As the year wraps up, I'm reflecting on a full 12 months of travel, both near and far. The highlight of my 2024 travel experiences was a bucket list trip to one of the world's most remote inhabited islands—Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in Chile. Closer to home, I explored Texas, discovering its beauty by land and air. Whether you're visiting Go Backpacking for the first time or have been following along at any point over the past 17 years, thank you for being here!
Table of Contents
Chile
Exploring Easter Island
The most exciting trip of the year was a two-week jaunt to Chile, half spent on Easter Island. Kel and I flew Business Class from Santiago to Rapa Nui on LATAM Airlines and settled into a cozy coastal studio apartment rental for the first four nights.
Our days were spent visiting the various archaeological sites, from the easily accessible moai in Hanga Roa to the most important, Rano Raraku, where the mega-monoliths were sculpted. We mixed guided tours of the moai with exploring in a rental car. It was also fascinating to learn about the Birdman cult of Orongo, which succeeded the moai society.
Evenings were spent staring up at the sparkling stars above the South Pacific Ocean and enjoying the restaurants of Rapa Nui. Our last two nights on the island were spent at the Nayara Hangaroa resort.
Dinner at Borago
After Easter Island, we returned to Santiago for four nights. I had the opportunity to play tour guide for Kel, having first visited Santiago in 2012 after backpacking through Argentina and Uruguay. We celebrated our anniversary with a modern Chilean dinner at Borgao, one of Latin America's best restaurants.
Touring Valparaiso
To make the most of our time in Chile, we signed up for a full-day tour of Valparaiso on the Chilean coast. During my 2012 trip, I spent a rainy weekend in Valparaiso, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it was hard to appreciate given the weather.
Twelve years later, we visited in the same month (May), and it was warm and sunny. My chance at a re-do was worth every dollar, with the highlight being a guided walk through Valparaiso's street art lining the historic district.
United States
Spring Break in New York City
I joined Kel on a March work trip to NYC for the second year. We managed to squeeze in some fun experiences, like a taping of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and a morning trip to the Statue of Liberty.
The former required patience (i.e., waiting in line for hours despite having tickets). The latter was my first trip back to Lady Liberty since I was a child. Returning as an adult was long overdue and well worth the cost. While it was overcast the first half of the trip, the clouds began to clear ahead of the return ferry ride, and we got some prettier photos of the statue and Lower Manhattan.
Visiting Kansas City
Another of Kel's business trips took us to Kansas City, which was a first for me. Sightseeing highlights included the National World War 1 Museum and Memorial, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum, Truman's childhood home, and the world-class Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I also used the opportunity to delve into the KC barbecue scene for a story on Feastio.
Austin FC in Minneapolis
Seeing an Austin FC game in Minneapolis was the pitch for a weekend trip to Minnesota to visit one of Kel's friends and her husband. It was my first time seeing Austin's fourth-year MLS team play an away game, and we had field-level seats for the occasion. I loved being so close to the action, an experience I've had a few other times with soccer, including an FC Barcelona match in 2008 during my trip around the world and a Gold Cup match in Nashville.
Texas
It's safe to say Texas travel dominated my 2024 calendar. Close to home, I took two overnight trips to Fredericksburg (Texas Wine Country), about 90 miles west of Austin, and two 90-mile trips north to Waco. Further afield, there were three road trips to San Antonio and four to Houston!
Galveston
While I enjoyed delicious food and good times in all those cities I'd already been to, the trips to new places are the ones I'll remember best. First, there was Galveston on the Texas Gulf Coast. This historic port city has miles of beaches and many fun things to do, regardless of the time of year you visit.
Highlights from Galveston:
- The Strand Historic District
- Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum
- Galveston Naval Museum
- Galveston Railroad Museum
- Moody Mansion
- The Bryan Museum
- Moody Gardens (Aquarium and Rainforest Pyramids)
- Galveston Island State Park
I also saw the Battleship USS Texas, which has been undergoing a multi-million dollar restoration and will eventually open to the public as a WW1 and WW2 Historical Museum. Given how much I enjoyed touring the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor, returning to Galveston to visit the USS Texas will be a no-brainer.
Lubbock
Next, we flew to Lubbock in West Texas for a Baylor Bears football game against the hometown Texas Tech Red Raiders. The college game was a great excuse to explore a part of Texas neither Kel nor I had visited before. Like Galveston, I found plenty to keep first-timers like us busy.
Highlights from Lubbock:
- Texas Air Museum (including an impromptu tour from one of the pilots)
- Silent Wings Museum
- Lubbock Lake National Historic Landmark
- Prairie Dog Town (even though we only saw one)
- Watching Baylor beat Texas Tech at Jones AT&T Stadium
Two of the more memorable Lubbock restaurants we ate at were Evie Mae's BBQ and The Nicolett.
South Padre Island
Finally, and at my request, we vacationed on South Padre Island in South Texas. Kel grew up in the region, and after four years together, I'd wanted to see it firsthand. The week before Thanksgiving was warm and sunny, though the Gulf waters were too cold for me to go for a swim.
Instead, we savored peaceful sunrise walks on the beach and sipped frozen drinks during sunset happy hours. Between these moments, we found plenty to do on the island, from visiting Sea Turtle, Inc. to see rescued and rehabilitated turtles to exploring the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center and strolling along the fishing jetties at the island's southern tip.
We also ventured off the island to visit a lighthouse in Port Isabel, eat barbecue in Brownsville, and visit Boca Chica Beach, located next to the SpaceX rocket launch facilities.
Final Thoughts
Business-wise, 2024 was among the most challenging of my 17 years as a travel blogger. Google algorithm changes that began in September 2023 continued to negatively impact the visibility of my stories in search results and, therefore, the number of visitors to Go Backpacking and Feastio. Ad revenue dropped, resulting in cost-cutting and a need to travel closer to home.
However, when all is said and done, and I look back at the past year, I'm grateful for every trip I could take. As long as I live in Austin, it makes sense to continue exploring the massive Lone Star State.
Prior Annual Reviews
Living in Texas
- 2023 - Vietnam, Japan, USA
- 2022 – Peru, USA
- 2021 – The Bahamas, USA
- 2020 – a year without travel
- 2019 – Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Colombia, USA
- 2018 – Peru, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Italy, Spain, USA
- 2017 – Mexico, USA (I didn't write a recap)
- 2016 – Mexico, Canada, Peru, Brazil, USA
Living Abroad
- 2015 – Colombia, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Greece, Germany, Romania, England, USA
- 2014 – Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Italy, Mexico, Peru, USA
- 2013 – Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Panama, USA
- 2012 South America – Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia
- 2012 Europe and Asia – Iceland, Spain, Germany, Indonesia, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, England, Wales, Luxembourg, France, Monaco, Andorra
- 2011 – Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
- 2010 – Rwanda, Colombia, USA
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