Memories 2014: My Travel Year Recap

 

 

 

Yep! Yep! its that time of the year again when tradition of Christmas is over, unwrapping of gifts has completed,our bellies are stuffed with enough food ,we are almost over with our hangovers  and we are all set to welcome year 2015 with yet another hangover. So I thought I would take this opportunity to reflect on 2014. And what better way than sharing my most cherished travel moments , some unexpected surprises , what I did right ,what I F****** up ( Sorry for the F word…I will use the word screw ups from here onward…) . 2014 was the year of Impromptu’s . A classic example is my last minute trip to Hawaii… Well if my husband plans to surprise me then who am I to question?.. What do you say???  He is a keeper . So lets take a look at things I rocked in 2014 – My favorite moments from 2014.

 

Visit to Puerto Rico:
Bored of Boston winters, a trip to Puerto Rico was just perfect to catch up with my sun deficiency. Highlights of the trip were  Cabo – Rajo (salt harvesting state) , kayaking in Bio-luminescence bay and my love for cobble streets. You can look for my detailed trip here.

 

 

 

What I did Right : I booked an AirBnb accommodation rather than staying in a resort. Not only it had local feel to it ,(not to mention it was my first airbnb experience), our host was like our personal guide. He took us around in San Juan and gave us history behind the whole neighborhood. Pre-bookings of all the activities helped us a lot too.

 

What I Screwed up : I decided to eat some fruits from a road-side shack. I had stomach infection for the entire trip after that.

 
My Parents first visit to USA :
Ever since I moved to States, the thing I have missed the most is being with my parents. It was 2008 Fall when I came to US and it took them almost 6 years to hop on a plane and visit me here. I am so lucky to have them as my parents and their spirit towards life is so encouraging. I hope when I am their age I could have half the energy they have . Its tough to keep up with their pace  even now… And guess what I actually did not screw up anything this time  

 

 

 

Trip to Washington DC – Philadelphia – Atlantic City:

When you live in the east coast you always think you can anytime go to Washington DC, Philli or Atlantic City but it never happens. But when my parents were here , I thought of caching on this  opportunity.

 

 

What I did right : I stayed near The Capitol as i got last minute steal deal from expedia which in turn saved us some money on cabs. Also I always packed some snacks as we set out our day of sightseeing , avoiding money pits of museum food stands.

 
What I screwed up : I am not sure if going to DC on memorial day weekend was a good idea as there were just too many people everywhere. The photo above has been taken early morning. Also the bike rally made it impossible to cross the streets.

 
Camping in New Hampshire:

Me and my husband have never ever camped in our lives before but for some reason we have a tent. So this summer came and went without any thought of using the tent like every year until my husband asked me for a weekend camping in a campground in New Hampshire. I hopped on to the car instantly for some back-country adventure.I will soon have a whole blog post coming about my camping experiences.But overall I can say that we love nature and the outdoors, but we prefer sleeping in a real bed at the end of the day. However, I will definitely give it a second try.

 

 

What I did right : I booked the campsite which had flush toilets and showers. Super super convenient.

 

What I screwed up : Since my parents were here , we took them along and it was super super cold for them at night. Not to mention we were not fully equipped to deal with that kind of cold. My mom had cold , cough and fever for a week after that camping trip.She still gets ice chills thinking about surviving that night . 😉

 

 

Road Trip Boston to Cape Breton :

As I said 2014 was year of firsts . To add to my first time ever was summer road trip. This year I thrived a 2300 mile long summer road trip through Boston – Acadia – New Brunswick – Cape Breton – Halifax and back to Boston. Every place that I saw in this road trip was so unique and beautiful that I never thought that Canada would have so much to offer and that too right at East Coast. I saw some of the “Best” sunrises and sunsets in this trip , most number of lighthouses and not to forget Hopewell Rocks.

 

 

What I did right : I had a rough itinerary planned which gave us a good idea of what to do/see along the way, and even what stops to make. Not only did it help you figuring out how much time to spend, but it also helped us to budget accordingly.

 
What I screwed up : Wow!!! You guys really think I will screw up in everything that I do… not this time 😉 ….

 
Visit to National Parks :

So it was not just 1 or 2 or 3 but rather 6 national parks that i visited in late summer this year (all at once). This was on my wishlist forever… So here is the sequence in which I visited them : Arches, Canyonlands, Antelopes, Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone and last but not the least Grand Teton. Utah offers a landscape that is rarely seen on our planet and by far one of my favorite places I’ve visited in the U.S. . I can’t wait to get back and re-trace some of my steps! Going to Antelopes was like a dream come true.

 

 

 

 

What I did right : Well I let my husband plan this entire trip and what can I say, it went flawless…(well for the most part)…

 

What I Screwed up : I injured my back while lifting a bag right at the airport. For major part of trip I was limping and in unbearable pain.

 
Anniversary in Hawaii :

As part of our 2nd wedding anniversary celebrations, we decided to take up the celebrations to Maui , Hawaii. And for the first time it was not a trip but an actual vacation. I am sure you know the difference between a trip and a vacation? From sunny warm afternoons at beaches to freezing sunrise at Haleakala volcano, Maui was spectacular. I will be sharing a lot more details about this vacation very soon.

 

 

 

What I did right : Well I was with my Mr. Right  and it was our anniversary.. everything was ought to be  perfect . But as you know me, I did manage to make a mistake here too.

 

What I Screwed up : I lost my cellphone right after TSA check in at Boston airport. The kind of phone addict I am, I was miserable after that.

 

So here it is my year 2014, the way I see it. I am not scared to admit that I made some mistakes this year ( like every year) but like every year I will definitely try to improve upon my previous screw ups.And just when I thought that nothing could top over the experiences I had this year , my husband booked our tickets to Iceland. Yes, 2015 surely looks promising. I would like to take this moment and thank all my readers for following me on this journey. Your comments, feedback is priceless and does make me strive harder. Please keep that up. Also do share with me your favorite travel moments of 2014 and your upcoming 2015 plans.I will love to hear from you.Have a fantabulous New Year and thank you for stopping by.

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