Reflecting on 2017 Travel

Personal

If 2017 can be defined, it can be defined as one of the most adventurous years of my life to date. While travel didn’t pick-up until March, all bets were off at that point. I thought it would be fun to re-cap our year of Adventure Travel in numbers and sharing a selection of some of my favorite photos and the stories behind them from the year.
Looking out plane window

2017 Travel in Numbers

Miles Flown

States Visited

Countries Visited

Photos Taken

Napa Valley, California

Couple in Napa Valley
As my belated birthday trip, Ryan ‘surprised’ me with a trip to Napa Valley.  It was a a soggy, chilly weekend, but perfect for a romantic getaway to celebrate my 33rd year. Ryan arranged a driver from Wine Tour Drivers to drive us around in our rental car to different vineyards so we could imbibe without worry and we ate ALL the delicious food Napa had to offer. The weather gave us a perfect excuse to use our cozy fireplace in our room at The Inn on First.

Yucca Valley, California

Sunset Joshua Tree
 At the end of March, Ryan jet-off to Singapore for a business trip, so naturally I decided I needed to go somewhere the weekend he was gone.  I found an amazing home on Airbnb in Yucca Valley, which gave me close access to Joshua Tree.  The main purpose of this weekend getaway was to churn out content for my blog. I was a bit more successful with exploring Joshua Tree and experiencing the wild flower bloom on my way into work that Monday than I was churning out content.

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Joshua Tree National Park
Let’s just say that I fell slightly in love with Joshua Tree and the area when I stayed in Yucca. So much so that I convinced Ryan to take a  weekend to camp in Joshua Tree in April. Though, it didn’t take much effort on my part to convince him. It was a ton of fun and we were able to finally break in our camping gear while experiencing the magic of JTree.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe Sunset
For Memorial Day I was on a mission to fly somewhere to take advantage of our Southwest Companion Pass, but we didn’t want to have to fly too far to avoid taking a day off work.  A weekend getaway in Santa Fe was a great option because the flight to Albuquerque is just over an hour and the drive up to Santa Fe is about the same.  As fate would have it my best friend from college and writer of Her Money Moves was also visiting Santa Fe the same weekend. The weekend was the perfect blend of catching up with my bestie and experiencing the Southwestern charm of Santa Fe.  A couple highlights were heading to Bandelier National Monument to explore the cave dwellings and watching sunset over the city from Hillside Park.

Maui, Hawaii

We headed back to Maui for the third time this year for a few days before flying over to Molokai.  Our days on Maui were spent enjoying the amazing snorkeling the island has to offer and eating at some of our favorite places, such as Mala. I was super pumped to try out my new underwater housing for my Sony Alpha 6500 to snap some photos of turtles and my GoPro 5 to capture photos of us getting pounded by waves at Big Beach.

Molokai, Hawaii

Halawa Valley Overlook
Molokai added island number 4 to the places we’ve been in Hawaii. We have a goal to visit all Hawaiian islands we are able to visit, plus have heard that Molokai is not like the other Hawaiian Islands in most ways. The rumors are true. Molokai is the last thing people would imagine when they think of Hawaii. It’s a rural, rugged island, and at times you feel like you are the only ones there. Hiking Halawa Valley was one of my favorite experiences of the island as well as spending time on the seemingly deserted beach on the west coast. We also thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream shop in town, which we visited 4 times in 3 days.

Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga

Tongatapu
The Kingdom of Tonga is the most rugged place we have visited to date.  The main objective for visiting was to experience a place that not many tourist visit, and to go snorkeling with humpback whales. More on that in a bit. In order to begin our journey in Tonga, we flew into Tongatapu to experience the most populated of the islands. Renting a car to get around made for a perfect way to explore the island at our own pace and allowed us to explore nooks and crannies that no one other visitors seemed to know about.

Eua, Kingdom of Tonga

Eua Sunset
‘Eua is the least visited island by tourists.  There are no places to rent a car or restaurants to eat your meals and only a handful of accommodations to stay.  Most accommodations will provide meals for a fee or you can bring your own food to cook. ‘Eua is known for it’s hiking and bird watching. While we passed on the bird watching, we took a guided hike to Fangatave Caves and had a beach to ourselves for the afternoon.  Our mornings were filled with activity and our afternoons were filled with laying around, relaxing, and trying to stay cool.

Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga

Humpback Whale Calf Tonga
Vava’u is located on a lagoon that is the birthing destination for Antarctic Humpback Whales. And this, my friends, is why we went to Tonga.  It is still possible to snorkel with the whales, as long as you are with a licensed operator. We stayed on Treasure Island, a private island that is a 30 min boat ride from the main island of Neiafu. Our week was filled with snorkeling, relaxing, eating delicious food and getting to know fellow travelers, such as Jon Lawrie whom is currently conquering the highest mountain on each continent.  The biggest highlight of the week was snorkeling with Humpback Whales and snapping the above photo, which was ultimately selected as a National Geographic Editor’s week 6 favorite in their 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year contest.

Ruta del Vino, Baja California, Mexico

Ruta del Vino Baja California Winery
Driving down to Mexico is pretty easy for us. We usually go down to Puerto Nuevo for some delicious lobster tacos or take in a Toros baseball game in Tijuana. We finally were able to make it to the Ruta del Vino, the wine route, to taste some delicious Baja wines. The road is home to hundreds of wineries that are open for tastings and some even have rooms to stay overnight.  Don’t be surprised if you see us heading down here again in 2018.

