Hi guys, welcome to my 2024 blog outlook + goals!

It will be full of events and ideas that I want to achieve, some overall thoughts from last year and of course the fun part, traveling!

My Health Took a (Slight) Turn in 2023

When 2023 came, I was excited to focus on the blog and make it more of an equal to Instagram and TikTok. Then I took a cruise to Mexico and came back with Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) which unfortunately, I am still trying to recover from 10 months later. I still can’t believe how long I have had this despite doing a gazillion different types of treatment!

It’s supposed to resolve but it is so incredibly slow. Some days I’m accepting but other days I am just angry. It’s more bobbing now and the trampoline bounce feels light to moderate. I am functional but it feels annoying and uncomfortable. What I have should’ve been gone by now and it doesn’t make a bit of sense. Even my current doctor is baffled! When I took my first fun trip to Bend, Oregon in the fall, there were moments where I really had to push through it.

Nonetheless, my doctor kept telling me to stay active and I kept going to a ton of different museums, hikes, etc. to help my brain stem. I still don’t know if it’s really helping, all it has done is build up my endurance some more. So I kept filming TikToks and posting them because it was easier, faster and more timely. What I didn’t realize is I could embed the TikToks right into my blog posts instead of having it go to an external link.

Expect More Embedded TikToks and Shorter Written Content

Why I didn’t realize or think of this sooner is beyond me. Moving forward, I will be doing this more with the exception of the travel blogs, where I take a ton more photos. I will be posting some photos with events I go to with an embedded TikTok and then write a couple paragraphs about my experience, thoughts, etc. You probably noticed this in the Riverside County Holiday Events and the Hiking Southern California Trails posts.

I will also be posting a sum of events maybe 2 – 4 times a year instead of making each one separate. You will see this in an upcoming post where I have about 6 museum tours + timely events that I attended between August – December. It’s just going to be much easier on my life at this time but the content will be just as fun!

New Website

I have assembled a Wix website (kateriwozny.com) focusing on my journalism clips and content creation – it’s basically a one stop shop for editors and brands to check out the work I have done if they choose to work with me. I still need to hire an editor to fix it up a bit in January and then officially launch the site.

Stay tuned! 🙂 You can see one of the photos that may or may not be used for the website.

WSET Level II/California Wine Specialist Certifications

This is also another personal goal I am carrying over from last year is to get the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Level II certification in wine or the California Wine Specialist certification from the San Francisco Wine School. I am not sure when or if I am going to do it this year or not?

As you know, I have worked part time in the liquor industry for 20 years as a brand ambassador/account manager and although I have learned a ton about wine, sometimes having a certification gives you another boost in knowledge. The WSET Level II certification talks about wines from around the world and the California Wine Specialist narrows in a bit more of what you want to specialize in. Right now I am leaning toward the California Wine Specialist since I promote those wines the most and have a passion for California wines.

It’s just another TBD section but I will definitely keep you posted!

SoCal Events + Staycation

Something I really wanted to do in May before I went home to Florida to recover was go to Huntington Gardens and film the rose gardens and have some Afternoon Tea at the Rose Garden Tea Room. It was under renovations for quite some time and I really want to check it out!

I also want to do a Staycation somewhere in Pasadena and I am thinking the Pasadena Hotel & Pool since it is historic (I can literally walk there from my apartment, LOL!). I wanted to do The Langham (5-Star hotel) at the time but it is so costly for a minimum of 2 nights.

I also want to finally try and go up north to see the Cambria Christmas Market, the Holiday Twilight Tour at Hearst Castle and the Sensorio Field of Lights in Paso Robles. I would need to stay about 2 nights up on the Central Coast but I think it would be a very fun time!

Traveling: New Orleans, Anchorage, Vail + Aspen

I really, really wanted to go back to Europe but with my health still kind of so-so, I decided to just do another year in the states, which is fine, because there are still a few more spots I want to go to. It was advised that I don’t travel for more than 6 – 8 hours since I am still recovering from MdDS. The good news is that I haven’t gotten worse but my situation is just lingering!

One of the spots is New Orleans, Louisiana probably in early spring. I don’t want to go for Mardi Gras with all of the chaos but it is a very historic city that I would love to see! I also might sneak an hour north to Kentwood to see the Britney Spears Museum since that is her hometown.

For my birthday in July, my goal is to go to Anchorage, Alaska and see Denali National Park and Kenai Fjords National Parks. I also want to see Fairbanks and the North Pole and some other sites.

Finally, for my fall trip, I decided on Vail and Aspen, Colorado. I know it is an off season but I am not much of a skier, plus Vail has this really cool Oktoberfest I want to check out.

Ongoing Goals

Other ongoing goals are freelance reporting and making TikTok content. My biggest goal still is to purchase property but prices are nuts these days…as always!

I forgot to mention an update to last year’s goals that I also got a new car, a 2023 Chevy Trailblazer because my 2014 Chevy Malibu’s transmission went caput with no warning (you can see the photo of me below kissing my Malibu goodbye, LOL!). It was kind of a “sprint” situation and this is the only small SUV where I liked the lines on it and the interior. It’s also fuel efficient and it makes driving up hills or the mountain roads soooo much easier, I love it so far!