2014 RECAP
8 PLANES / 4 COUNTRIES / 1000 GREAT EXPERIENCES
"Once a year go some place you´ve never been before." - Dalai Lama. In 2014 I had several opportunities to follow this good advice. 2014 included many "First Times" and the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream - swimming with dolphins.
2014 in Numbers
Miles flown: 13.010 miles
Flights taken: 8
Countries visited: North America (New York & Florida), Mexico, Crete, Great Britain
New Countries: 4
Achieved Travel-Bucket-List-Goals: 9
JANUARY / FEBRUARY / MARCH
The first three month of this year were very adventurous - new town, new job, new flat. So traveling was on pause during this time but it does not mean that my mind was not actively planning and preparing the next big adventure.
APRIL
The United States were calling and I happily heeded the call. Visiting New York was something I dreamed of for quite some time and the Big Apple truly lived up to my expectations. Everything was so big, so fabulous and in just an instance I fell head over heels.
After one week of exploring New York in Spring I was in desperate need for some sunshine. What could be better then the Sunshine-State itself? So I jumped right into the next adventure - a road trip through Florida.
Looking back it´s quite difficult to point out the highlights of these amazing two weeks: the exciting rollercoasters, the beautiful beaches, the great atmosphere during the Sunset-Celebration in Key West, the fun experience of seeing the world from a birds-eye view while parasailing, the incredible opportunity to swim with dolphins and the amazing time we had on a short Caribbean-Cruise-Getaway which brought us to Mexico. All treasures I will surly keep forever in my heart.
MAY
After so many new impressions I used the upcoming four weeks to recover and to prepare the big surprise for June.
JUNE
This was the perfect month to complete another of my Travel-Bucket-List-Goals: Taking my mom on vacation. Why? Because she is the best mom in the world and she deserves a vacation. I love surprises. Telling my mom that I am going to invite her on a holiday was far too boring for me. Instead I planned everything with out her knowing. She only received the information three days!! prior to departure. I even talked to her boss in secret to make sure she will have leave for that period. You can imagine how funny the conversation was when I finally told her about the surprise. "Mommy, I am going on holiday.", me. "Again??", my mommy, obviously not very happy about this new information. She always accuses me of traveling too much - but seriously what exactly is too much?:)
"Yes. Ask me who will come with me.", me again.
"Who will come with you?".
"You."
"No."
"Yes."
"No. I have to work.".
"No you don´t. We are going on holiday in three days time and I already spoke to your boss. Everything is settled."
"No.", she still couldn't grasp it.
"Yes."
Well I think this Yes-No-Part continued for another five minutes but I think you get the point. She was in complete shock. Of course I didn't tell her where exactly this holiday will take place. She just knew it was not a long flight and it will be warm (so she knew what to pack). We celebrated this surprise very early in the morning with some sparkling wine. Only when we stood at the counter, about to get rid of our luggage and the staff asked us if we were flying to Heraklion my mom also got this last piece of information. "Greece?", my mom asked me with eyes shining full of excitement. "Yes. We are going to Crete.". "Wow!", and only then she fully realized it and I got my little reward for this surprise - a very, very happy mommy. I had never been to Crete before so of course I was also excited and we really had a fantastic time there discovering a few corners of this beautiful island.
JULY / AUGUST / SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER
My bank account was still recovering from the Mummy-Surprise so I spend the time settling into my new job. I received a promotion and moved to a new department (more money for traveling;)).
NOVEMBER
I always, always, always wanted to go to London. So when a few of my friends suggested a group-holiday I was totally in it and I totally voted for Great Britain. Luckily my proposal was unanimously accepted and we ended up having a great time in Englands Capital. London is just so beautiful!! Ok, the first day the weather was completely not on our side, to be more precise it was raining cats and dogs, but then the last day we had the most fantastic November weather. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the doves were flying ... I could continue like that for hours. Understandably it took me some time to finally be a able to leave this stunning view behind.
DECEMBER
Since saving money for my my next big adventure, a three month trip to India, Seychelles and Africa, was my top priority I spend the last month of the year at home and enjoyed a relaxing time with friends and family.
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