2019

One of the biggest years for adventures I think I've ever had:

Berlin

Istanbul + Cappadocia

Egypt

Greece + Crete

Bulgaria

Istanbul

(A huge bike ride through Turkey)

Georgia

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Dubai

India

UK

US

UK

Amsterdam

Berlin

Vienna

Paris

Bordeaux

O'leron

(France through Spain on) The Camino

Ireland

Jan - Berlin

My age begins to show by being able to wake up early on Jan 01st having not celebrated the night before in Berlin (of all places!) to catch a flight to...

... Istanbul! A city I was quickly falling head-over-heels for and one I'd soon get to know. But it was only a few days there - notably staying in my favorite spot in the world, The Grand Hotel de Londres - before hopping another flight to...

... Cappadocia! Forever enchanting and one of those places that could only exist where it does (if that makes sense). A few days there and then back to...

... Istanbul - where I buy every book I can find, determined to truly understand, know and recognize it. A wonderful month there, but we've got places to go, so it's onto another flight.

Feb - Egypt

Heading for Cairo. I keep swearing I'll never return, but keep returning. Maybe this time will be different?

... still tough going and I'll probably never come back, but got to meet the incredible Mohammed down in Luxor who quickly became a brother - who also said "If you put your feet in the Nile, you'll return", so we'll see. But three weeks is enough, as we head now for...

... Crete!

March - Crete

Our friend Kelsey joins us for a spellbinding two weeks on the island of Crete...

... from there, back to our beloved Bulgaria - one of the world's best-kept secrets - to Sofia and Plovdiv, hiking with our friends Deniz and Alexandra (Bulgaria's own Audrey Hepburn), eating all the cheese and even having time to hop that wonderful narrow-gauge train with our friend Sarah.

April

Back to Istanbul for a hot minute, then we pack the bike up, hop the ferry and begin cycling through Turkey - first down south, then east - running into kindness, care and hospitality every 1km.

May

We barely make it out of Turkey before our visa runs out, crossing over into a country I'd been dying to meet - Georgia! A month cycling around and into Tblisi + some side trips, then we take off (on a bus) to...

... Armenia!

June

We spend a couple of weeks in Armenia (could have stayed a few more), before crossing over into...

... Azerbaijan. And then, it's a flight to...

... Dubai for a long weekend to see our friends, The McGettigan's...

... finishing the month back in India (oh boy).

July

Lou joins us in India and we spend a couple more weeks traveling the colorful-yet-continually-frustrating country...

… back to England for pints, pubs and our gentlemen’s yearly golf tournament.

A quick stop in my old neighborhood of Brooklyn and then onto Tulsa with the fam.

Aug

Tulsa Time for family, an excellent birthday, stealing TJ’s Vespa, as well as plenty of Mexican food and friends. Biggest highlight was hanging with the niece and nephews — the oldest of which getting his final sign-off/clean bill of health after battling cancer

for the past five years.

Sept

We begin the month with our final days in Oklahoma - golfing, eating, roadtrips, more eating, speaking to high school kids and more...

... from Tulsa to Boston for a weekend...

... and from Boston to Amsterdam - where I spent most of my time in the best bar in the city - Cafe Hoppe!

... from Amsterdam to Berlin - enjoying the end of summer with Hasselfhoff, dear friends down on the water and even managed to spend all my money (shocking) have have to live off of spare change for a few days. Fortunately - German accountants are exactly what you think, and so at 00:00 on Oct 01st, my paycheque hit, which meant we hop a flight to...

... Vienna! Where my besties Tj & Rachel awaited.