Seven years of daring to dream
Seven years ago today, I published the very first post on this blog. Since then, I’ve written more than a thousand blog posts–about places I’ve been and what I’m reading and all of the twenty-something-in-the-city feelings. 
I started my very first blog post with a quote: Dare to live the life you’ve dreamed for yourself. Move forward and make your dreams come true.
At that time, my life dream was to quit my job and buy a one-way ticket to France. This blog was the impetus to make that happen, and suddenly, that dream became a reality. Since then, I’ve dreamed of living in Australia and backpacking solo through Southeast Asia and road-tripping across America and spending every birthday in a different country and building a life in New York City. Somehow, I’ve been able to make all of that happen and I think a lot of that is because of the presence of this blog and the accountability that comes from having friends and strangers watching.
Personally, it’s been a big year. I got engaged and got married, brought home a pug and started a new job. Life is feeling less transient, and that’s been nice.
But on the blog front, it’s been a little less exciting: I’ve struggled to figure out what type of content resonates here (travel versus lifestyle, New York City-centric versus the rest of the world), what you want to read more of and what I have the bandwidth and ability to create. I’m overdue for a redesign, and I need to carve out more time in my schedule for pitching to other publications. I’m hoping to be more intentional this year about defining what success looks like for blog and following through on achieving it.
Because what the past seven years has taught me the most is that when you prioritize your dreams, you can make things happen. I’m so grateful for all that’s happened in the past seven years, and can’t wait to see what the next seven have in store.
A look back: first-ever post, first blog-aversary, second blog-aversary, third blog-aversary, fourth blog-aversary, fifth blog-aversary and sixth blog-aversary. As always: THANK YOU for reading! I still read and respond to every comment on this blog and every email, and they always make my day.
