great Lakes for the summer. I am excited to explore this area of the country as I have never been and have heard so much about its beauty. Let us know if you have any favorite spots.
We loved seeing so many of you in 2019, come see us in 2020!
2020 will bring some big events for us as our eldest son graduates from college. He is doing his senior year in Scotland so we plan to visit the United Kingdom to see him. And Benton Downs is hosting additional photography workshops around the country to keep us busy as we organize and plan those events. Building on our adventures in 2019, we continue to look for great events to visit such as the Blues Festival in Chicago in early June and more great author events at independent bookstores.
From sporting events to festivals, from sweet treats to lobster rolls, from ice sculptures to sand sculptures, from driving to sledding, from literary to historical, we learned a lot and enjoyed great adventures!
As for our blog, we are considering some changes aligned with our travels. While some weeks will still be very mobile, we plan to spend longer in each location. We realize we like being in one spot for a month as there is alway so much to see and learn. This way, we can live more like a local with a balance of sightseeing and time for work or hobbies.
So that might mean we do fewer blogs or have blogs with content less focused on locations. We would love to hear from you on what you like reading about in our blogs or ideas you have for our locations, so please leave a comment!
For now, from around the world, the Bentons wish you a Happy New Year!
Love this! and Larry and I made a photo debut