It’s that time again: time to look back on the year and write my annual year in review post!
This post is always fun to put together, as it allows me to take a look back and remember all the adventures I’ve had in the last 12 months. It’s always a humbling task, too, as I’m reminded just how lucky I am to still be doing what I love as my job.
My 2024 travels took me all over the world; I visited 15 countries on 3 continents, including several new-to-me locales. I traveled more than 35% of the year, spending a huge chunk of it in Europe (more than 3 months there cumulatively, thanks to a 2-month trip covering 11 countries there in the spring.)
I had long stints of time at home, too, and spent that time on work projects around Ohio. But let’s talk about the travel!
(And yes, this year I’m covering both my travel highlights and lowlights all in one post, because I’m always trying to keep it real with you around here.)
2024 travel by the numbers
Here’s my year in travel by the numbers:
- Countries visited: 15 – USA, Mexico, Canada, Peru, Germany, Czechia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, France, Sweden, Poland, Portugal, and the UK
- US states visited: 2 – Just 2 states this year! Lots of travel within Ohio, and I also went to New York.
- Total flight legs: 29 – This was one of my best years ever for cutting down on flying, considering how much I traveled! I flew when I had to, and otherwise took trains, cars, and ships.
- Number of road trips: 5 – I road tripped with friends in the Loire Valley (France) and in Poland, with Elliot in Portugal, and on my own to both Toronto and Cincinnati.
- Days on the road: 128 (roughly 35% of the year)
Some notable things that happened this year include:
- I visited two new countries! – For the second year in a row, I managed to visit two new-to-me countries! This year, they were Peru (I spent more than 2 weeks there) and Slovakia (only spent a day in Bratislava, but it still counts!).
- I had visitors in Cleveland! – Okay, well just one: my friend Ashley came to visit me twice this year, and I had a lot of fun showing her around Cleveland.
- I became an auntie again! – Yes, this is also something that featured here in 2023, but what can I say, my sister has been busy growing babies! This year she had a baby girl in November, making her my first niece.
My top 10 travel highlights from 2024
This is always tough to narrow down and sum up in just a paragraph or two, but I’ve more or less managed to.
Here are my most memorable travel highlights from the last year:
Honorable mention: Elliot’s first trip to NYC
Okay, okay, so I couldn’t narrow it down to just 10 this year! I had to include this trip to NYC because it was Elliot’s very first time in the Big Apple!
I myself go to New York City every January to attend a travel media event, and for the first time in 2024 Elliot decided to come with me! We did touristy things like went to Top of the Rock, rode the Staten Island ferry, visited the New York Public Library, and saw a show on Broadway (Hadestown). Elliot also explored Central Park on his own while I was at my event, and I forced him to go to Ellen’s Stardust Diner with me.
I don’t think he’ll make joining me in NYC an annual thing, but it was fun to explore together for a couple of days.
10. Relaxing on Isla Holbox
I’m actually starting this list with my very first trip of the year! Just a few days into January, I flew to Cancun (which was an adventure of it’s own thanks to a severely delayed flight; more on that in the mishaps section), and made my way by van and ferry to Isla Holbox, a small tropical island in the Gulf of Mexico.
I met a friend of mine there, and we spent a week relaxing at our beachfront hotel, eating all the delicious food, and doing a few activities like kayaking and visiting a cenote. This was a very different type of trip for me since I’m usually the opposite of a beach bum, but it was a nice way to kick off the year.
>> Read more: Tips for Visiting Isla Holbox, Mexico: 18 Things to Know Before You Go
9. Exploring the Loire Valley
In the spring, I not only spent about a week in Paris, but I also visited a new-to-me part of France: the Loire Valley. Myself and two friends rented a car and spent 3 days visiting castles, strolling through elaborate gardens, and drinking wine. It’s a perfect girls trip!
We also stayed in a 500-year-old chateau, which ended up being more rustic (and bat-infested) than we bargained for, but at least now it’s a funny story. (Check my travel mishaps section for that one, too!)
Would I go back to Loire Valley? Absolutely! There are so many castles to explore; we really only scratched the surface. I would just book a normal hotel next time. 😉
8. UK at Christmas
My very last trip of the year took place in December, where I spent 10 days soaking up all the Christmas vibes in both London and Edinburgh. Both cities are magical around the holidays, with over-the-top light displays, themed afternoon teas, Christmas markets, and more.
In London, I did things like seeing all the famous Christmas lights, shopping at the famous department stores, going to 2 holiday-themed afternoon teas, watching a Christmas concert at Royal Albert Hall, and even going to a Christmas pantomime (a silly play that’s more like a variety show, always performed around the holidays).
