2020 Year in Review
2020 was a year. I think we can all agree it was one of the craziest years we have experienced. Unlike last year, I did not set my intentions this year by writing a journey entry from the future. Honestly, I kept putting it off and never did it (shame on me), but I did end up writing some goals down here and there throughout the year. I am going to hold myself accountable and write a journey entry the future for 2021!
At the beginning of the year, I was so excited about what 2020 had in store because Alex and I had so many things planned! Then there was COVID. Everything seemed to change in the blink of an eye. When we began working from home for our jobs, I loved it because I was finally relaxing! But that turned into no motivation, which turned into me being a couch potato for far too long. By April, I was feeling so... gross. Gross because I wasn’t doing anything to work towards my goals. Gross because I wasn’t working out. Gross because I was not eating well. I knew I had to turn it all around, and I did! I used the extra time that this year offered me to work on myself and my goals, and it honestly ended up being one of the best years for me personally. Let’s dive into the good, the not so good, and my goals for 2021!
The Good
In a year I thought nothing would go right, I had one of my most successful years with my brand and personal growth. I used the extra time I was given this year to really push myself, which I am very grateful for. Here are some of my best accomplishments from 2020!
I married my best friend. Alex and I got engaged in October 2018, and we knew we did not want a huge wedding. Our original plan was to fly our parents, siblings, and best friends to Colorado to have a beautiful ceremony on a mountain, but obviously, that did not happen this year. We instead had a backyard ceremony, which ended up being perfect! Although we wished we could have said our vows on a mountain in Colorado, we were very grateful to be able to celebrate our love and life together!
Alex and I got engaged in October 2018, and we knew immediately we did not want a huge wedding. Our original plan was to fly our parents, siblings, and best friends to Colorado to have a beautiful ceremony on a mountain, but obviously, that did not happen this year. We instead had a backyard ceremony, which ended up being perfect! Although we wished we could have said our vows on a mountain in Colorado, we were very grateful to be able to celebrate our love and life together with our parents and siblings!
I had a lot of personal growth. If you read my 2019 Year in Review, you know that I grew a lot in 2019 and gained more confidence in myself and my work. In 2020, I figured out I was not a great self-motivator and enjoyed having a routine. I realized I needed to set weekly and daily to-do lists for myself to stay motivated. It helped me stay on track so much more than not writing anything down, which I was doing for a while. I became great at self-motivation, which helped me accomplish my goals and with my confidence in my work.
On top of growing personally for my brand, I realized the importance of loving myself. I have always struggled with loving myself, but I have been slowly working on it. This year was a huge turning point for me because of how much time I spent with myself at home. I didn’t have any other choice but face myself and figure out why I couldn’t seem to love myself. It was a long journey this year, but I am finally moving in the right direction to love myself as much as I possibly can!
I paid off my student loans! When I began paying off my student loans, I made it my goal to pay them off before I was 30, and I accomplished this two years ahead of schedule! I used every extra dollar I had each month to put towards my student loans because we had no interest for most of the year. And after four years, I finally paid them off this month (December 2020)!
I finished hiking New Hampshire’s 48 4,000 footers. At the end of last year, I researched all of the hikes I had left and figured out if it was possible to finish the hiking list this year. I had 20 peaks left to hike, which seems like a lot, but I made them into ten hikes. I was honestly pretty nervous because I would be hiking the most miles in one year I have ever hiked with the most elevation gain. But as soon as the nice weather moved in and the snow melted, I set out to finish the hiking list.
Almost all of the hikes this year were over ten miles, and three were over 16 miles!! I have never pushed myself more mentally and physically. I truly learned what mind over matter was and figured out exactly what I needed for nutrition to get me through some of the most strenuous hikes I have ever completed. It was a crazy learning experience to hike so much in four months, but I DID IT!! I finished hiking New Hampshire’s 48 4,000 footers! I hiked over 130 miles and 38,000 feet of elevation gain! It was by far my most difficult year with hiking but also my most rewarding year!
And I know you are all going to ask, so what’s next? Well, I’m not sure. I have a few things in mind, but in 2021, I am going to hike purely for pleasure and not set any crazy goals for myself.
I hiked my longest and most strenuous hike. When I was looking at what peaks I had left for New Hampshire’s 48 4,000 footers, I realized six peaks required about ten miles for each, or they could be hiked together in 21 miles. I did have a good laugh at myself for thinking I could hike 21 miles with 7,000 feet of elevation gain in one day, but I convinced myself to go for it! And it was the longest and most grueling day that felt neverending. But it was also one of the days I felt most accomplished in 2021! The Wildcat-Carter-Moriah Traverse was INSANE, but I did it with the help of my awesome friend Chelsea! It was the longest 13 hours of my life, but it was worth every sore muscle!
I had my most successful year with my blog. 2020 was a year of learning for me in many different ways. I learned so much about marketing and SEO, which was A LOT, don’t get me wrong, but it helped me understand how to optimize my website and get my brand out there.
