Journals

(2009's train tickets. Since I commute by foot, each one represents a trip out to somewhere else in the UK- visiting friends and family, academic travel, or simply to see somewhere new!)   2009 was another good year for me, travel-wise. I only made it to one new country - Denmark - but although Norway, Sweden and Canada were all repeats, I visited new places in each. In all, I spent nearly a month abroad.   I also saw plenty of the UK- in December alone I racked up 36 hours on trains between Edinburgh and the east of England, and as the ticket stack shows that was just part of the story! As well as many days out or long weekends away, I also managed a couple of extended trips: Manchester and North Wales early in the year, then the Scottish Highlands in the summer.    and sometimes you don't have to go anywhere at all for a change of scenery- like most of the UK, Edinburgh was in the grip of snow for much of December, allowing familiar territory to delight all over again:   (The Norwegian christmas tree, Edinburgh)   Given all that, it's hard to pick out a favourite travel moment from 2009. I devoted hours to elevated views of two very different sunsets: over Ålesund from Aksla and Toronto from the CN tower. I dined in pitch darkness at O.Noir in Toronto and in three countries in one day during my European wanderings. I decided I don't like art galleries, but could wander a city admiring the architecture for hours. I traveled by plane, train, bus, coach, boat, metro and foot.    and I hope to do even more in 2010.