And in Edinburgh, I went to the Christmas markets, went to a pop-up holiday bar, and had Christmas dinner at The Dome, which is the best-decorated building in the whole city.
This didn’t really compete with my Christmas market road trip that I took last year in Germany, but I still had a really good time! (Of the two cities, I think I actually preferred Edinburgh at Christmas, as it wasn’t quite as crowded as London.)
7. Venice with Mom & Elliot
I spent 2 consecutive months in Europe for the second year in a row, so this list is going to be pretty Europe-heavy! And another of my favorite parts of that trip was introducing both Elliot and my mom to Venice, Italy. My mom and I met Elliot there, and we spent 3 days exploring – which is much longer than most people usually spend in Venice.
Mom and I went on a food tour, Elliot and I rode a gondola, and otherwise we spent our time wandering along less-crowded canals, visiting small museums, and taking our time over cicchetti and spritzes. We weren’t able to get into St. Mark’s or the Doge’s Palace because the Pope was visiting while we were there and St. Mark’s Square was absolutely insane, but that’s okay. Venice is actually the perfect place to just wander and let yourself get lost.
>> Read more: My Top 10 Venice Travel Tips to Help You Love Your First Trip
6. Poland road trip
Another chunk of my spring Europe trip was spent road tripping around Poland with my bestie Ashley from My Wanderlusty Life. We’ve decided a Europe road trip is going to become an annual tradition for us, and this year we chose Poland – a country I’ve been to once before and loved, and a country Ashley has always wanted to visit for its WWII history.
We spent 2 weeks in Poland, visiting all the major cities (Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan, Wrocław, and Krakow) along with all 6 Nazi death camps from WWII (Ashley is also a WWII historian). So… yeah, this trip was kind of all over the place! The concentration camps were obviously very sobering and sad, while we had less-sad fun in cities like Gdansk and Wrocław (my personal favorites).
Poland is a fascinating country with some really lovely cities and beautiful countryside (plus pierogi!), and I highly recommend a visit for anyone wanting to get away from the summer crowds in Europe.
>> Read more: 7 Reasons Why Warsaw Is Awesome
5. Oktoberfest
I did something impulsive this year that I actually never thought I would: I went to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany! I realized I was going to be in western Europe at the right time anyway, and decided I should go and experience it for myself (yes, even as someone who doesn’t drink beer).
I didn’t go alone, though. Ashley (yes, she features in several of these travel adventures this year!) works as a tour guide at Oktoberfest every year, so I basically joined one of her groups for a few days. And you guys… it was SO MUCH FUN.
I wore my dirndl, drank way too much Apfelschorle (sparkling apple juice that LOOKS like beer), danced to all the live music in the tents, rode the Ferris wheel, ate lots of yummy food, and totally enjoyed the whole fair-like atmosphere.
(And if you want to do Oktoberfest stress-free like I did, Thirsty Swagman is the company Ashley works for.)
4. Exploring the Azores
Elliot and I do a big “birthdayversary” trip every fall to celebrate both of our birthdays and our wedding anniversary. It was Elliot’s 40th birthday this year, so I let him choose the destination! In the end, he decided on Portugal, and we ended up going to Sao Miguel in the Azores along with Porto and the Douro Valley on the mainland.
I’ve never been to the Azores before, so visiting “the Hawaii of Europe” was my favorite part. We spent 4 days on Sao Miguel, where we visited beaches and many viewpoints, strolled through a tea plantation, soaked in hot springs, went on a boat tour, drank at a “Gin Library,” and more. It was a really chill trip, which Elliot loves and I also appreciated in this instance.
I’ll be writing about the Azores in the New Year, as it’s another excellent destination in Europe not enough people know about.
(The Douro Valley and Porto were also great, and could probably be on this list, too. Especially the harvest tour we did in the Douro Valley where we got to pick and stomp grapes!)
3. Taking Mom on a river cruise
I was meant to take my mom on her first river cruise back in 2020, but it actually worked out better that that never happened, as I was able to book an even better cruise for this year! Avalon Waterways (my favorite river cruise line in Europe) has a special “Storyteller Series” of cruises where they bring authors and other creatives onto their ships a couple times per year.
I got some insider info in late 2022 that Avalon would be doing another Outlander-themed cruise with author Diana Gabaldon in 2024, and I’ve never jumped on something faster! Outlander is one of my mom’s favorite book series (she’s been reading them since the beginning in the ’90s), and I knew this would be the perfect trip for us!
