Restless Meanderer’s 2022 Year in Review
Hello hello and welcome to Restless Meanderer’s 2022 year in review!
Thank you for checking out my 2022 recap post. This 2022 year in review is being posted a little late because I was on the west coast for work for the month of January and couldn’t figure out how to post using my work computer, lol.
I’d like to quickly share my blog stats from 2022 and personal highlights from the year. I am excited to keep learning and make more progress sharing tips and travels as we continue 2023!
2022 was a busy year for me! I didn’t expand my blog as much as I intended, but I enjoyed all the time that I worked on it. In truth, growth comes with effort and as I learn more, read more, travel more, and become more skilled in this space, I think the effort and results will complement each other nicely.
I am still working on balancing everything I want to do. Running Restless Meanderer is still a hobby for me. It is a place I can share stories when I am able to but over-working myself and stressing about the number of hours spent on this is not on my agenda. That said, I always want to write more and share more!
It has been so fun revisiting adventures in my posts and on Instagram. I am really excited about the community I have been able to connect with so far on social media as well. Everyone is so inspiring it’s crazy.
How can I go everywhere and do everything? Of course in reality I can’t but I am constantly impressed by what I am seeing others achieve. Other people’s stories truly drive me to keep exploring and trying new things.
Blog Stats 2022
My first post this year was published on January 30th, 2022. In total I was able to get 15 posts up on my blog. Of course this isn’t a huge number but my goal was at least 13 posts with one posted each month which I am happy to have met.
I am working on the balance between my full-time career, socializing, staying healthy, writing the blog, and actually going on adventures! The 15 posts had around 35,188 words with 14 of the posts and 33,457 of the words being specifically SEO targeted. This brings my targeted post word count up to around 50,000. Reaching 50,000 words was another 2022 goal of mine I was excited to meet.
This year I had a couple exciting moments when it came to blog traffic. A couple posts really had a lot of viewers (to me) for a few months. Restless Meanderer saw 916 users this year and the most I saw in one month was 153 users.
Compare that to the 5 months in 2021 where I saw 75 users and the most was 17 in one month!
By December my domain authority reached 9 (was 7 at the end of 2021)! 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 numbers go up my audience will grow as well!
Financially, the only cost for my blog this year was renewing domain registration with Bluehost which was $33.99. No realized revenue has been kicked back to me but I am ok with that. I was not expecting a return yet. With the $118.08 spent in February 2021, this brings the total spent on my blog for the last two years to be $152.07.
Goals for 2023
In 2023 I want to keep sharing trail reviews and talk about hikes I’ve done, but I’d like to expand into more travel writing as well. Similar to my 7 Things to Do in North Conway, NH on Your First Visit post or when I wrote about 7 Things to do in Northern NH in One Weekend. I love exploring new places, trying new restaurants, and seeing what each town has to offer!
It is difficult to pick what I truly want to write about when there are so many options. I’d love to build an audience and community that I know will benefit from my posts. So another goal in 2023 is to keep building my audience and finding my niche.
Sticking with New England hiking feels like a sweet spot for now, but it is such a small view into what I like to do and what I want to write about! Flying to Europe, visiting National Parks, and road tripping through the United States are also amazing trips that I want to help others be able to plan for themselves.
Continuing my blog will be a never ending learning process but that’s something I enjoy. I would like to expand my knowledge about SEO and affiliate marketing as well as blogging in general. I’d be very interested in having a better understanding of what works for blogs and why!
Personal 2022 Year in Review
I was so lucky with the travels I went on this year! I finally took some chances, planned a big trip, and took advantage of work opportunities. Certainly helped satisfy my need for adventure after being stuck at home most of 2021.
