2025 was overall a good travel year. I had three long trips and several shorter trips mostly to see family and friends. I spent time on three continents, twelve countries, and nine states. I visited my 50th U.S. state and my third U.S. Territory. Here is a more detailed year in review, breaking down the numbers and my “Best Of” winners (and some losers).
By the numbers:
Countries: I was able to travel to 12 countries. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco and The Gambia were all first-time visits. Of these, Estonia was my favorite, and I will definitely return. I also returned to England twice, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Wales, Ireland and Turkey.
U.S States & Territories: My travels took me to ten U.S. states and one Territory with only Arkansas and Puerto Rico as new destinations and just for travel.
Nights Away from Home: 55 nights away from home this past year. Those 52 nights were spent in 27 different locations.
Planes: 23 different plane trips (I don’t count connections)
Trains: 3 train trips which I prefer to both cars and planes.
Ferries/Boats: 3 Ferry trips
Rental Cars: 9 rental cars
Miles Walked: Over 1500 miles
Favorite hotel: I have a tie of Casa Islena in Puerto Rico and Castle Wagenkull in Estonia. Casa Islena is a small boutique hotel right on the beach with wonderful food, an amazing view and comfortable rooms all for a reasonable price. Castle Wagenkull had beautiful grounds, a wonderful breakfast and a fantastic spa. You can’t go wrong with either!
Most expensive hotel: Great Scotland Yard Hotel. Rooms runs around 400 pounds a night. And even though I used points to pay for the room and got great value, based on the number of points used, it was still my most expensive room. The hotel is lovely and in a fabulous location. I don’t think it is worth the cash price but definitely worth its value in points. A close runner up would be the Ruby Claire in Geneva. My flight home from Paris was canceled due to industrial actions and I rebooked my flight home through Geneva. I needed a place near the train station and booked less than 48 hours out. The hotel was comfortable and in in a convenient location but not worth the $320 I paid. I’m glad I had trip insurance to cover some of the cost.
Least expensive hotel: I was delighted with the Hotel Hermes in Marseilles. This is definitely a no-frills hotel in a fantastic location by the water. The rooms are small without any amenities (including air conditioning) but it has a friendly staff and a fantastic rooftop bar. At $119 it was a fantastic deal and I would stay here again!
Best Value: This would also definitely be the Hotel Hermes as described above.
Best Repeat Destination: I returned to several destinations this past year. Domestically I was in Utah, Ohio, Florida, and New York State. Internationally I returned to England twice, Wales, Belgium, Finland, Ireland and Turkey. My trip to Istanbul hasn’t happened by the time I am writing this but I am really looking forward to returning to this amazing city. My friend and I have a fantastic 36 hours planned by staying in an old Ottoman Tobacco factory, an all-day food tour and a reservation at a 400-year old Hammam. But of the trips that have happened by the time of this writing I always enjoy the UK but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed my short time in Dublin and I’d like to return soon.
Favorite 24 hours: I was blessed with a practically perfect full day in Vieques Puerto Rico. Friends and I went horseback riding on the beach, which I loved much more than I expected, we drove around the circumference of the island with stops at rum store, the 400-year-old ceiba tree, walking around Puerto Ferro lighthouse, swimming and sunning at the stunning Caracas beach, drinks and sunset on the rooftop of El Blok hotel and a delicious dinner at el Quenepo.
Best walk / hike: I didn’t do much hiking or walking this past year. I did some small short hikes but nothing that sticks out.
Best sunrise/sunset: Vieques Puerto Rico had spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Rincon also had lovely sunsets.
Best view: The view overlooking historic Tallinn was breathtaking. It is definitely on a short list with Prague and Budapest for loveliest skylines. I also loved the endless lavender fields in France and especially at Abbey Notre-Dame de Senanque.
Best spontaneous activity: I am not spontaneous by nature. Even the smallest errands and chores are planned days in advance. And I plan most trips 9-18 months in advance. However, I decided to join (and paid for) a destination “Manor House weekend” in Wales within 72 hours of hearing about it. This was a fantastic weekend with new friends, beautiful scenery, and endless talk of books and travel.
Best museum: I really wanted to love the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in Marseilles, but I was extremely disappointed. Fortunately, I can report that I loved the British Library in London, Museum of the Occupation in Riga Latvia, the Jewish Quarter museum in Riga and the MacArthur museum in Little Rock Arkansas. Two honorable mentions… 1) The Cleveland History Center which highlights the city’s history. It also has a vintage carousel that you can ride and a breathtaking number of classic cars and motorcycles. My only complaint is parking is $10 on top of the $15 museum entrance. That is pretty steep, especially for the mid-west. 2) The People’s Museum in Manchester which tells a story of industrialization from the English Civil War until today.