We spent a week cruising the Danube with Avalon and Diana. Some of the things we did were normal Danube cruise things (like walking tours in pretty German towns, visiting churches and abbeys, etc.), while others were special to this cruise (like Outlander trivia, book signings and Q&As with Diana, and even an Outlander-specific tour in Prague before we got on the ship).
I personally love river cruising, and think my mom really enjoyed it, too!
2. Hiking to Machu Picchu
I spent more than 2 weeks in Peru back in March, and several parts of that trip could have easily made it onto this list. Like exploring the city of Cusco or visiting islands in Lake Titicaca. But the most epic part of my Peru trip by far was the day that I hiked to Machu Picchu!
I did not do the full 4-day hike on the Inca Trail (overnight hikes at high altitude are of no interest to me), but the good news is that there’s a shortened 1-day version of this hike that basically includes all the best parts without any of the mountain camping.
The roughly 8-mile hike included multiple Inca ruins, a rainforest, waterfalls, and thousands and thousands of steps. It took my small group of women nearly 8 hours to complete, but we did it! And hiking down into Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate is something I won’t soon forget.
>> Read more: Hiking the 1 Day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu as a Beginner Hiker (What It’s REALLY Like!)
1. Seeing the Eras Tour – twice!
It’s usually tough to choose my top travel highlight of the year, but as I was writing this year’s list, I realized it wasn’t difficult at all this time. That’s because this was the year of the Eras Tour!
I’ve never actually considered myself a huge Swiftie (Taylor Swift fan), having only really grown into a regular listener during the pandemic when she released her Folklore and Evermore sister albums. When tickets for the Eras Tour first went on sale in 2022 for the 2023 tour, I honestly didn’t even think about going, because I didn’t think I was a big enough fan.
But as I watched live streams of the tour on TikTok that first year as it became a full-blown global phenomenon, I began to have major regrets. So when Taylor announced that the tour would continue through 2024, I knew I had to go! Luckily, I had some friends who felt the same way, and my friend Kat was lucky enough to win The Great War and get presale tickets for Stockholm.
Traveling to see the Eras Tour just seemed natural for us, and that first Eras Tour experience was just so incredible. We spent a few days exploring Stockholm, and then, through some ticket shenanigans and a lot of luck, ended up first row on the floor for that Stockholm concert. It’s hands down the best concert I have ever been to.
And I thought that would be it. But as the tour began to wind down in the fall, I decided I wanted to see it one last time. So in November I bought myself a resale ticket, booked a hotel room using points, and drove myself to Toronto to see the show again. It was my first solo concert ever, and maybe it was even more memorable because of that. No regrets!
It was another super memorable year of travel. Here’s to another in 2025!
7 worst travel mishaps of the year
I usually use this post to focus on the travel highlights through the year, but I never want to make it seem like travel is only ever perfect and fun – because it definitely is not! There are plenty of days on the road where I feel tired or cranky or sick or lonely; plenty of days where it seems like nothing goes right. And I want to acknowledge some of those days, too!
So here are some of my worst travel mishaps from 2024:
7. Flight delay nonsense
My very first trip of the year started off as a major mishap. I had booked a direct flight from Cleveland to Cancun to meet up with my friend Kasey (who was traveling from DC). Once in Cancun, we were going to catch a shuttle and then a ferry to the island of Isla Holbox.
But then my flight ended up with a 7 HOUR DELAY because of a maintenance issue followed by a crew issue. And it would have been okay if we were just supposed to meet in Cancun – but we weren’t. The shuttle was more or less easy enough to reschedule, but the ferry over to Isla Holbox only runs up until a certain point at night. And with the major delay, there was no way I was going to make it.
So I told Kasey to go ahead as originally planned and enjoy the hotel we’d already paid for on Isla Holbox that night. Meanwhile, I was contacting the hotel and shuttle company to reschedule my own transfer for the next morning, and booking a last-minute room at the airport Hilton in Cancun. Because everything was so last-minute, I ended up spending an extra $500 on everything.
I did get reimbursed about half of that by my travel insurance later, but ugh it was a stressful start to what was supposed to be a relaxing trip! I was just thankful it was me (the experienced traveler with backup funds) having these issues and not my friend!
The lesson: The lesson here is to just be prepared for things to go wrong on travel days, and try to roll with it. Have an emergency fund, and always travel insurance! And try to stay calm, as yelling at airport staff or airline crew isn’t going to help (as I had to remind my seatmate on that flight).
6. Packing incorrectly for Europe
This one is mostly on me, but when my mom and I were leaving for our river cruise trip, I was actually packing to spend 2 months in Europe, from mid-April to mid-June.
