The Routeburn Track was one of my outdoor highlights during 2018.
It is time for my 2018 review to honestly determine how I did meeting my outdoor goals. It’s the end of the year so a perfect time to look back.
Personally, I like to set goals and give myself something to aspire to. I find that it helps to keep me motivated and getting the most out of my time. Every year I set personal goals, which I don’t share here, and outdoor goals. Before I set some new outdoor goals I wanted to look back and see how I did this year. Here is my 2018 review of my goals.
2018 Review – Time To Look Back At How I Did In 2018
2018 is quickly coming to a close.
I am getting ready to set some new goals and resolutions for 2019. Before I do so, I thought it would be a good idea to look back and see if I met my goals from last year.
2018 Review – Did I Meet My 2018 Outdoor Goals?
Here are my goals and my honest assessment of whether or not I met them.
Worn out kids at a hut on Mt. Taranaki.
Get The Kids Outdoors At Least Once A Week For Free Play – NO
I have to admit that this is a goal I did not meet. We did get out most weeks for free play mostly at the beach because we now live so close to the beach. However, we didn’t do it every week.
In theory I love this idea, but like most parents this becomes hard as we get caught up in our weekly routines. My kids are now 11 and 9. They play sports and have other activities after school and on the weekends. Their busy schedules and our desire to just relax around the house sometimes kept us from achieving this all the time.
One of the many nights we spent in a hut during 2018.
Take A Week Long Backpacking Trip With The Family – NO
We were close to achieving this goal, but we didn’t take a full week long trip. During this year we did two three night trips, the Milford Track and Routeburn Track. We also did some shorter trips, but we never found the time for a week long trip. Looks like I’ll be making this a goal again for the upcoming year.
Have Kids Compete In A Race – YES
I didn’t put it in the goal, but I was thinking some kind of outdoors race. The kids competed in the Weetbix Tryathlon this year. It was super cool and they felt proud of their achievement.
We also competed in a short mountain adventure race on Mt. Taranaki. It was a two hour race to different checkpoints on the mountain that was fun. They pretty much ran non-stop from point to point the whole time.
My son and I at a river that drains into Lake Waikaremoana.
Visit At Least One New National Park This Year – YES
We visited a couple of new national parks this year. While hiking the Milford and Routeburn we saw Fiordland National Park and Mt. Aspiring National Parks. Then towards the end of the year my son and I visited Lake Waikaremoana, which used to be a national park but isn’t any more. One of the day hikes we did there was to Lake Waikareiti.
2018 was a super fun, but tiring ski season.
Get The Kids Skiing Comfortably Down Black Diamonds – YES
This one was a lot of fun. We got in a lot of skiing this year! I am so grateful to be able to do this and have sooo much fun skiing as a family.
Like all outdoor activities some days were great and fun, but other days weren’t so fun. Some times the crowds were so bad we almost didn’t make it to the ski field and other days the fog and rain drove us away.
This is the first year that the kids began going faster than me on the way down the mountain. In years past they would just follow me, but this year I would be cruising along and see them zip by me because I was too slow for them. Nice.
We did all of our skiing at Mt. Ruapehu, which just doesn’t have that many black diamonds, but we did go down as many as we could. They became comfortable on them and by the end of the season I felt like we could go just about anywhere.
How About You?
Did you meet your outdoor goals for 2018?