Happy New Year!
2018 Optimism
What’s Right With The World?

Happy New Year 2018! A street woman offers me a blessing outside a cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria.

When the ball dropped at midnight last week, signaling a dramatic end to 2017 and a cold and chilly beginning to 2018—at least for those who braved one of the coldest New Years ever in Times Square—I know many felt a sign of relief and perhaps a feeling of hope for the future—for 2018.

It’s not that the world has grown wackier, it’s that we’ve grown a bit resistant and more uncomfortable with change. I get it. Yet, no matter how you feel, it’s important to remember that change is good. I’ve written and spoke about it plenty.

So with good change, I want to focus on hope.

What do you hope for in 2018? Drop me a note or comment here. I’m very curious.

We can find and see hope when we focus on what’s right with the world, our personal lives, rather than what’s wrong. If we expend our energy in seeing what’s ugly, we will miss what’s beautiful. Sunshine always comes after ran. Attitude and perspective. So let’s set out in 2018 to see what’s right, not what’s wrong.

Vintage cameras I found at an antique market in Romania. No matter the lens you choose to look through, focus on what’s good in the world, rather than what’s bad. You’ll have a better day.

For me, I hope that together we can still work together to believe and to make this world a better and happier place for everyone. I’m not going to bother with any tips, ideas, or words of wisdom in this post. I’ll save those for another post later this month. Look for it.

No, I want to remind you of the importance of travel because it helps foster a happy and balance life. I’m so passionate about travel and seeing and sharing the world, that I’ve been working for more than two years to bringing the WorldRider travel experience to television. It’s been a long and tough road. But all of you know, I hardly ever take the easy route and prefer the long and time way around this planet.

Travel is the best education anyone can have. It has an amazing ability to open eyes and minds. To possibilities and appreciation. To possibilities on an individual scale, and to possibilities on a global scale. Travel brings true an appreciation of life and humanity. A gratefulness stemming from understanding and embracing diversity and celebrating culture. And travel forces us, thankfully, to be more tolerant and patient.

So for 2018, if you can—travel more.

If you cannot, then I hope you’ll embrace what I hope will be a new television show that put you on the back of my motorcycle and give you the opportunity to travel vicariously, from your armchair, desk, or through peering at your choice of device.

Through travel, I know all of us can find hope, beauty, and a reason to smile—even laugh.

Smiling and laughing with a woman in Shanxi province in northeastern China.