2024 was a year full of irregular events that normally occur every four years, or even less frequently. It was a leap year (thanks, Julius Caesar, for the additional day of work) and the Year of the dragon (signifying power, strength, wisdom and good fortune). This year gave us the Summer Olympics, the UEFA Euros and a record-setting amount of national elections (76 countries, representing over half of humanity).
Skygazers were treated to a total solar eclipse in April. Powerful geomagnetic storms in May and October caused the Aurora Borealis to be seen all over the world, even making a scarce appearance in the southern hemisphere. Arguably though, the rarest celestial event of 2024 was when the stars aligned, and I finally found someone who wanted to marry me.
I visited 13 countries during these 12 months (five of them new to me) and hit my 10-years living in Europe milestone.
Below is a recap of my journey, month-by-month...
JANUARY
At the flip of the calendar, I was eating my body weight in tacos, in Mexico City. When I arrived back in deary London, on the 2nd January, I was plumper and suffering from a severe holiday hangover.
The cure for christmaslessness and post-vacation blues was another trip. Belgrade, Serbia was the destination of choice, to celebrate a second New Year's, Orthodox style. This was my 25th New Year's celebration in a new place since the turn of the century.
The only way to get through the seemingly never-ending succession of cold, grey, icky, dark at 3:30pm days that made up the second half of January was to hibernate indoors and book heat-seeking escapes for the rest of the year. I took advantage of the British Airways January sale, and booked loads of flights so I had lots of treats to look forward to.
February
February gloom, equally as bad as January's, was nearly avoided as I set off to Cartagena, Colombia, for 15 days, to satisfy my need for sand between my toes. Cartagena was an absolute treasure of a city! It was colorful, tropical, vibrant, relaxing and delectable.
March
Ever heard of Las Fallas? I hadn't either. I visited Valencia for a weekend in mid-March and unexpectedly experienced the city's largest celebration and one of the craziest festivals in all of Spain. Noise levels were pushed to deafening decibels, sophisticated and satirical structures were erected in the city streets and the city's population tripled, creating an impressive five-day nonstop fiesta!
Easter came early this year and was, sadly, spent at a funeral in Exeter. Despite the circumstances, I made the best of exploring an area of England that was new to me, and I learned that J.K. Rowling attended the University of Exeter in the mid-80's. Although none of the Harry Potter movies were filmed in Exeter, many nearby locations inspired the series. One example was the medieval door at 10 Cathedral Close (pictured below) was the inspiration for the Room of Requirement in the Wizarding World.
April
I braved the volatile weather conditions in São Miguel, Azores, Portugal for a six-day road trip. The Azores were beautiful, wild and wonderous. It was a great place to explore rugged landscapes whilst enjoying the warm hospitality of the locals.
Liverpool was a lovely weekend city break from London! Scouseland was full of friendly people and had a wonderful, long-standing football tradition, a thriving nightlife and a ton of musical history.
May
I visited Casablanca, Morocco with the intention of parking my body poolside, on the rooftop of my hotel, for three glorious days. Unfortunately, the hotel's rooftop was closed to guests for a private event. Pool failure aside, Casablanca was a nice place to spend a few days, if you can cope with aggressive locals.
Mid-week, I took a day off work to attend one of the premiere British summer social season events - the Chelsea Flower Show. Although it was a wet, muddy and cold day, I enjoyed the company of my mother-in-law-to-be and the beautiful gardens on display both at the show and on the streets of Chelsea.
June
Two dear friends pampered and spoiled me with a mini bachelorette/hen party at Soho Farmhouse. The rustic-chic countryside retreat was a rural, yet lush, escape from London. I was grateful for the wonderful company, food, drinks, wellness and outdoor activities.
July
A sports extravaganza was in full swing in Europe in July with the UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany, Paris Olympic Games, British Grand Prix, Wimbledon and the Tour de France all going on.
On July 4th, the United States celebrated its independence from Great Britain with fireworks and BBQs. This year though, the 4th of July wasn't significant to only Americans. The UK celebrated its own version of 'Independence Day' when the opposition Labour Party (led by Keir Starmer) defeated the governing Conservative Party (led by Rishi Sunak) in a landslide, during the UK general election.
