Haunt Jaunts 2011 Year in Review Travel Memories

What a year it’s been! As 2011 draws to a close, the travel tally stands at:

  • Four countries: Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Turkey
  • Two continents: Europe and Asia (Three if you count flying over Greenland, which I’m inclined to do because (a) the pilot flew low enough for us to see it, and (b) I think that’s as close as I’ll ever get to actually experiencing it.)
  • Twelve cities: New Orleans, Costa Maya, Belize City, Roatan, Cozumel, Long Beach, Catalina Island, Ensenada, Denver, Istanbul, Izmir, Selcuk (Fifteen if you count cities we had layovers in: San Antonio, Atlanta, and New York.)

Frankly, I don’t know that 2012 can top all that.

I certainly had no idea when 2011 started this would be the year’s travel agenda. It’s a far cry from the places I expected to go, which were New York, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. All my plans for those completely fell through. (Although, I still made it to New York, via the layovers mentioned above. But not for the U.S. Open as I’d been expecting!)

Which is okay. Other opportunities presented themselves and I am super grateful they did. These are my favorite year in review travel memories from 2011:

  1. I jaunted in search of haunted Mayan ruins in Mexico. Sadly, I came up with nada. (Except a tour guide thinking I was crazy for looking for ghosts when it wasn’t Dia de los Muertos.)
  2. I had a monkey sit on my head and steal my barrette in Belize. Which was actually pretty awesome.
  3. I learned how difficult it is to shoot underwater video. But I got a lot of practice at it due to all the snorkeling I did in Belize, Honduras, and Mexico.
  4. I hoped any ghosts in the Hotel Monteleone were affording me privacy during my bathroom time.
  5. I was prepared to find chupacabras in Ensenada, but instead came across the remains of the Whale Man. (Something I only mentioned briefly, but which I need to devote a post to. That was an awesome find to stumble across!)
  6. I journeyed underground in Istanbul’s Basilica Cistern in search of Medusa.
  7. I payed my respects to the Sultan tombs at the Ayasofya.
  8. I roamed where some of the most legendary authors have tread, like the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans and the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul.
  9. I went looking for ghosts at the Rippavilla Plantation, came up short, but got to try my hand at chucking pumpkins.
  10. I had my soul shaken at Ephesus when I had a reaction I wasn’t expecting. I basically found my heart heavy with mourning thinking of the Greco-Roman polytheistic societies that once lived there, before Christianity overwhelmed them. That was by far one of the most powerful experiences not only of the whole year, but of my life.
  11. I got to see many oceans and seas this year: Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, Pacific, Black Sea, Aegean Sea, and the Bosphorous. I even got to swim with the fishes in some of them!
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Here’s some of my favorite images from travels this year:

Big boots, big gun, big bird...I'm set!
I may look goofy but my heart is almost never happier than when I'm in the water!
Shipwreck off coast in Roatan right across from where our ship docked

 

It came out blurry but what a neat image from New Orleans

 

From Costa Maya. It makes me feel relaxed looking at it.
The lagoon within Chankanaab in Cozumel
The lagoon within Gumbalimba Park in Roatan

 

The bougainvillea and palm trees on Catalina Island made me homesick for Phoenix

 

Ah...bliss. Taken as we pulled away from Catalina Island en route to Ensenada.

 

Me pretending to cower from the "beasite" before I read the touching description of the Whale Man of Ensenada.

 

A sunflower at the ranch in Colorado where my husband's cousin's wedding was this summer.

 

The tunnel leading to the Beylerbeyi Palace

 

Standing atop a cliff lookind down at the Black Sea

 

At the harbor in Anadolu Kavagi

 

An ugly fish for sale at a fish restaurant in Anadolu Kavagi
This cat was talking to me as we wandered around Anadolu Kavagi, but I didn't speak Turkish Meow.

 

Greenland below!

 

Sunset as viewed from the friendly skies

 

The Blue Mosque at night

 

Wayne walking up the cobbled rampway in the Hagia Sophia

 

The entrance to Topkapi Palace

 

The Galata Tower

 

A cool, crooked backstreet leading to Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

 

A tower at the Four Seasons in Sultanahmet

 

The Library at Ephesus was SUPER impressive

 

The Great Theater at Ephesus

 

A rainbow in Selcuk. I had never had my camera on me to catch one before. Was excited it turned out!
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3 Comments

  1. Awesome!!!

  2. Wow Courtney, you have a fantastic 2011. How are you going to top it?

    Happy New Year!

  3. You had a marvelous 2011, I wish you and even better 2012. Joy, success and peace to you!

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