WestCoastPDX

2020 will go down as one of my favorite years of global travel.

• Six continents.
• 25 countries
• 100k+ BIS
• Millions of points spent
• Life lived to the fullest

2020 Routes Flown:

Link to GC Mapper


Background:

I hit pause on my career in 2019 to focus on travel.
By July, I had no permanent home - my fiancé and I lived on the road.

I saw new perspectives, and have an appreciation for living that I didn’t have when the year started.
I learned a lot about how different attitudes, fears and hysteria in the first world, compared to the 2nd and 3rd.

I watched wealthy people hold so tightly onto life, that they stopped living.
And I saw working people struggle and suffer mightily, with no say in the matter at all.
I saw the most vulnerable and the poorest, completely silenced and ignored.

I saw things I never expected, and experienced a fresh appreciation for life.



January
Countries: USA, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Portugal, Netherlands
US States: Oregon

Highlights: Overland driving from Dakar, Senegal, through The Gambia, into Guinea-Bissau.
I've driven around Africa a decent amount, but, West Africa is really a different beast. So many bribes, so much corruption...
Sadly can't recommend. (Cape Verde was amazing and totally different though)




February
Countries: USA, Taiwan, Canada, Mexico
US States: Oregon, Nevada

Highlights: Driving around southern Taiwan, I had no idea how beautiful it was. Also: the dumplings in Taipei? Best of my life.

Taipei


March
Countries: USA, Australia
US States: Oregon, California, Arizona

Highlights: Tasmania. Period. Hobart is awesome, but, driving around the island... I can't wait to go back. Epic.

Tasmania



April
Countries: USA
US States: Oregon, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama

Highlights: My trip to Machu Pichu was cancelled, so, I ended up in Iowa I did a ton of domestic work, now at 48/50 states visited.

Georgia


May
Countries: USA only
US States: Oregon, Kentucky, West Virginia, Delaware, Colorado

Highlights: Driving from Cincinnati (Kentucky side to Delaware.... I was *shocked* at how gorgeous this was. As a West Coast guy... it was magic.

Iowa


June
Countries: USA only
US States: Oregon, California, Alaska

Highlights: Alaska is the best state in the US, and every time I am lucky enough to visit, I wonder why I don't live here....

Haines, Alaska


July
Countries: USA only (gave up my apartment forever)
US States: Oregon

Highlights: I'd lived in Oregon for close to 20 years... and never been to the South or Middle.... ever.
So, I explored my own state by air and car. Not bad at all!

Oregon


August
Countries: Ukraine, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia

Highlights: Meeting up with my Fiancé after 6 months being apart due to cancelled international trips.

Prypiat, Ukraine


September
Countries: Turkey, England, Portugal

Highlights: We rented an apartment in Lisbon for 3 months... and used it to blast around Europe. This was a great idea, happy we did it.

Lake Ohrid, North Macedonia


October
Countries: Portugal, France, Andorra

Highlights: Morning drive from Andorra down to Barcelona.

Lisbon, Portugal


November
Countries: Portugal (inc. Madeira)

Highlights: Driving around Madeira

Madeira, Portugal


December
Countries: Portugal, Brazil, Chile

Highlights: Being ALIVE and being so grateful for a year of amazing experiences in planes, trains, buses, automobiles, parachutes, boats and beyond...

Algarve, Portugal


--
Final Thoughts:

2020 was epic, just so memorable.
We'll be traveling full time in 2021, so maybe it will compare... but I'll never forget this year.

Pictures:
The above pictures were from my phone, and obviously not great.
I post a handful of photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121178693@N07/

OpenFlights:
]https://openflights.org/user/WestCoastPDX

Loose Cannon

Thanks for sharing.

wannabeglobetrotter

The pictures are beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I hope to see more TRs from you.

stevie

Super to see you had a great 2020. Good luck in 2021.
As important for me at least it is refreshing for the soul to see that your travels meant something more than 36 hours of first class travel for the sake of it.

WestCoastPDX

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

I've learned a lot this year. Patience with some changes, but also persistence.
The more I wanted to travel, the more travel seemed to open right up for me.

I've met some amazing people, and seen the world from new angles.
I'm so happy I didn't stay home.

stevie It's a funny comment, and I know what you mean. I do burn a lot of points so I can have a nice seat, but, that's never been the point for me.

WestCoastPDX

Decided to add a few more photos to round out where we've been. I'll post a new thread in a year to document where else we will go.


Getting close to Dakar, Senegal



Ziguinchor, Senegal. In a hotel that had no windows, just slats



Praia, Cape Verde... I could live on these islands.



Tahoe, California



Perth, Australia



Somewhere in the middle of nowhere driving around the Southwest USA.



