Last year’s travel adventures took me to 26 countries- including two new ones: Estonia and Russia. I have now lived in or visited 78 countries- most of which still exist. My travel distance by bus, train, ferry and plane was the equivalent of traveling around the globe six times.
Where did you get to in 2019?
I had some amazing Highlights:
Meandering around marvelous Malacca/Melaka- thoroughly enjoyed this historic Malaysian city, the food, atmosphere and people.
The Malacca River
The Melaka Straits Mosque, Malacca’s stunning floating mosque is built on stilts above the sea
Stunning couple of weeks in Austria including a hike in the lower alps.
Rambling around Ljubljana, the charming capital of Slovenia, filled with stunning architecture and mouthwatering food:
Ljubljana Castle
Famous Dragon Bridge, Ljubljana
Raising funds for homeless young people by sleeping outdoors. Also hiking around the seven bridges of Sydney, Australia for cancer support.
Revisiting Angkor Watt, Cambodia which is now many more times busier than it was when I first went. It is now drowning in visitors.
Enjoying a short and very relaxing break in Fiji which I engineered as part of a “status run”, a trip solely for the purpose of maintaining my Frequent Flyer status. I try to avoid status runs but sometimes they are useful. I have kept One World Emerald, Star Alliance Gold and Virgin Australia Velocity Platinum this year along with IHG Platinum and Accor Gold. 
Discovering ancestors in Southern England
My ancestor’s Family Church in Devon, England
The water pump my great grandmother used
Celebrating Tet (New Year) in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam
Hiking along the stunning NZ Coast around and over long dormant volcanoes
Encountering the heart of Beijing , China including stumbling into a marriage market! 
Parents seeking partners for their children
Experiencing a new side of Hong Kong in the midst of the the situation there
One of my all time favourite activities is riding the Star ferry across HK Harbour- timeless
Chinese savoury porridge (Congee) at my favourite hole in the wall in HK
Delving into Moscow above and below
Exploring off the beaten path in Northern Thailand
Celebrating at Christmas markets in Stockholm, Lisbon, Tallin, Berlin and Dresden
Riding trains on four continents…
Riding the 1000 mile Spirit of Queensland train down the Northeast coast of Australia
Qantas over the Pacific
The most amazing two flights of the year were with my favourite Qatar airways onboard their stunning new One World 787
This was closely followed by my first ANA flight on one of their beautiful 787s. Amazing service and one of the most extraordinary ranges of meals I have experienced.
ANA 787
I also flew three other Star Alliance carriers for the first time EVA (underwhelmed), LOT (not grabbed) and TAP (pleasantly surprised).
In 2019, I flew One World member S7 across Russia. This meant I have now flown every One World member. Not sure if that is a record?!
I have a lot of posts still to publish from last year. I wont make any promises but hope to get them up over the next few months.
To a great 2020 wherever your steps take you.
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