A Good 2017, A Better 2018

The year 2018 had a very cold beginning here in US. Now that I stopped shivering I can write my obligated annual “good-better” summarizing/planning post. My 2017 was good, although I didn’t quite accomplish the goals I set out at the beginning of the year:

• Read 50 books, 20 of which from shelves at home. Partially Done. I did finish 50 books and here are the book reports: Q1; Q2; Q3; Q4. Amazingly, the average length of this year (2017)’s books is 341 pages, compared to (2016)’s 343, and (2015)’s 342. As a statistician, I can’t help marveling at these numbers. There had to be something significant going on other than coincidence. Only 16 of the 50 books were from shelves at home, so this part of the goal wasn’t reached. I am not going to lose sleep over it though. 🙂
• Visit 3 new countries. Done. I visited South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Swim 80 times (average 1.5 times a week); yoga at home everyday. Not done. I only swam 37 times, average 0.7 times a week. I didn’t count how many days I did yoga at home, but I suspect it was less than every other day. On average I walked 4,953 steps a day, slightly short of last year’s 5,080 and a lot fewer than the previous year’s 7,000. Seems I missed the marks of my exercise goals quite a bit!
• Publish 40 blog posts. Not done – only published a shameful 7 posts, not even half of last year’s not-so-good 18.
• Lose 5 pounds. Not done – my weight throughout the year moved up and down within a six-pound range. At least I weighed one pound less on December 31st than on January 1st, so I consider it losing 1 pound.

All in all, my 2017 wasn’t very productive in reaching goals. However, it was a great year in traveling – I actually was in four continents! 🙂 Here is this year’s travelogue:

• January. London, United Kingdom (work)
• May. Seoul, Busan, South Korea; Beijing, China
• July. Mystic, CT; New England
• October. Sydney, Cairns, Melbourne, Uluru, Australia; Queenstown, New Zealand
• October. New York City, NY (work)

I haven’t got a chance to write about the 19-day Australia/New Zealand adventure – one of the best trips of my life! It involved 12 flights, 8 hotels, 4 time zones, and temperatures anywhere from 50 to 100 degrees. I ended up being poorer financially but much richer in experiences and memories, not to mention the thousands of photos I brought back with me!

Now here are my goals for 2018:

• Read 50 books – at least 5 in Chinese, at most 25 in audio format
• Visit 5 new countries
• Swim 50 times; yoga at home everyday (except this past week :))
• Publish 30 blog posts; write at least 3 full-length travel articles in Chinese
• Learn to cook 3 new dishes
• Lose 5 pounds

I am looking forward to a better year ahead – more explorations and adventures. I can’t wait to start.

A Good 2016, A Better 2017

My year 2016 has been quite busy and productive, although I didn’t accomplish all the goals I set out at the beginning of the year:

• Read 50 books. Done. I finished 50 books and here are the book reports: Q1; Q2; Q3; Q4. Interestingly, the average length of this year (2016)’s books is 343 pages, almost the same as last year (2015)’s 342. In both years the longest book I read was by Stephen King.
• Visit 5 new countries. Done. I actually visited 8 new countries: Netherlands, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia.
• Swim 80 times (average 1.5 times a week). Partially done. I swam 50 times, average once a week. But I started doing Hot Yoga this year and attended classes in a studio 7 times. On average I walked 5,080 steps a day, falling short of last year’s 7,000.
• Publish 50 blog posts (on Saturdays). Not done – only posted 18 posts, even fewer than last year’s 28.
• Lose 5 pounds. Not done – my weight at the end of the year was the same as the beginning of the year. At least I didn’t gain pounds.

Seems only the travel and reading goals were accomplished, same as last year. It is a clear indication of where my passion is. 🙂 Here is this year’s travelogue:

• January. New York City, NY (work); Cruise on Windsurf, Caribbean
• April. Charlottesville, VA
• May. San Antonio, TX; Carlsbad, NM
• July. Amsterdam; Belgrade; Montenegro; Dubrovnik; Frankfurt. Trip Brief
• October. New York City, NY (work)
• November. Mystic, CT; New England

Now here are my goals for 2017, not much different from 2016:

• Read 50 books, 20 of which from shelves at home
• Visit 3 new countries
• Swim 80 times (average 1.5 times a week); yoga at home everyday
• Publish 40 blog posts
• Lose 5 pounds

I am looking forward to a better year ahead – closer to God, healthier, happier, wiser…

A Good 2015, A Better 2016

My year 2015 has been quite busy and productive, although I didn’t accomplish all the goals I set out in this post at the beginning of the year:

• Read 45 books, at least 12 of them have to be from my book shelves at home. Done. I finished 50 books and 17 of them are from shelves. Check out my book reports for details.
• Visit at least 3 new countries and 2 new National Parks. Done. I visited Denmark, Sweden, and Norway; Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas National Parks.
• Join a gym and swim twice a week, try to add in one class as well. Partially done. I did join a gym on Feb 8th, but fell short of swimming twice a week (I went 45 times, average once a week). Didn’t do classes but walked 7,000 steps a day on average.
• Publish at least 50 posts on this blog. Not done – only posted 28 posts.
• Do at least 5 paintings. Small exercise pieces don’t count. Not done – only did one painting.
• Learn to cook at least 3 new dishes that I feel comfortable sharing with others. Not done – might have cooked new dishes but nothing to share. 🙂

Even so, I still feel great about this past year. Lots of new and exciting experiences. Here is a brief travelogue:

• January. Southern Florida; Secaucus, NJ (work)
• March. St. Michaels, MD; Cheasapeake, VA
• May. Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden, Norway)
• July. New England, Quebec City, Montreal
• August. New York City, NY (work)
• October. Paris; London (work)
• November. Beijing
• December. New Orleans, LA; Lancaster, PA

Now here are my goals for 2016, more realistic than the 2015 goals, I think:

• Read 50 books
• Visit 5 new countries
• Swim 80 times (average 1.5 times a week)
• Publish 50 blog posts (on Saturdays)
• Lose 5 pounds

I am looking forward to a better year ahead – work, read, write, travel, exercise, learn, enjoy.