Top 10 things I want to achieve in 2024
Top 10 things I want to achieve in 2024
Happy New Year and welcome to 2024! How are we all doing?! I’ll totally put my hands up and say I’m one of those annoying people who just loves New Year! This year in particular I loved the build up, the count down and the excitement of thinking about what I want to achieve in 2024. I feel like New Year is a fresh start that everyone can get behind!
Then I was hit by a virus and was sick for two weeks with sinusitis, chesty cough and flu. So I feel like New Year and deciding what top 10 things I want to achieve in 2024 officially starts now! 😂
I hope this post inspires you to think about what goals you’d like to set yourself this year and what plans you’re going to put in place to make 2024 a great year!
Other personal posts you might like…
- I’m officially a part-time blogger!
- Why I took a year off blogging: Break ups, backpacking and beginning again
- Top 10 things I want to achieve in 2023
- Why I’ll never go snowboarding again!
- I’ve moved and gone solo!
Goal 1: Health and wellness
1) Run my fastest half marathon
I have been running on and off for years now and in the last three years completed three half marathons and even a full marathon!
You can read all about the highs and lows of 2022’s marathon day on my Footsteps on the Globe Insta account – it’s a doozy!
But essentially I got injured half way and basically had to limp to the end. I was so traumatised! So much so that even when I recovered I didn’t do any strenuous exercise for months afterwards.
It’s taken two years to come round to the idea of doing a marathon again. But by the time I had thought about it, I’d already missed the deadline for the April 2024 London Marathon intake.
I’m definitely going to apply for the April 2025 London Marathon but as it’s a no-go for 2024, I want to set myself the goal of beating my fastest half marathon which is two and a half hours.
I would have to run an average of six and half minutes per km to achieve this (I’m currently running an eight minute km!) but I really want to beat my best time and be able to say: “In your face past me!”
I also think that having a training plan helps you get back into the routine of exercise after a few weeks of lying down horizontal, stuffing your face over Christmas!
2) Set a routine of Meditating, journaling and getting outside every day
I feel like I have cheated by putting three goals into one, but hear me out!
When I’ve been through rough patches with my mental health, meditating, journaling and getting outside have been game changers.
But what happens is, I make the time to do them to help ground me when I start to feel overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, sad, whatever it may be.
Then I feel better and stop doing them! Which is silly when all three of these things take maybe 30 minutes to do in total? Yet I convince myself I haven’t got time to do them because I’m too busy.
Then I wonder why I start to slip into bad habits and my mental health suffers. It’s a boring and tedious cycle!
So this year I’m making a commitment to meditate, journal and get outside every single day.
I want to do all those small things that over time will make a big difference, but consistently.
Goal 2: Blogging
3) Continue to Publish two new blog posts per week
In 2023 I fulfilled a goal I had long been dreaming of – becoming a part-time travel blogger!
I left my Digital Marketing Officer role at a global health charity to start an exciting new position working part-time as a Digital Marketing Manager in children’s education.
This meant I could take the next step in my career whilst having more time to focus on growing my blog.
It’s a challenge to stay on top of a blog when you are the writer, photographer, SEO manager, social media manager, administrator and techy. So I knew if I really wanted to make blogging work I’d need to drop down another day in work.
When I dropped down to three days a week in May last year, I set myself the goal of publishing two blog posts a week in order to grow my blog – and it worked! My page views went up by 85% from the previous year!
Now, I know this level of growth isn’t sustainable for 2024 as I went from posting sporadically to twice a week.
I was undoubtedly going to get more traffic by producing more content! But what I do want to achieve this year is steady growth by continuing to publish blog posts twice a week.
With six weeks of travel ahead of me I know this is going to be a challenge but if I commit to it, it will pay off!
4) Go to Traverse
For anyone who is unfamiliar with Traverse, it’s a UK travel blogging conference which is hosted by Traverse Events every 18 months or so in a different European city.
