Before putting pen to paper on this “Where I Traveled” post, I didn’t feel like I visited that many places last year but now that the words are in front of me I’m blown away.

I visited 13 states in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. In addition, I traveled to 1 US territory in Puerto Rico.

Outside of the US, I traveled to 2 countries in Italy and the Turks and Caicos. I’m expecting us to pick up the slack internationally in 2019.

With that said, this post is part of new “Where I Traveled” series where I’m recapping my travel for the previous year.

February

After sitting on the sidelines all of January, I went on one personal and one work trip, both of which were out West.

I first flew out to Phoenix for a work conference at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge. I didn’t stay at the hotel this year but I’d recommend it if you have the opportunity. It’s a beautiful piece of property with plenty to do.

The last trip I took in February was to Park City to go skiing with some friends. Skiing is one of my absolute favorite things to do and this trip was incredible.

March

The third month of the year had Ashlee and I travelling south to the Big Easy for a friend’s wedding. New Orleans weather in March is hard to beat so make the trip that time of year if you’ve never been.

April

In April, I had a work trip to Columbia, South Carolina that put me back in DC right before our biggest trip of the year across the pond.

Ah Italy! Ashlee and I took a quick 5-day trip to Italy to hang with friends for part of the trip. We saw Bologna, Modena, Parma, Rome, and Sacile.

May

May is a tricky weather month to visit DC but my parents, Aunt, and Uncle decided to make the trip. Ashlee and I had a blast showing them the city, sites, and especially the food scene.

June

I took the train up to New York City in June to attend my first Frequent Traveler University (FTU) conference. If you’re looking to learn from the best in the award travel business, you have to attend.

Our second trip in June had Ashlee and I heading South again. We typically take 1-2 Gulf Coast beach trips every year but this year we came up short. We were only able to squeeze in 1 but it was worth the effort as the weather was perfect.

July

A college buddy of mine asked us to join him and some friends at his family’s house in Frisco, Colorado over July 4th. With Frisco’s location, we were able to easily see Breckenridge and Keystone.

I flew to Charlotte in the middle of July for work and had my first experience in the Minute Suites. Hint…it was underwhelming.

Another work trip took me to Charleston, one of my favorite cities in the US. Charleston should be on everyone’s list of cities to visit.

August

While I don’t recommend visiting Mississippi in August, I went on a golf trip with a bunch of guys to Mossy Oak GC and Old Waverly GC. Both of these courses are great if you’re looking for courses to play in Mississippi.

I closed out the end of the summer in Charlotte for a quick work trip. August isn’t the best time to visit so I’d recommend the shoulder spring or fall months instead.

September

We went on our first non-beach family trip to Lake Tahoe and Napa to kick off the fall travel schedule. We had a great time together, in particular in Napa, where we visited a number of top-notch wineries.

Apparently one trip to wineries wasn’t enough as Ashlee and I flew to Portland in mid-September to visit some more. Portland is such a cool city that reminded us of Seattle with the bonus of incredible wineries nearby.

I was back in South Carolina (sensing a theme?) towards the end of the month on a work trip. I’d still recommend waiting until October to visit as it was warm at the end of September.

Ashlee and I flew down to Baton Rouge for the LSU-Ole Miss game to close out the first month of fall. We attend 1-2 LSU games a year and had a blast at this one seeing old friends and family.

October

One golf trip wasn’t enough this year so I decided to sneak in another one. My dad, one of his highschool buddies, his son, and I went to Mississippi and played Fallen Oak Golf, Mossy Oak GC, Old Waverly GC, and Dancing Rabbit GC.

I had so much fun at FTU in New York that I flew to Chicago to attend the Chicago Seminar Series. Richard Kerr, Award Travel 101 founder, encouraged me to go and it was worth every penny. I’ll be back in 2019!

Through Ashlee’s blog she scored us a partnership with a local Turks and Caicos hotel who put us up for a few days. We love the Caribbean and might even love Turks the best!

November

I’m getting married this month so in November some friends and I flew to Puerto Rico for my bachelor party. The scene there was perfect and I’d encourage anyone who makes the trip to see Old San Juan.

After my bachelor party I flew to Baton Rouge for Thanksgiving. The low key vibe with friends and family was just what I needed.

I flew to Houston for work to close out the month before getting back to DC before the holidays. If you’re looking for good weather and authentic mexican food, head to Houston in November.

December

The December holidays started off with a quick work trip to Austin. Every time I go to Austin I’m reminded how much I love the city.

For our second trip in December, Ashlee and I have visited New York. We’ve been to NYC during the holidays for the past four years and we don’t plan on stopping. There’s just something about the city that time of year that has us wanting to come back.

After we regrouped from NYC, Ashlee and I flew to Baton Rouge to spend time with my family over Christmas. We then drove to Shreveport to see her family and then drove back down to New Orleans to catch our flight back to DC.

Wish List

I thought I’d close out this post with places that we’re looking to travel to in 2019.

Throughout last year, if we came across a city that sounded interesting, we would write it down in a Google doc to come back as the start of 2019.

For example, I love Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown show and watch it regularly. Every time I’d watch an episode of a city that looked interesting, I’d write it down.

So to recap, below is a short list of places we’re considering to visit 2019.

• Los Angeles
• Hawaii
• Montana
• New Mexico
• Buenos Aires
• Montreal
• Sicily
• Japan
• Mexico City
• San Sebastián
• Portugal
• Morocco

Conclusion

So that’s the recap and wish list for 2019. Hopefully there’s inspiration in there of places to see and visit.

Where did you travel in 2018? Do you have recommendations on where we should travel in 2019? Please let me know in the comments or by sending me an email pointswithq@gmail.com.