Charleston, SC



Somewhere in Alabama... if you are near here.... GO



Antietam National Battlefield - just... no words to describe what it's like to walk here...



Painted Hills, Oregon



God, I forget....


Somewhere in Ukraine....



Pripyat, Ukraine



About to jump... in Turkey

offerendum

I'm speechless you were able to travel that much in 2020. The pictures are indeed stunning.

roadwarrier

This has brought a tear to my eye - so well said, and made me get those tickets to SEA and just go for a while even if just for two weeks.

WestCoastPDX

offerendum Thanks for your kind words. I just lived normally. Bought my tickets, went to the airport every week and flew somewhere new.

It has been one of my favorite years to travel in life.
What's the saying, 'Only dead fish go with the flow'


roadwarrier Thank you. I learned a lot seeing how the first world actions deeply impacted the rest of the world.
If you haven't bought those tickets, I encourage everyone... GO.

The world needs people to travel and to live. It gives people hope. It keeps people fed. It keeps us all human.
2020 has seen humans do so much damage to other humans - purely out of selfishness and fear.

Traveling is the antidote in my view. It reminds me that humans are good, not the enemy, like we so often are told.

IWontRegretThis

Its not about the destination, its about the journey to get there.

stimpy

Very well done. I travel to all these places for work mostly, but try to make an effort to get out and see the country while there. For instance I had to go to Skopje, Macedonia for work, but made a visit to Lake Ohrid while there. I love your photo of the lake and I hope you got to spend more time there than I did. I love the Macedonian cuisine and hope you enjoyed it too. That brings up a point, you didn't write much about the food in your travels. I very much appreciate the other cultures I visit and food is a big part of it. Did you try the local food anywhere or share meals with the locals?

As for west Africa, or east Africa for that matter, and bribes, I manage to avoid all bribes there except beer. If a cop is fishing for a bribe, I always give him a beer, or at most money for a beer. To me, sharing a beer is never the same as giving in to bribery.

WestCoastPDX

Yeah, Lake Ohrid was amazing! I wish we had stayed there for more days. It was very unexpected.
I have the local cake made there, and.... it was possibly the best cake I've had. Sooo good.

And for food, we try to eat as much street food as possible. The dirtier looking, the better.
My fiancé wasn't into that idea at first, but, even in West Africa, any type of street meat is usually the best meal of the day.

--
In Senegal, no bribes.
In The Gambia... god, we would get stopped every 20-30km. Guys sitting under a tree with guns.
Wave you over, mumble something, give them a 500 or 10000 CFA ($2-3USD or so), and off you go.
Guinea-Bissau - it was even worse. The number of checkpoints and bribes required was just... off the charts.

I started getting angry about it in the end, and got in an argument with one of the guards.
I was talked out of that pretty quickly... but it's so depressing trying to visit a country, and everyone with a gun demanding money whenever they wished.
Senegal is cool, The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau - woof... not as good.

WestCoastPDX

The beautiful thing about traveling is, seeing both sides of a story.
Instead of just reading about things online, or in the news - you talk to people and see for yourself.

I feel so fortunate to have traveled, supported small businesses and people around the world.
Tour guides, BnBs, Uber drivers. Family owned local restaurants. Shops.

We took our ball, and went home with it - where it was safe and warm, and where food was brought to us via our smart phones.
Everyone else has to figure out how to make ends meet while we hibernate until we're told it's safe to come out.

Have you spent much time in the 2nd and 3rd world this year?
The damage is real.

When I travel, I see that - I talk to people, hear about their suffering, fears, their anger.
I've never felt more empathy in my entire life.

stimpy

You are right about the arrogance of the 1st world countries. They can afford to shut down their economies. But they are sending over a billion people into multi-generational poverty and causing more death in the long term than COVID. But nobody cares about poor people.

WestCoastPDX

Sadly stimpy - you are 100% correct.


We stayed at a cabin in the middle of Montenegro. (photos below)
8 cabins, independently owned by local families - managed by an onsite family.

Usually, from April to October, all the cabins are full, every day. All of them.
The families make money in summer to get through the winter.

When we stayed in August - we were their 5th guest, for the entire year.

5 bookings, for the entire year.

The lady onsite family who managed the cabins, had no idea how they would survive the winter.

--
Yet, in Europe and North America, this type of conversation is impossible.
Dissent has been forbidden, all year.
The human, social, mental cost of our actions are brushed under the rug.


'Who cares about Montenegro families?'
'Uber Eats will bring our food to us, and Netflix has some great shows on.
Stop everything for a year, it's the easy solution. "Stay safe!"

--
That is the height of selfishness to me.
and THAT is why we keep traveling.



Zablijak, Montenegro