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2023 Wrap Up and 2024 Outlook

Prelude

First off, happy new year!

I will admit I am writing this well into 2024, but I strongly believe what I would have said at the beginning of the year holds firm even today.  Last year, 2023, may very well have been one of the busiest years to date, from a travel, career, home improvement and personal perspective.  The most exciting news was marrying Mila after a year long engagement!

The main theme and buzzword of 2023 would have had to be around AI. So much talk in my line of work and seeing companies begin to innovate and integrate new capabilities. Hell, even the featured image on this post was generated using AI.  With that said, I will still write my posts without any prompting.  If the models get good enough where AI can write using my personality and tone, then I may start giving it a shot.

Thoughts on 2023

I saw my 2023 goal through to completion (and side quest of Lesser Antilles islands), visiting at least one new country per month for a total of 14 countries.  Not too shabby!  This goal, however, came with some unforeseen consequences.  Having to travel a little for work on top of my leisure travel took more of a toll than I previously thought.  In addition to that, my weekends were either home improvement, or on a plane.  I rarely felt as though I had an open weekend to be a hermit.

But a lot of good and progress came in 2023, too. Mila became a bona-fide plant mom, our house interior was painted and themed, new sod put in the front yard, celebrated a bunch of birthdays, friends and holidays and topped it off with our December wedding.  No doubt I’m forgetting some things at this point, but that’s why I at least have this website as my record keeper 🙂

Overall, I would sum up 2023 as non-stop action and seeing a real end of the COVID-19 anxiety.

Goals for 2024

Because of all that go-go-go, I’m gonna pump the breaks a little in 2024.  It’s a less is more type of thing; quality over quantity.  I do not want to feel exhausted or uninterested in going on a trip like I did at the end of 2023 (seriously, what a problem to have…).  With that said, here are my goals for 2024.  This year, I’m going to start putting down non-travel goals as well.  It’s going to be entertaining to look back at these and see how on or off point I was.

  • Instead of a trip per month, take fewer but longer trips
  • Get the parents out of the country and visit 1-2 new countries
  • Continue to create video edits and spend less time creating and editing the actual write-up.  Remember, this is really for personal record keeping and enjoyment later in life
  • Get that standing backflip and planch push-up
  • Celebrate at least one holiday or calendar event each month
  • Continue to strengthen relationships and keep in contact with friends and family

Let's give it a go

Happy 2024. I am ready to do some good.

-ML

Picture of Michael Lakus

Michael Lakus

IT professional, athlete, musician, ponderer of many things... Born and raised in Florida, I began traveling internationally after college. I created this site primarily to remind myself of where I've been and to share my experiences on traveling with a quirky, stress-free, travel attitude.
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