For personal travel, I hit the road some six weeks in all. The flexibility of contract work made it possible for me to take a lot of time out. Somehow, in the midst of all this free time, I managed to put in 2080 hours of work (52 weeks in 46 weeks' time).
In April, I went on a road trip with my friend Karen, a one-way drive from San Francisco to Washington, DC. The weather was perfect for such a trip, cool the whole way through with sparsely filled national parks, which was great. The trip gave me the chance to see more of what I'd seen on my last adventure West and I was glad for the chance.
In September, I went to Europe with my friend Jen and spent almost the whole month in the five major European capitols: London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, and Rome. There was so much wandering about and walking, the food was magnificent, and I had great opportunities for daydreaming and brainstorming.
Over the summer I started rock climbing, going to a local gym a few times a week to beef up a bit and learn how to move up a rock wall. In December, I got fitted for some contact lenses and am planning to get scuba certified in the new year.
South Florida got hammered by hurricanes this season, two of which passed over Fort Lauderdale. I mostly missed Hurricane Katrina, which blitzed through before slamming into Louisiana. By the time it reached the Gulf Coast, I was in New York, starting my trip to Europe. I came home to Hurricane Wilma, which knocked out power to millions and kept my apartment in the dark for the better part of a month.
Katrina
Wilma
So what comes in the year ahead? Big things, of course. I'm looking forward to completing a number of personal projects like the one shown below. Indeed, forcing myself to finish the log of backburnered priorities over the past year. And I plan to start and finish new projects to keep my knowledge fresh. This is my resolution, for 2006.
[MV/12/25/05 - 09:41:00]. enter