Hiking 2022 Year in Review
See below for all the hikes I was able to do in 2022:
Jan-Mar
- Burnt Mountain
- Diana’s Baths
- Whitaker Woods
- Isinglass and Watson’s Way
- Mount Pierce
- Hedgehog Mountain
- Keay Brook Preserve Loop
Apr-Jun
- Mast Point Dam
- Mount Israel
- Blueberry Mtn
- Kearsarge North
- Mount Willard
- Torrey Pines
- Carlsbad Caverns
- White Sands trails
- Tom, Field, Willey, Avalon
- Balcoes Viewpoint
- Pico Ruivo
- Risco Waterfall and 25 Fontes
- Cannon Mountain
Jul-Sep
- Mount Hale
- Morgan and Percival
- Shieling Forest
- Profile Falls
- Shaw, Black Snout, Turtleback
- Osceola and East Osceola
- Black Bear Mtn
- Bald Mountain
- Bald for sunrise
- Waumbek and Starr King
- Welch-Dickey
- Blue Job
- Saddleback and the Horn
- Isolation
- Kinsmans
- Carrigain
Oct-Dec
- Mansfield
- Killington
- Buttermilk Falls
- Mt Willard
- Potash Mountain
- Hunter Mountain
- Chenango Valley State Park
Highlights from this 2022 year in review list include:
Burnt Mountain, next to Sugarloaf Mountain, was my first big hike in Maine in a long time. It was also a great experience for me to work on solo hiking and winter hiking. With so many false summits it was almost frustrating to push on haha. But I made it down in record time when I learned my friends were grabbing food at The Bag and Kettle!
I am so thankful I had friends visit and join me on hikes this year. These included Pierce, Hedgehog, Osceolas, and Willard. I also went on a fun group hike through work up Welch Dickey and spent time hiking with my family in the Adirondacks up Black Bear Mountain and Bald Mountain (including my first sunrise on this one!).
Our pup Willie joined our family this year and I’m so excited to practice hiking more with him. My first solo hike with him was Blue Job Mountain and his first 4,000 footer was Mansfield! Vermont in the fall is always gorgeous and I was so so happy to tackle Mansfield and Killington Peak this October.
Hiking Saddleback Mountain and the Horn was one of my favorite hikes of the year for sure. The ski hill incline kind of sucked honestly but it went quicker than it seemed and the views on this day were absolutely insanely gorgeous! It was an amazing trail above the trees and I got to talk to some Appalachian Trail hikers which is always fun.
Revisiting Castle in the Clouds and hiking Turtleback Mountain was another good-for-the-soul day. The trails in this conservation area are enjoyable and easy to moderate, providing lots of places to explore. I’d been craving some mileage so I just cruised through the loop this day and snagged 12 miles before lunch.
Hunter Mountain was my last 4,000 footer of the year. Possibly my first time in the Catskills. This peak brought me to 82/115 of my goal for the Northeast 111.
Lastly, Pico Ruivo in Madeira, Portugal was the highlight of the year. Not only was it one of the most gorgeous and unique hikes I’ve ever done, but I got engaged at the top! Being over 6,000 feet up and still being able to see the ocean on both sides is magical.
Life 2022 Year in Review
Some more items that made my highlights reel for the year!
- Got our puppy Willie! He’s reached a year old now but it’s crazy to think we haven’t even had him that long. We had fun bringing him up to Potsdam, NY and showing him the ropes of wiffle.
- Multiple work trips out to San Diego
- Cozy winter trip to North Conway
- Crazy fun New Orleans trip with my sister – a place I never thought I’d get to visit!
- Time with family in Vermont and New York
- A trip to New Mexico for work allowed me to visit Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, and White Sands National Parks
- Lumineers concert with an amazing friend
- Car camping with a new car tent in NH and VT
- The most magical, beautiful trip of my life to Portugal visiting Lisbon and Madeira
- Saco River canoe trip
- First race I’ve ever done wasn’t a disaster haha – Ragged Mountain Scuttle
- Visited beautiful Skaneateles for a friend’s wedding
- Returned to my university for a fun alumni weekend with my old swim team
- Enjoying hobbies outside of hiking. I’ve knit some of my favorite pieces this year, started designing knitting patterns, and I also learned how to make croissants!
Personal goals for 2023 include taking steps to do something new (like change of work or location). Not sure what this will be yet but I am determined to explore some options. I would also like to ensure that besides hiking, I continue to pursue fitness, a healthy lifestyle, and take care of my mental health.
I need to do the Presidential Traverse and get the Pemi Loop in this summer! I really want to do more backpacking and the Pemi Loop will be a perfect reintroduction for me.
It would be amazing to get back up to Baxter State Park, hike Katahdin again, and knock out the other two peaks on the Northeast 111 list that I haven’t climbed yet too.
Let’s see where the year takes us! Please share any goals you have for the year below in the comments or any highlight from your own 2022 year in review!
As always, feel free to contact me with any other comments or questions. To connect, check out my social media links at the bottom of this page!
Thank you for reading! Cheers to (a late) beginning of 2023.
Sara
