My 2024 Unpacked
Every year, I make a spectacle of reviewing the year past. What happened, what accomplishments did I have, what joys did I experience, and what pains did I endure? This year is no different.
In true form, it is December 31, and I'm unpacking the baggage of 2024. Releasing the things that hurt me and clinging to the memories that help shape me as I pack up my ambition for what lies ahead next year.
I always have goals, dreams, and resolutions that are changed, altered, and created monthly, not yearly, because I'm about crushing my plans for the future, not gently carrying them around with me day after day. It's take care of it and put it to bed. So this year, as I sat down to journal about how far I've come, I quickly realized that these things come in categories just like I write them out in my planner. Buckets for each area of my life that I compartmentalize are all a part of a well-lived life. That's what we all need to unpack at the end of a year, correct? A year's chapter to the story of our lives lived well. So here we are at the intersection of 2024 and 2025, and do I have a story to tell.
Life
Goal: Listen to a broader variety of music
Achievement: According to my Spotify, I listened to 20 genres of music. I'll take it!
Goal: Take better care of my health and lose some weight
Fail: My health declined a lot this year, although I started strong.
Goal: To focus on growing the relationships I have with those who I love most
Achievement: My marriage is much stronger this year than last year. The teenage years are hard for me, but we're making it through, and she still loves me. This has been bumpy with my extended family, but the love is still there.
Okay, I'm starting with the bleakness to get to the good stuff. This year started perfectly. Clarity shone through, and a good schedule was formed, hitting my goals immediately. We went on our first family vacation, and it was glorious. I did everything I set out to do between January and March with no problem. Then April hit, and the whole world came crashing down. My mom had a house fire. It didn't take out the entire house, but it did take out the whole back of the house, including the kitchen, my mom's bedroom, and more.
So I did what any daughter would do. They moved in with me, my mom, brother, and grandmother. The unfortunate piece is that this was just the storm, not the thunder. That came after the first contractor and the second pulled out of the job after being hired, halting construction from the beginning well into September. The rain, Granny was then diagnosed with stage four cancer in her lungs. They estimated 6 months for her to live. So everyone's still here in our tiny 2 bedroom house living in our basement, except Granny, who's in our living room so Hospice can come.
To say it has been a challenging year for everyone is the understatement of the century. The house is FINALLY under construction, and we can see progress. Although Granny is fading, we are bonding, and that is wonderful. The stressors are there, but I'm grateful for the time shared with her, with all of them even in the hardest of times. I thought I knew a lot about love, but the good Lord has taught me that I still have much to learn.
The Business of Carry On Britt
Goal: Book at least 10x's what I did in 2023 in 2024
Achievement: I booked 45x's what I did in 2023 in 2024
Goal: Book at least one trip to another country
Achievement: I booked 2 international trips
Goal: Find the area of travel I want to focus on
Achievement: I definitely found my niche, if you will (more on that in 2025), from working with tons of vendors and hotels (53 tbh)
This year was a good year for Carry On Britt. It was my first full year as a travel advisor, and I learned a lot. The thousands of hours of training and the many phone calls with clients have surpassed the goals I set for myself. To say this girl was busy is the understatement of the century. It's more than the numbers, though, and all the things; it's more about the fact that I was genuinely able to help so many people get on their way. i helped sisters vacation together on their first cruise, a family have their dream family reunion in the most magical place on earth, coordinated a whole teachers retreat, and so many little family and couples vacations. It warms me to know that I did it all. I made their dreams come true, even though, truthfully, each person I helped was a big part of mine.
I'm so honored to have done so much in what really is so little time. To have helped all these people do so much between the pages of my working day while still being a mom, wife, caregiver, and working a full-time job is not flex but awe-inspiring proof to myself that despite it all I can do hard things. Sure, I often cracked under pressure, thought about quitting, and then had a severe case of imposter syndrome, especially looking online to see how successful everyone else seemed. I'm just the little one on the totem pole, working her butt off. But then came the conversations. The thank you's, the hey, you're so nice, let's have a conversation and make friends, not just travel partners. That keeps me grounded. That's where the travel bestie comes in, and in 2025, I'm going nowhere.
I also learned something. I started off thinking, "How on earth am I going to find people who want to book with me?" I overcame that hurdle in so many ways. It's still hard, but I'm less apprehensive. Through the year, I've built some confidence and overcome.
Then came the well: I can book anything for anyone, and now I know what brands I prefer to book, the ones I will rant and rave about. Sure, I will book other things, but my heart lies with themed hotel excursions, Disney, Viking Cruise line, and Virgin voyages. That is what I love. Those are the trips that feed me. I love them, and I will continue to talk about my little small-town journeys by off-the-beaten-path museums and my Disney excursions, not for the things or the pieces, but because I love the feeling it gives me. That's what all travel is about, feeling. Why try to be an expert in everything when you can stick to what you love the most?
Travel
Goal: Go on my first cruise
Achievement: The Disney Magic was SPECTACULAR!
Goal: Take bug someplace I've been to as a kid
Achievement: ---- gonna have to wait till 2025 before I spill those beans
Goal: To skip a holiday and go on a vacation instead
Achievement: Lansing, Michigan for Thanksgiving
There were points in this year where I felt trapped. Like I hadn't been on vacation, able to escape life in what felt honest to Gawd forever. I saw the tunnel, but where on earth was the light at the end of it. Then we'd go; I'd have a great time and face more darkness. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Looking back, though, I accomplished everything I had planned for this year. We made some once-in-a-lifetime memories, and we had a great time as a family. We laughed, cried, hugged, and had a great time in the process. There are so many new experiences, filling nights around the dinner table someplace new, so many books finished and stories shared of times past while sitting in an airport on or a long car ride. This year's travels were precisely what they should be. Wholesome, family fun.