Episode 215 - The Travel Year In Review
Hello and welcome to episode 215 of Travel Stories from the Back Again and Gone. Being recorded in the beautiful home office in Chateau’ Relaxo, FL. If you’re a new listener, welcome; and if you’re a returning listener, welcome back.
Tonight, it’s the 2025 travel year in review.
Way back in 2010, I signed up for TripIt. If you’ve never used TripIt, it ingests all of your travel-related emails and then builds a shareable itinerary. Over the past 15 years, I have traveled 668,450 miles, which is equivalent to almost 27 trips around the globe. This consists of 1856 days on the road and 527 trips. 35% of my time was traveling. These numbers don’t include the previous 10 years before 2010.1111
Of those 15 years that have been tracked, all road warriors keep track of their travel numbers,
In 2018, I spent more time on the road than I ever have in my 25-plus years of business travel.
In comparison, these were the 2025 numbers.
In the first six months of 2025, I didn’t travel due to my previous position. Ever since COVID, business travel has been down, replaced by Teams and Zoom. But you’ll hear me say it regularly: big business gets done face-to-face.
Will travel return to pre-COVID levels? Doubtful, and for a few reasons. Travel is expensive. I recently tried to book a Hampton Inn in Pensacola, FL, off-season, and it was $170.00 per night before taxes and fees—the days of a $400.00 round-trip flight on a major carrier are gone. If you find a cheaper flight by the time you pay for bags, seats, etc., it’s the exact cost or close to it, as with Delta or American. Then throw in the fact that there are more flight delays now than ever before, planes are packed, and unless you’re a Delta Diamond Medallion, your chances of an upgrade are very slim. For example, I recently flew out of Atlanta, which is a bad example because everyone in Atlanta flies Delta, but the first-class upgrade list had 43 people on it. There were only ten or twelve physical first-class seats.
I am a numbers nerd and a beer nerd, and I use Untappd to track the beers I drink.
This past year, I drank 54 beers that I had never drunk before. Out of the 501 different styles of beer that is produced, I consumed only 19 different styles, and if you listen to any of the episodes, it’s easy to guess that my favorite style is the IPA. My top-rated beer was Bound by Time IPA from Edmund’s Oast in Charleston, SC. This was followed by local brewery Three Odd Guys and their APK, another IPA weighing in at 7.4% ABV.
The worst beer of the year was on board the Norwegian Encore: a 66 by Norwegian Premium European Pale Lager that tasted like SHIP. But we selected the cruise based on the boat, not the beer they were serving.
My first beer of 2025 was Rad Little Thing from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. I had subtle hints of pine, which sounds weird, and it came in at 7% ABV. Untappd awards a multitude of badges for different beer styles and for various locations where you consumed beer. In 2025, I got 65 new badges, bringing my badge total to 1525, which means absolutely nothing in the real world. I drank enough beer to fill a five-gallon mop bucket. In full disclosure, I don’t log every beer I drink, mostly new or unique beers, and most come in 4-packs or 6-packs, so do the math, it’s probably two 5-gallon buckets.
My total unique beer count since 2011 is sitting at 1552.
When it came to the podcast, Spotify shared some numbers. According to Spotify, my podcast audience increased 40% over the previous year. My follower count grew by 6%. The top episode was episode 210, our trip to Alaska, which was played 27% times more than the average episode. Travel Stories was listened to in 30 countries, and it is a top-ten podcast for 40 of my followers and a top-five podcast for 20 of them. This is a clear indicator that these folks need to broaden their podcast library.
Most don’t know this, but I am an avid reader. I almost exclusively read non-fiction. I recently finished Disrupt Everything—and Win: Take Control of Your Future by
James Patterson, yes, that James Patterson, and Patrick R. Leddin. This is a practical guide that shows you how to use disruption as a positive force to take back control of your life and future through deliberate habits and courageous choices. Scott Payne was a guest on Joe Rogan’s podcast earlier this year, talking about his book, Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America’s Nazis. The book is Scott’s gripping true story of being an FBI undercover agent infiltrating violent neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, while struggling to protect his family, faith, and sanity.
I also close out each episode by directing listeners to Substack, but Substack doesn’t post any year-end numbers. However, I did pick up a handful of new Substack subscribers. Honestly, the only reason I have a Substack site is to post the show notes link and pictures. I’ve never viewed it as a legitimate blog site, which is why it’s free.
This is where I typically list the trips and meals for the year.
With only ten trips, most of which were destinations that I’ve been to, this was still an easy choice.
The trip of the year was our Alaskan cruise, which I covered in episode 210. It’s time to sound like everyone else. If you have the chance to take an Alaskan cruise, try to do it. I wasn’t a fan of cruises, and previously, my thoughts of an Alaskan trip would’ve consisted of a fly rod and a drift boat. There was no shortage of activities, even if you never left the ship. The food on board and when we docked was over-the-top.
My opinion of cruises changed with this cruise, so much so that we’re considering another cruise next fall.
Here’s a new addition: the most ridiculous hotel stay of the year, which was at the Moxy Columbia, South Carolina, Downtown. I had to rate this objectively, even though I really wanted to give it 1 or 2 stars. This hotel is not designed for the business traveler. And if I had done a deep dive on the room I had selected, I would’ve found out that it was 190 ft.². You have to go down to the second floor to get an ironing board and an iron. The elevators are tiny and can only fit two people with their luggage.
The day I was there, the door key system was broken, so you had to have an employee escort you back to your room every time you left. They were very gracious and took it in stride. The staff were very friendly and helpful, so don’t let that deter you from booking here.
Here’s what really put me over the edge. Your only parking option is valet or a public lot. I circled the block several times and never saw a public lot, so valet it was. I’m not a fan of valet services. When I need my car, I need my car. Case in point, when I texted the valet to bring me my car, it took almost 25 minutes, and I was late for my meeting.
