When I started my blog in May of this year, I purchased my domain as a belated birthday present to myself. I thought it would be nice to have a place to document my trips and share a few tips with other parents traveling with children.
I thought my friends and family that enjoyed my Facebook posts might also enjoy being able to read about all of my trips in one place.
I never expected to grow an Audience of over 400 Followers and 2,000 Viewers! I have written over 33,000 words since May of 2020, and people from 30 Different Countries have read my posts!
This blows my mind!!
I don’t write these stats as a way of trying to brag, but simply because I never expected it to happen, and it makes my heart so full. Thank you readers and followers, from the bottom of my heart!
Enough about numbers, let’s take a look back at Road Trip Mama in 2020.
What was your favorite post? Leave a Comment and let me know!
One of my favorites was Twenty Mile Bay & Beyond. I explored a new road with an old friend and ended up finding a Llama!
We named him Earl and when I posted on social media asking if anyone else had met him and had him escort them down the road, I learned he lived in a logging camp down the road from where we met him! I mentioned that we had named him Earl and asked what his name really was. It turns out he was simply known as llama, but the logging camp residents liked Earl and said Earl it is! My friend was pretty excited when I sent her a screenshot of the messages explaining that we not only found a llama 36km up a Forestry Road, we got to name him too!
This was one of the first videos I made, and it does not go in order… you will see towards the end of the video our surprised reactions as we came up to Earl on the road! This was definitely an unexpected surprise but also just added to our awesome adventure that day!
This was one of my favorite trips and I returned several times over the next few weeks, but never saw Earl again! He must know to stay away from the main road.
Our rainy day adventure included a few stops along the way and driving all the way to 60km. The views were amazing and once the Hot Springs are open again, I intend to do the full drive through.
Learning how to do videos and post on YouTube was a bit of a learning curve for me, and I had to recruit my son for help. He taught me a lot about YouTube and it was a great bonding experience for us. Other than the fact that I used to feel tech-savvy and now I know I am no longer…
Another one of my favorites from this year was actually my first time up West Harrison with a great group of ladies from the BC 4×4 Women group. These ladies are awesome and we not only get along great but so do our kids and fur babies!
I asked my daughter to record our drive up from Ten Mile Bay and she laughed the whole way up. You can hear my son reporting his heart rate at the start of the video, he was a little nervous and as my daughter is laughing, he is yelling. He had fun and enjoyed the views but when we got home he said his butt hurt from all the sitting on the drive.
The biggest compliment I received in 2020 in regards to my blog was being stopped in Walmart by an old friend from high school. She told me she loved my blog and was inspired by me. She had decided to take her five kids camping for the rest of the summer, alone. Her husband was staying home to work and she was taking on the open road with a van full of kids, because she was inspired by my blog! Her husband was able to drive up and meet them on a couple of weekends and I was mind blown at her level of awesomeness! I inspired this??
Overall 2020 has been a very different year for all of us. Fortunately 4x4ing is a very socially distanced hobby when you all have your own vehicles, so we were able to get out for some fun in smaller groups before the restrictions were tightened. Walkie talkies make it easy to communicate along the drive and add a little fun too.
I also enjoy my solo drives, and getting out alone has been great for my mental health during this time.
There are silver linings in every difficult situation, so I challenge you today to look back on the strangeness that was 2020 and find those silver linings along the way. There is always something to be grateful for and something to look forward to, no matter how small.
As we bring in the New Year and look forward to 2021 being a better year, what are your plans? Comment below if you are planning any adventures for 2021!
Thank you for reading and for joining me on this journey. See you in 2021!