I know, I know. I’m a little late to the party with my favorite travel moments of 2022 post this year. But I had a massive adventure right before Christmas and simply didn’t have the time to get this out sooner. You’ll see why in a minute.
As I was thinking about the adventures I had in 2022, I felt so blessed and fortunate. But then when I took a longer look, most of my adventuring happened locally. For most of them, I didn’t travel, and therefore will not be including them on this list.
And that left me with only a handful of favorite travel moments of 2022. I had to think about why, and then it hit me.
I had 2 MAJOR adventures this year, both time-wise and money-wise. Instead of a handful of smaller trips, the big ones dominated this year. That meant saving up, staying local, and being smart about travel.
It happens and I have absolutely no regrets. In fact, I believe the travel moments are that much more potent in my mind. They aren’t diluted with dozens of other memories fighting for supremacy. They’re ones that I treasure and am so grateful that they happened.
(I also had a few personal life-altering events that took a lot of my time and energy this year, one of which was getting my wisdom teeth removed.)
Selfishly, I write these mainly for myself. I love going back and reading what I’ve done, reliving the memories and laughing at myself.
In case you’re new here, I started writing year-end round-up posts a few years back. It’s a fun way for me to summarize my year, share things that might not have ended up on this site, and create another record for myself. If this is the only article you’ve ever read on this site, I urge you to check out my previous round-up posts to give you a feel for what I’m like:
2018 was my first year, with visiting my friend Nikki in Romania being the crowning jewel.
2019 was the year I road tripped with a dog to Canada. Oh, and with my friend Ashley. It was her dog.
2020 was a year that I was determined not to lose and surprised myself.
2021 was when I got my travel mojo back, island-hopped, and saw the heavens open.
2022 was the year that I realized my potential and knocked some pretty epic adventures off of my impossible list.
Let’s get to it! Here are my FAVORITE travel MOMENTS of 2022!
RIDING RISE OF THE RESISTANCE
At the beginning of this year, I managed a quick trip down to Disneyland with my mom and brother. Out of the infinite possibilities of awesome moments that I could have chosen for this favorite travel moments of 2022, I picked the morning we rode the Rise of the Resistance attraction in Star Wars Land Galaxy’s Edge.
I have loved Star Wars since as long as I can remember, and it’s something my family shares a passion for. So when we planned out our day at Disneyland, Rise of the Resistance was first on the docket.
We knew its’ queue would be the first to fill up and made our game plan. Comfy shoes on, snacks in the bag, bladders empty. Having essentially grown up at Disneyland, we knew the quickest route and were ready.
When we finally made it back to the queue, we hopped in and braced for the wait.
An hour and a mechanical issue later, we were home-free to get on the attraction. Signal freak-out!
And yes, it was definitely worth the wait. The technology used was mind-blowing and it was easily the most unique ride I’ve ever experienced!
COMPLETING SAILING SCHOOL
I’ve written a few posts already about my sailing school experience, so it’s tough to pick a moment to include in my top travel moments of 2022 list because everything was so memorable:
Everything you need to know about sailing school.
A day in the life of a wannabe sailor.
My favorite moments from sailing school.
But I think if I was to include the one memory that pops into my head first is the feeling of the sea breeze on the back of my neck and the screaming of my arm muscles as I manually hoisted the mainsail.
During sailing school, we did almost everything manually, save for the few moments we took advantage of the auto-pilot. I loved the physicality of the work: throwing lines, tying knots quickly and then coiling the slack lines, tacking and gybing, etc. Feeling that physical exertion is what did it for me.
VISITING AN OLD FRIEND
In 2014 I studied abroad in Germany. While I was there, I made many friends with my fellow classmates, but there were 2 that I was particularly close with and have kept in touch with.
One of those friends that I want to introduce you to is Leisl. While we were in Germany, we did everything together: church, laundry, learning, shopping, traveling, and laughing. Lots and LOTS of laughing.
A little while ago, Leisl and her husband moved to Vero Beach, Florida, which happened to be just north of where I was finishing up sailing school. I had an open invitation to visit, and called up.
Although we had kept in touch via social media and text, it had been too long since we’d seen each other in person and it was so good to see her. Getting a hug from Leisl was one of my favorite travel moments of 2022.
BOATING UP THE ICW TO A SANDBAR
We’re staying in Florida for this moment as well. Man, Florida was awesome! While staying with my friend Leisl and her husband, Kendall, we went out on their boat up the Intracostal Waterway one afternoon.
It was a picture-perfect day: blue skies, slight breeze (until Kendall opened up the throttle), not too many boats out on the calm-ish waters. After cruising around a bit, Kendall brought us to my first sandbar.
A sandbar (also known as a sandbank or shoal) is essentially a spit of land that pokes above the water during low tide.
There’s more to it, but this is the cliff’s notes version.
Gingerly walking around and finding beautiful shells made for a perfect afternoon that I love to recollect.
MEETING NOË IN LABELLE, FLORIDA
I never suspected that I’d be able to meet up with 2 of my good friends while I was in Florida, but this next favorite travel memory of 2022 includes driving to the middle of Florida to catch a quick meal with Noë.
Noë and I met during the pandemic and became fast friends with a mutual love for photography and videography. To-date, we’ve met up in Salt Lake City, Chicago, and then, LaBelle, Florida.
When I told Noë that I was going to be in Florida for sailing school, she got really excited and let me know that she was going to be in Tampa at the same time! I live in Utah, she lives in The Hamptons…what are the odds that we’d both be in Florida at the same time?!
We had a window of a few hours on the last day I was in Florida, so we made the best of it. I was on the east coast of the state and she was on the west…so we both drove towards each other and me “halfway” in the cute little town of LaBelle.
Yes, the town was cute and the meal was pretty good. But the reason this makes the list is this: I found a friend that is as extra as me, will go the distance to meet up with me, and has passion and zest for life. It’s so hard to find someone with all of those qualities who is real and lovely. So when we found each other, we hung on. Who knows where we’ll meet up next!
VISITING CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN GERMANY
Rounding out this half-dozen list of my favorite travel moments of 2022 is the trip I took to Germany in December. My roommate Elise and I traveled to Munich and a smattering of other cities in southern Germany with the sole purpose of visiting as many Christmas markets as we possibly could.
I haven’t had a chance to write up my experiences in detail on this site, but trust me when I say that they’re in the works. As soon as I finish this post I’ll be dedicating my time to writing down all the experiences had.
The whole trip was a highlight of the year. A penultimate, bucket list-worthy, epic trip that I’m still riding a high from. While you’re waiting for the articles, check out this video of my top highlights from the trip!
So many fun experiences, and so many bucket list items crossed off! Here’s to even MORE memorable travel experiences in 2023!
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