“Keep working on cruise ships, though structuring the my time away better than last year to maximize time in Berlin/with friends/doing my own thing.”
Win! I could have structured my time at home better than I did, but at least I did it better than 2009. I took all of May and most of June off work, which was a bit unfortunate due to the bad weather in May, but it was nice to have my parents over for nine days. Also I took all of September and most of November off work, though spent none of September at home.
“I already know I’ll be visiting, on various cruises, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, India, and Dubai for the first time, along with a few other places. I may be going to Antarctica again too.”
Win! Although this was a general “I want to see new places” kind of wish, rather than a goal in and of itself. Here is a list of all the countries I visited in 2010 (as normal I use the Century Travelers Club list of countries):
Uruguay.
Chile.
The Falkland Islands.
Argentina.
Antarctica… but didn’t leave the ship.
South Korea… but only in Seoul airport.
Guam.
Papua New Guinea.
Australia.
New Zealand.
China… but only in Hong Kong airport.
Qatar… but only in Doha airport.
India.
Oman.
Dubai, UAE.
Spain.
France.
Italy.
Greece.
Turkey.
Montevideo.
Switzerland… but only in Zurich airport.
England.
Denmark.
Germany.
Estonia.
Faroe Islands.
Iceland.
Greenland.
Newfoundland, Canada.
South Africa.
Namibia.
Finland.
Norway.
Netherlands.
Poland.
USA.
Canary Islands.
Belgium.
Corsica.
Vatican City.
Portugal.
Madeira.
Barbados.
Trinidad and Tobago.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Grenada.
47 countries, and 19 of those I visited for the first time. Not bad for one year!
“On top of work travel, spend some frequent flier points and travel home from various gigs independently. In this way I hope to spend a week in New Zealand, and a week in Japan.”
Win! Although as you can tell from the list above that I decided against New Zealand and Japan. I did, however, use my work travels to visit more places, and see more people, and not always try to get home as quickly as possible. I spent frequent flier miles to visit Rome for three days in November, but all my other travels I either arranged for free through work or spent my own money.
“Go to Poland. I live really close, but have never been. What’s up with that?”
Win. I was invited to perform at a juggling convention in Poland.
“Spend four to six weeks in New York. I’ve visited the city for a few weeks, but I want to get to know the city better. I hear so many people from there talk about it, and I want to experience it all first hand. ”
Win. Actually, I was there the 26 days, not four weeks. But I think that counts. It was an amazing month away, and certainly the highlight of my year.
“Maybe, if I can sort the dates right, I might go to DragonCon, to nerd out with the scifi and podcasting geeks.”
Fail. This was a spur of the moment addition to the list, and was never really a serious plan. I made sure that I arrived in New York before DragonCon began, just in case I got the motivation to go, but I never seriously thought would happen.