2012: My Year in Review

I had no idea how I would be able to top 2011. I was in Australia for crying out loud. I did everything to the extreme, from bungy jumping to scuba diving. How could I possibly keep up that momentum in 2012? I wouldn’t say 2012 topped 2011, but I sure as hell tried.

It seems like I was traveling every month this year, even if it was only to the next state. But this will be the theme for 2013 as well, more regional trips and a handful of international ones. So here’s a sum up of my year, both here on the blog and the other 10% of my life.

January

Within a few days of landing back in America, I was back at my seasonal job at the Atlanta Gift Mart and stayed there for a month and a half to save up for future travels. I caught up with friends and even went to a tequila tasting. My mom had a cancer scare, but it turned out to be nothing, thank God.

Tommy came to visit and we road tripped to Nashville, where we visited my aunt, cousins and friend Shauna, ate biscuits at Loveless Cafe and wandered Music Row. In Memphis, we saw all the touristy sights, including Graceland, Beale Street and the Peabody Ducks.

February

I knew I wanted to go back to Charleston since it was the first time I would return since the summer I graduated back in 2010. We stayed at the NotSo Hostel and ate at all my favorite restaurants. He left right after Valentine’s Day and I started the dreaded job hunt.

March

After a lot of thought, I decided to give up alcohol for the month of March, despite St. Patrick’s Day and other drinking occasions. While it was difficult, I’m glad I did it. I also ran my first race in many years and decided to make it a monthly tradition.

April

I started work at an Irish pub near my house. Not much to say about that.

May

Over Cinco de Mayo weekend (and Sammi’s birthday), we went up to Charleston for A Charleston Affair, my college reunion of sorts. We stayed with my friend Scotti and ate cupcakes and went kayaking on Shem Creek. I was so happy to be back in the city I love.

June

My friend Scotti surprised me with a birthday trip to San Francisco where we would cheer on her brother Fletcher as he left for a cross-country charity bike ride. It’s hard not to eat everything in sight in a foodie city like San Francisco, so I don’t feel bad for gorging on amazing brunches, food truck offerings and pizza. We revisted Alcatraz, where I hadn’t been since I was a child.

July

I ran my very first Peachtree Road Race on the Fourth of July. I went back to my seasonal job at the Atlanta Gift Mart and celebrated my 24th birthday in a low key fashion: with brunch at one of my favorite places followed by a full day of work.

Rachel and I road tripped up to Charleston to show Christine and her friend Renee around the city. Then we went up to Asheville to visit Sammi and so that I could tour as many breweries as possible. Our visit coincided with the Bele Chere Festival so we got to see some great free concerts.

August

Sammi and I road tripped to Pawley’s Island to celebrate our friend Liza’s birthday and enjoy everything that the Dirty Myrtle has to offer: cheap drinks and good beaches. A few weeks later I took advantage of the birthday present from my parents, the chance to scuba dive at the Georgia Aquarium. It was amazing to be up close with the whale sharks and manta rays while my family watched from the gallery.

September

After seeing Rachel off to school at the University of Georgia, we came back for the first football game of the season, which was a scorcher. I did, however, cool myself off with a visit to the Terrapin Brewery, a place I’d been looking forward to going to for a long time.

A few days later I was jetting off to Portugal for the Travel Bloggers Unite conference. I fell in love with Porto and the northern region, the food and the wine. I was also very excited to meet some travel bloggers I’d been in contact with for years but had never met face-to-face.

From there I flew Ryanair (ughhh) to Munich to meet my friend Christine for a weekend of beer and sightseeing. I did more tours and such once she left. A few days later I was in Innsbruck completely blown away by the Alps. I even went paragliding, something I didn’t expect.

I was sad to leave the nice group of Aussies at Doug’s Mountain Getaway, but it was time for the big show: Oktoberfest. Christine let me borrow a dirndl and I was ready for liters of Paulaner and yummy potato soup. I was not prepared for rowdy German teens who hit my friends and the insane lines for the bathroom.

October

Christine and her fiance Joey brought me to their house in Salzburg, the home of classical music. I went on a Sound of Music tour, ate proper schnitzel washed down with Stiegl beer, went tobogganing and enjoyed the holiday markets. My next stop was rainy Vienna where I wandered the Naschmarkt, saw lots of Klimt artworks and visited entirely too many palaces.

