2008: The Year of Travel

Happy New Year! On the global stage, 2008-2009 already feels like it will be a period of change, much like the period 2000-2001 was, owing not only to changes in the U.S. presidency but also to events outside of the direct control of the U.S. president.

Aside from those world-changing events, if there is any one thing that most characterized 2008 for me it’s the many short trips I’ve taken to other cities around Europe. Of course, this was one of the draws of moving to Stockholm — I’d be a lot closer to a whole range of places on a continent less familiar than my own. So, inspired by Matthew Yglesias (who was, in turn, inspired by Jason Kottke), here’s a quick run-down of my trips in 2008, with asterisks for places I hadn’t been before (at least, as an adult). It all started, of course, with New Year’s Eve visiting friends in Seattle:

• Seattle, USA — New Year’s Eve with friends
• London, UK — Christina’s PhD defense party
• Munich*, Germany — conference
• Berlin*, Germany — meeting up with Joshua and visiting Anton
• Copenhagen, Denmark — meeting up with Max & Kari
• Florence*, Italy — meeting up witih Christina
• Birmingham, UK — meeting up with Mom
• Vienna*, Austria — conference
• Padjelanta National Park*, Northern Sweden — backpacking
• Geneva* & Lausanne*, Switzerland — meeting up with Sonja and visiting Frank
• Amsterdam*, Netherlands — conference and visiting Debbie
• Rome*, Italy — meeting up with Diana & Fred
• Umeå*, Northern Sweden — Christmas with Daniel’s family

So, that’s 13 distinct trips (I returned to Stockholm between each of those)! I’m not quite sure how that all happened — it’s not as if I set out to pack in more than one weekender per month. But I will say I took just about every little excuse that came up, to go exploring.

But not to be outdone, 2009 is starting off with a bang: a 3-week trip around two coasts of North America for a variety of reasons, including conference, family, friends, and the Presidential Inauguration. I’ll save writing it all and just copy and paste the list below, where you can see where I’ll be and when — and if you see I’ll be near you, then pop me an email! After this trip, though, I’m hoping things calm down a bit for 2009.

• Washington from January 11th to 14th.
• Philadelphia on January 15th.
• Montréal from January 16th to 18th.
• New York on January 19th.
• Washington on January 20th.
• Morgan Hill from January 21st to 24th.
• Las Vegas from January 25th to 27th.
• Seattle from January 28th to February 1st.

Nobel Prize in Medicine

And the Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to…