I was anticipating mostly “spring” weather, meaning cool-but-not-cold to maybe a little warm. I opted to leave things like my puffer jacket and rain boots behind since I don’t like to pack things that I might only wear once on such a long trip – and I wasn’t going to the UK, which is where I always expect it to rain a lot.
And, judging from the weather forecasts for where we were heading, I was confident. My mom also checked all the forecasts and decided she’d be fine with some mid-weight cardigans and her favorite pink trench coat.
Well, friends, we were all wrong. Our trip actually started with beautiful weather in both Munich and Prague, where we didn’t even need jackets to explore. But then we spent the week on our river cruise mostly FREEZING, as temperatures dipped into the low 40s (F) with wind and rain most days. We layered up and made it work (we didn’t skip anything because of some silly weather), but I was really kicking myself for not packing at least one really warm layer.
Luckily it was much warmer on our next stop in Italy.
The lesson: Look, I stand by not overpacking, and generally not packing things you might only wear once (or not at all) on a longer trip. BUT, I suppose the lesson here is to maybe pack the extra warm layer anyway, especially for spring in Europe. Just in case.
5. Wildfires in Portugal
As the global climate warms and changes, the chances of running into some sort of natural disaster on your travels is only increasing. And of course these are impossible to predict, and sometimes impossible to avoid.
While we were in the Azores, I had no idea that northern Portugal was on fire. It wasn’t until we were flying into a very hazy Porto that I started to wonder. A quick Google search confirmed that the Douro Valley was basically ablaze with drought-induced wildfires. Great, as that was exactly where we were headed.
The owner of the guesthouse we were due to stay at assured me everything was fine where they were, so we continued with our plans to pick up a rental car under an apocalyptic sky and drove out to the Douro Valley. Thankfully, things were less smoky once we got there.
The fires didn’t impact our trip in any serious ways, except for the smoky skies. Luckily we were still able to do our harvest tour the next day, but we didn’t do any extra wine tastings or sightseeing because there simply wasn’t a point. We might have to go back to the Douro Valley again so Elliot can have the full experience!
The lesson: Extreme weather is likely to increase in the coming years, so I guess just be aware, and be flexible! Travel insurance is a good idea, too.
4. Attacked by a garage door
On our trip to the Azores, Elliot and I rented a car on Sao Miguel. I’d done enough reading before the trip to know that parking in the main city of Ponta Delgada can be very tricky, so made sure to book accommodation that provided its own parking. The parking was a small garage, with one parking spot for every apartment-style hotel room in the small complex (I think there were 8 total parking spots).
We rented a small car, so this seemed just fine! Until we went to leave the next morning.
In order to leave the parking garage, you either had to get out of the car to press a button on the wall to open the side-sliding garage door, or you had to use an app on your phone to do it. Except I didn’t have great service in the almost-underground garage. So wall button it was.
I pressed the button, the door opened, and then I got in the car as Elliot started it up and began trying to get out of our parking spot. Because of the set-up of the spaces and size of the garage, he was going to have to make at least a 2-point turn. Except that as he was executing this, the garage door began to close.
The car was angled so that there was a cement pillar behind us and the corner of the garage in front of us. And I guess the nose of the car wasn’t far enough over the garage door sensor (if there even was one?) for it to know we were there. We thought for sure the door would stop. But by the time we realized it wasn’t stopping, there wasn’t enough time for me to unbuckle, get out of the car, and get to the wall button to re-open the door.
And so we sat and watched as the garage door just scraped along the driver’s-side fender of our rental car, leaving some scratches and a pretty sizable dent. Whoops!
Thankfully, I had paid for full insurance coverage with the rental company, but it was still really annoying to have damaged the car without even doing anything. For the rest of our stay, I stood next to that dumb wall button the whole time and jumped in the car as Elliot was pulling out of the garage.
The lesson: Always pay for the full rental car insurance in a place you’re unfamiliar with.
3. The worst chafing of my life
Hiking to Machu Picchu was one of my travel highlights for the year, but what I didn’t mention before was that it also ended up being one of the most uncomfortable adventures of the year. The Inca Trail traverses through what is basically a high-altitude rainforest, meaning it’s very humid and sticky even if it’s not raining.
I’m a very sweaty person in general (and was wearing rain gear for the first hour or so of this hike), and was dripping with sweat pretty early on despite it not even being hot. Which is fine; I was expecting this and was prepared for it.
What I was not prepared for was that the non-stop sweating and repetitive stair-climbing would lead to my active leggings chafing me along the seams in between my legs in a way I’ve never experienced before.
By the time we got back to the town of Aguas Calientes after the hike (and then got lost walking to our hotel because our hiking guide wasn’t exactly the best at his job), I was almost in tears at how bad my legs hurt. I was walking like one of those cowboys in old-timey Westerns, with my legs all bowed out.