On my longest travel day, I took a train from Vienna to the town of Freiburg in Germany’s Black Forest to visit friends Ali and Andy and to hang out with fellow visiting travel bloggers Erica and Shaun. I moved onto the beautiful city of Heidelberg, straight out of a fairy tale.

I met up for dinner with my friend Jana, who I met working in Sydney and who is now a medical student in neighboring Mannheim. She invited me to come out with her the following night which is how I found myself on a German medical student pub crawl.

On my whirlwind tour of Germany, Cologne was next. It rained during my entire stay, but I did buy some of the famous cologne and drink kolsch beer. I wasn’t as impressed with Dusseldorf, but enjoyed Hamburg, especially the free walking tour and pub crawl in the infamous Reeperbahn.

I was most excited about visiting Berlin, but I didn’t immediately warm to the city. Thankfully I came around once I saw the East Side Gallery, had my first doner kebab and wandered the Turkish markets. I also went on a terrific bike tour and visited an abandoned airport.

A day trip to Dresden wasn’t what I expected, but I couldn’t deny the city’s beauty, even post-war. My final leg of the itinerary brought me to Frankfurt for the Frankfurt Book Fair, where I got a sneak peek of what books would be added to my Amazon list for the year.

November

I had only been back in America for three weeks when I left again. I was thinking about going to World Travel Market in London before I got to Germany but hadn’t completely decided until a few weeks later. At that point, my sister Sammi decided to join me.

We added a few days onto the trip to explore other parts of the country, starting with a day trip to lovely Bath. I wasn’t overly impressed with the Jane Austen Centre, but the Bath Abbey, Royal Crescent and Roman Baths were all worth a visit.

Back in London I ran around like a crazy person trying to network and figure out where I wanted to go this year. Sammi, on the other hand, was able to freely explore. Later that week, I was back in Pawley’s Island, South Carolina for my friend Caroline’s wedding. I was able to catch up with high school friends and celebrate the coming together of two of my friends.

December

I went back to my seasonal job (see a pattern?) at the beginning of the month but had no sooner started that I was off to New Orleans with my college friend Marina via the Megabus night bus. We stayed with a pedicab driver at her shotgun house in Marigny, only a short walk from the nightlife of Frenchman Street.

It was a much-needed weekend of eating (beignets, po boys, gator), drinking (hurricanes, Sazeracs, purple dranks) and being merry (reading in the park, wandering the Bywater, visiting Mardi Gras World). The end of the world didn’t come, but I spent the night running a night race decked in glow sticks and drinking beers at my favorite local brewery. Christmas Eve was an unusual affair, as my family and I went up to a rural area of Georgia to watch a mud bog, where big trucks drive around in the mud. It was much more entertaining than it sounds :).

Top 5 Posts of 2012: 

• Making Travel a Priority in College –over 15,000 page views
• 25 Things to Do Before Turning 25 –over 2,000 page views
• Photo Friday: Venice Beach, CA –over 1,000 page views
• Australian Backpacker Bars –over 900 page views
• What’s In My Carry On Bag? –over 500 page views

Top 5 Instagrams:

• F Yeah Alps!– 15 likes
• I’m in the freakin Alps! Does not look real.– 15 likes
• Champion (Peachtree Road Race) – 15 likes
• Hey, Salzburg – 13 likes, 2 comments
• This was my morning (scuba diving at Georgia Aquarium) – 13 likes, 1 comment

Top 5 Facebook posts:

• “Thanks to EasyJet for naming me one of their November Bloggers of the Month! http://holidayblog.easyjet.com/blogger-of-the-month-november/”
• “I’m officially registered for TBEX Toronto in June! Looking forward to spending some time in the Great White North!”
• “Last night the fog settled on Frenchman Street, home to jazz clubs, an arts and craft market, street performers and very strong drinks. Loving this city more and more.”
• “Last night was spent drinking red, purple and green drinks on Bourbon Street and today I’m brunching in Bywater! Loving life.”
• “Welcome new friends! In honor of the first day of December, we’ve put up the family Christmas tree and I’m sipping Twinings Christmas Tea! How are you getting into the holiday spirit?”

Bloggers I met: too many to count!

Countries Visited: Portugal, England, Austria, Germany

States Visited in the US: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, California, Tennessee, Louisiana and brief drives through Mississippi and Arkansas

This year was full of highs and lows, some lower than I’d like, but I’m hopeful for a better 2013. I’m glad you’ve decided to follow along for yet another year of Caroline in the City.