How to Enjoy the Year that Was

Jan 3

Farewell 2011… Welcome 2012

As we herald in a New Year I’m always excited by the blank canvas that lays before me.

What will I fill the empty spaces with?

Will it go as anticipated?

…or will there be serendipitous encounters resulting in spontaneous changes of plan

(as in taking an on the spur trip to the Red Centre? )

The best part of any year is being able to look back and enjoy the memories!

Here is my year at a glance for 2010…

2010 ~ Year at a Glance

And now 2011…

2011 Year at a Glance

I’m not keen on resolutions (definition: A firm decision to do or not to do something) but I love change (definition: Make or become different).

To be resolute seems so blinkered, so fixed – You either do or don’t, you either have or you haven’t!

But aiming for change means even the smallest improvement towards the end aim is a huge success

So, what changes filled our 2011 blank canvas?

January ~ Our Map Magnets are Made in Australia and to avoid unnecessary transportation are manufactured within 50km of our Brisbane base

February ~ Having sold over 100,000 Mail-It Maps we publish the 5th edition folded this time to a DL shape, supplied with an enviro envelope and a funky translucent presentation band.

March ~ We discontinue the Scrapbook Pack, now offering the Jotting Boxes (that came in this pack for adding journalling and comments to your photo albums) via a download ~ Check out our Downloads page

April/May We celebrate TWO years of blogging

January to May 2011…

June ~ To transpose our hand-drawn images from the drawing board to the press, we have a new member join the Journey Jottings team.

July ~ We develop a new product to add to the Journey Jottings range – Jigsaw Puzzle Postcards!

August ~ With 30 Map Magnets covering regions across Australia, we add TWO more magnets to the range!

September ~ This fabulous NEW website goes live

October ~ We add #09 to the Puzzle Postcard range

November ~ Off on a Red Centre Road trip to do some Journey Jotting

Year at a Glance

December ~ Phil, Journey Jottings’ Customer Service Manager flies to Europe, on a well deserved break. Travel is in the blood of all our Journey Jottings team

June to December 2011…

Do you jot down a note somewhere to acknowledge your achievements?

What were your highlights for 2011?

Do share in the comments below…

Year at a Glance – October, November, December 2011

Dec 27

At the end of each month I notate a *highlight* so at year’s end I can see the previous twelve months simply summarized on a single sheet.

As December draws to a close I’ve just realised I haven’t posted October or November’s highlight here on the blog. But with the period between Christmas and the New Year often a time for reflection its a perfect opportunity to share…

October 2011 ~

We added a ninth image to the Australia Puzzle Postcard range ~

#09 The Nullarbor and South Australia…

November 2011… I took off on a Red Centre Road Trip…

to spend some time Journey Jotting

Flying into Yulara… 1st stop Uluru…

Regulars here will have read a few posts on this already, along with some of my favourite photos, such as:

Uluru ~ The first day I laid eyes on Uluru

Did you know there are waterholes at Uluru?

Another side of Uluru

Kata Tjuta

Here’s the 3,000 km (2,000 mile) trip we did dotted on a map…

We flew into Yulara and after a few days visiting Uluru and Kata Tjuta we headed into Alice Springs, picking up a camperbus.

We initially headed west along the MacDonnell Ranges stopping off to see Standley Chasm, the Ochre Pits and take a swim at Orminston Gorge before an overnight stay at Glen Helen Gorge. We travelled north to the Devils Marbles, turned right at 3 Ways and headed over the Barkly and Atherton Tablelands to Cairns -

It was such a fun photogenic trip I can’t wait to share blog posts in the coming months on:-

…the sheer sided walls of

Standley Chasm

…a bend in the river where aboriginals sourced their ochre for art creation -

The Ochre Pits

…a perfect spot for a swim, the beautiful

Orminston Gorge

…and…

Stay tuned! It was quite a trip

When I got back to Journey Jottings’ base, our Customer Service Manager Phil was off on a European Escapade…

So I had the fun of chatting to some of our great retailers across Australia ensuring they had good stocks in the run up to Christmas and the summer season.

Next week, I’ll reveal the whole Map Journal showing,

simply summarized on a single sheet…

our 2011 Year at a Glance

What have been your *highlights* in these last few months of 2011?

Do share in the comments below

Year at a Glance – September 2011

Oct 4

September 2011 ~ Year at a Glance

Our highlight in September was the fruition of Journey Jottings’ new website.

The design and development of Journey Jottings website

I made contact with Simon of Line In Web Design in July. He and his partner Erin are digital nomads who travel the world and work on the move. The project was initiated in England and was completed in Kyoto, Japan.

I initially crossed paths with them on Twitter, both of us being part of the travelling fraternity there.

I was drawn to their travel blog Never Ending Voyage, which Simon had both designed and developed. I was amused that he too used a sailing ship as part of their brand design and found it even funnier when I saw his surname… Fairbairn, the same as mine (no relation!) To add a further sidetrack of synchronisity Simon’s partner Erin’s birthday is the same as my partner’s… One has to smile!

Simon put together a comprehensive proposal whilst in England (where I posted him some samples so he could get a feel for our products). We exchanged numerous emails in which he drilled me for information as to what the primary and secondary purpose of the site was, who my users were to ensure the design would connect, engage and hold them, and what I wanted them to know or do during their visit.

While he started work behind the scenes, I started work on the Menu bar, which forms the site map for the visitor – Poor website navigation is a personal bane of mine – so I was keen any information be no more than two clicks away, and that it would be findable more than a fluky first time! I therefore asked him to incorporate a Menu bar with double drop downs.

The visual design needed to convey our ‘Why’. Why we do what we do here at Journey Jottings ~ Our essence… the fun of highlighting holiday adventures for future reminiscing with tactile holiday memories… spending time with travel memories is like taking a mini-break.

Our hand-drawn pictorial maps are printed on uncoated textured paper, which Simon scanned in to use as the site’s background and incorporated our signature travelling trails of dots and footprints ‘walking’ under the main section of the page, and on the blog ‘walking’ over the right hand column.

He created three main focus areas on the Home page clearly pointing the way for first time visitors -

Did they need an Introduction to what we did?
Want to get straight down to business and simply Buy Now?
Or need to get in touch and Contact Us?

He also developed a number of plugins for managing sales and freight that allow for postage rates to be calculated for both our local domestic market and international destinations.

To read about the behind the scenes ‘geeky’ stuff Simon wrote up a post on his Line In site ~ Check out his Line In Portfolio.

Each month I notate on a Map Journal a highlight so at year’s end 2011 will be simply summarized on a single sheet and as I scratch my head and say…

“Where did that year go?”

I can peruse my Year at a Glance and go…

“Oh yes, I remember now!”

What was your September highlight?

Do share in the comments below

Journey Jottings

…highlights your holiday adventures

Journey Jottings Call Journey Jottings on: +61 (0)7 3409 2160

Category: Year at a Glance 2011