Pam LeBlanc unveils her 2023 New Year’s resolutions. Pam LeBlanc photo

Every year about this time, I jot down a list of goals for the upcoming 12 months.

In past years, I’ve vowed to write a book (check), learn to make fire using the bow method (check), swim a 200 butterfly without fins (check), and run with scissors, figuratively (check.)

I haven’t accomplished every item on my New Year’s resolution lists over the 15 or so year’s I’ve been making them, but I’m at about a 75 percent success rate. Even better, some of those goals have turned into habits that stuck around longer than a single year.

I’ve cut back on single-use plastics, I pick up trash more often, I’ve improved my photography skills (still working on that one), and tried to live more honestly, letting people know I care about them and being truthful about things that hurt.

I think it’s a great exercise. And so, without further adieu, here are my 2023 New Year’s resolutions:

Pam LeBlanc relaxes next to her campervan, Vincent VanGo. This year she vows to use the van more often. Chris LeBlanc photo

1. GET PICKY – I made 34 trips in 2022, including 16 by plane, five to other countries, and six in my campervan. Once, I woke up and lay in bed for 20 seconds trying to remember where I was. This year, I’m going to get more selective about work-related trips.
2. GO CAMPING – Vincent VanGo, my campervan, spends too much time on the driveway. But my husband just retired, and we’re going to let Vincent out of the stable more frequently.
3. PEDAL MORE — Back when I was a staff writer at the Austin American-Statesman, I rode my bicycle to work almost every day. Now that I work from home, I don’t bike as often. But I’m going to pedal the 7 miles home from swim practice at least three times a week.
4. FLY GIRL – I’m bringing back a classic here. I’ll swim a 200 fly (fins OK, since I’m old) by year’s end. Plus, I’ll going to swim at least a 50 fly at the end of every swim practice.
5. DIAL BACK THE BOOZE – During the pandemic, I slipped into the habit of kicking back with a glass of wine almost every night. No more. That’s fine on weekends or special occasions, but my liver deserves a break.
6. VISIT MOM – My mom is in her 80s, and isn’t in good health. I’m going to visit her as often as possible.
7. READ MORE – My parents always told me I could stay up as late as I wanted if I was reading a book. I love to read, but I want to read more fun stuff, with no goal in mind other than enjoyment.
8. DINNER PARTIES – This one’s easy. I love my friends. I love entertaining. I’m going to host more dinner parties.
9. VEG OUT – My good eating habits have slipped. It’s time to amp up the vegetable intake and throttle back on meat a bit.
10. DON’T SWEAT THE BS – It’s my hardest goal, but I’m going to try to worry less and enjoy more.

Posing with llamas at Rainbow Mountain in Peru, one of Pam LeBlanc’s most memorable travel moments of 2022. Francisco Florez photo

This year I traveled by airplane 16 different times. I visited nine states, skied at eight different ski resorts, made six overnight trips in Vincent VanGo, my campervan, and left the country five times.

And once, just last week, I almost got swept up in a coup attempt in Peru.

I love this life of mine. It’s adventurous, exhausting, exciting, terrifying, and more fun than I could ever have imagined. I never know where my work will take me. In the last few years, I’ve paddled the Devils River, eaten lobster rolls in Cape Cod, stayed at a solar-powered house on a tiny island in Manihi, part of Tahiti, and rafted, with friends, through the Grand Canyon.

Holy frijoles, it’s fantastic. My work has allowed me to see places most people never get to see, and I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity.

But it’s not all glamorous. Along with the highs of skiing in Canada, hiking to a rainbow-colored mountain in Peru and jumping off a cliff into the ocean in Ireland this year, I’ve spent hours stuck in airports and awakened in hotel rooms, unsure of my location. I miss my husband, my friends, my home, my cats, and my swim team.

Snowshoeing in Banff, Canada. Pam LeBlanc photo

It’s all been worth it.

It’s Dec. 17, and I’ve got two more quick trips planned this year – a birding trip on the Texas Coast and a holiday visit to Louisiana.

Next year is already shaping up as a good one, too, with trips to Sweden, Alaska, and Costa Rica in the planning stages, along with a week-long horse drive through Colorado.

