In 2018, I visited Australia and New Zealand, each for the first time. Other than that, my travel was largely similar in nature and quantity to 2017 – frequent routine business trips, with a few weekend vacations thrown in.
Hotels
I stayed in hotels a record 124 nights this year. Business travel was down slightly, but my three-week Australia and New Zealand vacation added a lot of personal hotel nights.
Flights
I ended up flying 109 flights this year, totaling 87,306 miles (140,505 km).
Maps generated by Paul Bogard using the using the Great Circle Mapper – copyright © Karl L. Swartz
New Airports
I visited eight airports for the first time this year:
- #79 – SYD (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia)
- #80 – PER (Perth, Western Australia, Australia)
- #81 – MEL (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)
- #82 – CHC (Christchurch, New Zealand)
- #83 – DUD (Dunedin, New Zealand)
- #84 – AKL (Auckland, New Zealand)
- #85 – LBB (Lubbock, Texas, United States)
- #86 – PVD (Providence, Rhode Island, United States)
With 86 airports visited to date, I have only 14 to go to reach my goal of visiting 100 airports.
New Airlines
I flew on two airlines for the first time this year:
New Aircraft
I flew on three aircraft families for the first time this year; all three were from my Australia and New Zealand vacation.
Aircraft illustrations created by Norebbo
- Airbus A380 (Qantas)
- ATR 72 (Air New Zealand)
- Boeing 787 (American Airlines)
Superlatives
My longest flight was 8,580 miles (13,808 km) from Dallas to Sydney. This 17–hour flight was the longest I’ve ever been on. I also flew my second-longest flight ever this year: 6,516 miles (10,486 km) from Auckland to Los Angeles.
My shortest flight was 139 miles (223 km) from Dallas to Lawton.
Map generated by Paul Bogard using the using the Great Circle Mapper – copyright © Karl L. Swartz
Driving
I drove approximately 22,587 miles (36,350 km) this year – 11,616 miles (18,694 km) in my own car, and 10,971 miles (17,656 km) in rental cars.
Map tiles by CartoDB, under CC BY 3.0. map data © OpenStreetMap contributors under ODbL
Frequent Traveler Status
This year, I maintained Platinum status with American Airlines and Diamond status with Hilton. I did not earn any other status this year.
