My First Flight in 2020: Sydney to Melbourne to Hong Kong
I love the ceremony of the first flight of a new year. You open up the crisp cellophane wrapper on some headphones. You crack open some soy chips. You feel as though you are being pampered up in the sky as you make your way to a literal new destination after being in some place old.
My first flight in 2020 will not be from my hometown. It will be from Sydney, where I spent the New Year with my wife watching fireworks in Darling Harbour, the smaller harbour to the west of Sydney's giant harbour.
The flight prep is already putting me in a kind of mood. I realize that one of the reasons I am getting back into travel writing is because I have a huge amount of travel already lined up in the first month of 2020. My job is such that I am able to take vacations whenever I like, a very unusual thing for a Taiwanese company, if not for global companies. We will start out very basic, but the latter part of the year promises to open up some really great opportunities that I have been eager to try for at least a decade.
We begin on one continent and fly to another
We will fly to Melbourne, and then run to catch a connecting flight to Hong Kong, where we live. As we prepare to do this, I think about what I look forward to this year. Nothing is fixed, but the current plan is that we will visit a few more countries this year.
Here is the list that I have tentatively worked together. I would love to know what you think of it.
January 2020
Taipei, Taiwan for work and life, since we have a house there and I work in a firm there. I spend most of my year in Taipei. Great food and fun people.
San Francisco, California to take my wife's parents to the US for the first time. I am thinking this will be a less than calm trip since not only are we taking people to a country they've never been to, but they are also elderly. I imagine they are going to need more care and attention. Older people like to complain a lot. I should know. I am almost 50. I already complain quite a bit.
Las Vegas, for poker. On this same trip, we will visit the Grand Canyon and some casinos. Nothing like ending a vacation with the loss of some money. Looking forward to that!
Hokkaido, Japan for fun. As the work rules require, we are to join my firm's annual company retreat to mark the beginning of the Chinese New Year. We are all gathering in Hokkaido to do some serious snowboarding. I have not been snowboarding for a decade. The last time I did it, I hurt my ankles. Let's see what happens.
Hanoi, Vietnam -- my buddy from Oregon will be coming to Asia for the second time in his life. He needs a guide in one of Vietnam's most amazing cities. I will happily take him around.
I take a break from travel for a couple of months, but then in early spring, here are some destinations that I have in mind.
Spring 2020
Singapore -- I am older and wiser, and Singapore may be authoritarian and patriarchal, but when I was young, this was the city you went to to party. Now, it's the city you go to when you want to connect to the rest of SE Asia's lower latitude countries. And sometimes some cheap deals to Europe that you can't get in Hong Kong (though this has changed a bit since now that the ongoing protest movement is really eroding Hong Kong's business and economy, there are great deals to be had). I may write about that last point soon, but not today.
Komodo -- Is it still open to tourists by now? They have been talking about closing down Komodo Island, and some areas of Flores, because it's been besieged by tourists for so long that it's starting to effect the ecosystem. If it's available, I'd like to spend four days there.
Okinawa -- Bali used to be my spiritual rest spot, and I still hunger to go there at times. But since I have been married, and since my wife has a strong predilection for Japan, we have switched our go-to spiritual island destination to Okinawa. Advantages? Better roads and certainly cleaner. Disadvantages? Hard to rent a villa for a week for less than $1k USD and walk around naked while you sip coffee and take conference calls.
The continent count is high and it's going to get higher
So, by May, we will have been to three continents already, several island destinations, beaches, and casinos, and we will have accumulated an easy 5 digit flight miles number, which should help the frequent flyer account.
When it comes to the rest of the year, we have some other goals in mind.
Greece -- My wife went here during her postgraduate years in the UK. I have never been, and by June or July, there should be good enough weather to try out the islands in the Aegean and see Athens. Great material for photographers there.
London and the United Kingdom, Yorkshire -- I love London. It's my favorite city in the world and I feel at home there. I studied there during my undergrad days and I make it a point to revisit the galleries and museums where I picked up an art education. I have been reading about Lucian Freud, and I want to visit the Royal Academy of the Arts to see any portraits that I have missed in my two decade love affair with the art space there. And then there is the Dales and the wilds out in Yorkshire. Driving through there is always a treat, but taking a ramble through the glades and fields is a great way to clear the mind. By. August, I will have a need for this.
Winter should be below the equator again, in the Southern Hemisphere
Buenos Aires; Patagonia; Santiago; Easter Island
Towards the end of the year, we have time and the need to have an epic adventure. For this year and into 2021, I hope it can be Argentina and the Patagonia area. My wife also wants to see Chile and Easter Island. I don't have a lot of ideas on this. I think it would take a lot of plane travel within South America. I have only ever been to Bogota, on a 4 hour layover, so my knowledge of how to get around, and what's worth seeing is not very good. But that's part of the excitement.
Honourable Mentions are in Africa
When I asked my wife last night where she wanted to go this year, and what she wanted to see, she told me it was really three places: Tanzania; Kenya, and Angel Falls. I have to agree with her.
