Happy New Year, I am back and where I went
Happy New Year to all my readers! As many of you have noticed, I have been away for the past two weeks and I am finally back! Every year, we take a two week mandatory vacation where we must disconnect completely from work and, as far as my firm is concerned, we are dead. I took this as an opportunity to check out completely and really relax. That meant cell phone only, no technology, no laptop.
During this time, I took my first ever trip to Asia with a stop in Hawaii on the way. I traveled 23,549 miles. I went through 10 different airports. I stayed at five different hotels and visited three new countries. I had my luggage lost, a misconnect in Beijing and a very hectic first day of travel to get out of NYC. But I saw some of the most beautiful beaches and islands and got to experience food and cultures I never encountered before.
It was super fun and exciting and I can’t wait to start writing trip reports about all the things I did and the places I stayed. I hope everyone else had a great holiday!
My Travel the last two weeks of 2013:
Hi Professor,
Phuket has some nice beaches, but the better ones I’ve seen are on Surin and Similan Islands nearby. Have you been there?
When in Phuket, I only visited Karon Beach where my hotel was and Phi Phi islands. The scenery there was great, especially in Ma Ya Bay. Pictures coming :)
Awesome! Can’t wait to hear more. My husband and I discovered Europe in 2011; in Spain now, 5th trip to Europe. 4 1/2 trips on frequent flier miles. I love your site!! Any chance you can review Rocketmiles? I am using them this trip and 10 nights are earning 28,000 AA miles, taking advantage of promotions.
Just got home from SAN-LAX-PEK-BKK-USM-BKK-DPS-SIN-NRT-LAX-SAN on my Hhonors devaluation tour. Despite a 30 minute connection time through Beijing, we didn’t miss our connection…unfortunately, our bags did. First 3 days at Conrad Koh Samui without luggage, but a great trip nonetheless: I’d say the Conrad Bali is seriously underrated! Looking forward to your trip review.
Sounds like a great trip… and I definitely admire your ability to not get stuck in Beijing despite the 30 minute connection :)
Well, truth be told I received a great deal of help from an airline employee holding hand written boarding passes. He ran us through the airport and 2 check points. I tried to thank him with my very rusty Chinese…I hope he understood my appreciation!