But before I move on to 2023, I want to reflect on the best experiences of 2022. With so many wild adventures – swimming through a cave in Texas, floating in a hot air balloon over Colorado, hiking in Beaver Creek, spearhunting for lionfish and gathering scallops in Florida, camping on a floating platform in southeast Texas, kayaking among otters in Monterey Bay, exploring Door County, Wisconsin, and horseback riding in Bandera, Texas – it’s hard to choose.

Without further ado, starting with simply “wonderful” and leading up to the “blow-your-socks-off,” here are my most memorable travel moments of 2022 – so far…

Hunting for carniverous plants in the Big Thicket of East Texas. Pam LeBlanc photo

10. Coming within a few inches of stepping directly on a venomous copperhead snake hidden in the leaf litter of the Big Thicket of East Texas, while following a biologist leading me to a marsh filled with carnivorous plants.

9. Watching the sun set while hiking at Chimney Rock National Monument, then soaking under the stars with friends in a hot mineral pool in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

8. Hiking through the fields of my stepmom’s family ranch outside of Roscoe, Texas, with my stepmom and friend Marcy.

7. Observing a dozen rowdy reef sharks hunt for dinner while night diving during a life-aboard scuba diving trip in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Relaxing in a swinging chair at my cabin at the Green O in Montana. Photo by self timer

6. Sleeping in a glass-walled cabin after a day of fly fishing and rounding up cattle by horseback at the posh Green O Resort in Montana.

5. Diving into a field of thigh-deep, untracked powder while cat skiing in Keystone, Colorado.

Chris LeBlanc naps at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. Photo by Pam LeBlanc

4. Flopping onto a blanket and listening to two of my favorite bands, the Punch Brothers and Big Richard, and then photographing them, at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. The experience was all the better because it came just a few days after I DNF’d partway through the Texas Water Safari.

3. Spending a night at Sunshine Village in Banff, Canada, with my husband. There’s only one lodge at the resort, and once the lifts quit turning, it’s just you and the night sky, tucked into a cradle of mountains far from the nearest highway.

Preparing to surf in Ireland.

2. Surfing in 56-degree water in Ireland. I had so much fun I never even thought about the cold.

A storm blows up behind Machu Picchu, Peru, on Dec. 7, 2022. Jaime Farfan photo

1. Climbing up ancient stone steps and looking down to get my first glimpse of Machu Picchu in Peru. It was so beautiful it made me cry.

Southwest Airlines is adding a nonstop flight to Montrose, Colorado, from Austin. It’s an easy drive from the airport to Telluride Ski Resort, shown here. Pam LeBlanc photo

Planning for this year’s ski season just got a little easier, thanks to a new nonstop flight from Austin to Montrose Regional Airport near Telluride on Southwest Airlines.

From Montrose, it’s an hour and 15-minute drive to Telluride, or an hour and 45-minute drive to Crested Butte. That means one flight gets you within spitting distance of two of my favorite ski towns – and some of the best skiing in North America.

It’s an easy drive to Telluride, shown here, when you catch the nonstop flight to Montrose. Pam LeBlanc photo

The nonstop flight to Montrose only runs on Saturdays. If you don’t mind a connection, you can fly any day of the week on Southwest, Delta, American or United.

Related: Top 10 things to do in Telluride this Winter

When I checked fares today, the nonstop flight to Montrose on Southwest was selling about $270, but check before you book because prices change.

I can’t stay away from Telluride. I endured a six-hour drive from Denver to attend the Telluride Bluegrass Festival this summer, and it’s long been at the top of my “best of” list for skiing. Crested Butte, with its easy access to hiking, mining town roots and steep tree runs, also makes me swoon.

The 2-hour and 20-minute direct flight will run from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport from Jan. 5 until April 2.

Related: A Texan’s Guide to Telluride

Want to get even closer to Telluride? Telluride Regional Airport will offer daily jet service from Denver and Phoenix again this winter.

For full schedule information go to Colorado Flights.

A free gondola whisks people from downtown Telluride to Mountain Village. Pam LeBlanc photo