Traveling-wise, 2023 was an interesting year for me. It began in late-January with a move to my new country of residence: the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By the end of December, I had taken 66 flights, logging nearly 115,000 miles, spending 276h 57m inside planes. This according to FlghtRadar24.com!
But fortunately, traveling in 2023 was not limited to flying! Mention here as well to my epic motorcycle journey through India’s Ladakh and Himanchal Pradesh (superbly put together by Ride of My Life Moto Tours LLP, https://www.facebook.com/RideOfMyLife/)…
…And to my road trip on the Animal (my Nissan Patrol 4WD) from Evora, Portugal to Moldova. And back…!
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On the “Counting-Countries-front,” 2023 was also a good year. 12 new countries in green, including, among others, the D.R. Congo (my new country of residence), Egypt, a few countries in the Indian subcontinent, and my last four in Europe (Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Serbia). With these new additions, I reached the end of 2023 with a count of 120. Nice!
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A few other curiosities as far as 2023: 100 nights in hotel rooms (including 54 in Hilton properties and 12 in Accor properties), 17 in airplanes, 2 each in tents, ferries, and houseboats, 1 in a train, and 7 with friends!
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And now 12 pictures that I chose to illustrate all of the above!
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As far as plans for 2024, I am aiming at 12 to 15 new countries, to include almost all of the remaining countries in southeast Asia, a few of the island countries in the southern Indian Ocean, and… Paraguay!!!
Shout-out here as well to the Extraordinary Travel Festival (https://www.extraordinarytravelfest.com). In 2024, this de facto “convention” of world travelers will take place in Bangkok, Thailand from Nov 15 to Nov 17. See you there!
Cheers!
Ben T.
Well done, Jorge. Happy New Year ! — Ben T.
SerpaJ
Thx, Ben. And same to you. Cheers.