It’s that time. To look back on the year and relive some fabulous memories!
I made a new dive buddy friend through a FB Group and had an amazing Aggressor liveaboard adventure with her in the Red Sea, Egypt. March is a great time to find discounts on dive trips because it’s low or shoulder season. That said, I wish I’d brought more warm clothes. I bought 2 hoodies (and re-gifted them after the trip, win-win). So many great pix and vids above and below the water.
At work, some contract drama resulted in an employer swap but still doing the same job in Baghdad.
I applied for and received a second US passport.
The trademark for Wanderonomy® was approved completing a 17 month application process.
My cousin and I revived our annual spa trip, this time in Italy with her sister, an unfortunate dip in the pool, and WINE!
With limited travel options from Baghdad I used my time to create a periodic travel of diving chart (based on my periodic table of travel chart) and it had minor viral fame in that same FB group and then started an Etsy print-on-demand store to sell it. The biggest advantage of POD is I can create a design then choose a vendor to produce it, so I don’t have to spend a lot of money on production and then try to sell it myself. The downside is splitting the proceeds with the vendor. But in 4 months I made more on Etsy than any of my other Wanderonomy side-hustles. I’m thrilled with the process will keep adding more designs. And I am cross-publishing all the products to my Wanderonomy Store.
I had hoped to retire to a 3 year world cruise but financial caution prevailed before the cruise was canceled.
I had planned to spend Christmas week in Jordan revisiting some sites, but war in the region canceled that trip.
I’m looking forward to 2024 and new adventures.
