Pic of the Day: THE WONDER OF TIMES SQUARE

So...here we are on the last day of 2014. Astoundingly fast year, if you ask me. I think I'm still working on May...

It's our hope that you and yours have a fabulous and very happy 2015, and that it's a safe, prosperous, fruitful and enjoyable one.

It only seems fitting that for the last image of the year, it's Times Square. The year was 2009, and it was the first time my friend Eric had ever been to New York. I think this perfectly reflects the joy of travel.

HAVE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Pic of the Day: Sunset, Mallory Square

Each evening thousands of people gather on Mallory Square to watch the sun go down over the Gulf of Mexico.

One cannot help but feel this is good.

2014 Year in Review

"Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, Adventure."
                                                             -- J.K. Rowling






By any yardstick, 2014 has been, for me, an astonishing year for travel -- and I considered myself pretty well traveled already... 

First, I'd like to offer a strong "Thank you" to every one of my readers who have come along with me along the way. It hasn't been an easy year in some ways, but in others it's been truly amazing.

The statistics alone are startling: More than 65,000 miles on 9 different airlines. According to my FF mileage reports, nearly 90 flights. Business Class, Coach and First. Business and Personal. 24 domestic airports and five international.

Honolulu from above

A handful of delays, and a couple violent weather incidents. (Landings, mostly. Las Vegas -- a monsoon; and Auckland -- tropical storm -- top the list.) But for the most part an amazingly smooth series of flights. There were several cancellations, but not a single missed connection in the mix. That's a pretty solid record for my airline friends.

Storm blowing into Port Douglas, QLD

There were a few new things: my first flight on an Airbus A-380. Still ugly as sin on the outside, but nicely appointed and comfortable on the inside. The much more trim looking 777 was also a first for us. Virgin Australia has done a brilliant job of creating an uber-chic and relaxing environment.

But airline travel was not my only mode of conveyance. A tremendous variety of automobiles

Business Class Cabin - Qantas A-380

 got me around large swaths of territory in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, adding two new countries and three American states to my list of adventures.

And speaking of adventures, 2014 was a year full of them -- both good and not so much.

By far the most significant was the retirement of not one, but two of three N.O.W. LIFE LIST 2014 goals: snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, and dipping my feet in the Indian Ocean. Add in side-trips to two wine areas, the Blue Mountains, Perth and Auckland, New Zealand and you can readily understand why our May trip Down Under was not only the highlight of the year, but probably one of the best adventures in the last thirty years.

Bridge to Hanalei Bay

Later in the year we made a two-week jaunt over to Hawaii and spent time in one of our favorite places on Earth: Hanalei Bay. The beauty and tranquility of Kauai's north shore never fails to win me over in a major way. I'm not certain I would want to retire there, but it's easily at the top of my list of Best Places on Earth.

But it didn't stop there. 

You might have noted I wrote "two of three" when referring to my 2014 Life List. The third was a visit to the awe-inspiring Monument Valley, one of the most astonishingly beautiful desert locales in the American midwest. It's justifiably famous for the views it offers, and easily puts man in his place in the universe. 

Monument Valley

Work requirements saw a tremendous leap in my domestic travel, with trips two or three times a month throughout the Western United States. To a wide diversity of locations and environments: Dallas; Missoula; Las Vegas; Seattle; Albuquerque; the middle of South Dakota; Portland; Honolulu; Phoenix; The Bay Area; Reno; Austin; Minneapolis; San Diego -- and in many cases hundreds of miles along the highways and byways in between many of these spots.

Other personal trips included jaunts to San Diego and Las Vegas; an attempt to visit the fog-enshrouded Bryce Canyon; Maui; and a complete circumnavigation of The Grand Canyon -- without a single sighting of the Canyon itself.

Yes, there were some negatives. Being ill on my second day in Monument Valley was no fun, nor were the at-times unavoidable airline delays of hours and hours in airport terminals -- two of which resulted in rough weather at our destination, compounding the inconvenience. 

(As I noted in comments above, the two most memorable were A- an eight hour delay in Melbourne which resulted in landing during a tropical storm in Auckland, and, B- its stateside twin of a four hour delay in Phoenix, with a monsoonal landing in Las Vegas. I'm not a fan of storm-related landings, and these were two of the most energetic.)

Cheers

In summary, 2014 tested my mettle as a traveler, and I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. (The intermittent health and operational hiccups along the way were unfortunate but unavoidable. C'est la vie.)

As we close in on the end of 2014, I offer a twin toast to the old year and the new. 

May good adventures find you, and liven up your life. Cheers.



Some highlights from 2014, a year On the Road (and in the air):

Leaving Long Beach

Wall Drug Store, South Dakota

View from the new Vegas High Roller

Sunrise in the Bay Area

Live band in Austin

The Great Barrier Reef

Selfie at the Reef

The Sydney Opera House

Stormy skies over Melbourne

Laguna Beach

The Vegas Strip

Seeing the Indian Ocean for the first time

Perth

Skies over Montana

Into Monument Valley

Road to Hana

The Hanalei Valley, Kauai

The New Zealand rainforest

The View from Below

Pic of the Day: Paris Metro

"Le Metro", short for Metropolitain, is one of the largest and most extensive underground subways in the world. Initiating service more than a century ago, there is always a Metro station just a short ways away.

This is from the entrance to the Champs Elysee Clemenceau station.

http://www.parismetro.com

Pic of the Day: Sunset Paddle

A late-in-the-evening paddle boarder heads down to the beach in the Hawaiian town of Lahaina, as a visiting Celebrity Cruise ship sits just offshore silhouetted against the island of Lanai.

Pic of the Day: Breaking it Fast

One of my passions is travel. Another of my passions is breakfast. 

I love it when my worlds collide.

Keeping it simple: Cheese omelette and hash browns, just off I-40 in Ludlow, California.

Pic of the Day: Along the northern canals

A hazy afternoon in Amsterdam. Its canals have earned it the moniker: "Venice of the North".

Picture of the Day:

On this day which holds a spiritual significance for so many in this world, it's timely to note that oftentimes we need to look out and around us to make ourselves better within.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Regardless of your religious persuasion, we would like to wish each and every person who blesses us with their visits and support with our most sincere appreciation, and for the happiest of the holiday season for you and yours.

Pic of the Day: Fashion Sense

Fashion knows no time.

A woman in Dubrovnik, Croatia checks out the mannequin's style at a souvenir shop just off the town's main shopping boulevard, The Stradun.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradun_(street)

Pic of the Day: Kitschy Caffeination

Cup of coffee at The Peppermill, Las Vegas

Kitschy caffeine at its best.

http://peppermilllasvegas.com/#home

Pic of the Day: The Overseas Highway

One of many bridges along Highway 1, "The Overseas Highway", crossing the Florida Keys. It's a long, beautiful drive until it drops down into Key West, where adventure awaits.

Strongly recommended: a Jimmy Buffett CD playing on the stereo, and a taste for fried conch.

Pic of the Day: Atlantic Storm Brewing

A stormy day along North Carolina's Emerald Isle.