Trip Totals: Accounting for our Whereabouts

Apart from toting up income (not enough) and expenses (too much), we endorse counting up other important things in your life, especially at tax time. Count your blessings; count your cousins; count your freckles, calories, or steps. How many times did I swear today?

We’re acknowledging our inner accountant by sharing these trip totals from our latest travels. It was a fairly extended journey, but the itinerary formed as we went along. We started only with round-trip air reservations from Omaha to Athens, plus a date in London. (The letters in parentheses refer to footnotes.)

Athens 2014-2015 Trip Totals

Departure date: October 16, 2014
Return date: March 10, 2015
146 days

11 countries; seven of them new to us (a)
3 continents (b)
5 islands (c)
33 cities with overnight stays (d)
42 bedrooms (yes, 42 different beds)

10 air travel days; includes seven layovers, 17 segments
19,893 air miles
15 train travel days
250-300 average miles per train day, estimate
2 train passes (Eurail and Swiss Travel Pass)
5 rental cars
5 ferries

2 conferences (TBEX in Athens and World Travel Market in London)
3 live contacts with family/friends (nephew in England; niece in Paris; friend in Bern)
5 introductions and meet-ups based on mutual friends (Paris, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt)
11 guided tours (e)

6 European Capitals of Culture (f)
26 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (g)
2 live theater performances (h)
0 live music performances (I’m ashamed), not counting street and cafe performers

6 mountain ranges (i)
9 cities by the sea (or lake) (j)

…and my favorite for last:
16 river towns (k)

Footnotes:
A most helpful tool in recalling these details is TripIt Pro. We keep our flights, hotels, train reservations, and key tours and events in this useful app.
a) COUNTRIES: Greece, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Malta, Egypt
b) CONTINENTS: Europe, Asia, Africa
c) ISLANDS: Paros, Greece; Great Britain; Cyprus; Malta; Gozo
d) CITIES: Athens, Paros, Meteora, Thessaloniki; London, Marlow; Paris, Caen, Strasbourg, Colmar; Bern, Montreux, Zermatt, Chur; Verona, Trieste; Ljubljana; Venice, Milan, Florence, Rome; Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat; Petra, Wadi Rum, Amman; Paphos; St. Julian’s Bay/Valletta; Sharm El Sheikh, Aswan, Luxor, Cairo
e) GUIDED TOURS: Corinth (Kris), Delphi (Tom), and Kalampaka/Meteora, Greece; Venice, Florence, and Rome, Italy; Idrija, Slovenia
f) EUROPEAN CAPITALS OF CULTURE: Athens, Thessaloniki, Paris, Florence, Paphos, Valletta
g) UNESCO WHS: Acropolis, Delphi, Meteora, Byzantine churches of Thessaloniki, Archeological site of Philippi, Mt. Olympus region, Mont Saint-Michel, Paris banks of the Seine, Bern, Bernina rail, Alps, Idrija mercury mines, Verona, Florence, Masada, Jerusalem, Petra, Wadi Rum, Quseir Amra, Um el Rasa, Cairo, Memphis, Luxor (Thebes), Alexandria, Nubian monuments, St. Catherine at Mt. Horeb
h) THEATER “Ancient Pathos” (a.k.a. “Ruins of Passion”) at Topos Allou Theater, Athens; “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” at Gielgud Theater, London
i) MOUNTAIN RANGES Olympus Range (Greece), Vosges Mountains (France), The Alps (Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia), Judaean Mountains (Israel), Abarim Range (Jordan), High Sinai Mountains (Egypt)
j) WATERFRONT CITIES Athens, Montreux, Trieste, Venice, Tel Aviv, Eilat, Paphos, Valletta, Sharm el Sheikh
k) RIVER TOWNS London, Marlow, Paris, Caen, Strasbourg, Colmar, Bern, Zermatt, Chur, Verona, Ljubljana, Florence, Rome, Aswan, Luxor, Cairo