In the US, the race to presidency got bonkers as Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt and Joe Biden abandoned his bid for re-election in November's election.
During all this political volatility, I took a four-day mini break to Europe's oldest and deepest lake. Lake Ohrid, straddled between North Macedonia and Albania, was absolutely beautiful, incredibly peaceful, insanely affordable & relatively undiscovered (especially compared to its Greek neighbor). It was a rare holiday where my experience far outweighed my expectations.
The CrowdStrike ‘digital pandemic’ may have caused global cascading and widespread chaos, but the travel disruptions did not thwart my friends and family from flying over to London. It took a while, but I finally found my perfect partner with whom to experience all of life’s adventures and nobody was going to miss the celebration!
August
The first of our mini-moons was spent in Bordeaux, France, enjoying a mix of sport, wine and fine dining. We saw France beat Argentina in the Olympic men's football (soccer) quarterfinals, went wine tasting in Médoc and ate all the snails.
Mini-moon part deux was spent in the Cotswolds, at The Fish, with some friends. We had a lot of laughs, communed with nature and enjoyed some needed rest and relaxation.
28th August marked a very special occasion for me - It was the tenth anniversary of when I first relocated from San Francisco to London. Though all these years have passed, I still don't have my UK passport (eye roll).
September
I went Seoul-searching in South Korea, with my folks, for the first half of the month. What an interesting, zany, delicious and fabulous country!
Three days after returning from Korea, I flew to Nice, France to watch one of my best friends compete in the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship. This was a 'by qualification only' event, where the best female professional triathletes descended on the Côte d'Azur to conquer a 140.6-mile race (consisting of a 2.4-mile ocean swim, a 112-mile mountainous cycle in the Alps and a 26.22-mile coastal run). What an absolutely insane achievement to have witnessed!
October
My husband and I spent an autumn weekend in Zürich, one of Europe’s most expensive cities. Known for its walkable streets, fairy-tale architecture, high-end boutiques and proximity to nature, it was a great destination for a short European break.
I had a harrowing journey to Connecticut, but it was all worth it to surprise my dad, following his open-heart surgery. It was a good excuse to spend a little extra time with friends and family, and to enjoy the beautiful foliage season.
Then, it was back to France, for the third time in as many months. This time, I visited Aix-en-Provence to indulge in the 'Rosé All Day' way of life.
November
A convicted felon battling a cognitively impaired commander-in-chief, a last minute change in Democratic candidate, two attempted assassination plots and unsubstantiated rumors of immigrants eating pets were just a few of the unusual moments of the historic and frenzied 2024 US Presidential race, which culminated in early November, with Donald Trump retaking the White House as the 47th President.
Three and a half weeks after the election, I braved a trip to Trump Land for the first half of my annual Thanksgiving vacation. I visited New York City first and then made my way to Connecticut for lots of family fun and turkey.
December
The first week of December was spent relaxing and itching in Antigua! It was a beautiful island, and I had a great time, but I could have done without all the mosquitos and sand flies feasting on me.
The next three weeks of December were spent at home because I was passportless. Even though my passport wasn't expiring for another 15 months, I had run out of empty pages. And, with all my impending immigration stuff finally happening in 2025, I didn't want to risk having to change passports in the middle of the process.
I did go to Jersey for two nights over NYE though, for some self-care and to keep my NYE streak alive.
Next year I've already got some far flung and interesting travels lined up, but there will be fewer overall trips as I prepare for the end of my immigration status and finally work towards my British citizenship. See ya on the flip side!
STATS FROM 2024 TRAVELS:
Trips: 21
Flights: 39
Air Miles Flown: 63,592 (2.6x around the world)
Airlines Flown: 13
Airports Visited: 26
Flight Time: 154 hours
Hours Lost from Delays: 24 (plus several cancellations)
Total Countries Visited: 13
New Countries Visited (blue bubbles below): 6
Continents Visited: 5 (North America, South America, Asia, Africa & Europe)
Nights Spent in a Hired Accommodation: 65
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