I’ve attended every Traverse since the end of lockdown and I absolutely love it! It’s like a semi-annual pilgrimage that I take to catch up with old and new travel blogger friends, learn new skills and enjoy some time to myself solo travelling.
At the last Traverse in 2022, I took classes in advanced SEO, sustainable productivity, affirmation building, authentic content writing and working with travel brands post-pandemic.
I also arrived a few days early so I could spend some time exploring the host city, Brno in the Czech Republic (which was fantastic!).
Going to conferences like Traverse are such a great way to invest in your skills, boost campaign opportunities and get re-inspired!
It’s also a great excuse to switch off and party with your pals for a long weekend! 😉
This year, Traverse is being hosted in Georgia and I can’t wait to see what the destination has to offer!
5) Grow my Instagram to 2,000 followers
Anyone who has Instagram in a blogging or business capacity knows how notoriously difficult it has become to grow on the platform.
One of the biggest issues with growing my Footsteps on the Globe Instagram account was posting very sporadically and deciding to focus on the niche of ‘vegan travel’. Many of my existing followers weren’t interested in this type of travel so my engagement went down.
To counteract this I published general travel content that didn’t always fit within my niche but that my existing followers might like. However, I found it impossible to grow by posting such broad content for an audience that was even broader.
As a result of this, I decided to start a new Instagram account that was focussed solely on vegan travel.
I followed vegan creators that inspired me and posted about vegan food and tips for travelling as a vegan – and people started to respond!
This early vegan travel reel about an interactive Alice in Wonderland vegan afternoon tea got over 8,000 views. Which is surprising when I literally had less than 100 followers at the time!
Alas, this success was short-lived as when 2023 hit, reel views began going down as Instagram’s algorithm changed to focus back on more static posts and carousels (in addition to reels!).
So late last year I decided to focus back on the Footsteps on the Globe account and slowly introduce more vegan travel content.
Instagram growth is slow but I try to focus on being consistent with posting content I enjoy making and worrying less about the numbers.
If I enjoy making the content then at least I stay motivated to keep posting which will inevitably lead to more growth!
If you’d like to help get me to that 2,000 follower goal, you can follow me here. 😉
Goal 2: Travel
6) Backpack around india
I have dreamed of going to India for many years now. Let’s face it, it’s one of the ultimate bucket list destinations!
Luckily for me that dream is coming true next month. I’m going to India with work for two weeks and then will be staying for a further three weeks to go backpacking around Northern India!
I haven’t been backpacking since 2019, when I broke up with my then boyfriend, quit my job and decided to go travelling for six months!
You can read about my journey in this blog post and I always get nostalgic when I read it back.
I feel really lucky that I get the chance to reconnect with that version of myself, especially now I live a more settled life.
On the trip I’m spending a few days in Delhi and then boarding an overnight train to Bikaner to spend some time exploring Raisar.
After that I’m travelling to the city of Jaisalmer, known as the “Golden City” and Jodhpur, which is the second largest city in Rajasthan.
From there I head to Udaipur, Pushkar and Tordi Sagar. Then onto Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan and Agra where the famous Taj Mahal is based!
I’m only spending a day in Agra before boarding an overnight train to the legendary Varanasi. This quintessential India holy city is where millions of Hindu people travel for pilgrimage to worship, mourn and for some, live out their final days!
After a few days exploring Varanasi I’m heading back to Delhi for the final part of the trip before flying home to Manchester.
I have no idea what to expect and I can’t wait for this incredible adventure!
Read more: WHY I TOOK A YEAR OFF BLOGGING: Break ups, backpacking, backpacking and beginning again
7) Go to Vegan Campout
If you’re unfamiliar with Vegan Campout, it’s the UK’s biggest and BEST vegan festival! There’s talks, food, live music, activism workshops, yoga and afterparties – what more could a vegan gal want?
The festival itself has been going for a few years now but I only became aware of it when I set up my vegan Instagram account.
I attended Vegan Camp Out for the first time in 2023 and had a blast! I really enjoyed the talks, checking out all the brands and basically eating my way through the vegan food stands!
