I did a lot of adventuring in 2018. A lot of quick adventuring, too. Rick and I like to jump on planes at the last minute and go somewhere we’ve never been, and with 52 weekends we ended up in a lot of places this year. Some of our travels helped us get closer to checking off all 50 states and some of our travels helped us visit family. All of our travels helped us learn something—whether it was how to keep from dying of boredom on a cramped 14-hour flight, or the many valid reasons why you shouldn’t take champagne on a high-altitude hike or even what haggis tastes like. We’re wiser and happier because of 2018, and here are 10 of the best reasons why:

This February we traveled north to Fairbanks to see the Northern Lights. It was late, it was freezing, it was overrun with oblivious Chinese tourists who walked in front of every camera they saw, but mostly, it was incredible.

 

We had a blast playing at Tent Rocks in New Mexico. The slot formations were especially fun. Warning: don’t bring champagne to boom at the top of your hike. Even if it’s Gruet, made in New Mexico, the altitude will cause you to almost lose a finger. Hypothetically.

 

Rick and I went to Paris this spring. We spent a beautiful, joyous morning in the Monet Museum.

 

In slightly less cultured times, we went to the Indy 500 for some ‘Murica. It was the hottest race they’d run since 1937, which meant a lot of beer bellies were air-conditioned.

 

This summer we spent a week fishing and exploring outside Homer, Alaska. I haven’t quite mastered my “been there, done that” face.

 

Rick and I explored Ireland and Scotland with my parents this September. This pic looks a little like we stumbled in front of a backdrop meant for people much better dressed than we were, but really, all of the scenery was that spectacular.

 

I could have picked a number of photos from our hike on the Appalachian Trail (another item off the bucket list!) but we’re never mooshy on the internet. It had to be done.

 

I still don’t know how we managed it, but for two hours we had an entire valley at Mt. Rainier to ourselves on a cloudless sunny day.

 

The hike to Observation Point in Zion National Park was one of the hardest hikes we’ve ever done, but it’s hard to argue that the view wasn’t worth it.

 

Call them tourist traps if you want, but we had an authentic junk all to ourselves in Hong Kong, and sipped wine on the water as the sun set. You can trap me like that any day.

 

Thank you, 2018, and here’s to even more adventures in 2019!