The year 2025 has been a rough one, for all the reasons, known and unknown, that I won’t go into here. Everybody has their own trials and tribulations. Not EVERYTHING has been a mess this year – but I’ve definitely had to create my own little bubbles of success and happiness.

Unless something unexpected happens in the next couple weeks, I’m going to finish 2025 with 22 nights out. Most of those have been in our little teardrop trailer or Bones the campervan (17) – so that represents a shift. Not as much backpacking or wilderness camping as I’d like to do, but as a trade-off I’m spending much more time outdoors with my lovely wife, so it’s hard to argue about that! As a couple, we’ve made “camping” part of the regular playbook that we consider on any trip, so I’ll call that a win, even if it is in something a little more sturdy than a tent.

In addition, I’ve managed to have some level of outdoor adventure (including at least one night out, not simply a hike – there’s lots of those!) at least once per calendar month through the year. Given that I started 2025 with the objective to manage a quarterly event, that’s quite an accomplishment.

I’ve camped in snow, in heavy rain, in heat, in cold. I’ve been as high as 7,000 feet, and as low as 0 (just off the beach on both the Atlantic and Pacific). I’ve settled down and listened to the animals, the weather, the surf at night in a variety of places, and camped in 7 states — Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, Washington and Hawaii.

After taking a significant, multi-year break from Flying Squirrel, I’ve also made the commitment to spend time blogging (and movie-making, though YouTube content is still lagging) – and that’s been fun. It’s been a good opportunity to reconnect with a small but like-minded community online, and even though I sometimes lag in my responses or engagement, I appreciate you all.

Tonight, I’ll turn the page by celebrating the winter solstice. Together with good friends, we’ll reminisce around the fire. We’ll make sacrifices of holly as we both celebrate accomplishments and acknowledge failures and challenges of the past year. We’ll make offerings of oak as we share our aspirations and goals for the year that is yet to come. With any luck, we’ll all be able to help each other achieve our respective goals, and hold each other accountable to a brighter (always brighter) future.

And then, family time for Christmas, and celebration of the New Year.

No matter how you celebrate the holidays, I hope that as you look back, you can celebrate accomplishment, and as you look forward, you have reason to aim even higher. Happy Holidays to all!

Get Out There!