I have to admit that I haven’t written any essay titled “New Year’s Resolution” probably since elementary school. But maybe like everybody else when I was a kid I never meant seriously to implement those plans laid out in the essay so that I could recycle them the next year when the time came.

Believe it or now, the situation is different now. I am an adult and I mean seriously here to carry out the following plans. I found it useful to write them down here so everybody who reads this article is welcome to be a witness, and what is more important is when the end of 2006 comes, I can compose a progress review and compare and contrast it with the plan. To make a long story short, here are my projects for the new year: Write, Launch, Publish, Lead, and Train.

1. Write. Write every blog entry bilingually on LittlePo.com.

When I started this site, (The first article appeared on this site dated back on April 1st, 2005, and all articles before that were transferred from somewhere else.) I wanted to compose every article in both English and Chinese. Although I did write several articles bilingually, the whole process took too much out of me therefore I stepped backward and wrote my blog in one language only, and as you can see, Chinese articles so out-number English articles. The reason is simple, Chinese is my native language.

The initial motivation for making my site bilingual still stands: Many people set up their blog sites because they want to share their lives, thoughts, and experience with their family and friends, and I am not an exception. It is without saying that I have many Chinese-speaking family members and friends, and the result of several years of living in the States, I married an American who brought me English-speaking in-laws, and I made friends through school, work, participating in outdoor activities, etc and most of these friends don’t read Chinese.

Another motivation is to practice my English writing skills and to broaden my audience base. I always love to write, especially about what I am passionate about: the great outdoors is the obvious target: Experiencing nature, learning it, or just being with it are so pleasant and deserve to be written down. Since I live in the States, it is unavoidable that many people who might find it easy to relate to my articles speak no Chinese.

I started to write in two languages again since Mao-mao’s Game. This second attempt didn’t seem as difficult as the first one, which gave me more comfort and confidence; I know I will keep on just fine. The only side effect is that I have to put extra burden on my husband because I always ask him to proofread my work before I dare to publish it. I would like to use some space here to acknowledge his support and generosity.

2. Launch. Launch the LittlePo Outdoor Wiki.

I always want to establish an Outdoor Wiki where I can share my outdoor experience in a more systematic way: with a wiki interface, it’s easier to read and search for a specific topic than using a chronological blog.

Maybe I haven’t been in the “outdoor world” long enough to give people advice, but I believe many people would find my experiences or information useful or merely entertaining. For example, many of my kayaking friends told me that my kayaking journals reminded them of the excitement of being a novice paddler and those articles may serve as a good comforter for people who have just start to learn the sport.

So far I have installed the software package for a wiki but I still have to change the layout and logo to make it more consistent with the design of my site. I also have a tentative table of contents at hand and a disclaimer ready. Basically I will try to put and compose articles under these categories: Conditioning, Gear, Wisdom and Medicine, Techniques, Trip Locations, Leadership, Stories, and Photography. People are welcome to apply the tips and suggestions described in the articles; however, it is for your best interest to know that trail conditions and gear are updated frequently, and much decision making in the outdoors involves personal experience, group dynamics and other constantly-changing factors.

3. Publish. Publish articles on LittlePo.com periodically.

I would like to publish my blog entry in a regular way, so that I can be more productive and organized and my readers know when to expect the next article.

Looking back, I feel I have published satisfactory number of articles; however, the length between two articles is never the same. Sometimes they are several hours apart and sometimes the gap is two weeks long. And the way I publish an article is to put it on-line just after two or three times of reviewing the article after it is written. It happened quite frequently that I still wanted to edit an article after publishing it, but because it was already published I couldn’t make big structural changes but just small fixes.

Of course if I simply treat this site as my diary, none of the above matters. However, it may sound ridiculous but this site has formed its own life and I feel obliged to treat it more seriously. I would like to be more organized so that my articles have time to sit for a while to show clearly their purposes.

My proposal is to publish one to two articles per week; therefore I will publish one article every Tuesday and at least one article every other Friday.

4. Lead. Lead more backcountry trips for the AMC.

I love to lead trips. Leading trips is challenging and fulfilling, from the very first second when I lay out my maps trying to compile several possible courses to the last second when the participants say, “thank you for the great trip.” (Of course, you cannot always expect only gratitude, but that’s the driving force behind working to become a better leader.)

AMC is the hiking club I belong to. Several years when I was anxious about starting my outdoor life in the States, the AMC opened a portal for me and connected me through outgoing and kind friends to several sports (white water kayaking and backcountry skiing) which I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy back then. I became a qualified backpacking/hiking leader and youth program leader last year and am scheduled to lead my first youth hike in Jan and two winter backpacks in Jan and Feb respectively. I am planning to contribute more time to leading trips with more variety as a gesture to show my thankfulness to the AMC.

Last year I also fulfilled my first step toward a full-grown AMC major excursion leader. In AMC terminology, a trip which is at least 10-day long and takes place at least 500-mile away from the east coast is a major excursion. I plan to lead an inter-chapter excursion in 2006 and hopefully to co-lead two major excursions by the end of 2007 and then become a qualified leader. After that, I will be able to lead backpacking trips in Taiwan for my AMC friends, and they will understand how beautiful the island is by walking step-by-step in the mountain range.

5. Train. Train for better physical fitness and learn more outdoor skills.

Physical fitness is always one of the key factors to truly appreciate the outdoors. You don’t have to be an ironman in order to go to the backcountry but conducting activities in the backcountry requires a certain level of fitness. The more fit you are, the more time you can spare to observe the landscapes, wild animals and vegetation, experience the fresher air, solitude, and clear skies, or simply enjoy the sport at hand.

Everyday I have some kind of workout routine: endurance training, weight training, stretch, or rest, but I still haven’t fine-tuned a plan that I completely feel comfortable with. I am willing to push myself but I don’t want to hurt myself; I’m willing to invest time in workout but I don’t want to overdo it so that I lose my interest. I constantly ask myself whether I am too harsh or too easy on my body. It seems that the balance point is so hard to reach and once you have it, it is hard to hold on to it. “Isn’t it the dilemma a Libra always has?” Sometimes, I wonder.

The important lesson I have learned from my accumulated experience is to always look for the right body position for any sport before I commit to pursing more mileage. Correct position leads to efficiency and fewer injuries. Practice doesn’t always make perfect: practicing with incorrect body position makes it harder to break this bad habit later.

You need to have faith in yourself when you just start to learn a new sport. My experience tells me that if I am patient and I take my time building my foundation step by step, the rest will come.

In 2005, I took quite a few classes such as a kayak rolling session, telemark skiing workshop, gym climbing clinic and a swimming class. In 2006, I’ll keep working on what I have learned and continuing reading magazines and books broadly in order to compile a better all-year-round workout plan for myself. Hopefully, by the end of the next year, I will have so many more skills at hand for me to expand my frontier wider than I can imagine now. I know, as along as I progress steadily, the rest will come.