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Well the year is almost over for real (my travel days are numbered this year a while back) and since everyone else is doing it, I might as well right! Not as much travel this year as last, but then it was a small year last year anyway. This year had some craziness back in the mix, purely because I could.

This is what my year looks like on a map

Not that big of a year of flying... but still plenty of fun.

Not that big of a year of flying… but still plenty of fun.

That is a total of 23418 miles. I wouldn’t even make silver on any one airline with that amount of flying… *sigh*. But hey… who cares right! Let’s break that down to some stats:

Total Miles: 23418
Total Flights: 16
Longest Flight: Seattle to Frankfurt – 5109 miles
Shortest Flight: Seattle to Spokane – 224 Miles
New Airports: 5 – Frankfurt, Newark, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Spokane
New Airlines: Condor
New Aircraft: Boeing 787-9, Boeing 747-8i
Most Flown Airline: TIED! United – 6, Alaska Airlines – 6
Most Flown Aircraft: Boeing 737 (all variants) – 6

I managed to get one new state (Oklahoma) but no new countries in the mix (in fact the only time I visited another country was my trip to Frankfurt). I will have a separate post on all the driving we did this year, rating mine and Heidi’s favorite rental cars of 2015.

Next years travel will make for a much longer year for miles, purely because Heidi and I are travelling back to Australia and then up to Asia. But for the moment, there is still some craziness involved. If all goes to plan I should be able to knock my unvisited states to practically nothing.

Here is to a good travel year in 2016!

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Christmas has always been important to me. As an Australian it is the big day at the end of the year, one to bring together all of the family. But here in the USA for some people it isn’t that important (religious differences have nothing to do with that statement of course), for some Thanksgiving is that day. That is how it is in Heidi’s family, so that is the day we need to be together. Christmas for her family is not that big of a deal. It is not a must do thing, but for me, it’s all I have.

Christmas is a tough day though. It is the one day I miss home more than anything, because I can’t see my family. So it is the day that I want to be with my new family, to celebrate the one true holiday in my heart. This year was going to be even harder than normal, because I drew the short straw and had to work. When you work somewhere that is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, someone has to work right? Well I did work and it was ok, but it didn’t make the day feel special. I didn’t want to even try as I had a shift that had me away from home most of the day. So Heidi and her parents decided to try and make what was left of my Christmas time special.

We had a brunch at her parents house yesterday (the 26th) and it was less like Boxing Day and more like Christmas Day. Which is funny because the tradition of boxing day is that the “servants” who had to work on Christmas day were allowed to have the next day off to celebrate with their families. Sound about right? So we traded gifts and had a fantastic time. Spent time as a family and after all the relaxing and enjoyment, we spent the afternoon watching a movie and tv. It was pretty much a good day!

I managed to get some very cool presents as well. Heidi’s cousin made us both some stockings for next year and they are pretty unique. Heidi’s has a Cat on it, mine has a Kangaroo. Heidi’s parents got us a waffle maker (now to figure out what this Chicken and Waffles thing is all about) and Heidi got me an amazing gift. She got me my spirit animal. A Raccoon!!! I have my own little Raccoon (hand puppet) and I have named him Cheese. Some Australian’s might get it, most American’s will not.

Although I had to work this year, Christmas was a pretty good day. I got to spend time with family, eat some foods (hello treats!) and enjoy giving gifts to the special people in my life.

Merry Christmas Y’all!