As we start getting closer to the holidays and a new year, and especially now after Thanksgiving, I’ve been starting to reflect on what I’ve been thankful for in 2017.

Travel has also been one of my passions, so whenever I get the chance to explore a new place, I’m always grateful. It’s the thing I wish I could do more of, and heck, if I could make a career out of it, that would mean the world (literally). So, it would be travel, for me, that I hold most dear this year.

Reflecting back on what I’ve been able to do this year, first and foremost, I have to start by being grateful for the courage to start this blog. It started after a trip to Europe. A travel blog had always been something I wanted to do, but I didn’t think I had enough content to start. However, after a little nudge from my sister (who I had traveled to Europe with), I had drafted up my first post and hit the Publish button. And voilà! The Let’s Go Places blog was born.

The biggest takeaway from the conversation I had with my sister was that I should start small. If I can’t travel around the world all the time, I can at least capture and share some of the beautiful places here in California.

Since then, I’ve had quite a few amazing opportunities that have helped me contribute to my blog. In fact, I’ve been able to do six travel sponsorships so far this year. It started back in July on a whim that I might be able to partner with some bed and breakfasts in the area. So I reached out, asked if they’d be open to having me stay on a media rate in exchange for content, and to my surprise, I got a lot of places saying YES!

And it’s been such an incredible experience so far. I’ve stayed at Madrona Manor, The Blue Door Inn, and even an A-line bunkhouse with friends while on a trip to Guatemala.

Plus, I have one more coming up in December, and then I’m starting to plan for some more opportunities next year. I’m hoping to get to Yosemite and Tahoe sometime in the spring or summer, and then, fingers crossed, that I can plan a bigger trip out of the country sometime in the fall of next year (if not earlier!).

But all of this is to say, if I didn’t have the support of family and friends encouraging me, or even the courage to try new things (even if it means hearing no sometimes), I would not have been able to explore all the lovely places I did this year. It’s a little bit of an investment starting out, but when it comes to travel, to me it’s SO worth it.

Hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend!

Let’s go places,
Sarah

All photos on this blog are mine. Feel free to share but please credit me with a link back to the blog. Much appreciated and thank you for your support!

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