Travel in 2024
Another year of great travel. Overall it went fine, with no cancelled flights or significant problems.
I visited 7 new countries. In order, it was Morocco, Tunisia, Sao Tome, Angola, Italy, Lithuania & Latvia. This brings my life time country count to 83. I continue to chip away at the African country count, now at 33 of 54. I've finally visited more than half (29) of all African nations (54). I've visited 19 European nations, and Asia remains unchanged at 20.
I got a second passport this year (yes, its a thing for Americans), which will make visa applications easier in the long run, plus it means that I don't need to worry about something happening to my only passport.
Algeria once again was a failure (twice now), replaced by Morocco. However, there's a very good chance that Algeria will finally happen in 2025.
I flew a bizarre mixture of airlines this year. AirFrance was my most frequent airline. New airlines were Royal Air Moroc (from Morocco to Tunisia), TAAG Angola (to/from Angola, plus a domestic flight), Air Baltic (Lithuania & Latvia). Royol Air Moroc was perfectly ok. TAAG was fine but not great (planes are old, their hub in Luanda is crappy). Air Baltic was kinda said, with very small, cramped planes, and zero ammenities (not even drinking water).
Travel for 2025 is still a bit in flux. My old nemesis, Algeria is back on the list, and I think this time it may actually work out, coupled with a trip to Libya. I'm working on two African trips, but they're still not finalized, so much could potentially change. In July-ish, I will likely hit the remaining African Indian Ocean countries (Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros) as part of a trip for a friend's wedding. For November, I'm hoping to visit the horn of Africa (South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia). Likely no records to break next year, but that's still ok.