As 2019 wraps up I wanted to do a personal year in review - I traveled a lot this year, and had the good fortune of being able to live and work in a lot of different places.
I use a fun app called App in the Air that tracks all my flights and it prompted me to make this post. They sent me a notification that they created a 2019 review video, which is below.
JonLuca's 2019 in Review
I took 40 flights, for a total of 137 hours, or 5 days 17 hours of travel. This means I spent ~1.56% of 2019 on planes.
I also traveled 52,848 miles by plane, which is the equivalent of 2.12 times around the world.
This was also all leisure travel - none of this was company paid or work travel.
January
Flights: VCE - AMS, AMS - VCE, VCE - BRU, BRU - DUB, DUB - SFO, SJC - LGB, LGB - SJC
I started the year off celebrating new years back home in Vicenza, Italy. For Christmas a friend and I got gifted a trip to Amsterdam, so on the 3rd we flew to AMS and spent a little under a week there.
Amsterdam - January 3 to 7
I also had an incredible view of the Alps on the way back.
Amsterdam Flights
Later that week I flew to Berkely to start my last internship of my college career - helping build out the product at a small startup called Elevate Security.
Flying to Berkeley - January 20th
I visited SF a few times as well, but spent most of my time in Berkeley.
I also flew down to LA for a quick weekend right at the end of January.
February
Flights: None
My February was fairly uneventful - I spent most of the time ramping up at work. No travels besides seeing friends in the area and exploring Berkeley.
March
Flights: SFO - LAX, LAX - SFO
In March I went on a few retreats - I did another trip to Los Angeles and went on one of my org retreats (shout out Scope!) and then in late March I did a work retreat to Lake Tahoe. I also celebrated a friends birthday at Le Boucherie, the high end restaurant at the top of the Intercontinental in downtown Los Angeles.
Lake Tahoe Retreat - March 30th
April
Flights: SFO - LAX, LAX - SFO, SFO - LAX
In April I wrapped up my work at Elevate Security and ended up signing on full time to work at Pinterest.
Last few days on the Berkeley campus
I also had to find a new apartment in the city, move out of my sublet in Berkeley, and plan my round the world trip.
I had a very kind friend that agreed to help me move into my new apartment right at the end of April - I flew down to LA, then he and I drove up to Santa Barbara to pick up some of my stuff in storage, then we stopped in San Jose and finally dropped it all off at my new place in San Francisco.
May
Flights: SFO - NRT, NRT - ICN, ICN - TPE, TPE - HKG, HKG - BKK, BKK - HKT, HKT - BKK
This month was entirely dedicated to traveling. I won't rehash it here, but you can read about it in its own post.
June
Flights: BKK - FRA, FRA - PMI, PMI - FRA, FRA - JFK, EWR - SFO
Streets of Mallorca
The first two weeks of June were also dedicated to my round the world trip. I started full time at Pinterest on June 14th.
First day of work at Pinterest
I really consider this month to be my move to San Francisco. I got settled into my apartment, bought furniture and started a new life in a new city.
Views of the city from the roof at work
At the end of June we also had the Pinterest Pride parade, which was a blast.
Pinterest Pride
August
Flights: SFO - SBA, SBA - SFO
August was my first full month of work - I spent a lot of time at work and didn't do that much outside traveling.
I did go down to Santa Barbara for a week to see family, though. It was my fathers birthday so we enjoyed some beach time and just hung out in Montecito.
Santa Barbara - August 3 to 7
At the end of August I also met up with some friends and we all went to Outsidelands.
Childish Gambino at Outsidelands 2019
September
Flights: SFO - SAT, SAT - SFO
In September I went on a weekent trip to Pinnacles National Park.
Pinnacles National Park - September 13 - 14
Near the end of the year I also went to San Antonio, Texas and met up with a few people I met on the internet (my god!). In reality it was a pretty fun time - it was a bunch of other people interested in the churning hobby, so we all went for free and just met up.
The Alamo in San Antonio
October
Flights: SFO - SJD, SJD - SFO
The main vacation for October was San José del Cabo, and it was amazing. Went with a group of three other guys and we had an incredible time there.
Cabo San Lucas - October 23 to 28
I also used my resort credit from my Amex Aspire at the Waldorf Los Cabos and it was absolutely mindblowing. The Waldorf has quickly become one of my favorite luxury brands.
The Waldorf Cabo San Lucas
November
Flights: SFO - LAX, LAX - SFO
In November I went to a few friends birthdays down in South Bay, went to the Chrome Developer Summit, and flew down to LA for a quick weekend trip.
Chrome Developer Summit
I also checked out Mourad, in downtown San Francisco, which is absolutely a dining experience. Be ready to blow a bag (I think a dinner for two hit $400) but the attention to detail and service is just unmatched.
Mourad in San Francisco
December
Flights: OAK - PHX, PHX - PHL, PHL - AMS, AMS - VCE, VCE - AMS, AMS - PHL, PHL - ORD, ORD - SFO, SFO - SBA
Finally I wrap up the year as I write this, on Christmas Eve, with a whole lot more traveling.
I started December with the Holiday Party, a huge party thrown by Pinterest with an open bar, dancing, and photo booths. I obviously dressed the part.
Pinterest Holiday Party Outfit
The day after that I immediately flew into Bruges. I met up with an old friend there and enjoyed the city - I saw the Christmas markets, drank gluhwein and belgian beer, and went to the chocolate history museum.
Bruges - Dec 18 to 22
Drank a lot of Belgian beer - I always forget how cheap and how freely the beer flows in Europe.
Dinner with a friend in Bruges
After Bruges I flew into Venice and met up with my father. I'll chill in Vicenza for a little under a week, then head back to Amsterdam for a day, and then finally get a break for a day in San Francisco before heading to Santa Barbara until I start work again.
Vicenza
Finally I capped off my time in Europe at the Waldorf astoria in Amsterdam. It was probably my favorite hotel of the year - the service was incredible.
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam - Dec 29
I got upgraded to their Premier King room with a canal view, and had personalized surprises the entire stay. I highly recommend the WA Amsterdam!
This year I hit:
- 52,848 miles
- 137 hours
- 40 flights
- 12 countries
I averaged a flight every 9 days and a country per month.
It's definitely been a busy year, but I hope to out do myself in 2020. I've already got a couple trips on the books (Chicago is in the works, as is another Hawaii trip. I also want to hit up South America for the first time). I'm not sure if I can fit another RTW in this year, but I'll definitely try!