At the beginning of 2020, I had zero motivation to do anything. After I began feeling unproductive, I knew I had to change my mindset and routine, so I started writing down what type of work made me happy. It was that moment I realized how much I missed writing blog posts and creating resources for others to use, so I made it my mission to grow my blog and knowledge about marketing! I dived deep into the world of SEO and at times was very overwhelmed, but I kept pushing through, optimizing my live posts, and creating optimized new posts. And I finally began ranking on the first page of Google!!
While learning SEO, I began figuring out different avenues to market myself. I was already on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, but I wasn’t using them to the full extent. I also realized I wanted to update my website and create a logo. I spent a month redoing my website while having a good friend Sarah Mistretta create a logo for Nichole the Nomad! Once both of those were complete and my new website was live, I went into the crazy world of social media and began connecting with other creators to learn from them. I’ll spare you the details of my social media learning experience, but I ended up optimizing my social media pages and growing them exponentially, which allowed me to make the most money I have with Nichole the Nomad!
I joined Alex Iby Photography. I sat down with Alex to discuss our goals and future after I reassessed my personal goals. We knew office 9-5 jobs were not for us, so we talked about what we want to do and how we can help each other to get there. We always talked about me joining his elopement and wedding photography business, and I already helped Alex with backend things, so we decided to join forces! I spent the year tagging along on shoots to get more experience capturing couples, and it was amazing! I fell in love with being able to capture two people in love in beautiful places. We rebranded his business to focus on elopements and include me and began photographing elopements! We are so excited about what 2021 has in store for Alex Iby Photography.
We explored Washington State. Our honeymoon was supposed to be in Iceland, but we obviously could not do that. We ended up switching our plans and renting a campervan to drive around Washington State, exploring its three national parks! We spend ten days exploring North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and Olympic National Park. Washington exceeded our expectations because it was BEYOND beautiful! The mountain views are out of this world! We loved being self-sufficient in our campervan and hiking in some of the most beautiful places we have ever explored!
The Not So Good
This year had a lot go not as planned, but I tried to make the most out of everything because that’s all we can really do! Even though I had many accomplishments in 2020, I also had many not so good things happen throughout the year. I am leaving some very personal things out because I don’t feel comfortable sharing those just yet. I think every person suffered a lot this year, and I know people suffered far worse than I did, but I still want to acknowledge a couple of my little not so good moments outside of COVID.
I took a few steps back in my growth. Although I grew a lot with my self-love and confidence, that did not happen until later in the year. The beginning half of the year was a lot for me to handle emotionally. I was dealing with a lot of personal and family things and felt defeated. I cried so much from the constant stress, so I felt so unstable. I let myself sit in my feelings for far too long, and it hurt me mentally and physically. In the second half of the year, I made myself move forward and change my mindset. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t do that.
I stressed myself out a lot. And I began breaking out AGAIN. For those of you who read my 2019 Year in Review, you know that I never struggled with acne until my adult years. I figured out most of it was related to a gluten allergy, but this year was different. I stressed myself out so much that I began breaking out a lot and having some stomach issues. My body was rejecting almost everything I was putting into it, and it was just not good. I knew that if I didn’t change my stress levels, things would only get worse. I changed my mindset and set up a good routine, and it helped me so much.
I burned out AGAIN. When I first changed my mindset and routine, I was feeling so good and was in a go go go type of mindset. You would think I would have learned from my burnout last year, but I was loving what I was doing and felt so accomplished that I wanted to keep doing it. I gave myself little to no breaks, and then BOOM, a burnout happened. Although it was not fun and did not help with my stress, I am grateful for it. It allowed me to take a step back and figure out a better routine for myself that included self-care. Going into 2021, I feel good about my routine and ability to incorporate self-care and time off, so I avoid burning out.
2021 Here I Come
2020 was a crazy year, but I was able to push myself mentally and physically in many ways. I feel like I ended the year strong, so I feel so good going into 2021 and am ready to tackle my goals!
Here are a few things I will be working towards in 2021:
Learn more ways to deal with stress
Continue growing my photography and editing skills
Book out 2021 and 2022 with elopements for Alex Iby Photography
Increase my social media presence
Partner with brands to create content
Continue to “upsize” our life by downsizing our belongings
Read more
Explore more of New England
Although 2020 was a crazy year, I’m very grateful for the time it gave me, and now I am excited to take on 2021 and accomplish my goals!
Happy New Year!
Hey, I’m Nichole!
I am the creator behind Nichole the Nomad, the home of my explorations around the world, mountain hikes, and beautiful pictures taken along the way. I have a deep passion for capturing the world in a beautiful light and sharing my experiences.
I created this blog to share my travels, show how beautiful the world is, provide tips and tricks for traveling, and encourage you to explore. Whether you want to travel across the world or explore what’s in your backyard, I hope this blog inspires you to get outside and find your adventure!