2015 #AnnualReview Part 4: Travel and notable events for 2016

I know this is a travel blog, but I haven’t been doing much traveling lately. I have a few things planned for this year, though, and hopefully I’ll get to a few new places in Europe and in Asia by year’s end and hit some of my travel goals!

This is my fourth post as part of the Annual Review. Previous posts:

I followed these guidelines from here and here. Inspiration for this post from here.

Summary of 2015 travel

I went to Singapore, Thailand, Spain twice, New York three times, and Italy. Within the UK, I went to Yorkshire, Wales for a tournament, St. Albans to volunteer for a tournament, and Brighton for last new years and again for a tournament.

Plans for 2016

I randomly turned on BBC News this morning and there was a program on Myanmar (Burma). Since I might be going to meet a collaborator in Bangkok again this year, I really want to take the opportunity to go to there. The only way is to go through Bangkok. You can only get a visa from there, and you have to get a flight directly into the country. It’s been something I’ve been thinking about since earlier in 2015 when I met some people who were getting their visa to visit at the time. I’ll write more about it once I start researching it more!

To hit some more of my cultural goals this year, I’m going to plan to go to more events and explore more of London while I’m still here. I don’t work well when I feel like I’m in a repetitive rut, so this will help break the monotony and also get me excited to be here again. You could say I want to cultivate some kind of “tourist mind” or “traveler’s mind” if you are into terms like “beginner’s mind” from the meditation and yoga world. It’s too easy to become complacent when living in a place long term. It’s partly why as a New Yorker, there are many things I haven’t done there that people who visit would not miss.

Some initial travel and events for 2016

January
Les Miserables (London, UK)
Swing dancing lessons

Feb-April
Moving house (not sure where yet)
Secret speakeasy bar (London, UK)
Weekend trip to Spain (tentative)
Week long trip to NYC (not booked yet)

June
World Ultimate and Guts Championship (WUGC 2016) in St. Albans (if I make it onto the women’s masters team!)

July
Singapore and Thailand (tentative)
Myanmar (Burma) (tentative)

August
Sister-in-law’s wedding (New York, NY, USA)
World Domination Summit (Portland, OR, USA)
UK Ultimate Nationals

December
EcoHealth 2016 conference (Melbourne, Australia) (tentative)

No dates yet for:
Hand of God (London)
1+ more musicals in London
1-2 concerts in London
1 short trip in Europe
Short trips around the UK (Scotland, Wales)
Rollerdisco in London
Harry Potter World

In the meantime…

I have some ideas for what I want to do around London and the UK, but haven’t thought about when or how yet because I need to know what my ultimate season will look like. Things will start to ramp up this month, with trials starting up and clubs deciding who they want to take. I’ll see what happens! I would be happy either way, whether I make it onto my team of choice or not.

The more important trips I need to plan are the ones to New York and Singapore. I want to meet my niece who is on her way and due in March, and I need to go back to Singapore at some point this year. My advisor asked me to go back for the entire year, but I felt that it was not in my best interest. Maybe I’ll write more about that in the future.

I hope that if you find joy in travel, that you won’t limit yourself to reading and watching videos about it and actually put your mind to doing it! What are your travel goals?

Keep up to date with my plans by checking out my Travel Plans page. Happy New Year!

Photo: Jon Ottosson