Amplifying the A+ Experiences
Learnings from a report card for 77 days of 2023 travel
I spent 77 nights traveling in 2023. That’s 21% of the year where I was away from home.
My travels were a mix of work and fun. Local and abroad. A collection of adventures ranging from an overnight trip to the nearby Charlotte to 35-days living, playing, and working in Valencia, Spain. There was quite a range of experiences.
I tend to reflect quite a bit. And at the end of the year I looked back at how I spent my time and money to capture what I did.
Capturing a year on two journal pages with short lists under various headings: Learning, Movement, Adventures & Social, Daring Studios, Trade, Content Consumption, Also & Others…
It’s always interesting to look back and summarize a year of decisions that show up in actions and time spent over weeks or months.
Some had more concrete numbers attached - 77 nights, $$ spent in this category. Others just had the weight of combined actions - consistently playing board games, volleyball, and softball, working out - things that could be counted in hours or totals but where I didn’t feel the need to.
Another reflection lens I added this year was to assign a grade to an overall experience. A for this writing workshop, C for this one trip, A+ for two virtual communities I actively participate in.
The 77 days of travel had a variety of grades - two A+, seven As, three Bs, and two Cs. Overall, a collection of good adventures. And it was also helpful to understand the specifics about how I might have more A+ travel this year, while likely traveling quite a bit less overall.
Those grades are based entirely on feeling and lacking any sort of rubric. And yet, they provide insight into what’s working, what’s not, what I might want to stop or continue, what I might want to amplify.
And how I might amplify the things I want to amplify.
What might you want to amplify in your life?
