Ready for… 2023 – until fear of what this year will bring :)

This year has been the MOST BEAUTIFUL for us! The most beautiful in terms of the memories we created, the fantastic places we managed to see and what we managed to do in our Boarding business. It’s time for a summary! Although it will not be easy, because at least choosing the top 10 memories caused a lot of discussion, but let’s try ;)

Traditional summary time, start! Despite the fact that we haven’t had any typical lifestyle posts on our blog for a long time, we don’t write about what’s going on here, and we only focus on content that is 100% useful and practical for you, we always find the time and space for such a traditional summary of the year.

We are always up to date on social media, with a special emphasis on Instagram, with which we had a lot of disagreements this year ;-) , a lot of changes, but I guess in the end, at the end of the year we can say that this is the platform we get along with the most, and you can find us there the fastest if you have any questions or concerns.

We are, of course, also on Facebook, where we always keep you informed about our travels and new posts. In addition, we just set up TikTok in the second half of 2022 and are checking for now whether there will be chemistry or not ;-)

What was 2022 like?

Definitely surprising!

If someone had told us a year ago that we would spend almost two months in the States in 2022, we certainly wouldn’t have believed it.

Fact, further travel was on our minds, we were figuring out flight connections, almost buying tickets, but certainly not to this extent! If anyone thinks that our trips to the US were monotonous then they either don’t know the US or haven’t been up to date with our coverage. Spending 2 months in this country is almost like seeing a dozen other countries. And it’s absolutely not about numbers but about experiences, different conditions, landscapes, attractions…. For a few weeks we saw so many interesting and breathtaking sights that we have them constantly before our eyes and think when we will return there again.

What did we do for the remaining 10 months? ;) Poland and shorter trips definitely reigned supreme! Of the foreign ones, we managed to jump to Bachledka in Slovakia for a few days, where, by the way, we plan to return again this winter.

The trips to Poland were mainly weekend trips during which we collected material for the next book. We visited amusement parks, theme parks, museums, open-air museums, science centers, etc. We spent more time in Kootenay, which made us fall in love with it. We also discovered a lot of the Świętokrzyskie province.

News and changes in 2022

In terms of development, this was probably the most prolific year for the blog. In the first half of the year, our next eBook went on sale – this time on packing, which opened the Family Travel eBook series. A few months later, you could already buy another eBook about flying an airplane with children in the store, and we have just started working on the next book in the series.

Whenever we publish an eBook there is a question about the print version. These books were by design to be in ebook form only, BUT…. Well, that’s right, we will always find some BUT ;) At the end of 2022, Amazon’s KDP service, or print-on-demand for short, came to Poland. It allows creators like us to publish and make their items available on the Amazon store, and the store handles the printing and distribution of the books. Sound interesting? And how :) that’s exactly what we’ve provided for the Family Travel series ebooks.

Incorporating this service has cost us a lot of work, we’ve gathered a lot of valuable experience, but we’ve also made some mistakes that we’ve learned from. And here comes another new addition to our online store and our business: we have also quietly added services – Consultation. For now, we are not talking about it very loudly yet, but we are collecting the first orders and will arrange the first consultations after the New Year. What do they involve? The topics we feel strongest in and have a great deal of professional experience in: internet marketing, UX, SEO, book publishing…. There was also room for travel consulting. You can read about possible consultation topics and prices here.

In addition, we also want to provide paid and free print products in our store that are useful for traveling. Several of them (packing lists, calendar) appeared in 2022, and we plan to add more at the beginning of next year, so stay tuned!

In addition to the blog, we are active on social media with a strong emphasis on Instagram. In one year, our number of followers has increased by more than 100%, of which we are very proud and grateful! We see the most interest and engagement during our travels (especially around the US), but we also welcome your support and kind words when something doesn’t necessarily go our way or we just throw in different content for entertainment. Recently, you’ve certainly noticed that we’ve been publishing more and more of the so-called “”new” products. rolls/reels which for us is a very attractive form of creating memories of trips and at the same time practical and informative advice and inspiration for you. What can we say, not only did we get into it, but almost every day we learn how to edit videos more interestingly and better, which we hope will also bear fruit on our YouTube channel.

Well, that’s right, YouTube… The channel we were very anxious to roll out in 2022, but unfortunately we were not able to realize these plans. We have published only 10 videos, but the best one has more than 250 thousand views! However, this does not mean that we are letting go of YouTube. We have plenty of material and will not let it go to waste.

A few numbers from 2022

Time for the traditional summary in numbers! We do them if only because we ourselves are very curious how it compares to the same statement a year ago ;)

The specifics look like this:

• As for the number of users on the blog, in 2022 alone we had 1,000,000 readers! Thank you!
• Our Facebook and Instagram are growing in strength! There are already more than 136,000 fans on FB and more than 46,000 people are following us on IG! In total, there are almost 190,000 of you on all social media channels (including TikTok, YouTube)!
• Although the number of added videos on YouTube is not impressive the number of views already very (or at least for us!). This year we crossed the barrier of 1,600,000 views of our videos, so we are now hunting for the second million!