I have to agree with her that these destinations are perfect for epic adventures. I think it will come down to costs. If it is reasonable to fly from Hong Kong or Taiwan, then it's probably better to try to hit Africa countries. I have been to South Africa and Namibia. It's a great continent. It's complex and can be difficult, but the people are warm and it's worth staying for at least a month. I have been looking at Kilimanjaro treks, and I have to say, it's going to be hard to choose between Patagonia and Kilimanjaro. I will let you know how it goes.
The benefit of Patagonia is that, while very expensive, you can also hit Antarctica, if you have an extra week.
My first flight in 2020 will not be from my hometown. It will be from Sydney, where I spent the New Year with my wife watching fireworks in Darling Harbour, the smaller harbour to the west of Sydney's giant harbour.
The flight prep is already putting me in a kind of mood. I realize that one of the reasons I am getting back into travel writing is because I have a huge amount of travel already lined up in the first month of 2020. My job is such that I am able to take vacations whenever I like, a very unusual thing for a Taiwanese company, if not for global companies. We will start out very basic, but the latter part of the year promises to open up some really great opportunities that I have been eager to try for at least a decade.
We begin on one continent and fly to another
 |
| Photo by Tom Barrett on Unsplash |
Here is the list that I have tentatively worked together. I would love to know what you think of it.
January 2020
Taipei, Taiwan for work and life, since we have a house there and I work in a firm there. I spend most of my year in Taipei. Great food and fun people.
San Francisco, California to take my wife's parents to the US for the first time. I am thinking this will be a less than calm trip since not only are we taking people to a country they've never been to, but they are also elderly. I imagine they are going to need more care and attention. Older people like to complain a lot. I should know. I am almost 50. I already complain quite a bit.
Las Vegas, for poker. On this same trip, we will visit the Grand Canyon and some casinos. Nothing like ending a vacation with the loss of some money. Looking forward to that!
Hokkaido, Japan for fun. As the work rules require, we are to join my firm's annual company retreat to mark the beginning of the Chinese New Year. We are all gathering in Hokkaido to do some serious snowboarding. I have not been snowboarding for a decade. The last time I did it, I hurt my ankles. Let's see what happens.
Hanoi, Vietnam -- my buddy from Oregon will be coming to Asia for the second time in his life. He needs a guide in one of Vietnam's most amazing cities. I will happily take him around.
I take a break from travel for a couple of months, but then in early spring, here are some destinations that I have in mind.
Spring 2020
Singapore -- I am older and wiser, and Singapore may be authoritarian and patriarchal, but when I was young, this was the city you went to to party. Now, it's the city you go to when you want to connect to the rest of SE Asia's lower latitude countries. And sometimes some cheap deals to Europe that you can't get in Hong Kong (though this has changed a bit since now that the ongoing protest movement is really eroding Hong Kong's business and economy, there are great deals to be had). I may write about that last point soon, but not today.
Komodo -- Is it still open to tourists by now? They have been talking about closing down Komodo Island, and some areas of Flores, because it's been besieged by tourists for so long that it's starting to effect the ecosystem. If it's available, I'd like to spend four days there.
 |
| Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash |
The continent count is high and it's going to get higher
So, by May, we will have been to three continents already, several island destinations, beaches, and casinos, and we will have accumulated an easy 5 digit flight miles number, which should help the frequent flyer account.
When it comes to the rest of the year, we have some other goals in mind.
Greece -- My wife went here during her postgraduate years in the UK. I have never been, and by June or July, there should be good enough weather to try out the islands in the Aegean and see Athens. Great material for photographers there.
London and the United Kingdom, Yorkshire -- I love London. It's my favorite city in the world and I feel at home there. I studied there during my undergrad days and I make it a point to revisit the galleries and museums where I picked up an art education. I have been reading about Lucian Freud, and I want to visit the Royal Academy of the Arts to see any portraits that I have missed in my two decade love affair with the art space there. And then there is the Dales and the wilds out in Yorkshire. Driving through there is always a treat, but taking a ramble through the glades and fields is a great way to clear the mind. By. August, I will have a need for this.
Winter should be below the equator again, in the Southern Hemisphere
Buenos Aires; Patagonia; Santiago; Easter Island
Towards the end of the year, we have time and the need to have an epic adventure. For this year and into 2021, I hope it can be Argentina and the Patagonia area. My wife also wants to see Chile and Easter Island. I don't have a lot of ideas on this. I think it would take a lot of plane travel within South America. I have only ever been to Bogota, on a 4 hour layover, so my knowledge of how to get around, and what's worth seeing is not very good. But that's part of the excitement.
Honourable Mentions are in Africa
When I asked my wife last night where she wanted to go this year, and what she wanted to see, she told me it was really three places: Tanzania; Kenya, and Angel Falls. I have to agree with her.
I have to agree with her that these destinations are perfect for epic adventures. I think it will come down to costs. If it is reasonable to fly from Hong Kong or Taiwan, then it's probably better to try to hit Africa countries. I have been to South Africa and Namibia. It's a great continent. It's complex and can be difficult, but the people are warm and it's worth staying for at least a month. I have been looking at Kilimanjaro treks, and I have to say, it's going to be hard to choose between Patagonia and Kilimanjaro. I will let you know how it goes.
The benefit of Patagonia is that, while very expensive, you can also hit Antarctica, if you have an extra week.
 |
| Photo by Diego Jimenez on Unsplash |
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