December 28, 2015
Around the world in 2015.
Everything about New Year is good! And one of the best things is that it’s the perfect time to take a break, take stock, take note, share impressions, and recharge the batteries for next year. I go through this procedure every year (2014, 2013) – I find it useful in all sorts of ways. I recommend you all do the same and give all those around you a burst of pure positivity. So, how did 2015 shape up? Well, let’s see what my notebook says:
- I shattered my personal record for number of flights – 116 for the year, ~500 hours and ~400,000 km in the air. The most intense month was March – 15 flights.
- Visited 23 countries, some more than once. I was in China, Germany and the UK most of all.
- Gave 50+ presentations, did 100+ interviews, got through 20 business conferences, met 6 presidents, prime ministers and ministers.
- Stayed, lived or simply slept in 41 hotels
- Discoveries of the year: the Maldives, Guatemala, Gabon, Iceland. I now have 80 countries under my belt.
- Completed the 9th round-the-world trip. Not much for a year, but it was all fast and action-packed.
- Caught a connecting flight at SVO for the first time.
- Turned 50 while “on the road again”.
Geographical discoveries
- The White Cliffs of Dover.
- Cologne Cathedral.
- Miami.
- Bonneville Salt Flats.
- Crimson Utah (one, two, three)
- Aogashima
- Kimberley (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven)
- Iceland (one, two, three, four, five, six)
- Kamchatka… again, and something new every time.
- China: Shilin, Wulingyuan (Yuanjiajie), Zhangye, Huanglong, Jiuzhaigou.
- Scotland.
- Nice-Genoa.
- Russian exclave on the Baltic.
I’ve updated the Top 100 Must-See Places in the World and checked 8 boxes.
Man-made and amazing:
- CERN (one, two, three)
- Grand scale model of Russia
- Hotel Museum
And now for the category ‘Miscellaneous’: Presidential Award in Armenia, a helicopter ride above St. Petersburg, four visits to Formula 1 (Japan, Singapore, Monza, Monaco), an extension of the Ferrari sponsorship for another 5 years, and I finally bought a new camera :)
And that just about covers it. But the adventures for 2015 aren’t over yet – for technical reasons I’m heading into the distant offline until next year. All the very best for 2016!
