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2017 was an amazing year for our family, packed full of travel adventures. This year, we traveled over 20 times. We traveled internationally 17 times, visiting 15 countries total (we visited some countries twice). We also traveled within the states 6 times.
My plan for our family was to take Aiden to a new country each month. amazingly enough we were able to meet this goal and more. It was tough, especially with me working full-time trying to juggle work and travel; however I am glad to be have made it happen.
We took advantage of error fares, used miles and points for a lot of our trips, so we were able to travel so much for almost nothing [Check out my post on How To Find The Best Flight Deals and Tips For Travelling On A Budget – With Kids for more].
Scroll down to see where we went and highlights of what we did. I hope you enjoy my 2017 year in review.
JANUARY – Regardless of all the travel warnings and negative comments we received, we decided to visit Istanbul, Turkey. I am so glad we did because it was completely different from what we expected it to be. Turks are so nice, and their food is so yummy. Aiden attended school in Istanbul for a week and loved it.
FEBRUARY – We travel for Aiden’s birthday every year; this year we visited Paris and Milan. He actually turned 4 in Milan.
MARCH – After all the cold, we were excited about visiting Mexico!!!
APRIL – We snagged an error fare to Chile FOR $165 RT per person with a long layover in Panama on Copa Airlines! We stayed in an AirBnB in Chile and it was super cheap. (Sign up via my AirBNB referral link and get $40 off your first booking)
MAY – We stuck to domestic travel this month and visited Hawaii, Georgia and Texas on United miles. We paid for Hotels with our Hilton points too making for an almost free trip. (Don’t forget to save time and money on the best attractions by purchasing a CityPASS® or a Go City Card)
JUNE – We got a super cheap fare to London, $360 RT per person, and then realized how close and cheap Egypt was to London. We also got a good Groupon Deal for Great Wolf Lodge and had a stay-cation there (Don’t forget to use Ebates when shopping for deals on Groupon. Sign up using my Ebates Referral Link and get $10 after your first purchase)
JULY – We snagged a super good deal to Japan for $340 RT on Air Canada with a long layover in Vancouver. We loveeeee, long layovers!
AUGUST – I visited San Fransisco for the first time [The Dad Trotter & I were celebrating 6yrs of marriage], as well as traveled with 2 kids by myself – two achievements in one month, lol. Aiden and his cousin attended school in Mexico City and loved it.
SEPTEMBER – Aiden attended the premiere of his first film at the Toronto Film Festival, WOO HOO. It was also the first time we experienced a CAT 5 hurricane while on vacation in Puerto Rico which was really unfortunate.
OCTOBER – We flew on 40K United miles and $16 to Accra. Our cheapest flight of the year!! We took the bus from Acrra to Lagos, Nigeria. Aiden attended school for the 3rd time this year in another country.
NOVEMBER – I visited Cameroon where I was born and raised after 14yrs of living in the USA. It was so nice to be home with family. Aiden attended French Immersion school in Cameroon.
DECEMBER – The Dad Trotter and I took Aiden and his cousins to Sweden, France and the UK. It was the most amazing and the most exhausting holiday too lol.
Our family is blessed to have been able to travel this much as well as travel with Aiden’s cousins. Our travel goal for 2018 is to visit more states as well as to do more local travel and enjoy what is around us, and so I am looking forward to it.
Happy New Year y’all & may all your wishes come true !!!!
