2016 here we come

The advent of a new year always seems like an ideal time to set new goals and make plans for the coming months. This quote from C.S. Lewis has served as great inspiration as we ponder and plan: “You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” Aside from our family’s goals and plans for 2016, Kristin and I have also been talking about some new things we wanted to accomplish here at TheTouringCamper.com.

Some of our first goals were small behind-the-scenes housekeeping matters, like changes you may have noticed on our navigation bar, which are circled in the screenshot below:

We did a little bit of reorganization to make content easier to find, as well as prepare for some new features we will now have each month. Under the “Tips & Advice” tab you will still find submenus for Equipment & Gear, Space Saving Strategies, Meals, and Traveling with Kids. The new menu tab “Trips & Touring” features submenus for Planning Trips, Touring, 2015 West Trip, and Walt Disney World.

The other new menu tab is “Monthly Features”: Here is where you will find posts related to four new columns you can watch for each month. They include:

• Monthly Ministry: Each month we will be interviewing a camping/touring related ministry. We were amazed by the number of service organizations that are directly connected to the camping and touring industry. We are hoping that these monthly columns will help bring awareness to the many organizations that you and your family could consider getting involved with while pursuing your love of camping. Our first ministry that we will be highlighting in January is A Christian Ministry in the National Parks.
• Twitter Chat Recaps: We are going to continue our monthly #touringcamper chats over on Twitter. After each chat we will post a recap of all the tips and information that was shared on the chat in case you miss it, plus highlight additional links and information related to the chat.
• Monthly Morsel: We plan to introduce at least one new recipe a month into our camp menu repertoire and this is where we will highlight them.
• Camper-in-Training: In this series we will share about essential skills and how-to’s for campers and RVers. If you are new to camping, be sure to keep tabs on these posts.

The other big change we are making to the website is adding a commenting feature to the posts. We would love to build greater community with you all, and hopefully this will be a way for us to do that. The comments section is a great place to chime in with your own thoughts and ideas, which other readers will benefit from too.

So there you have it! A brief overview of the changes and additions to the website for 2016. As far as our family’s camping and touring plans for 2016, be sure to join us for the #touringcamper Twitter chat Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. (EST) where we will reveal our travel plans! We will be staying on the eastern half of the country this year with nearly a month of reservations already booked. It’s going to be another awesome adventure.

How about you? What kind of camping and touring plans are you making for 2016?