By Happy New Year! I know, we’re 5 days into the new year so the “Happy New Year” quotes should be voided, but I haven’t said it to you all, so yes, Happy New Year. First, if you have any new year resolutions I hope you stick with them and have a great story to tell at the end of this year. I also wanted to thank everyone who visits my blog and has been on the food and travel journey with me since May of 2016 when I started Savory Travels. Last year was a great year with traveling and experiencing different kinds of foods, atmospheres, and what states/cities had to offer.
Recap: For 2016, since the blog started I visited more than 50 restaurants, but only published 29 posts. This year will be a little different as each restaurant and travel state/city will have its own blog post. I want to make sure that everyone is experiencing what I would experience from my point of view and be in tune with the things I am doing. I pride myself on constructive criticism so if you have any please feel free to comment on any posts. Last year I visited 20 states (since April 2016) and flew over 10,000 miles and drove over 2,000. Sometimes traveling can be a bit exhausting, but this is the first time in my life where I have traveled so much so I didn’t mind being “exhausted” at all. Maybe it doesn’t feel or seemed as though I traveled as much, and I believe it’s because I didn’t write as much or provide enough details about my traveling experience. Everything you do is a learning experience and you can’t take back what you did, you can only change the narrative going forward.
I visited some great restaurants and some not so great restaurants. I look at every visit as an experience regardless of the ups or downs. This year, I plan to travel to atleast 15-20 states and spend more time providing details on how to get travel deals, how to choose food recommendations, and how to have fun. Stepping outside of your comfort zone is always one of the ideas that automatically designate for “fun” in my opinion. The reason behind that thought method is that you’re doing something new, you’re teaching yourself it can be done, and you have the opportunity to teach someone else what you’ve learned.
The states I visited last year were New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Georgia, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Ohio. Each state had some pretty good food with my first time trying alligator out of Memphis, Tennessee, or the bazaar food that I ate in Delaware which was Wild Boar. The most fun I had when traveling to a state was Chicago, Illinois. There were so many sites and things to do, the only thing I would do differently this time is explore more options for food and fully blog every single detail of my travel. There were a couple food spots, I left out, not because I didn’t want to blog about it, it’s because the images weren’t good enough. I’ll get past that mental hurdle and provide you with full experiences as I should have.
Goals : This year, I plan to travel to 15-20 states as I mentioned but I want to incorporate some ideas on how to get cheap travel or hotel stays. I honestly learned last year, being though it was my first time experiencing this kind of business, that deals are out there to be taken advantage of. Sometimes, all you have to do is ask and you’ll save hundreds of dollars in the end. Every penny counts, so when traveling make sure you have a budget and you stretch that dollar to its full capability.
Overall : I can’t tell you how much it means that you are out there listening to me as I travel and using my blog as recommendations as to where to eat. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. I welcome the idea of places to eat, where I should travel, and how to get better rates when traveling. I hope you all have a prosperous year and please share your goals and ideas with me. You never stop learning, no matter how old you are.
-SavoryTravels
SavoryTravels 