(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

The beginning of the year is always a time to reflect on past trips and think about the ones to come. Looking back to the beginning of 2018, I had some summer destinations in mind but nothing concrete (click here for the surprising resolution in early February of 2018).

In the end, my main 2018 trips were for skiing in Switzerland’s Berner Oberland, an extended summer trip to northern France, and a spontaneous road trip to New Jersey in November.  I’ve taken my favourite photos from those trips and reposted them in today’s blog entry.

But you probably already know all about those trips.  What’s in store for 2019?

For me, it looks like 2019 is going to be a year of sports travel.  In less than a month, I will be skiing for a week in a completely new (for me) ski region.  It definitely falls into that “how come I never went here before?” category:  like London (U.K.), I somehow managed to avoid this part of the world for a very long time.  The big reveal is coming up in a few weeks!

As for my traditional summer trip…it’s all up to the sporting gods.  I’ll be entering a number of competitions this year and I’ll just have to see how they all work out.  I don’t even know where most of these events will take place:  I just know roughly when they will occur.  They could be local, somewhere in the province of Ontario, somewhere in Canada, or even international!

So far, my experience with sports travel has been excellent.  Of course, skiing is always a great experience. However, that is purely recreational and it is not all that difficult to stumble upon alpine highlights.  In contrast, participating in competitions brings you into contact with people and places that you would never see as a “regular” tourist.

My 2014 hockey tour of Eastern Europe was predictably unforgettable.  But I also participated in a provincial championship in another sport in Sarnia, Ontario, last summer…and had a great time, even though I had never thought of visiting there as a “regular” tourist.  You just never know!

And if things don’t go too well on the competitive front this summer, I will probably have some vacation time left over in the fall.  That’s a great time of year to have some leftover vacation days!  As readers of this blog know, last-minute trips are often the very best kind.

Whatever happens, 2019 promises to be a very interesting travel year.