Edition 14 | End of year reflections and a mystery trip to Central America

Remember me? Reviving my Substack to check in.

Greetings from Costa Rica and happy New Year’s Eve.

Fun fact: It’s been nearly a year since I drafted an edition of this newsletter — so much has changed since then. (And greetings if this is your first edition!) For one, I made the jump to full-time freelance in February, likely at the expense of keeping up with this Substack. But with 1,500 subscribers on here — a colorful mix of friends, AvGeeks, PR folks, and travelers who are into luxury, points, and local experiences — I think it’s time for a little update.

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IN THIS EDITION.

1. Reflections on 2023 as a reporter (+ occasional video creator).

2. A preview of some travel intentions for the year ahead.

3. Taking a mystery trip to Central America for New Year’s.

1. 2023 reflections (freelance edition)

It’s been 10 months since I took the plunge to become a full-time freelancer (but it’s felt much longer).

This was a year of establishing relationships and experimenting — working with various editors, PR folks, making short-form video content, pitching, saying yes, learning how to say no, and (attempting) to create boundaries between what’s work and what’s not.

I have immense gratitute for stumbling into a career that I love. (I wasn’t even in the travel space professional 4 years ago!) At the same time, in 2023, I reflected on the fact that travel has not only become my profession but also my entire identity. And this year, it felt like the end-of-year recaps — from both individuals and brands alike — made me more wistful and contemplative than ever.

Therefore, here we are. I decided on the last day of the year to take 30 minutes to write this Substack. It’s not just for you, the reader, but for me as well. Most of all, it’s to think about what I’ve accomplished, how to move forward, and to consider the importance of other identities outside of work.

• Publications I wrote for in 2023: AFAR, Travel + Leisure, The Washington Post, Conde Nast Traveler, Lonely Planet, Business Insider, Robb Report, CNN Travel, Hotels Above Par, Upgraded Points, South China Morning Post

  • 173 digital stories written and published

  • 3 print stories written and published

• Short-form videos created: 24

• Podcast episodes produced and written: 1

• Flights taken: 85

• Hotel nights stayed: 102

If you asked me at the start of this year, I would’ve been thrilled to be invited to any press trip — but over the course of 2023, I’ve been privileged enough to learn when it makes sense to say no. (By the way, I’ll readily admit that didn’t really know how they even worked until 10 months ago.) And for the first time in my life, I was paid to make videos in 2023 — I work with Travel + Leisure’s team as short-form video contributor (in addition to the editorial pieces that I write).

Content-wise, I find myself in a funny place in the travel freelance world. My head sometimes spins at how much I try to cover. My background is travel rewards, loyalty, credit cards (AKA points and miles nerd-dom at The Points Guy). However, in the past year, I’ve shifted a lot of my focus to establishing contacts and crafting stories and videos in the luxury realm (hotels, aviation, and destinations). At the same time, it’s important to me to immerse in local experiences and is a lot of the “why” behind my desire to travel.

Naturally, I’m trying to find the perfect balance straddling these sometimes disparate spaces, and it continues to evolve.

2. 2024: My year of adventure

2024 is about finding more of a creative spark. I’m calling it right now: it will be my year of adventure travel. That means more exploration and unique experiences.

A few of my goals include seeing the Northern Lights, going on an African safari, traveling to Bhutan or Nepal, doing more LGBTQ+ focused things, and most of all, connecting with myself to remember why I love to travel to begin with.

3. A mystery trip

It’s noon on New Year’s Eve as I write this Substack at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica. However, I have no idea where I’ll be at the stroke of midnight tonight to ring in 2024. Therein lies the beauty (and chaos) of Competitours, a company that plans so-called “mystery trips” akin to what someone might experience if they were on the reality show, The Amazing Race.

There’s a group of about 10 of us here in Central America (with teams of 2 people each) and I’m a couple of days into the journey. Let’s just say it’s been some of the wildest, most chaotic travel of my life.

The premise is that you have no idea what you’ll be doing next — so far, Andrew and I (my travel companion and teammate in the “challenges”) have cooked local cuisine, scuba dived, repelled next to a waterfall, milked a cow, learned how to lasso, and later today, on New Year’s Eve, we learned that we’ll be ziplining and taking a flight….somewhere.

Thus far, the experience has been thrilling, frustrating, unnerving, tumultuous, but also really fun. Follow along in real time on Instagram.

I guess I started my year of adventure travel a few days early.

Have a happy new year, Modern Travelers!