Restless Meanderer’s 2021 Year in Review

Hello! 

Thank you for checking out my 2021 year in review post. This is going to be a post sharing my blog stats from 2021 and my personal highlights from the year. I am so excited to continue working on my new blog in 2022 and to share more of my stories and adventures.

To see the most recent posts up on the Blog, click here.

2021 was a big year for Restless Meanderer because of course I launched this blog! The thought came to my brain in December 2020 and then for the first two months of 2021 I was reading material on how to even start a blog, what sort of hosting I needed to purchase, and then I was stuck deciding whether the purchase was worth it or not for me.

I took the leap at the end of February and purchased my domain name and hosting platform through Bluehost. Then I was seriously stuck in a design phase and trying to make everything “perfect” before actually launching anything. I was nervous to put something into the world that wasn’t ready yet.

After reading a lot more information from other bloggers though, I understood how important it was to take that first step, launch the blog, and learn on the go. As that famous quote says:

“If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll be waiting your whole life.”

And I couldn’t agree more! Launching Restless Meanderer took a huge pressure off me that didn’t even need to be there! With the blog live it gave me the freedom to see how pages were working, focus on actually writing some posts, and move forward with the process.

Below are my first stats to share! I think sharing statistics helps immensely with transparency and I want to be as honest as possible in this process. These stats will be especially exciting to revisit to see the blog’s growth as well!

Blog Stats 2021 Year in Review

My first post was published on August 1st, 2021. In total between August and December I was able to get 7 posts up on my blog. These 7 posts had around 17,452 words with 6 of the posts and 16,537 of the words being specifically SEO targeted. 

There was not too much traffic on the site in those 5 months but that’s to be expected for a new blog! Restless Meanderer saw 130 users and the most I saw in one month was 30 users. 

By December, after my last post of 2021 was up, my domain authority reached 5! This is a little number but it is so exciting every time it moves up a point! Domain authority is essentially how much Google trusts you, so as the number goes up, my audience will grow as well!

In terms of financials, there is not much to report yet. I paid $118.08 in February 2021 to get my domain name and begin hosting with Bluehost (who I’ve loved so far by the way!) and I have no other costs or revenue to share. I’ve only just begun exploring affiliate marketing and this is definitely an area I hope to learn more about in 2022. 

Blog Goals for 2022

Aside from writing I would also like to step up the design of the site. This may include fonts, colors, logos, etc. I’m not quite sure yet but I know the Restless Meanderer site has just started its journey.

Finally, in regards to Restless Meanderer, I am excited to learn more about blogging, affiliate marketing, SEO, and other ways to share my content. I would like to begin my email list and figure out the best way to connect with my audience. I have a good feeling about this year so let’s see where it goes!

Hiking 2021 Year in Review

Although I didn’t travel abroad or get out of New England much, I still had an amazing year and by staying local that means I’m craving adventure even more in 2022! Most of my time away from home was spent hiking and really beginning to explore New England (since I only moved to southern New Hampshire in June 2020). You can read about my move to New Hampshire on my About page or in my first blog post.

See below for my 2021 year in review-hiking edition! This list contains all the hikes I was able to do in 2021. Click on the links in green to read more about a particular hike!

Highlights from this list include: Mt. Pemigewasset, Webster and Jackson loop, southern Presidentials, Mt. Chocorua, and the Redfield, Cliff, Marshall hike.

Mt. Pemigewasset was my first winter hike in New Hampshire and I think only my second true winter hike ever! A huge stepping stone for me on my hiking journey.

The Webster and Jackson loop was my first hike with the NH Hiking Buddies community. I absolutely love the group of people in NH Hiking Buddies and am so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had with them (including staying at an AMC hut and hiking Mt. Washington!). That Mt. Washington hike was definitely a highlight because I’m not sure I will ever get to experience sunrise from one of the AMC huts again, we had insanely good weather on Washington’s summit, and the southern Presidentials blew my mind! 

Mt. Chocorua was my first true sunrise hike and a sunrise hike was on my bucket list for the year! My friend inviting me on the hike didn’t even know that at the time so he didn’t how happy it made me to fit that in in November. The sunrise did not disappoint and it was so fun hiking with friends I’d never hiked with before!

Lastly, completing Redfield, Cliff, and Marshall in the Adirondacks was definitely not the most fun hike I’ve been on but it has to be my top hike on the highlight list because I became an Adirondack 46er on this hike! Mt. Marshall was 46 out of 46 for me of the Adirondack High Peaks and it was such a breathtaking moment. I am so grateful my boyfriend joined me on the hike and that moment will stay with me forever.

Visit my Hiking page to stay up to date on all my 2022 hikes!

Personal Life 2021 Year in Review

Some more items that made my highlights reel for the year! Here’s a peak into parts of my life that don’t revolve around hiking and trip planning.

• I got to travel to San Diego two times for work. I’d only been on the west coast once before for a conference so it was fun to explore more of the area and I even got to touch the Pacific Ocean for the first time!
• My boyfriend and I bought a house after working full-time for one year out of college. (Please note we did not purchase the treehouse, though how cool would it be if we did?)

• My university hosted a make-up graduation for the class of 2020 that I got to attend and see all my friends at.
• I went on fishing charter in the ocean for the first time which was such a cool experience

• My family and I traveled to NYC to see our first show back on Broadway. We saw the Book of Mormon and it was amazing! I forget every time before I go how much I absolutely love experiencing the energy and emotions that come with seeing a show.
• With everything going on among work, the pandemic, mental health struggles, and more, I am proud I was able to continue giving time to my other hobbies as well including fitness, knitting, and taking care of my houseplants 🙂 

Personal Goals for 2022

If you have any recommendations of places I should go or hikes I should do let me know!

As always, feel free to contact me with any comments or questions. To connect, check out my social media links at the bottom of this page!

Thank you for reading! Here’s to 2022.

Sara