My travels in 2017
Every year since 2005, I have posted a list of the cities where I have spent a night away from home in that calendar year. (Both last year and the year before, I then found myself doing one more trip to a new place later in December. I'm just back from my second last trip to London of the year, and nothing more is planned, so hopefully this list will be definitive.) Previous years: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.
My list for 2017, then, is:
*London, UK
Tirana, Albania
*Belfast, UK
*Helsinki, Finland
Birmingham Airport, UK
*Loughbrickland, UK
Strasbourg, France
Andorra-La-Vella, Andorra
Berlin, Germany
Meriden, UK
Canterbury, UK
Remilly Aillicourt, France
*Kidderminster, UK
*Brussels, Belgium
Oxford, UK
*Sofia, Bulgaria
Johannesburg, South Africa
*Washington, USA
New York, USA
Amsterdam, Netherlands
That's 20, less than 2016 or 2015 but more than most, in 11 countries. I also transited Ireland and Spain by road, and Austria in the airport, without staying overnight, so the country total for the year is 14, one of which was new to me (South Africa). Slightly surprised that I avoided Luxembourg en route to and from Strasbourg (due to missing the more direct trains in both directions, alas).
Edited to add: Of course, after this was written, I ended up making an unexpected day trip to Milan. So my country total ends up at 15, though the overnights list remains unchanged.
It's very much a north-west Europe map apart from the obvious outliers (East Coast, Andorra/Barcelona, Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Johannesburg).
You can tell which route we take when we drive to Northern Ireland. The weird triangle with Brussels on its left angle is from my two choices of railway line in and out of the city in the morning.
My London happens mostly between St Pancras International and Westminster, with particular concentration around our Covent Garden office. Outposts include the Georgian restaurant in St John's Wood, London Film and Comic Con at Kensington Olympia, the Sci-Fi London film festival in Stratford, and the Tower.
And my Brussels is a city of railway stations, and working the offices and eateries of the European Quarter. I think of myself as someone who avoids Place Luxembourg relative to most of my colleagues: clearly I have not been very successful!
My list for 2017, then, is:
*London, UK
Tirana, Albania
*Belfast, UK
*Helsinki, Finland
Birmingham Airport, UK
*Loughbrickland, UK
Strasbourg, France
Andorra-La-Vella, Andorra
Berlin, Germany
Meriden, UK
Canterbury, UK
Remilly Aillicourt, France
*Kidderminster, UK
*Brussels, Belgium
Oxford, UK
*Sofia, Bulgaria
Johannesburg, South Africa
*Washington, USA
New York, USA
Amsterdam, Netherlands
That's 20, less than 2016 or 2015 but more than most, in 11 countries. I also transited Ireland and Spain by road, and Austria in the airport, without staying overnight, so the country total for the year is 14, one of which was new to me (South Africa). Slightly surprised that I avoided Luxembourg en route to and from Strasbourg (due to missing the more direct trains in both directions, alas).
Edited to add: Of course, after this was written, I ended up making an unexpected day trip to Milan. So my country total ends up at 15, though the overnights list remains unchanged.
It's very much a north-west Europe map apart from the obvious outliers (East Coast, Andorra/Barcelona, Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Johannesburg).
You can tell which route we take when we drive to Northern Ireland. The weird triangle with Brussels on its left angle is from my two choices of railway line in and out of the city in the morning.
My London happens mostly between St Pancras International and Westminster, with particular concentration around our Covent Garden office. Outposts include the Georgian restaurant in St John's Wood, London Film and Comic Con at Kensington Olympia, the Sci-Fi London film festival in Stratford, and the Tower.
And my Brussels is a city of railway stations, and working the offices and eateries of the European Quarter. I think of myself as someone who avoids Place Luxembourg relative to most of my colleagues: clearly I have not been very successful!