Regarding travel, I can continue to find a dog sitter for Roxie and take weekend or week long trips in the surrounding states. But, what I really want to do is travel overseas. I have a few places in mind: Scotland/Ireland, Australia, Japan, Hawaii, and Alaska. And, I have decided that Scotland will be my first goal. So…that will require preparation, planning, deciding…a vision board.
Further thoughts about going to Scotland. First, where do I want to go? I certainly want to visit some of the areas that my ancestors lived in. I’d also like to visit some out-of-way areas of Scotland.
This past summer I attended the Highland Games in NC. I learned that the family name of my maternal grandmother is a sub-clan Scottish name. I was able to locate the area on an old clan map. I’d also like to research the Dean (scottish ancestor) a bit more to see if I can pinpoint them a bit more. This will combine my travel plan with my genealogy hobby.
For other places to visit, I have chosen 4 books to read: Wild Guide Scotland: Hidden Places, Great Adventures, and the Good Life; Scotland with a Stranger; Take the Slow Road – Scotland: Inspirational Journeys Around the Highlands, Lowlands and Islands of Scotland by Camper Van and Motorhome; and Sea Room: An Island Life in the Hebrides.
I also currently receive emails from Visit Scotland that should provide me with further ideas. And, I thought a visit to the local AAA office might result in some brochures for my vision board.
Hobbies I have started and dropped or been inconsistent: photography, writing a blog, researching my genealogy.
I have already talked a bit about researching the genealogy of my maternal Dean family. I also got a library book on Family History 101 that is a beginning book about doing family research.
Regarding the photography. I was disappointed in myself for quitting on the photography course just due to embarrassment, and I enjoy trying to capture the beauty that I see around me. So, I have decided to restart the course and improve my skills. In light of that, I have found some You Tube videos aimed at teaching my specific camera functions. I will do that first and then restart the course. I also want to learn the use of Lightroom, which I pay for but do not use as I don’t know how! Perhaps there is a video for that, too.
Ecology: growing a garden and learning how to preserve my own food, recycling, composting, decreasing plastic use. All of these are things I have started. My idea is that I will continue to evolve the ways that I impact my world for the better.
The newest step is that I now burn all my paper trash in the fire pit. When the fire pit fills, I will move some of the ash/soil to the compost pile, which will eventually end up on the garden. I am also contemplating alternatives to my use of plastic bags. No decision yet.
Continued learning: using my camera, cooking/baking, improving my Spanish language skills.
I have already talked about the camera/photography as part of my resolutions. I will continue with DuoLingo for the Spanish. I would like to get back to trying out my skills with breadmaking.
New learnings: cooking Indian food or some other ethnic style, maybe another language, editing my photos, how to be paid for my writing.
I recently bought a book on Vegan cooking that I am interested in trying. I am not sure that I want to adopt the Vegan way, but I am hoping to learn other ways of using and eating vegetables.
Editing photos – I mentioned this above in photography.
Writing. I want to write a short story. If I accomplish that and enjoy the process, I might expand my writing.
I would like to create a blog for which I get paid. WordPress has helps for that. I only need to figure out what the blog would be about.
So many possibilities! The sky is the limit.
Feathers of My Mind 