My Cities 2012

I loosely started tracking travel and writing it up in a blog post in 2009, then more formally in 2010 via a Google Doc I kept throughout the year. 2011 was a big year in that Taylor and I settled into a real home together and the nomadic road I had been on came to close. In 2011 I started a new job in New York City and the travel decreased from pretty much all the time, to a more modest vacation and weekend travel mixed along with business travel.

2012 was the most magical year of my life. Of course the #1 reason is that Taylor and I got married! A lot of travel in the earlier parts of last year was focused around other friends getting married and lots of trips to Pittsburgh before the wedding. After the wedding, Taylor and I started our list of "moons"! That is the many moons we're taking in our first year of marriage together. Some of these are in this post, some will be in My Cities 2013.

I tracked more closely in 2012. I kept track of the purpose of the trip, how many nights I was gone and where we stayed. In 2011, I was away 74 nights of the year (20%) and in 2012 I traveled 94 nights, which is 25.75%.

I love travel and it's such an important part of my life and of my life with Taylor. Looking at the list below it looks like a lot! But I also know that this is one are of our lives that we make time for. It's where we allocate our disposable income, it's where we recalibrate our souls, it's where we connect with ourselves, each other and friends. It's critical to how I define happiness in my life.

I'm looking forward to so many more adventures in 2013! Any trips or recommendations of musts, please leave them in the comments!

January (2) Luso, Portugal - Palace Hotel do Bussaco Lisbon, Portugal - Hotel York House

Highlights: Holiday trip to Portugal

February (3) New Orleans, LA - Katie & Semmes' House

Highlights: Mardi Gras

March (10) Austin, TX - Driskill Hotel Savannah, GA - Avia Hotel Taos, New Mexico - VBRO House

Highlights: SXSW (year 5!), St. Patrick's Day with my Mom and sisters in Savannah and Joey's bachelorette in Taos

April (7) New Orleans, LA - McKenzie's House Pittsburgh, PA - Mom's House

Highlights: French Quarter Fest, Bridal Shower

May (4) Santa Barbara, CA - AirBNB Airplane - Red-eye

Highlights: Joey & Jeff's Wedding

June (15) San Francisco, CA - Anne's House Santa Clara, CA - Santa Clara Marriott Los Angeles, CA - Mr. C's Hotel Venice, CA - Hotel Erwin Montauk, NY- VBRO House Roxbury, NY - Roxbury B&B

Highlights: Nicky & Paul's Wedding, Ruthie & Erik's Wedding, my bachelorette, LA work trip and showing Taylor around my old stomping grounds, speaking at WITI

July (10) Burlington, VT - B&B Shelton, CT - Marriott Courtyard Carlsbad, CA - Grand Pacific Palisades Miami, FL - The Perry Pittsburgh, PA - Mom's House

Highlights: Idyllic 4th of July trip to Burlington with Taylor plus showing him my college town, work trips to CA, CT & FL and a dress fitting in Pittsburgh

August (13) Pittsburgh, PA - Mom's House Pittsburgh, PA - Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh, PA - Mom's House McCoy, CO - Black Mountain Ranch Pittsburgh, PA - Mom's House

Highlights: Our wedding! Our MiniMoon to Colorado!

September (2) Cape Cod, MA - Sea Crest Beach Resort

Highlights: Kate & Greg's Wedding

October (3) Luray, VA - Hemrock

Highlights: Weekend getaway to the Shenandoahs

November (14) Chambersburg, PA - Mom's House Pittsburgh, PA - Mom's House Boston, MA - Sea Port Hotel Antigua, Guatemala - Casa Santo Domingo Panajachel, Guatemala - Villas B’alam Ya Panajachel, Guatemala - Hotel Regis Santiago, Guatemala - Posado Santiago Washington, DC - Beacon Hotel

Highlights: Hurrican Sandy Evacuation, work trip to Boston, our VolunteerMoon to Guatemala through She's The First and Starfish One By One and TEDxWomen and the World Economic Forum Young GLobal Leaders retreat in DC

December (15) Las Vegas, NV -The Ogden Paris, France -Air BNB

Highlights: Downtown Project Las Vegas & speaking at TechWeek and our holiday trip (aka ParisMoon) to Paris