2017 was another travel year for the books! It didn’t top my years for time spent on the road, nor in number of nights away, miles flown, countries visited, or any of the major travel metrics I’ve tracked over the past several years (see 2014, 2015, and 2016 posts to compare). BUT, it was the year of continued long…
Travel
I’ve been blessed the past several years to combine my work life with lots and lots of travel. Much of that travel has taken me to new places around the world (but I also get to go to exciting spots such as Kansas City and Cleveland ;-))
Many of you may know that I’ve set off on an exciting, nerve-wracking, and very interesting 3.5 month adventure to Asia to focus our Google Analytics Education & Advocacy efforts in the region. I’m lucky that I’m able to take off a few weeks in the beginning and a couple at the end to explore some really cool places along the way.
I’m going to write posts about each country I visit, and thoughts along the way. So you have an idea of where this is going, here’s my schedule for the next few months:
June 18-26: Myanmar
June 27 – July 10: Thailand
July 10 – August 12: Singapore
August 13-21: Vietnam & Laos
August 22 – September 4: Japan
September 5-11: China
September 12-16: Hong Kong
September 17-Oct 1: Philippines
That’s a pretty packed schedule with a nice combination of work and play. I look forward to telling you all about it!
2016 Travel By The Numbers
2016 was QUITE the travel year! It was, by far, the most time I’ve ever spent on the road. Mileage-wise, it actually (surprisingly) doesn’t top 2014, and barely tops 2015, however, # of flights, days away, hotel nights, etc all do. I was blessed to spend 3.5 months straight in Asia this summer (if you…
China
After 2 weeks in Japan, I flew from Osaka to Shanghai for a whirlwind 2 weeks in China. That time would be spent as follows: 3 days in Shanghai, 4 in Beijing, 1 in Shanghai, and then 2 in Hong Kong. My team had me on a busy schedule! This will be a short post…
Japan
After a week of vacation in Vietnam, I packed up all my things from the apartment I’d come to know and love in Singapore to live out of a suitcase in hotel rooms for the rest of my trip (6 more weeks). I left one Typhoon in North Vietnam to fly straight into another in…
Vietnam
This was a return to Vietnam for me. I’d been for ~9 days in December 2014 and visited Ho Chi Mihn City, the Mekong Delta and floating markets of Cai Bai, Phu Quoc Island, Hanoi, and Halong Bay. I knew when I left the last time that I’d be back – there was still so…
Laos
Laos was a quick trip: only 3.5 days over a long weekend. Given the short timeline, I picked just one location, Luang Prabang (hereafter, LP), to settle down for a few days to do some exploring and soak in the Laotian culture. LP is a very cute, quaint little SE Asian town that feels nothing…
Indonesia
Over the course of the 5 weeks I lived in Singapore, I spent collective almost 2 weeks of that time in Indonesia via weekend trips and work in Jakarta. One of the cool things about living in Singapore is that you can say things like “I’m going to Bali for the weekend”. I did spend…
Singapore
After 3 weeks of backpacking across Myanmar and Thailand, it was time to settle into Singapore to kick off working in Asia-Pacific (APAC). I must admit, arriving in Singapore was a bit of a burst of fresh air (????) after living the backpacker life and traveling from one place to the next every couple of…
Thailand
So far I’ve been pretty awful at blogging as I go along on my travels. It’s been several weeks (well, several since I started writing this post, several more since finishing) since I spent 2 weeks exploring Thailand, though I was just back in Bangkok a few weeks ago for a couple of days of…