2014 in Review

We began the year in Vienna, and it was quite the fun New Year’s Eve celebration. Vienna sure knows how to bring in a new year!

2014 started out with some heavy travel. Within the first six months, we had been to 10 countries on two continents; some of them multiple times. We definitely don’t enjoy traveling that fast, but since we knew we were returning to North America, we decided to fit in as much as possible.

Although we did skip Ireland since we were enjoying Scotland so much.

This was a pivotal year as well because we decided we needed to slow things down quite a bit more and find a long-term base. We still want to travel, but we want a feeling of community and a home to return to after trips.

Our first stop in our search for a base was Mexico. We knew pretty quickly that it wasn’t going to be our long-term spot, but we always enjoy our time there. We ended up spending about 4 months in the Yucatan before returning to the US to see if perhaps the Pacific Northwest would once again be home.

Thanks to house sitting, we were able to spend some time in Florida, and Tigger got to meet his online BFF finally. Culture shock hit us pretty hard, though.

A house sit in San Antonio, Texas, allowed us to spend time with my sister and her family as well as to connect/reconnect with some friends. It also meant the first time that Tigger got to celebrate Thanksgiving with family (instead of family by choice), which made it extra special.

After almost 2 months of being in the south, we were both more than ready to finally return to Washington state. I’ve really missed this area! We were able to spend a few days with another traveling family we had initially met in Malaysia. They have been home for a couple of years now.

Now we’re on a lovely island in the Puget Sound where we celebrated Chrismakah and will be bringing in 2015.

It’s been a great year. I’ve fallen in love with some unexpected places, continued to grow in many ways, have kind of started up running again (it’s so hard getting back into the groove!) and am really looking forward to what the next year has in store for us.

Seattle's Great Wheel

Highlights of 2014

  • Traveled over 20,500 miles
  • 11 countries (some of them multiple times)
  • 2 continents
  • Prague, London, Portugal (especially Porto), Barcelona, and Edinburgh were the biggest surprises for me (in terms of how much I liked them). Barcelona and London were both cities I didn’t expect to like. Edinburgh was just a total shocker. I’m still in love with it. We planned on staying in Prague for one week and ended up staying for 2 months and seriously considered making it our base.
  • Tigger became a teenager
  • We decided where our base will be (at least the country was decided)
  • Published my second fantasy novel.

Tigger’s list

  • Prague
  • Seeing the London Tower and crossing the London Bridge
  • Botanical gardens in Edinburgh.

2015

What I’m looking forward to the most in the upcoming year is having a long-term base. I’m also eager to explore more of Eastern Europe.

I’m also planning on making this the year I celebrate my birthday in France, which has been a dream of mine since I was a little boy.

When I asked Tigger what he was most looking forward to next year, he responded: “A home.”

What are your exciting/interesting plans for the new year?

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12 Comments

  1. May 2015 bring all you ask for and more.

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  2. I’m with Tigger on Prague, it was on the top of our highlights of Europe. Can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store for you two.

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  3. I completely understand about wanting to find a base and feeling part of a community. I felt the same, so I’m an expat in Poland, if you’re headed that way and want some info, let me know. Merry Christmas! 🙂

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    • Thanks, Teresa. We were in Poland earlier this year. Loved Krakow and Wroclaw, and Lodz was interesting as well. Great country!

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  4. you’re now near my home turf…Mayne Island, bc….after 3 yrs of travel, im feeling, the same as you…have a home base for awhile and travel from there….im looking at Goa for awhile…India has so much to see…it;s a continent rather than a country..really.
    I enjoy your blog alot…all the best to you both…

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    • I don’t know if I could handle being in India long term, but I see the draw. So glad you enjoy the blog!

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  5. What a busy year, hope you both can establish a great permanent base and have a chance to visit many countries that are closeby, a win win scenario

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    • Well, nothing is permanent, but we’re definitely looking forward to being able to have a home to return to for a while at least. 😉

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  6. Yay, fun! 2014 was also a year of finding a base for us too, so I can totally relate and I’m also looking forward to exploring the part of the world around our base more, though for me that will mostly be related to teaching in small towns outside of Berlin, which is no bad thing necessarily!

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