Best Tour: A great museum is definitely not the same as a great tour. But in this case, the one hour tour at the British Library was very well done and interesting. A visit on our own would not have been nearly as good. I also enjoyed the tour of the Seward House in Auburn NY. It was very well done from both a historical and political point of view and the house is well preserved providing a look into life in the 19th century.
Favorite Experiences: As mentioned above, I really enjoyed horseback riding on the beach in Vieques Puerto Rico. I also, loved overnight bear watching in Estonia and the mid-summer festival in Helsinki.
Unexpected favorite destinations: It was a long drive and there is not much there, but I really enjoyed Narva, Estonia. It was a lot of fun to see the Estonian and Russian castles on either side of the river, to be on the eastern edge of NATO, and to see the border crossing. On the other end of the spectrum, I wanted to love the French Lavendar fields but I was concerned my expectations were too high and I would be disappointed, but it didn’t. The fields were stunning, and it wasn’t as crowded as I feared.
Biggest Travel Related Disappointment: As mention above, I really wanted to love Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in Marseilles. Frankly, this was the primary reason that I went Marseilles and then built the rest of the trip around it. I was also disappointed in Stanfords in London. If I had just wandered into a 170-year-old map store, this might have been a favorite. But I had such high expectations that I was pretty disappointed.
Biggest Travel Mishap: Thankfully, I didn’t have anything catastrophic during my travels but there were a few annoyances. 1) Completely self-induced, I mixed up the dates and didn’t book a hotel room for our last night in San Juan Puerto Rico. By the time I realized my mistake, rates had skyrocketed. 2) I wrote a dedicated post after running into difficulty renting back-to-back cars from the same company. 3) Our trip to Europe was filled with numerous strikes and flight cancelations and delays. Friends were delayed by 24 hours, my husband spent an extra night in New York, friends onward flight to Spain was canceled and instead they took an overnight bus, and my flight home from Paris was canceled and instead I flew out of Geneva and my return home was delayed. 4) And yet, the most annoying of them all was a 7-hour Ryan Air flight delay from Manchester to Dublin. There was no communication from the airline, there were three flights between my originally scheduled time and actual departure time that took off, I arrived at my hotel at 2 am and had to leave for the airport only 10 hours later.
Best New Travel App: This year I learned about MyTSA app which will estimate the length of the TSA line at the airport. I know the trends at my home airports but this is especially nice when traveling domestically at airports you don’t know as well, or in cities like Miami or Salt Lake where TSA lines can be unpredictable (or at least that is how it seems to me).
Best New Travel Podcast: I’ve been a fan of their website and blog for years but just started listening to Frequent Miler on the Air’s podcast. Not only are they entertaining but they provide tons of practical tips for points, miles, flights, hotel and other travel tips. I have learned a ton.
Favorite book(s): I read many 5-star books this past year and most of them had a sense of another time and another place. But with a solid sense of a travel destination, I will pick My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende for the descriptions of early 20th century Chile. I wish I’d been able to read this when traveling in Chile a few years ago. It would have added so much to the trip. Since Allende is such a well-known author and everything she writes is fantastic, I will also offer Tiananmen Square by Lei Wen which provides an up-close fictionalized look at events in Bejing leading up to the famous events in 1989.
Best meal(s): I had some great food over the past year. My favorite was Lore in Tallin, Estonia. The Asparagus and Risotto were both outstanding. The restaurant also had lovely outside seating on the water. Second place goes to afternoon tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace. The food and venue are both wonderful and you can combine the meal with a walk around the gardens. Runner ups are el Quenepo in Vieques, Puerto Rico or Dishoom in Manchester England.
Best Restaurant/Bar: It probably isn’t a fair comparison, but I have to go with Casa Islena hotel bar which is outside by the pool and on the beach. The location is hard to beat.
Best Surprise Meal: I spend one night a year in Syracuse New York but always fail to plan ahead for dinner. This year my trip coincided with a marathon and every place was jammed packed. I ended up eating corn fritters at the Whiskey Coop and am thinking of making it an annual tradition.
Best Breakfast: Two days in a row I had strudel at Crock and Crumble in Tallin, Estonia.
Best dessert: Only an American would list the same dish as a best breakfast and dessert. But the strudel at the Crock and Crumb in Tallinn was that good. But the seasonal blueberry crumble at Old Ebbits was also so good that I returned a week later to make sure I had it again before it was off the menu.
Best Avocado Toast: I love Avocado Toast and if it is on the menu, I am likely to order it. I think maybe the toast at Molly Malloy’s at the Reading Terminal Market in Philly may be the best I’ve ever had. Café Dup’s in Southern France would be a runner up for the year.
Best Pizza: I also love pizza and enjoy trying new places. Both favorites for the year were within a few miles of my house at il Canale in Georgetown DC, and Piece Out in Del Ray, Alexandria VA.
