As 2017 is in its final hours, it seems like the perfect time to re-cap and take stock.

It’s been a good travel year with lots of trips, both for work and leisure.

But let’s take a closer look at the where, when, how often and why (if this bores you, I do apologise, I am aware this might be more for my own sake than anyone elses… I promise there will be something more interesting up on the blog soon).

So here we go, my 2017 travel stats

Number of countries visited: 10

Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Italy

Total number of trips: 36

21 trips to Germany, 2 trips to Italy, 1 weekend trip within the UK, 1 trip to France, 2 to Belgium, 1 to Luxembourg, 3 to Switzerland, 3 to Sweden, a weekend trip to Austria, 1 trip to Norway

Number of nights away: 76

this is a staggering 2 and a half months

Number of airports visited: 24

London-Heathrow, London-City, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Hanover, Zurich, Basel, Gothenburg, Vienna, Bologna, Copenhagen, Cologne, Rome-Fiumicino, Luxembourg, Berlin-Tegel, Berlin Schonefeld, London-Stansted, Nuremberg, Stavanger, Oslo, Trondheim, Karlsruhe/Baden, London-Gatwick

Number of flights: 64

with 11 flight per month October and November and actually not a single flight in April and July

Number of airlines used: 10

British Airways, Ryanair, Lufthansa, Easyjet, Eastern Airways, Flybe, Luxair, SAS, Norwegian Air, Eurowings

Looking at it like this, it does sound a lot and I sure had weeks were I was all sick and tired of it (one particularly bad week was the one with six flights in seven days). But overall I still enjoy what I do and prefer it to a normal 9-5 office job. And for me it is not just numbers, it is also memories. Good ones (like our girly weekend in Vienna, visiting the Elbphilharmonie or our first trip to Rome) and not so good ones (when things go wrong and flights are cancelled).

But when I compare it to the last two years, which were also heavy travel years, things all of a sudden seem almost quiet in 2017.

In 2016 I’ve flown a staggering 81 times, but been away only 74 nights (so short trips more often), whereas in 2015 I’ve been away for 84 nights, with only 64 flights.

However in terms of countries visited and airports and airlines used, 2017 sets a new record.

So let’s bring on 2018 – so far this already shapes to be an exciting travel year, with trips to Norway, Belgium, Germany, Austria and the US already booked and loads of other trips in the pipeline (maybe even a work trip to Israel, if things pan out as planned). So stay tuned and join me on those journeys.

What are your travel plans for 2018? Going anywhere new and amazing?