Restless Meanderer’s 2025 Year in Review
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Happy new year to my fellow meanderers and welcome to my 2025 year in review!
This is my annual year in review post and I will try to keep it brief, but so much happened this year it might be tricky! In this post I like to share updates on my blog, my hiking adventures, and any personal highlights from the year. I always share a few 2026 goals at the end as well!
I hope everyone else had some wonderful adventures last year and time well spent with loved ones. Share some of your favorite memories in the comments below!
Personal 2025 Year in Review
This was a busy busy year in terms of travel and spending time with family and friends! I’m certain this is the least New England hiking I’ve done in years, but my excuse is that I was away too often traveling and hiking in other beautiful places. I feel exceptionally grateful for being invited on many of these trips and having a partner who encourages me to fit them all in.
There was a lot of saying “yes” this year even if it meant figuring out details later. Not usually my style but I guess Ben is right sometimes- “don’t worry, it will all work out.” With some saving, budgeting, good use of PTO, (sometimes minor) planning, and a little bit of luck, it’s amazing how much you can fit in. Budgeting is your friend and in my opinion taking control of your finances is one of the first steps to living your life the way you imagine.
I am always encouraging friends to enjoy their days off and not be afraid to travel to try something new. Even a previously unexplored trail or town an hour away can provide a weekend full of memories and potential new go-to spots. Hopefully Restless Meanderer can help you find new favorites here in New England or inspire you to travel somewhere new!
Hiking Review
See below for all the hikes I was able to do in 2025. I know some quarters are looking dreadfully empty! I need to work on getting outside in the colder months and finding the best gear to be comfortable in those temperatures. Any winter boot recommendations, send them my way!
My Hiking Page has more info about hiking lists in the Northeast as well.
Jan-Mar
- Gros Piton (St. Lucia)
- Windham Town Forest Loop
- Clifford Park
- Exploring Central Park
Apr-Jun
- Jordan Ponds Path
- Oak Canyon to Grasslands Trail
- Mt Israel
- Magalloway
- Garfield
Jul-Sep
- Alpe di Siusi plateau (Italy)
- Seceda ridgeline and plateau (Italy)
- Holy Cross Chapel on Resciesa (Italy)
- Snowgrass Flats, Hawkeye Point, and Goat Lake Loop
- Colchuck Lake
- Whiteface (Belknaps)
- Rowe
- French’s Mountain
- Cove Creek and Toms Spring Falls
- Salkantay Trek (Peru)
Oct-Dec
- Little Haystack, Lincoln, Lafayette
- South Kaibab, Tonto West, Bright Angel (AZ)
- Castle of Galeras (Spain)
Highlights from this list include: The Salkantay Trek in Peru isn’t something that was ever even on my radar. My good friend from work was hiking this trek with her boyfriend and their friend group and invited me along. How lucky am I? We hiked the Salkantay Pass at 15,000ft, had the most amazing meals from our trail chefs, passed through a coffee farm, stayed in hobbit houses, and explored Machu Picchu. Such a fun trip that I will never forget!
As an avid hiker and nature lover, of course the Dolomites have been on my bucket list! Three days in Ortisei exploring Alpe di Suisi, Seceda, and Resciesa were just the tip of the iceberg for me. Of course I left with an itch to return and do some hut to hut hiking. Walking on those plateaus literally felt like frolicking in a field the whole time with small breaks for espressos and spritzes.
Washington State may have a tiny piece of my heart even just in the couple days I was there. We could not have hiked Goat Lake Loop and Colchuck Lake at a better time. The wildflowers were INSANE and I could barely process how large Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Rainier looked from the trail. I felt like I was in a postcard and I still struggle to put the beauty into words.
When your friend gets a permit to camp in the Grand Canyon and invites you and your husband, you go! Anyone who has visited knows what a special place the Grand Canyon is. We hiked down South Kaibab Trail on Halloween to stay at Havasupai Gardens Campground where the spooky vibes were completed by bats flying all around us. Breathtaking stargazing from the ranger’s cabin porch made you never want to leave. Followed by one of the most stunning campsites I’ve ever been to in Sedona means I’ll be talking about Arizona for a while.
Two honorary mentions that I want to remember from this 2025 year in review: First, that I finished the 12 mountains in the Belknap Range this year, yay! Second, mine and Ben’s “trail run” over Franconia Ridge. It was a chilly morning but I was ecstatic to show Ben the peak foliage views and get out and run around the mountains! It was so much fun.
Life Review
Some more items that made my highlights reel for the year!
- Honeymoon in St. Lucia
- Finally made it up to explore Portland for a day!
- Visiting NYC with my sister to see Redwood and Moulin Rouge
- Hanging out with my best friends from college in Buffalo
- The best birthday trip to Bar Harbor
- Opportunities through work to travel to Germany, Spain, and my fav San Diego
- Parents visited and we went to the Northeast Coffee Festival in Concord. I first found Dry Brew coffee chews (affiliate link) there and have loved sharing them with family and friends since! (I do have a 10% discount code ‘RESTLESSMEANDERER’ for those that are curious!)