The travel numbers against the background of the pre-pandemic years may not look so impressive, but they are of secondary importance to us. More important is how many wonderful shared memories we have collected.

• To our credit, we have 4 flights together (2021: they were also 4).
• We visited 2 countries (2021: also 2 countries).
• We were at 3 different airports (2021: 4 airports).
• In total, we flew more than 33,000 kilometers (2021: 6,428 kilometers).
• We spent more than 40 hours on board the planes (2021: less than 10 hours).
• We flew only one airline (2021: 2 airlines).
• We traveled 9570 kilometers by car around the USA! !! On top of that, we traveled an immeasurable number of kilometers in Poland, which are better not to add up at current fuel prices ;-)

Top 10 memories of 2022

It’s hard, oh hard to limit ourselves to a few memories, but let’s try :) Points in the United States definitely reign supreme, because it was there that we saw places unique to us, and the whole trip was memorable, not only for us, but also for the children.

Ready?

1. Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon – we start controversially, because we disagree on what should come first ;) Paul’s choice is Monument Valley and mine is the Grand Canyon. One thing we must admit: both places are unique and electrifyingly impressive. The Grand Canyon – someone might think it overrated, but it’s only when you stand on the rim that you see its enormity, which is intimidating (btw. Paweł has the Grand Canyon on his computer’s wallpaper, though, so I guess he liked it too ;) )
   
2. A helicopter flight over Manhattan – this is the kind of experience that was even off the dream list, and we would never have thought it could be realized! The adrenaline, the altitude, the amazing views were worth every dollar spent ;) A very serious competitor for first place.
3. Route 66 – driving at least parts of this road, stopping in atmospheric towns, taking a seat in a roadside bar, entering a museum to learn about the history of the Mother Road…. oh this is an atmosphere we have not experienced anywhere else. Here we agree – Route 66 is definitely one of the most beautiful memories!
   
4. Arches and Bryce Canyon National Parks – admittedly completely different, but they are not far from each other, and if one is only interested in driving up to the viewpoints, it is possible to see both two parks in one day. However, it’s better to have more time on site and take it easy on at least one of the shorter trekking routes to admire the amazing rock formations.
5. National Parks: Yosemite and Sequoia. There is no end to the admiration for national parks in the US. At 5. place two more, in a completely different climate. Yosemite with high cliffs, waterfalls and…. bears!!! and the huge, majestic sequoias…. Both in California, both worth a visit.
6. Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge, and Brooklyn itself – crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, admiring Manhattan from across the East River, and finally the view of the Manhattan Bridge. We ran out of time to explore Brooklyn further, but it was one of the most successful days in New York.
7. September 11 Terror Victims Memorial & Museum (9/11 Memorial & Museum) – a memorial built on the site where the famous World Trade Center towers stood. Both the monument, the museum and the surrounding memorials make it a place where everyone stops for a while. Familiar to us from television as we watched the two towers collapse, here we were able to stand in this place, learn the stories of the people who died and survivors and all the heroes.
8. Polish open-air museums, especially the Skansen Wsi Kieleckiej and Skansen Wsi Lubelska – here we also have a divided opinion which is more interesting, so let’s refrain from choosing just one. Both brilliantly reproduce the layout of the old village and show what life was like for ordinary people about 100 years ago.
   
9. Slovak Tatra Mountains, Bachledka – in the summer we managed to jump into the mountains for a few days. Admittedly, there was little walking on the trails, but the view we saw from the observation tower was fantastic!
10. Lancaster and the world of the Amish – a very educational and interesting trip to the city of Lancaster where the Amish live and you can learn about their history, traditions and culture. Here, a horse-drawn carriage on the streets surprises no one.

2023 – are we ready?

Our heads are full of ideas for the new year! We are working on one major project that was unofficially supposed to see the light of day on the 1st. January well but failed ;) We hope that 1. february succeeds in firing… In parallel, a big change is being prepared for the blog you are currently reading, but here we are defeated for the time being by technical problems…. We know, it all sounds mysterious, but we’d rather show something that’s already finished and that we’re sure of than throw words to the wind :)

In addition, we have started working on the next ebook, although every now and then there are ideas for more and more, only time is lacking. We hope that the next ebook in the Family Travel series will be released in the first half of the year.

Soon we will also provide you with some new products, some of which you will be able to download for free – the final touches are still being made here :)

And most importantly! In the spring we will publish our new book, an expanded and improved version of our first book ever,“52 attractions for children in Poland.” This time it will be available in traditional bookstores (but online as well). We’ll be sure to let you know on our Instagram:)

Well, it’s happening… AND you have to find time to travel! Here there are even more ideas. We are hoping for a longer trip in the spring and on vacation. Starting in September, school will start, so we’ll see what it’s like to travel with a school-aged child :)

We wish you all the best in the New Year! May all your dreams come true, especially your travel dreams!

>>> We also recommend our summary of 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015!