Compared to years past, I flew a lot less this year. Check out my travel highlight posts from years past: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.
Here’s where I went this year:
Cities Visited: 16
Countries Visited: 2 countries
Miles flown: 57,107 miles
Weekends away from DC: 25
Total miles redeemed: 85,000 miles
And here’s what all that traveling looks like for this year:
January:
Cities Visited: Reykjavik
Miles flown: 5,568
Iceland
Gulfoss Waterfall on a cold January day!
February:
Cities Visited: Portland, OR
Miles flown: 5,603 miles
Portland, Oregon
Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach
March:
Cities Visited: Miami
Miles flown: 1,851 miles
Miami
Murals in the Wynwood District of Miami.
April:
Cities Visited: Raleigh, New York
Miles flown: 0 miles
Raleigh
Ran the 2017 Raleigh Rock N Roll Half-Marathon
New York
Walking along the Hudson Greenway looking towards Jersey City.
May:
Cities Visited: Los Angeles, New York, Punta Arenas
Miles flown: 10,965 miles
Los Angeles
High school friend’s wedding in LA!
New York
Trying out Burmese food at the Queens Night Market
Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
Hiking in Torres del Paine National Park.
June:
Cities Visited: Santiago, Chile; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; New York City; Los Angeles; Hilo, Hawaii
Miles flown: 18,861 miles
Travel Costs:
Chile
Wine tasting in Santiago!
Amsterdam
Exploring the beautiful city of Amsterdam
New York City
Marching with Spotify at the 2017 New York Pride Parade
Los Angeles
Walking around Fox Studios in Studio City, Los Angeles.
Big Island, Hawaii
Exploring Mauna Kea National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii.
July:
Cities Visited: Honolulu, HI; Cape May, NJ
Miles flown: 4,817 miles
Oahu, Hawaii
Morning stroll along Waikiki Beach
Cape May, New Jersey
Beach weekend in Cape May, New Jersey
August:
Cities Visited: Boston, MA; Portland, ME; San Francisco
Miles flown: 5,577 miles
Boston
Friend’s wedding in Cambridge!!
Portland, Maine
Roadtrip to Portland, Maine
San Francisco
Friend’s wedding in SF!
September:
Cities Visited: Chicago, Philadelphia, New Haven, Newport, Boston, Portland (ME), New York, Dallas
Miles flown: 3,656 miles
Chicago
Wandering around Chicago on a beautiful September afternoon.
New Haven, Connecticut
Trying out clam pizza at Modern Apizza in New Haven!
Boston
Having oysters in Boston!
New York
Visiting the World Trade Center Memorial in New York
Newport, Rhode Island
Exploring the amazing architecture in Newport, Rhode Island
Philadelphia
Pre-wedding / brunch in Philly
Dallas
Hanging in Dallas on a work trip!
October:
Cities Visited: Claymont, DE
Miles flown: 0
Delaware
Friend’s wedding in Delaware!
November:
Cities Visited: Charlottesville, VA; New York
Miles flown: 0
Charlottesville
Weekend trip to Charlottesville!
New York
Post-Thanksgiving Weekend in NYC
December:
Cities Visited: Philadelphia, Durham (NC), Charleston (SC)
Miles flown: 0
Philadelphia
Housewarming in Philly!!
Durham, North Carolina
In front of the Duke Chapel
Charleston, South Carolina
Walking around Charleston
How did I afford to do all this?
A lot of my travel this year was actually through road trips. I also redeemed quite a bit of miles not only for myself, but also for friends and family. A major highlight this year was redeeming 25k miles less than a day before a friend’s wedding for a cross-country flight for a friend who’s flight was delayed due to weather. I also redeemed my points to fly back to Hawaii, the first time I’ve been back in about two years, and for my brother to fly out east for Christmas.
I also relied heavily on Southwest. With the exception of my flight to Iceland and Portland, Oregon, all flights that I paid for were on Southwest. Now that all the major carriers have gone revenue-based and have made award redemptions increasingly harder to redeem, I’m going with the cheapest option. I’m even considering flying Spirit in the coming year!
Conclusion:
Unlike in years past, I did not travel solo at all this year. All of my travels were either with friends or family. I’ve also done a lot less credit card hacking, having opened up just one new account this whole year! 2017 was another amazing year of travel, and hope to continue exploring more in 2018!