My 2022: Yearly Travel Summary

2022, what a relief. After disastrous years 2020 and 2021, I was worried that 2022 is going to be another horrific pandemic year, but, luckily, the world slowly started getting back to normal. Being based in Hong Kong in January I remember feeling very pessimistic about it all, but once I got away from Hong Kong things really started looking up and the year just got better and better. I saw and experienced so much, it’s really difficult to wrap my head around all that has happened.

Somehow I managed to not only revisit old favorites but also finally explore parts of the world I’ve long fantasized about visiting and learn a lot about the world, and myself. It was a humbling enriching experience.

Overall

This year I’ve explored a bit more of my Hong Kong base, with revisits to Thailand, Israel (x2), Greece, Austria, Spain, Guatemala, United Stated, Japan, and Taiwan, and first visits to Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi), Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Peru, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.

So, here’s a quick summary of my 2022 in travel…

January

Not really much to say about this January. It was bad. Was stuck in Hong Kong in a time when it seems like Omicron is going to explode and Hong Kong’s zero-covid policy is about to collapse. This was a difficult month.

February

Escaped Hong Kong’s insanity to get some relief in Thailand, and boy, am I glad I did that. Bangkok was just the escape I needed to get back to a functional state to recover from the world covid collapse. Got some warmth, got some space and air, and was able to catch up on my work activities and plan ahead for the upcoming year.

Bangkok, Thailand

March

On the way to Israel I figured I want to try and visit a new place I’ve never been to before, and Emirates with the still running Expo 2020 opened up and invited tourists back in with relatively fewer pandemic restrictions, so made a stopover in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and had a world of adventures and new experiences.

Emirates

Israel

Mitzpe Ramon and Sde Boker : Negev southern Israel

April

Did a father-son trip to Northern Greece and Vienna Austria.

Greece

Visions of Thessaloniki and Northern Greece

Austria

Visions of Vienna : Austria (updated photos at the end)

May

That’s when my grand plan of returning to explore South America began to take shape. In 2020 I started to make that happen, only to face covid while I was in Brazil and having to cut things short.

So, I made my way to Madrid for a few days, and from there made my first visits to Medellin Colombia and Santiago Chile.

Madrid

Colombia

Visions of Medellín : Colombia

Santiago

Visions of Santiago : Chile

June

Once I was in Chile I received an invitation to come visit Argentina, and couldn’t say no to that. Argentina far exceeded my expectations, and I then wrapped up my South American tour in a brief visit to Peru. Ran into some unexpected difficulties that had my plans changed, but was finally able to overcome that and make the most of July.

Argentina

Peru

July

July was crazy. Brief stops in Guatemala and New York, and from there all the way down to South Africa, my first time in Africa, with safari visits to Zimbabwe and Botswana. It was probably the most intense month I’ve had in since the pandemic started. I’m still trying to wrap my head around all that’s happened during that month.

(Very behind on posting on these, apologies, will try and keep up in 2023)

Guatemala

United States

Visions of New York City #2 & #3 (updated photos at the end)

Johannesburg

Zimbabwe

Visions of Victoria Falls : Zimbabwe

Botswana

August

Spent a bit of time with family and headed back to Hong Kong.

September to November

Mostly uneventful intense work months in Hong Kong. Did a bit of the usual hikes, but not much more than that.

December

To recover from work in Hong Kong, I had good getaways to Okinawa Japan, and Taiwan.

(Very behind on posting on these, apologies, will try and keep up in 2023)

Japan

Taiwan

Summary

A great return to travel routine after the pandemic years (compare that with 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009). There were challenges, not everything went smoothly, but gosh was I happy to be back on the road. Lots to cherish and be grateful for from this year, the return to sanity.