New York

Barn at Orchard in New York
With my family spread across the US, we have a fair amount of travel to do to visit family. Two of my siblings happen to live in the New York City area. I took the opportunity to visit their new homes when Ryan went to Denver for the weekend. While I was hoping for some cold fall weather, we mostly enjoyed nice 70 degree days. Aside from hanging out with my family, the highlight was going to the Apple Orchard and getting in some nice Fall activities.

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo Building Sunset
I am fortunate enough to have a job that sometimes sends me to Tokyo, and I returned this year in November. While the main focus of my time in Japan was work, I arrived on a Saturday evening to have Sunday to explore and I also took advantage of my open evenings.  One of my favorite things to do in Tokyo is to walk as much as possible to explore the neighborhoods. I always come across beautifully quiet moments when I do that. It also happened to be around the time when neighborhoods were lighting their holiday lights. My co-worker and I took the chance to watch the lighting of the Midtown Tokyo Christmas lights and geek out with long exposure on our cameras. Another favorite thing is to visit cat cafes, where you get to hand out with cats and drink coffee.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge Swamp Walkway
Another trip to visit family, this time for Thanksgiving. So you can imagine that we did some very Thanksgiving things, like eat and drink a lot and watch football. Including a visit to Tiger Stadium to watch LSU vs Texas A&M. We also enjoyed walking around the swamps of Baton Rouge trying to spot an alligator. Spoiler alert: we didn’t see any this trip.

Sedona, Arizona

This might be a close second for my favorite trip of 2017, first being Tonga.  For one, it was my turn to surprise Ryan with a birthday trip and I was able to successfully keep the destination a secret for TWO MONTHS. He didn’t find out where we were going until we were basically there. Another reason why it is a close second favorite of 2017 is because of how beautiful the red rocks of the region are and we got to hike our hearts out.  It doesn’t hurt that we stayed at the luxurious and conventionally located Enchantment Resort, which I would highly recommend if you want to splurge on your lodging. My only disappointment was that we didn’t have time to use the pool! Sedona is a special place and will definitely be a place we will consider returning.

Chicago, Illinois

Snowy day in Illinois
 Our last trip of the year was to our hometowns to visit our parents, family and friends for Christmas.  We’ve been pretty lucky since moving out to San Diego with Christmas past being mild temperature-wise, but this time was a punch in the gut reminder of how horrible the winters can be there. One day the temperature was -1 degrees fahrenheit. My lips and nose became numb within minutes. Aside from the cold it was awesome catching up with friends and family that we could see. And I was especially grateful to be able to finally make it back to the Christkindle Market, a holiday tradition when we live in the Chicagoland area.
2017 was filled with some incredible adventures for us. Looking forward to what 2018 has in store, which we already know includes a trip to Nicaragua to surf. Do you have any travels plans for 2018? Comment below, we’d love to hear what you will be up to!
Looking out plane window with text overlay saying 2017 Travels Reflecting on Our Year of Travel in Photos
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Daina - Founder of headedanywhere.com

Daina - Founder of headedanywhere.com

Videographer, Photographer, Writer

Daina is the ocean-obsessed videographer, photographer, and writer behind the underwater and adventure blog, Headed Anywhere, featuring videography and photography to connect you with our natural environments. Her goal is to help create a sense of wonder for our oceans and wilderness and create a connection so strong that it leaves you driven to protect our beautiful world.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase using the link. If you are ready to make a purchase and would like to support this website in some way, using these links will help do exactly that. It's a win-win situation. If you have any questions about the products or companies, e-mail me and I'm happy to answer your questions. 

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6 Comments

  1. Steve
    Steve on January 2, 2018 at 12:22 am

    Just freakin’ stunning, Daina. Your photos this year are out of this world. I love seeing your travels through photos – your Insta game is on POINT these days! Brings a little bright spot to my day when I see you’ve posted stories. Keep up the good work!

    Reply
    • Daina
      Daina on January 2, 2018 at 7:29 am

      Hey Steve!Comments like this are like gold for motivation to keep going in the direction I have been. Thank you so much! Happy New Year!

      Reply
  2. Sydney
    Sydney on January 3, 2018 at 8:25 pm

    I hope in a couple of years my year in review will be as impressive as yours! I recently posted my 2017 travel year in review on my blog (www.sydneyseestheworld.com). It’s hard to go on too many trips when you’re still a full-time (and broke!) college student, but I was able to sneak a few great ones in this past year.

    Reply
    • Daina
      Daina on January 4, 2018 at 7:57 am

      I bet it will be since you will prioritize it in your life! We save so much of our money for travel and sacrifice elsewhere, then make it a priority to book our vacation time well in advance. It’s finding the time that it is the challenge for us now. Taking advantage of your college breaks is a good idea, but then you need to have the money! It’s the age old paradox of when you are young you have more free-time, but not but not a lot of money and as you get further along in life you have the money but not the time. Keeping travel as a top priority will always make it possible.

      Reply
    • Daina
      Daina on January 8, 2018 at 8:28 pm

      Joshua Tree is such an amazing place!

      Reply

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