2009 in Travel

• January: We froze our butts off in British Columbia. But oh, I love to travel in BC and the freezing fog made for pretty pictures from the ferry.
• February: My mother-in-law and her travel buddy came to town. We took them to the Washington Coast, a place I never tire of. In spite of the snow on the ground, we had surprisingly cooperative weather. If I’m not busy, I will take you out there when you come visit. Which will be soon, I hope.
• March: I quit my job (sort of) and went to Austin, Texas, to talk about travelblogging with Sheila Scarborough at SxSW. It was delightful to hang out with so many great bloggers in person — the World Hum crew, Todd Lucier, Wendy Perrin, oh so many more.
• April:  After sitting on a panel about blogging (with Nancy Brown) at the Oregon Gov’s Conference on Tourism, J and I totally screwed up a trip in Oregon, like a couple of rookies. And then, Waikiki! We traveled with friends to Hawaii and learned about aloha, big time.
• May: I bought the prettiest ukulele on the island of Kauai. At Scotty’s, of course.
• June: I did not go to Cozumel and I am still being teased about it.
• July: I got into a car with two people I did not know all that well — Peter Carey and Kelly Goodman — and went on a drive. From Seattle to Chicago and back for TBEX and BlogHer. We ate some bacon. Oh, and the trip was aces. Plus, hello new blog friends Jen Leo, Nomadic Matt, Gary Arndt, Kim Mance…
• August: Still on the road, this time with one less companion. Kelly and I drove the Hi-Line in Montana and I kind of went crazy over it. My sister in law came to visit from Austria, too, and I really enjoyed getting to share my home with her.
• September: I did not “wreck” an RV in the Gulf Islands, I don’t care what anyone tells you.
• October: While in Vegas for BlogWorld Expo, I took a photo field trip to the Neon Boneyard with Jessica Spiegel. I got to hang with more great travelbloggy types there — Robert Reid, Shannon Hurst Lane and Authentic Seacoast Doug, to name a few.  And I went back to Hawaii, can you believe it? It was only perfect, all over again, and really got under my skin.
• November: I left Waikiki with a coconut humuhumu. You have to see it to believe it. Best. Souvenir. Ever. Thanks, Bruce and Yaling Fisher, I love that crazy fish.
• December: We made a short trip to Tucson for a family visit. And I finally made it to Mexico! I had a surprisingly excellent time in Cancun because of the people, the people, the people.

One of the magical things about this year’s travels has been the feeling that I had friends wherever I landed. I have never felt less lonely even though I made about half of this year’s travels alone. That’s the magic of the web for you right there.

When people learn that I write about travel, they ask the same question: Do you get to travel all the time? I’m usually dismissive  — Oh, not all that much, plus, I don’t make my living at it, I have a day job, you know! But looking back at 2009, I think I’m going to have to change my answer. Yes, I do get to travel, a lot, and it is more amazing than I ever could have imagined.

See you out there — or maybe even here — in 2010? I hope so.