We had a roller coaster ride on an airplane, got sick on a cruise along the Jurassic coast of England, we enjoyed nature walks to walks in the city that never sleeps (New York City), and we visited 12 countries on 3 continents. We had a fabulous year exploring many places we have not been before, like Marrakesh, to enjoying Paris at a slower pace.
Let the Adventure Begin
Our adventuress roller coaster ride on an airplane was coming into land at Krakow, Poland. I rarely get a window seat, but for some reason this time I did. I rarely take videos, but this time I thought it would be fun to make a video going from above the clouds, through the clouds, and landing. Well, at least I thought it would be fun. As we were descending through the cloud it seemed to go on and on. I finally gave up on the video and turned it off.
About thirty seconds later, we did a killer whale impersonation and climbed very steeply and fast back up above the clouds. I really did think if anyone was above the clouds on a plane watching they might mistake us for a whale. What I was really amazed at was that no one panicked. There was some chatter but no screaming we are all going to die, which did happen on a flight I was on once, it was the roughest turbulence I had ever experienced – but anyway I was very happy that the passengers on this flight pretty much took it in stride. It was too foggy for the pilots to see the ground so we were diverted to another airport were we safely landed.
The cruise was a birthday present that included cream tea as we cruised along the Jurassic Coast of England. It was a beautiful day, but apparently the ocean did not get the memo that I get motion sick – I did take something for it but I am guessing it was out of date or… anyway, it didn’t work. If you want to learn more please take a look at the blog I wrote. My husband, who did not get sick, took many great pictures and it is a beautiful area.
Favorite Places to Visit
Every year people ask me “what was your favorite place?” It is impossible to answer that question. The places we go to are big cities to tiny towns, from nature to sky scrappers, from one rabbit to three dogs to… If my life depended on choosing where this year, I guess I would say Edinburgh and Marrakesh. My sister and her boyfriend were able to join us in Edinburgh and it was also during the Fringe festival, which is amazing. Marrakesh is somewhere I have wanted to go to for a long time and it was perfect. We loved where we stayed, enjoyed the craziness of dodging scooters that pass you along the narrow streets in the markets, the people we meet were very helpful, and we enjoyed many great conversations.
This year we were fortunate to visit 7 countries we have not been to before in this order – Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, and Morocco. I could talk all day about any one of them. Will I find time to write about them? I hope so; they each disserve the time. In addition, it was fabulous to visit so many Christmas Markets. Budapest, Luxembourg (there are several I liked), and Union Square in New York City were my favorites.
Housesitting
As you know we housesit most of the year. This year we had 15 house sits, bringing the count up to 51 completed. We are currently on our 52nd housesit in Brooklyn, New York for one bunny rabbit. The rabbit is very cute and the views from here are amazing!
So to wrap up 2019 we traveled over 24,000 miles, 15 house sits, which included 12 cats, 11 dogs, 3 ducks (plus wild ducks), and 1 rabbit. We were on 3 continents, visiting12 countries (7 for the 1st time), 5 US states, 46 weeks of house sitting (we purposely took some time off), 8 flights, countless miles driven, many bus and subway rides, 5 trains, and tons of walking.
Next Year
What’s up for next year? We will be in San Diego and northern California for January and flying back to NYC in February. We will be in NYC for several months, with one quick housesit during April in Montreal, Canada. Then late summer we will be going back to Edinburgh to take care of Phillip, the same cat we did this year. At the end of the year, we will be in Oslo, Norway, which is another repeat sit for more amazing cats. Not sure how this worked out, but we will be taking care of a lot of cats in 2020.
Happy New Year
No matter where you are or where you will be going we wish you an amazing 2020 and hope you have a chance to travel this year. If anyone needs a house sitter, please let us know! Enjoy.
Countries–12 (major cities visited)
US (5 states, cities–Port Angeles, WA; Portland, OR; San Francisco/Oakland/Santa Maria, and San Diego, CA; Las Vegas, NV; and New York City, NY)
Mexico (Tijuana)
Scotland (Edinburgh)
England (Wantage, Oxford, Exeter, Bristol, Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth)
Poland (Krakow)
Slovakia
Hungary (Budapest)
Austria (Vienna)
Luxembourg (Luxembourg City)
France (Paris)
Spain (Barcelona}
Morocco (Marrakesh)
