This is a selfish post, I’ll state that first and foremost. Not because this is a brag post. Really, this is a Thank You post. You see, My Year of Travel, has been an amazing experience, and has included so many folks, and so many great suggestions for you all.

Graphic courtesy of gcmap.com.

My Year of Travel

First off, I had a bunch of trips to South America. This was partially because my wife and I enjoy Brazil, and also partially because The Flight Deal shared this awesome Business Class deal from Sao Paulo. The fact of the matter is, I love a great business class deal.  I also really enjoy Rio de Janeiro. It was great to check out the new Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro. Even better, in advance of the Olympics, Brazil opened a very impressive Terminal 3 at Sao Paulo’s International airport. For me, Sao Paulo’s airport went from the worst airport I’ve ever flown through, to on par with Bali’s airport.

Of course, my wife and I found a way to make it to Bali, We tend to enjoy a few days in Bali, just to decompress. That trip was also our first long haul Japan Airlines First Class flight, and yes, you remember correctly, I took a pair of shoes specifically to get them shined in the JAL First Class Lounge at Haneda.

July was a ton of fun, I’ll get to some of it later, but, a weekend trip to the United Arab Emirates with friends was a total blast. In fact, Diamonde the Giraffe — our compadre– even had a tour of the Grand Hyatt Dubai, despite a disappointing experience a few weeks before.

Memorial Day saw my wife and I mileage running in a far flung attempt at flying the cycle. That was a lot of flying, but was a ton of fun.

My wife and I also enjoyed the Westin Playa Conchal in Costa Rica–which we can’t wait to get back to–and a quick trip to Taipei.

Perhaps the most meaningful trip of the year was a trip that I’ve not yet had the chance to write much about. In July, I had the chance to travel with my Father and Brother to Dubai, Singapore, Melbourne, and Sydney. It was 13 days, and our wives were saints for letting us–especially my sister-in-law who had 3 kids to entertain all by herself! 

Conclusion

This year’s travel took me roughly 146,000 miles, to 5 of the 7 continents, and to 12 countries. I think that’s the least amount of miles I’ve flown in the past few years. But this year is perhaps the most special year of travel I’ve had. I can’t quite put into words just how special the chance to share how I travel with my father and my brother. I think Dia may have quoted me at some point in saying, that Family Travel doesn’t just mean travel with kids… it’s more than that. And travel with family is special. I dare say, as a parent–speaking as not being one–you want to show you kids the world. As a child, you want to give back to your parents, which is something that not all of get the chance to do. I am grateful for that opportunity though. I’m also very, very grateful, for the chance to travel as much as I do, and for the chance to be part of such an awesome frequent traveler community.

How was your year of travel?