Tonight I packed up for my last trip of the year- a road trip to Alabama for a family wedding and reunion. 2009 has been a great travel year for me. From visiting several US cities to sailing in the Caribbean to flying halfway around the world to a new country, it’s been amazing seeing the diversity in cultures and places. I also knocked several items off my bucket list– from running in a 5k to appearing in the crowd at a Today Show taping to flying in first class.

I made it to a lot of places that I wanted to visit like Boston and New York City, but also didn’t make it to cities I hoped to visit this year (my apologies to Chicago, Toronto and Portland). I also ended up in some places I had never planned to visit this year, like Providence, RI; New Orleans, LA; and of all places, Tokyo, Japan.

My travel started in April with a trip to Boston to visit a friend. Then Atlanta in July to visit family. An opportunity to help out a co-worker morphed into a last-minute trip to New Orleans in August. My 5-day September trip to New York City with my mom was the longest trip I took all year. October was the busiest month for me, with back-to-back weekend international trips to Nassau, Bahamas and Tokyo, Japan with friends, followed up with a visit to my alma mater in Gainesville, FL. My travelling slowed down in the winter, but I’m ending the year with a trip to Alabama.

This year I flew 20,731 miles on 14 segments- the most I’ve ever flown in one year, even though it’s only a drop in the bucket compared to any frequent flyer. I got to fly in some plane types that I hadn’t been in before- from a small 4-seat Cessna 172 to a Boeing 777 holding over 250 passengers. I also flew on United for the first time.

On other forms of transit, I traveled by train 3 times, doing round trips from Boston to Providence and Narita to Tokyo, plus a ride on Atlanta’s Marta train to visit family. I also tried out a new cruise line, Carnival, on a sailing to Nassau. Finally, I drove or rode in a car for 2,300 miles to get to New Orleans and Alabama.

So what will 2010 bring? I don’t have any firm plans yet, but there are several possibilities I’m looking into. But wherever I go, I’m looking forward to all the adventures and challenges that life will bring.

In the end, 2009 would not have been such a fantastic year for me if it wasn’t for all the family and friends who helped make the adventures and come along for the fun. Whether it was offering up a couch for me to crash on; getting me on a plane or just coming along for the ride; it would not have been as fun without them.

And thank you, all 3 of my loyal readers, for visiting this blog. It’s because of you that has kept me motivated to keep writing this blog for over a year now.