If you are the type who enjoys a downtown loft experience, then this is the place for you. In addition, if this is the type of place for you, you would give it five stars.
For the best travel meal of the year, it would be Blue Ember BBQ in Rogers, Arkansas. The first thing you notice when you get out of your car is the smell of the pit, and that’s always a good thing. I ordered the Special Ops Sandwich, which consisted of brisket, pork, sausage, BBQ beans, and a rib stacked between a buttery bun. A total fat guy sandwich.
Since I’ve switched my airline of choice from Southwest to Delta, I plan to be squeezed into a Delta economy seat in the coming year.
I’m a lifetime Hilton Diamond and Lifetime Marriott Titanium, so there’s not much to gain there except for a new Hilton tier, Diamond Reserve. How do you hit Diamond Reserve? Glad you asked.
The requirement is 80 nights or 40 stays AND $18,000 USD in eligible annual spend. Alex, I’ll take “what’s not going to happen for $500.00.
Let’s do a bit of math: $18,000 divided by 80 nights is roughly $225 per night, which is crazy for your typical road war. My tip for the 80 nights would be: if I were doing a three-night stay, I would book three one-night stays, for a total of 3 stays. Make sure when you check in, you let the front desk staff know that you have three separate reservations and that you want to keep the same room throughout, so you don’t have to pack and unpack each day. Also, you might have to have them recharge your door key each day if you don’t use their app for unlocking your hotel door.
However, this does little to help with the $18,000 metric.
So what do I get for Diamond Reserve? Glad you asked. Confirmed room upgrades at booking, guaranteed 4 PM late checkout, and exclusive support.
I have no idea what exclusive support means, but what would be more valuable is 10 or 15 points per dollar spent while staying on the property, regardless of the credit card used to book it. I say this because most corporations require employees to use corporate-issued credit cards for travel and not personal credit cards. This means that taking out a personal-branded airline or hotel credit card that earns you additional miles or points is useless.
None of the airline or hotel perks hold that much allure for me after almost 30 years of business travel. Leave all that stuff for the young baby road warriors.
Since we’re talking about 2026, what’s your 2026 PTO strategy?
The best way to use PTO in 2026 is to stack days next to U.S. holidays so a few PTO days turn into long, restorative breaks throughout the year.
Big-picture strategy
Cluster PTO around existing long weekends (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas) instead of scattering single days.
Decide your “anchor trips”: one more extended vacation, a couple of 4–5 day getaways, and a few 3-day weekends for recovery throughout the year.
2026 US holiday highlights to build around
Winter/Spring: New Year’s Day (Thu Jan 1), MLK Day (Mon Jan 19), Presidents’ Day (Mon Feb 16) and Good Friday/Easter (Apr 3–5) can give you 4–9 day stretches with 2–4 PTO days tagged on.
Summer: Memorial Day (Mon May 25), Juneteenth (Fri Jun 19), and Independence Day (observed Fri Jul 3 + Sat Jul 4) are prime for beach/lake trips and road trips with minimal PTO burned.
Fall/Winter: Labor Day (Mon Sep 7), Veterans Day (Wed Nov 11), Thanksgiving (Thu Nov 26), and Christmas (Fri Dec 25) are perfect for one “big” trip plus year-end recharge if you wrap PTO around weekends.
Front-load one or two PTO-heavy stretches early in the year so you’re not white-knuckling it to Q4, then keep a small reserve for surprise burnout or opportunities.
Coordinate with your manager and team calendar before locking dates, especially around popular weeks like July 4 and late December, to avoid coverage drama.
If your company offers float days, make sure you use them; if you don’t, someone in HR will suggest removing the benefit since no one is using them.
What are my travel resolutions for 2026? I’m not sure I have any.
If I were a baby road warrior, these would be my 2026 resolutions.
Be a solid steward of your company’s money. In other words, don’t abuse your expense account. If you don’t eat caviar and drink high-end whiskey on your own dime, don’t do it on the company’s dime. This one resolution will take you far in your career.
Become brand loyal. The man who chases two rabbits catches none. Pick your airline and hotel of choice and stick with it. Flying on various airlines and staying at multiple hotel brands will earn you a bunch of points with all those airlines and hotels, but not enough points with any single airline or hotel to do you any good.
Enjoy the ride. If you are in a destination city and your meetings end early, take some time and explore the area. Find a local dive bar or brewery and roll right in. Extra points if there’s karaoke happening that evening. Talk to your boss; you might be able to take a PTO day while you’re out of town, and you can use those hotel points to cover your hotel room.
This one is nerdy, but journal about your travels. Even if no one ever reads it, you’ll have a timeline of your adventures. In 2004, I started my first blog site, Fricksworld, and much of it focused on my travels. I have no idea if anyone read it, but it’s out there on the internet forever.
Practice fitness when traveling. If you work out at home, continue the practice when traveling. Purchase a set of resistance bands or download a bodyweight workout template, just in case the hotel’s fitness center is a giant cup of suck. When you wake up, don’t check your email; go work out or walk around the parking lot or up and down the stairwell. You’re not in a hotel room pacing like a dad in the waiting room—when everyone’s in the operating room waiting on me to close this deal. As soon as you open Outlook, your whole morning takes a detour.
What are your 2026 travel resolutions? Leave me a comment. And maybe I’ll be inspired.
Well, there you have it, Episode 215, the 2025 travel year in review.
For long-time listeners, thank you for your comments and emails. For new listeners, I hope you return.
If you want detailed show notes, links, and pictures, head over to Substack at travelstories.substack.com/
You can also leave me a message on Anchor or email me at TravelFrick@gmail.com.
As I always say, travel safe, stay safe, and thanks for listening.
