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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 !!!!
I am always excited to read about your trips. I don’t know how you do it…we both travel for work and once i get off that plane, i do not look forward to returning LOL. Here’s me wishing you safe travels in all your trips you plan to embark on in 2018. I will be right here reading and vicariously living through you :-). Happy New year Karen 🙂
For me, travel for work and travel for fun are so different. And as much as I hate flying, I get excited when I know I am headed someplace new :D. For 2018, no way I plan on this much travel, lol. We will do more local trips. And Thanks love, Happy New Year to you too!
What career path have you chosen that allows you to travel so freely?
Happy New Year. What an awesome year you most certainly had for sure. What fun!!!If I can travel half of the time I would be doing well. Happy and safe travels for 2018 and beyond.
What a great way to spend your year! These pictures are amazing and filled with so many memorable and amazing experiences. How cool is it that your son had a chance to attend school in a different country!
Thanks. It has made such a big difference in him to be honest. Esp a school in Africa with empty classrooms and nothing but a teacher and a chalkboard. It’s really changed his views towards a lot of things.
You guys had an epic travel year. I need to hideaway in your bags. That’s impressive and inspiring. I need to show my kids the world.
What a fantastic year of travel for you! I love seeing families travel, and to see the joy on your little boy’s face is amazing! Glad that you were able to fit all this greatness in WHILE working a full time job! Here’s to 2018!
I love the trips that you’ve taken with your kids. I want my kids to be able to travel, so I have been making a plan to make it happen. My husband works all the time, but maybe I could take my girls by myself.
You could definitely do a girls trip. Check out Black Kids Do Travel on FB. Plenty of single and married moms travelling with the kiddos alone because their significant other’s can’t make it. I took my 4yr old to Egypt by myself because my husband couldn’t make the trip. It was amazing.
Man, I thought my year was full but clearly I was wrong! those are travel goals but I would have to leave the kiddos at home sometime for some QT with my hubby.
You are right about that. It’s so odd, but we would miss them too much. However when we travel, we ALWAYS get adult time. When the kids are in school, or just a date night. So it’s possible to do it.
Can I just say how amazing and inspiring this post is? I love everything about and everything that you and your beautiful family are able to accomplish! Looking forward to more in 2018
Wow looks like you had a great year traveling!! I love all the pictures you took documenting your trips.
This is incredible!! I always telling my husband how it kills me that there’s this whole huge world out there that none of us have seen. I want to travel with my kids so badly but budget always seemed like an issue. I will definitely be reading further to see how you did this! Such amazing experiences for the children.
We ONLY travel on a budget as we are a one income family. So trust me it is possible. Error fares MOST especially. They come up quite often and we take advantage of them. Not forgetting credit card points and miles.
OH what the actual f*ck … I didn’t even scroll through and look at all the photos because I was depressed by the time I got to Feb! LOL Listen! WDH! OMG! LOL This is so freaking cool. Now I wanna do this! I mean, I gave up a whole disney trip because I was scared to travel alone (cry I know lol) but THIS makes me want to travel sooo much. I’ve never wanted to travel internationally until now! Can’t wait to see where you guys go this year!
~ Sanaa
http://www.amomthatsleeps.com
Omg, lol. I sort of spit my drink out when I read this. You’re funny!! you just gotta get up and do it 🙂 And you get the travel bug, that’s IT haha
I went on my 1st cruise last year and I am definitely planning another one soon. I am geeked about my 2018 travels. 1st stop is Dallas later this month and then it’s Denver in March. Happy New Year and here’s wishing you a year full of wonder #BLMGirl
You are amazing!!! I love that Aiden gets to go to school in different countries!! Travel Goals!!! Happy New Year! I can’t wait to see where you go next!