It was great to meet so many new people who are also vegan and just “get it”, you know?
Last year I stayed in a hotel but I’m committed to camping this year! It’s already included in the ticket price so it makes sense to save money by not booking additional accommodation.
I didn’t camp last year because I’ve never actually done it before and didn’t want to pay out for new camping equipment that I thought I was likely never going to use again!
This was until I booked a trek to K2 Base Camp in 2025! It’s a 19 day round trip with about 16 days of hiking and camping. I thought Vegan Camp Out would be a great test run, what do you think? 😂
Read more: VEGAN CAMP OUT 2024: Everything you need to know before you go!
8) Go to Guatemala
I’m so excited for this trip because my blogger bestie, Vicky has asked me to be her bridesmaid!
Aside from the honour of being asked to be a bridesmaid (which let’s face is just another way for your friends to confirm your awesomeness, right ladies?), I get to go to Guatemala for her wedding!
I LOVE a destination wedding! I went to two of my best friends’ wedding on the small island of Bornholm last year and it was just magical! Especially as they were eloping and we were two of only three guests going to the ceremony.
We also couldn’t WAIT to make Denmark our summer holiday destination with a few days in Copenhagen beforehand. It was so much fun!
So in June, I’m planning to join Vicky in Guatemala City so we can go wedding dress shopping and catch up before her wedding in 2025.
I highly recommend following her as she is a full-time house sitter and nomad and her Instagram is awesome!
Her and her partner are currently spending their time between Mexico, the US and Guatemala and as you can imagine the photos are amazing!
9) Plan one girls’ trip with each of my besties
Every year me and my bezzie Tam make a point of spending some quality time together.
As we’ve gotten older we see each other less and less because of life generally getting in the way. Plus we live over 150 miles away from each other!
So we started a tradition a few years ago where every year we book one weekend, just the two of us, to hang out, catch up and just have a good time!
Every year we plan a different destination, usually in the UK. We’ve done Brighton, Bristol, London and this year we’re going to go to Margate! We were big Only Fools and Horses fans as kids and our favourite episode was the Jolly Boys outing.
We always talked about going together and experiencing the seaside fun fair there, just like Del Boy and the lads did. So this year we’re literally making a little childhood dream come true!
When I told my other bestie, Kate about this she thought is was an awesome idea. She asked if we could start doing the same thing and I of course said yes!
Kate lives in Liverpool so luckily I get to see her a lot more as she lives closer to me. But there’s nothing like having that one-on-one time with your closest friends, so the more bestie weekenders the better!
I love making memories like this. You really end up cherishing that quality time with your best friends the older you get and busier you become.
Read more: IS BRIGHTON WORTH VISITING? Top 10 reasons to visit fun-filled Brighton!
Goal 5: House Renovations
10) Bedroom overhaul
In April 2022 I became the proud owner of a little two bed terrace. To date it’s one of my proudest achievements as I did it all by myself! Only downside is that the place needs a lot of work…
Since my partner moved in, we’ve managed to finish decorating and furnished the living room. In addition to almost finishing my travel-themed (of course) office downstairs.
But this year I want to tackle the worst room in the house – the master bedroom!
It was a HOT mess when I moved in. With its peeling black wallpaper, ripped carpet and suspicious-looking broken shower platform that we dubbed the “murder shower”.
Now, no one has actually been murdered (to my knowledge!) in the house. It was sheer morbid curiosity that led me to book a viewing, just so I could see what the hell this shower was all about!
Then I stepped inside the house and was completely shocked – I loved it instantly…
I felt like I was stepping into my actual home, despite the grubby carpet and wallpaper hanging off the walls.
It was a bizarre feeling. Yet a feeling I’m sure a lot of home owners can relate to. “I don’t know what it is about this house – I just get a good vibe here!”.
So that was it – murder house was “the one”!
But now we must retire its crowning feature this year – the murder shower. Turning it into what I had always planned – a fabulous open wardrobe space!
Wish me luck!
What goals do you want to achieve in 2024? 😊
