My 2018 Travel Year in Review

Happy 2019!

Now that we are almost two week into 2019 and just about everyone else has already posted their year-end reviews, I decided it was about time to do mine.

I didn’t blog much for the month of December. And while I didn’t mention it here, I posted on my Instagram at the beginning of December that I was going to take a break from social media and blogging for the rest of the year. I was spending too much time and mental energy on social media and I needed a break from all of it.

With that said, I’m making my way back to blogging now that 2019 is on its way. Before I look ahead to my travel plans for 2019, I thought I’d look back and see how I did in 2018.

How much did I travel?

Truth be told, I didn’t travel that much last year. My longest trip was to Massachusetts to visit family, during which time I went to Boston and New York City. The rest of my traveling consisted of a couple of weekend trips (Bellingham, Portland), and exploring a few state parks and other nearby areas.

I didn’t travel nearly as much as I would have liked, and I only did two of the six things I write about in my 2018 travel wishlist.

But I traveled as much as I could have. 2018 was not a great financial year. I moved in with my boyfriend over the summer, and then we moved again six months later. The time just seemed to slip by.

I did a fair amount of exploring my local area, but not a lot of traveling farther afield. And you know what? That’s okay. Traveling is not a competition. While I may not have traveled as much as some, I traveled more than others. I had some great experiences.

Which brings me to…

My Favorite Travel Moments of 2018

Visiting Powell’s for the first time

In February my boyfriend and I went to Portland, Oregon, where we visited Powell’s City of Books. As a bookstore lover Powell’s had been on my must-see list for a while, and it didn’t disappoint. I wrote about that day here.

Visiting family in Massachusetts

In October we went to Massachusetts to visit some family that I hadn’t seen in years. While we were there we went to Boston and took a trip to New York City as well. Seeing my family was nice and we had a great time. I also got to do things that I otherwise wouldn’t have if my family hadn’t been kind enough to invite us out.

Read: Walking the Boston Freedom Trail

Rediscovering Bellingham

I spent two years living in Bellingham while I was in college, and unfortunately during that time I didn’t appreciate what a great town it is. This past year I went for a weekend with my boyfriend and rediscovered what makes Bellingham special. We visited some old favorite places as well as new ones that I never bothered to check out while I was living there. I also randomly happened to bump into my old boss, which was a fun surprise.

You can read about how to spend your own weekend getaway in Bellingham here.

Returning to New York without throwing up on anyone

Like I said above, the boyfriend and I went to New York for a couple of days after we visited my family in Massachusetts. I had previously been to NYC before when I was 18. But that experience was marred by the fact that I go sick and threw up all over the floor of the train back to where I was staying.

My only hope for this trip was to not throw up in a public location and luck was on my side this time!

(Though I still wimped out a bit and exhausted myself, which I wrote about here. But hey at least I didn’t publically vomit and that is what I call a WIN.)

Do I have any regrets?

I do wish that I had managed to go on a solo trip last year, but it just wasn’t in the cards. I am really hoping to do one this year, though, and I have already started mentally planning what it might be and when.

Overall, 2018 was a pretty good year for me. Here’s to hoping 2019 is even better. 

Pin Me!