Best Italian (outside of Italy): The mini-Ravioli at Bistro Du Coin in DuPont Circle Washington DC was absolutely amazing!
Worst Meal: While I enjoyed visiting Narva more than I expected, I did not enjoy our meal there. It was absolutely horrible.
Favorite Lounge: The new Capitol One Lounge at DCA is lovely. The individual tables and service make it feel like a restaurant. It does get full quickly and can have a long waiting list. After a 34-minute wait, I had a pretty good burger at the Etihad lounge at Dulles. I was pleasantly surprised by the lounge at Syracuse NY.
Once again, between date nights, happy hour with co-workers and brunch with friends I ate out a lot this past year. Here is what I recommend specifically for Washington DC.
Most visited: In and around DC, Omar’s became my go-to. For a while I was going once a week but have since gotten a grip and have cut back to once a month. They have a very small menu but everything on it is outstanding.
DC Rooftop: Smoke and Mirrors downtown DC has a beautiful rooftop with views of the Capitol.
Relaxed Friday night: Screwtop wine bar continues to be my causal happy hour favorite.
Best Cocktail: I am not sure why I keep this on the list because I usually stick to wine and don’t drink a lot of cocktails. But I really enjoyed the Palomo at the Courtyard bar at the Fairmont Hotel in NW DC. But People’s Drug in Old Town Alexandria also has a great cocktail and mocktail menu. I also always enjoy the Stoli at the Capitol Grille.
Most Beautiful Interior (Most Instagramable): The Allegory speakeasy has a unique vibe with its dark interior and modern take on Alice and Wonderland. La Vie on the Warf also has a beautiful open interior right on the water.
Points and Miles:
I feel like I “up’d” my game this past year. In addition to earing and using a lot of points. I was able to get more creative and take it to the next level. For a return from Manchester, I transferred Bilt points to Alaskan Airlines to book Lingus Air from Dublin and then booked a cheap Ryan Air flight from Manchester to Dublin which got me a bonus 18 hours in Dublin. For a domestic trip to Utah, instead of flying Delta which is expensive, I transferred only 29,000 points to Quantas in order to fly American. (This sounds like a lot of points for a domestic flight but it is not unusual for a cash flight to be $500-$800 cash).
Over all, in 2025 my player 2 and I earned 410,000 miles through welcome offers. I spent 644,000 miles for 2025 and 2026 trips valued at over $10,000. If doing the math, this is not an amazing redemption value. It comes out to about 1.6 cents per mile. However, once you remember that I am not flexible on destination or dates (sometimes I am not even flexible on the time of day) this is pretty good for me to go where I want and when I want. This also includes some pretty difficult and expensive tickets to West Africa. And even my trip to my 50th state definitely would not have happened without points and miles. The tickets were just too expensive to make a fairly short and random trip possible.
Additionally, that “cash value” is what I would have paid out of pocket, not necessarily what the flights were worth. The actual value is more, but if I would not have paid the cash price, then it is not an actual savings (for me). 75% off a blouse I don’t need is not a savings. For the first time ever, I booked business class twice. But never in a thousand years would I pay cash for business class, so I value the travel at the economy price or maybe a tiny bit more. I don’t actually fly those until 2026 so I’ll let you know if that changes my mind and I am spoiled forever.
On the same topic, as a note, most of the cards have an annual fee. I will never pay an annual fee if I can’t at least break even on the value of the card. And again, this only counts for things I would pay cash for. Lounge access is great, but I would never pay for it and don’t count it at full value. I will value it at $20-$50 a year to balance out for food and drink I would buy at an airport. But I live in DC and don’t own a car, so I definitely give full value to my ride share credits. As I’ve said before, ALWAYS do the math.
Even when you don’t get perfect value from points (equal or greater to the cash value), when traveling on points with US airlines you can cancel with no (or little) penalty, which provides additional flexibility or alleviates the cost and hassle of travel insurance.
Looking back a year later, I met my 2025 travel goals. I visited my 50th state (Arkansas), I took a three-week trip to Europe and visited the Baltics for the first time. And as you read this, I am back in West Africa. I also squeaked out a couple of unplanned domestic trips with family and friends.
Looking forward to in 2026 – It looks like it will be a great year. I have a few domestic trips lined up in the Spring and Summer to visit family and friends. In late Spring I will return to Southern Africa for safari in Botswana and to visit Victoria Falls. In summer, I will visit Gurnsey with a girlfriend and go hiking in the Dolomites with another friend. My second big trip for the year will be in the fall with a return to Georgia and to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan for the first time. And before the end of the year, I hope to finally have a quick trip to Oaxaca Mexico to enjoy the food and sights.
But as with all things – inshallah …
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! I look forward to seeing what 2026 brings.
Life Kinetic Travel Research 