Following the example of a few fellow traveler friends of mine, I’ve started putting together an End-of-the-Year review: A short text and a few pictures to highlight some of the most memorable events of the year that just ended. I hope you enjoy it!
In the Air: A New Record & a Milestone
Yes, 105 flights. That’s 105 take-offs and 105 landings. Yikes! Note that this number was heavily jacked up with quite a few short hops in SE Asia and a few more in Africa and in the Caribbean. Anyway, a new record for me for a calendar year! (The previous one? 80 flights.) According to FlightRadar24, it was 417 hours inside planes. I.e., 17.4 days! Impressive, given that planes are not my preferred way of traveling!
But the highlight of 2024 for me was undoubtedly reaching the 1 Million Miler status on Delta Air Lines / SkyTeam Airline Alliance. And DAL made sure that that event was indeed memorable for me, with all the celebrations around that flight (starting at the Delta Sky Club in BOS’s Terminal A…. Thank you, DAL!
Also noteworthy, a complete Round-the-World (RtW) trip in February and March. RtW trips are always remarkable, but this one was particularly so: it included a visit to the beach in Mactan, Philippines, where Ferdinand Magellan died in 1521. My personal homage to this great Portuguese navigator.
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On the Road: Exploring an African River & the 1st Trip Out of Kinshasa
Road trip-wise, 2024 was also an interesting year for me. The highlight was my participation in one of The Wilderness Project’s Great Spine of Africa (GSoA) expeditions. I was tasked with driving one of the two trucks providing support to the project’s work on the lower Zambezi River. All in all, it was 4,411 km / 2,741 miles, from Lusaka, in Zambia to the Tete and the Cahora Bassa Dam reservoir already in Mozambique; and then along the river all the way down to Marromeu. Why Marromeu and not Chinde, on the coast by the mouth of the river? Because Marromeu is as far down the river as one can drive. After there, the delta of the Zambezi takes over! More importantly for me, of course, was doing all this driving in support of the great work being done by the scientist of The Wilderness Project.
Still on the road but now domestically, i.e., within the D.R. Congo, 2024 was marked by my very first overland outing from Kinshasa: In January, Lucy and I visited the Botanical Gardens in Kisantu and then continue onward to the Zongo Falls. Not much, app. 350 km / 220 miles out and back, but, hey, better than nothing!
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The Country Count: Up to 130
On the counting front, 2024 was not a bad year either: 10 new countries in green, including Bhutan and Myanmar (my 2 last countries in continental Southeast Asia) and Grenada and Dominica (my 2 last ones in the Lesser Antilles). With all the new additions, I reached the count of 130. Which means 66 to go, i.e., well on target to reach my goal of 193+3 by the end of the current decade. Rock on!
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Also Noteworthy
2024 was the year of the second Extraordinary Travel Festival (ETF II). 250 extreme travelers answered the call and showed up at the Ambassador Bangkok Hotel, in Bangkok, Thailand, in mid-November for this conference. Just like its predecessor—ETF I in Yerevan, Armenia in 2022—what a great success this event was: wonderful presentations, punctuated by nice parties, with an exciting city providing the backdrop. But perhaps most importantly, ETF II was a great opportunity to see old traveling friends and to make new ones.
A few other curiosities from 2024: 103 nights in hotel rooms (including 26 in Hilton properties), 2 camping, 19 in airplanes, and 14 with family and friends! For once, no nights spent on trains or on boats. Go figure!
Last but certainly not least, a sad note to end this section: In the summer of 2024, I lost a good friend of mine. I first came across Dean in Maputo, Mozambique, in the very early 1990s. We were young and fearless, partied a bit, did some silly things (thank goodness it was before cellphones and the internet…), et cetera. The usual stuff. Dean was then a happy guy, funny as hell, considerate, and super generous. And he remained so throughout his life. We last traveled together this past February, through the Philippines, where we had gone to visit MaryKay—now Ambassador Carlson—yet another friend of ours from our days in Mozambique. A few months later, I received a call to let me know that Dean had died. What a loss. …And a stark reminder to us all that we are here, on Planet Earth, only temporarily. So live life to the fullest. Always. As Dean did.
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The Pix
And now 14 pictures to further highlight all the above. 14??? How so? Because I couldn’t cut it down to 12. That’s why. Hope you’ll enjoy them.
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For 2025
As far as plans for 2025, I am aiming at twelve to fifteen new countries more. This year will most likely be my last one living in sub-Saharan Africa, so I will try to prioritize the countries around here.
And a final note: sadly, no Extraordinary Travel Festival in 2025! Yes, this event takes place every two years (ETF III expected in 2026). To compensate, there is another big event for travelers being planned by MTP. “MT what,” you ask? Glad you did: MTP, as in Most Traveled People. Copying from their website, “MTP is a club for travelers who aspire to go ‘Everywhere.’” Still from their website, “MTP was founded in 2005 to create a community and standards body for extreme travelers.” Anyway, MTP is planning their 2025 Summit for this coming November, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Hmmm…
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And that’s a wrap. Hope you enjoyed it. Cheers.
