2024 Instagram Reel Format
2024 a year in pictures (Version 2: I wanted to create another version in a Reel format for Instagram, but also decided to post here. I used Canva to edit so added different elements for a little more flair.)
A very cathartic way to see how much you really do in a year.
I knew we had a lot of travel plans for 2024, so I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to take at least one picture everyday and create a wrapup movie at the end of the year.
Recap of the year:
5 Major/planned trips:
January - March wintering in our RV in Arizona and Texas
Starting with a stop and a new National Park for us; Hot Springs in Arkansas
Spending some time with a friend and ex-coworker, along with lunch with another friend living near Houston
Then making our way to Port Aransas on the coast; one of our favorite spots
With our main Texas stop in Port Isabel, across from South Padre, where we hung out with our Iowa friends, we met a couple years before
Then onto Tucson with our longest stay ever in our RV; hanging out with friends we met the year before, that actually live close to us in MN and with friends that live in Tucson; a guy that went to high school with Kersten, and his wife
Making our way back through Texas, stopping at my Sisters place, even though they weren’t there
April - Florida, with the goal of visiting 3 National Parks: Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas
June - Summer RV trip to Cross Lake, MN.
September - The trip/journey of a lifetime where we went to Portugal and Spain to do our first Camino. The Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, is a network of pilgrimage routes that lead to the shrine of the apostle James in Santiago de Compostela. We started in Porto, Portugal and walked/hiked over 170 miles, over 12 days to Santiago Spain.
October - Kersten had a goal of her “last” US State, Delaware. I had never been either. Flew into Philly, stayed a night in Atlantic City (1st for both of us), took the ferry to Delaware, on Kersten’s birthday, where they had a festival celebration on the beach, a stop for the night in Maryland, finally departing out of Washington D.C. where we made a very quick stop at the Washington Monument.
Other notable trips:
On our winter trip we did a day trip to Bandera Texas where by chance there was Mardi Gras celebration/parade. And when in Tucson we did a day trip to Tombstone.
In the summer when going to see Kerten’s parents in Winona, I mentioned that we had never gone to Lanesboro to check out the bike trails, so after 30 years of going to Winona, we finally did it!
And another trip to Winona, we finally stopped in Prescott, WI for lunch. We had driven this route many times, but never took the time to stop; checking out Muddy Waters Bar & Grill
5 National Parks - Hot Springs, Everglades, Biscayne, Dry Tortuga, Saguaro
Number of miles for me in 2024 - 678
Miles tracked Hiking, Biking, Walking, Kayaking
New Breweries in 2024 - 35
Concerts
Yacht Club festival: The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Offspring, Soul Asylum, Gary Clark Jr. and many others
Foo Fighters with the Pretenders
Notables from the pictures:
Selfies and pics including (me and with family/friends) - 86
Fun get togethers with our new friends from where we live now
Several Happy Hours with ex-coworkers from Stratasys & Laser Design
My 40th High School Reunion (first one ever for me)
Kira Pictures - 25 (well of course she’s going to be photographed a lot)
Pictures of Bloody Mary’s, Beer’s and other cocktails - 21
Fires - 8 (I like having fires)
Playing Bingo - 8 (what else do you do in the cold miserable months of MN)
Pictures at Bars/Breweries - 38 (See above, and that’s what we do when traveling)
That’s a rap on my 2024.