First of all, Happy New Year! What a year 2011 ended up being. It is not easy to track and follow the time line. I know I am not the only one who notices how much faster the years have passed recently. Maybe it is that we are caught up so much within our schedules, careers, and friendships. Maybe it is that we are constantly looking forward instead of enjoying our moments. Or, it could be something as simple as we stare into our BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, Mac, and/or social network so much that we fail to realize that there are better things going on right in front of us, and we do not need to try to touch and connect to everything through these screens. I definitely will try to shift my attention towards what is in front of me physically, and absorb much more in the coming years.

Thankfully, the same technologies that can distract us, also keep the world within a click or tap as well. I have never kept a written journal besides blog posts, but I have always kept a loose photo journal and travel log. Thanks to this, I, like many, have been able to reflect on the years that have come and gone. You can view some of these photos here.

As for travel…people joke with me that I spend more time on a plane than on the ground. Thankfully, I love traveling, and getting to play music while doing it is a blessing. As no surprise, I am drafting this post on my first flight of the year…bright and early New Year’s Day on route to Vail! As for the numbers, check out the travels stats below…

2011 consisted of 194,029 miles, 502 hours flying, 325 days away from Miami, 87 flights, 41 airports, and stepping foot in 19 countries!

I have been a loyal American Airlines AAdvantage member since 1992, and they along with their Oneworld partners have connected me through the following airports as I also passed one million miles this year…

MCO (Orlando), JFK (New York City), MAD (Madrid), MUC (Muenchen), BRU (Brussels), LHR (London), LGA (New York City), MIA (Miami), LAS (Las Vegas), LAX (Los Angeles), PUJ (Punta Cana), HKG (Hong Kong), KUL (Kuala Lumpur), NRT (Tokyo), PVG (Shanghai), ORD (Chicago), BCN (Barcelona), NCE (Nice), YUL (Montreal), NAS (Nassau), DFW (Dallas), ZRH (Zuerich), DUS (Dusseldorf), SCL (Santiago de Chile), CCP (Concepción), SNA (Santa Anna), TXL (Berlin) FAO (Faro), LGW (London), MXP (Milano), SIN (Singapore), LIS (Lisobon), FRA (Frankfurt), FLL (Ft. Lauderdale), BOS (Boston), PRG (Prague), AUH (Abu Dhabi), GRU (São Paulo), and IAH (Houston).

After all this, one of the most common questions I get is…”When are you going to stop traveling so much?”. That question is quite simple to answer…when I wake up one day, and I am sick of it, but I cannot say that will be so simple. Some people like to travel some do not. Some people like their careers, some do not. Some are scared to reach further, etc. I encourage people to see as much of the world as possible, whether it is a trip 50 miles away, or 5k miles away.

On that thought, I just want to thank all the friends I have made along the way. See you my next time around, or if we cross paths on the way. My home is in my head, and I want to leave this world exhausted. Happy New Year, and have a great 2012!