2023 in Review: I Bought A Van + Some Big Travels

Crazy as it may seem, another year is in the books. When December rolls around, it always kind of takes me by surprise – did 12 months really just go by?

But if you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I don’t just let 12 months pass me by. My life is pretty full of adventures, for better or worse, and I always have plans in the works to ride my bikes somewhere.

In the grand scheme of things, 2023 was a pretty good year. Sure there were challenging days and months, as I’m sure everyone can relate to, but overall it was full of adventures, good people, and lots of days in the saddle.

Here’s my look back at 2023!

Where I was in 2023

2023 in Numbers

I’m a numbers person, so here is 2023 broken down by my favorite stats.

(*Some bike park chairlifts & shuttles included in stats)

My goals From 2022

Instead of resolutions, I like to set some goals for the New Year. Here are my goals from 2022 – let’s see how I did!

Curious about my goals for 2024? Scroll to the bottom!

January

The year started off with me bouncing between Vermont to spend Christmas and New Years with my brother and his family and Rhode Island with my mom.

I actually did quite a bit of mountain biking in Rhode Island (it’s a great winter riding destination) and it really surprised me. The trail networks are so good, especially Woody Hill!

At the end of the month, I flew down to Costa Rica to start a bikepacking trip with my friend, Michelle. We spent two weeks bikepacking around the Nicoya Peninsula. It was incredibly hot, but a lot of fun!

February & March

Michelle and I finished up our bikepacking trip in Costa Rica and then I flew back to Rhode Island where I picked up my van and started the process of getting it ready to move into.

After leaving California in 2022, I wasn’t sure what direction my life was going to go in. Van life had always been at the back of my mind, but I wasn’t ready to make the commitment.

I finally decided to jump in and bought a van at the end of last year then had it built out by Corey of Viewpoint Campervans (formerly Van Girl Designs).

It turned out SO well!

I spent more of February and March making it into a home and continuing to explore the mountain biking around Rhode Island.

April

April was the month I finally set off in my van. My maiden voyage was to Arkansas. I had a housesit lined up in Fayetteville and a coaching camp with Ladies AllRide in Bentonville.

My goal was to also check out all the Monument Trails across the state, which are basically four State Parks that have embraced mountain biking:

May

After checking off the Monument Trails, I continued east in my van through Alabama where I did a quick stop in Birmingham to check out Ride BHM bike park. This was also my first time riding an e-bike!

My next destination was Brevard, North Carolina where I would be spending the next three months!

June & July

June and July were all about mountain biking and exploring western North Carolina.

I had a three-month housesit that I shared with my mom and spent many hours riding (and suffering) on the mountain bike trails around Asheville.

I’m still not sure how I feel about Pisgah, but I did love the riding in DuPont State Forest and the other trail networks in the area.

Here are a few more two-wheeled adventures I wrote about from my summer in North Carolina:

August

In August, I started my drive back north toward Vermont. One of the coolest things I did on the drive was stop at Luray Caverns in Virginia. What an incredible place! Definitely blew my mind.

Back in the northeast, I had three Ladies AllRide coaching camps in August – two at the Kingdom Trails in Vermont and the other at Thunder Mountain Bike Park in Massachusetts.

I know I’ve said it before, but these camps are one of the highlights of my year!

September

The VTXL bikepacking route has been on my bike-it list for a while and I finally got the chance to experience it with my dad in September.

We decided to stay in Bed & Breakfasts every night, so the logistics were pretty easy (the riding, not so much!).

Vermont is such a beautiful state and the VTXL route is one of the best bikepacking routes that I’ve done.

Just a few weeks after doing the VTXL my dad and I took a quick trip up Québec to check out the trails at Vallée Bras-du-Nord. Holy moly are they epic! Québec, I will be back…

October

After spending the fall in Vermont, it was time to start heading south and west. I pushed my leave date back about a week because I was waiting for my new Otso Warakin gravel bike to arrive. So I honestly didn’t make any stops between Vermont and New Mexico.

I met some friends at Angel Fire Bike Park for a fun weekend of downhill shredding.

Then, I continued my drive to Sedona for another week of coaching with Ladies AllRide.

November & December

After Sedona, I had a mad few days to get packed and ready for my next big adventure: working the TDA Ruta Maya tour down in Central America.

I had been following TDA Global Cycling for a number of years and always thought that it would be a cool company to work for – similar to working on the National Geographic ships in my 20s.

I had applied for the Content Creator role back in August and got hired for the Ruta Maya trip that started in November. Now it was actually here!

I left my van parked in Las Vegas and flew down to Costa Rica where we started our 7-week, 3,065 km journey up to Mexico.

The Ruta Maya was one of the best and most memorable experiences I’ve had in a while. I loved my co-workers/teammates and the riders were a really cool bunch of people.

Every day was different, which is something I thrive on. It’s hard to sum up everything that I experienced and felt on the trip, but I can say it was by far one of my biggest highlights of the year.

After the trip ended in Tulum, I flew back to the States, grabbed my van, and headed to Ojai, California for a housesit to finish out the year (and where I am currently writing this).

What’s in store for 2024

Honestly, I don’t have a ton on the calendar for 2024. I’m trying to let things play out slowly instead of booking up my year in advance.

I do know that I want to do another (or two…) TDA Tours and continue coaching for Ladies AllRide.

I’m also hoping to spend a good chunk of time in Québec because what I experienced at Vallée Bras-du-Nord this year was amazing!

Goals for 2024

Alright, in an effort to ‘manifest’ my year, here are 10 goals that I would like to achieve:

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That’s a wrap for 2023! Overall it was a great year with lots of adventures and quality time with friends and family.

I have no idea what 2024 has in store, but knowing me I’m sure I’ll come up with a few ideas 🙂

I’d love to hear the highlights of your year! What two-wheeled adventures did you go on? What do you have planned for next year? Leave a comment below!