2025 Travel Recap
2025 was a busy travel year, with a lot of the rest of the time in the US and Paraguay working on some projects.
In terms of statistics, I flew just about 109,000 miles, excluding the flight to Agok Airstrip in Abyei which lacks an IATA code. This was across 71 flights.
With UN countries, I visited 3 new ones: North Korea, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. And in TCC terms 13 new regions, including South Ossetia, all UAE Emirates except for Dubai, Ogasawara, China Mainland, and the Republic of Srpska.
Right on January 1 I flew to Asuncion, Paraguay and spent a few days there getting some work done. Then, I headed back to the US until March.
March— South Ossetia and UAE
In August 2024 on my North Caucasus trip I had hoped to reach the Republic of South Ossetia. Unfortunately, at the last minute one member of our group had the permit rejected, which meant the whole group was not permitted to go. In early 2025 I reached out to my guide from the region to work on getting me a new visa to go to South Ossetia, and after about 2 months I got a message that I was approved. The catch though was that the visa was only valid for a few weeks.
So, through Dubai and Grozny (Chechnya, Russia) I made it to South Ossetia. I had a magical few days in the mountains and lowlands visiting the capital, old churches, and forts.
When I landed back in Dubai I spent time visiting all of the Emirates in the UAE, including the special double enclave of the UAE called Al Nahwa. I particularly enjoyed the quiet roads and peace outside the bustle of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
April— Ogasawara, North Korea, and Argentina
When I landed in Dubai for the South Ossetia trip I got an email that my trip to Iwo Jima scheduled for a couple weeks later had been downsized, and my ticket was cut. So, I scrambled to make a few changes. I decided to go and visit my family in Germany.
Then, in order to visit the island chain that I would have reached with Iwo Jima, I headed to Tokyo. From there, with a few friends I headed on a 24 hour ferry to the Ogasawara Islands of Chichijima and Hahajima.
In addition to the Iwo Jima cancellation I got news that my trip to Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea (DPRK) had also been cancelled. The zone opened in February for non-Russian travelers for the first time since early 2020, so I wanted to take advantage as soon as the opportunity was available. Unfortunately, it closed just a few weeks after it opened. On the bright side, a trip to the capital city of Pyongyang was opened for early April to coincide with the marathon being hosted there. So, I quickly seized the opportunity to sign up for that trip.
It was a fascinating few days in the city speaking up historical and political sites as well as running a 10k.
I had to get back to Paraguay to take care of some work, so I flew the long way back via China, Egypt, and Ethiopia. My dad came to visit, so we spent a few days in Argentina as well. For us, the best part was the quiet city of San Martin de los Andes.
Summer— USA, Bosnia, and Paraguay
After spending a few months in the US I planned a trip up to the Canadian Arctic ahead of a TCC meeting in June in Los Angeles. Before that I went with my friend David to Point Roberts, a small peninsula of American land separated by Canada and water. That was a very quirky destination, with gas being sold in liters and roads being split in 2 by a border.
Unfortunately, after flying from Seattle to Vancouver, my flight up north was cancelled, and the agents absolutely unwilling to help me. So, I gave up on the Arctic trip. Maybe one day. I did not feel like going all the way to Boston ahead of my meeting in Los Angeles, so I joined my friend Scott in Las Vegas and Dallas for his work trip. Was a nice time, despite having been to both places previously.
In July I received a special invitation to travel to Bosnia, so I headed across the pond with minimal notice, but of course it was a perfect opportunity to visit family in Germany after.
By August I really needed to return to Paraguay to finish up some work, so after some weeks in the US I headed down to Asuncion. I left the city a couple times for a weekend trip once by bus to Resistencia and Corrientes in Argentina and another trip to Filadelfia in the Paraguayan Chaco.
November— South Sudan and Ethiopia
By November, my long-booked trip to Ethiopia for the Most Traveled People (MTP) conference came up. I had a bit of time before the conference, so I went with a group to South Sudan and the Abyei region. Abyei is known for being the only shared piece of land between two nations in the world, in this case between Sudan and South Sudan. Ahead of the conference we also visited the Asosa and Gambela Regions in Ethiopia.
All in all, a jam-packed travel year. Frankly, I have some other things I would like to focus on in the coming years, so I could see the amount of length of trips decreasing. Nothing wrong with that, but priorities change and oscillate as time goes.