- Attended three weddings, one of them for my twin sister!!!
- A little date night up in Lincoln, NH
- An amazing trip with my husband to Italy (Venice, Dolomites-Ortisei) and Austria (Salzburg, Werfen)
- The most postcard perfect wildflowers during a hiking trip in Washington with my girlfriends and getting to see Seattle after
- As always, seeing my family at our annual reunion in the Adirondacks
- I was given a sourdough starter by my coworker and it’s still going strong! Been loving making bread and trying new recipes
- Asheville with my college friends
- Wilmington to celebrate my sister getting married
- Did a full training plan and accomplished running a half marathon!
- Being invited by my friend to join her group hiking the Salkantay Trek in Peru. This was truly an amazing experience. I never thought I would get to see Machu Picchu!
- Celebrating my good friends becoming homeowners!
- Knit almost 40 projects this year including 6 sweaters- 2 of these are my favorite 2 I’ve knit so far!
- Published my second knitting pattern- the Alpine Views Hat
- Seriously stunning camping in the Grand Canyon (Havasupai Gardens Campground) and Sedona (Edge of the World) with college friends I rarely see
- Met my sister’s new puppy, the cutest little corgi!
Blog Stats 2025 Year in Review
This year on the blog, I shared 6 new posts:
The 6 new posts had a total of 12,184 words with 10,621 of the words belonging to posts that are specifically SEO targeted. This brought the word count present on my targeted posts up to 74,716 words. If I can fit in all the posts I’d like to in 2026, I am really hoping I can get this number past 100,000.
According to my Google Analytics for my 2025 year in review, my website saw 24,000 new users this year and 13,000 active users. The busiest month was August with 4,400 new users.
Restless Meanderer’s domain authority has increased one more point to 14, yay! This just means my site is reaching more people as it is deemed more trustworthy by Google.
The most popular posts on the blog in 2025 were: Mt Willard, Mount Mansfield, Haystack/Basin/Saddleback, the Santanoni Range, and Things to do in Northern NH. A couple posts that didn’t have as much engagement as I expected were: Mt Pemigewasset and Burnt Mountain in Maine.
Financially, I only had one payout from Amazon totaling $11.43. I am working with other affiliate organizations but have not received payouts yet as there are only a few orders across them. RockPorch (check out my collections such as REI Favorites and Hiking Must Haves) has been an amazing resource and as it is still growing and expanding I am excited to see how else I can use it to support my blog in 2026. As always, 5% of any profits I make will be set aside to support charities that align with my passions and the purpose of this blog.
For costs for the blog, I had to pay Bluehost $37.17 to renew my domain registration and pay for domain privacy and protection. This brings the total cost for running this blog since 2021 to $620.86.
Goals for 2026
In 2026, I am trying to expand the locations I am adding blog posts about. I have a few queued for Madeira, Portugal and I need to fit in more about the 46 high peaks in New York! It can get repetitive writing about only trail reviews which is why I enjoy including info about nearby towns and activities surrounding hikes now and then.
When I am not blogging, I hope to get back into a fitness routine. This could be adding lifting back to my schedule, redoing the half marathon training plan, or challenging myself in a new way.
As always, I am excited to continue knitting and expressing my creativity. I love working with my hands and exploring new patterns and stitches while supporting other designers and creatives. I have a few baby blankets I want to finish this year and I am working on an ambitious cable sweater for my mom.
It feels weird to say, but I don’t know what my hiking goals are for the year! I am very antsy to get back to NY and do an Adirondack hike so I hope I can set up a camping weekend this summer to accomplish that. There are a few NH hikes I’d love to revisit and if any of my friends want to get up to Maine for some hiking I will gladly join. When not hiking I hope to work on recharging through more reading, baking, finding some good weeknight recipes, and game nights with friends.
Things I want to see more of: candles in my home, outside time with my dog, quiet weekend mornings with coffee, enjoying sunrise and sunset. Things I want to improve upon: house cleaning schedule, not worrying about things I can’t change, enjoying the outdoors in all weather.
As I revisit all the adventures and accomplishments from this 2025 year in review, the word grateful just keeps returning to me. I know I said it before, but it feels like a sigh of relief to know you have a strong support system around you. Family that teaches you strong values, a partner that encourages all your crazy ideas, and friends that invite you to spend time outdoors. I can’t believe all the places I was able to travel this year and while it felt like a whirlwind, it was exactly what I wanted to be doing.
I am always open to specific questions or ideas if anyone is looking for more information on a particular hike. While I am not an expert, I am willing to help your trip planning if I can!
Feel free to connect via my Contact page or the social media links at the bottom of my site.
Here’s to an amazing 2026 where we go on adventures, hike mountains, and try new things!
Sara || Restless Meanderer