I could not WAIT to no longer be wearing pants, and skipped walking to dinner that evening because I simply could not stand more fabric touching my upper thighs. Showering was painful, and slathering my skin with Aquaphor was painful – but thankfully it helped overnight and I could at least stand to wear pants again the next morning.
The lesson: I don’t actually know that I could have avoided this, as these leggings have never bothered me like this before! These big thighs are no stranger to chafing, but I wasn’t expecting it in this case. I guess the lesson is to always have something like Aquaphor on hand (thanks, Ashley, for the save!) just in case you need it. A little pot of it now lives in my travel toiletry kit.
2. Sleeping with bats
My trip to the Loire Valley with friends was so much fun, but we had a mishap with our accommodation. It seemed like it would be fun to book a 500-year-old chateau (complete with moat!) on Airbnb – and indeed it was a very cool property with a really nice owner who has restored the chateau himself over the last decade.
When my friend Kat declared on our second night there that she thought there were bats living in her top-floor bedroom, Megan and I just brushed it off. No, we said. You’d know if there were bats! But Kat ended up sharing Megan’s room in the converted chapel that night anyway.
I woke up in the middle of the night sure that I heard something in my own room, but convinced myself it was probably just drafty windows, or simply my imagination (or a ghost, because that place was probably definitely haunted, right?). I saw nothing when I turned on the lights.
But then the next night, as I was getting ready for bed, I DID actually see something. And that something was a bat. Flying around in my bedroom.
I actually like bats – but I don’t want to sleep with them, especially when in the US there’s such a high risk of getting rabies from them. (Turns out that rabies isn’t really a thing in France, but we didn’t know that at the time.)
There was no room for me to sleep in the chapel, though, so I grudgingly made up a bed-nest for myself using two love seats in the castle’s living/dining room, and had a little cry before having a very uncomfortable night of sleep.
We let the owner know about the bats the next morning, and he seemed pretty nonchalant and unbothered about it. Meanwhile, we were all pretty excited to get out of there and back to a normal, bat-free hotel that night!
The lesson: When booking a rustic, 500-year-old castle to stay in, expect it to have some 500-year-old problems, too. Like bats.
1. Stomach bug in Tuscany
I hate being sick, but it’s extra bad when you’re traveling! In fact, one of my biggest anxieties about traveling is getting severely sick on the road. Not only the being sick part, but the part where it might inconvenience others, too.
And my worst nightmare came true in Italy this year. My mom and I finished up our river cruise, and met up with Elliot in Venice. We traveled from there to Florence, and I booked a day trip for all of us to Tuscany, to visit some towns and a winery.
The day started out just fine; it was sunny and warm, and we spent time in Siena at its stunning cathedral. I had started feeling a bit nauseous in the van on the way to Siena, but chalked it up to normal motion sickness and sitting in the middle seat in the back of a stuffy van. I switched to a window seat for the next drive, and felt better.
But the nausea came back at our lunch stop at a winery in the Chianti region, and I could barely eat any of the delicious homemade pasta they served us for lunch. And drinking the wine? Definitely not.
By the time we were back in the van headed for our last stop of the day, I felt awful. I was so nauseous and just counting down the minutes until we would get to San Gimignano. And, well, I didn’t make it. I had to ask the driver to pull over so I could throw up on the side of the road. It was extra embarrassing, because I know everyone just thought I had drunk too much wine at lunch.
So there I was, puking on the side of the road and crying because I felt so bad about it. Luckily, my husband is the sweetest person in the world and was helping me clean myself up and reassuring me that it was fine. And our driver made room for me to sit up front for the rest of the day.
Thankfully I didn’t throw up again, but I didn’t enjoy San Gimignano as much as I wanted to, and I went on to feel nauseous on and off for the next 5 days. No idea what kind of bug that was, but I hope to not catch it again anytime soon!
The lesson: I dunno, I guess that shit happens, and you just have to listen to your body when it does. I took it easy on food the next several days, and thankfully didn’t give whatever that was to my mom or Elliot!
All things considered, these “mishaps” were all quite minor inconveniences, though. The travel highlights list was much easier to come up with than the list of things went wrong, and I’m super thankful for that!
I already have a lot of exciting travel plans for 2025, so I look forward to seeing you back here again next year!
What were some of YOUR travel highlights (or mishaps) from the year?
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Dangerous Business Travel Blog. She has traveled to more than 60 countries on 6 continents from her home base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and thoughtful travel through the US, Europe, and rest of the world. Amanda only shares tips based on her personal experiences and places she’s actually traveled!
