Looking back, 2017 stands as my most traveled year to date—a year defined by motion, distance, and the quiet realization that I had circled nearly an entire planet. Over the course of twelve months, I traveled through nine U.S. states and boarded a plane overseas for the very first time. My destination wasn’t a gentle introduction to international travel either—it was India.

By the end of the year, my air travel alone totaled more than 25,700 miles. For context, the circumference of the Earth is just 24,901 miles. I traveled more than the circumfirance of the Earth with a little to spare. 

Crossing an Ocean for the First Time

The journey to India unfolded in long arcs across the globe: Denver to Newark, Newark to New Delhi, and New Delhi to Gaya. The return trip was even more ambitious—Gaya to Varanasi, Varanasi to New Delhi, New Delhi to Newark, and finally back to Denver—a marathon of airports and time zones that stretched to more than 33 hours.

Traveling that far changes your internal compass. Time blurs. Distance becomes abstract. Somewhere between terminals and boarding gates, I crossed an invisible line—from someone who traveled domestically to someone who had stepped into the wider world.

Ending the Year on the Open Road

If India defined the beginning of 2017, Santa Fe, New Mexico gently closed it out.

The final trip of the year came by car, a little over five hours from Denver, and every mile felt earned. The drive unfolded in layers—mountains giving way to hills, winding roads carving through Colorado Springs, historic Pueblo, the long stretch toward Trinidad, and finally the climb over Raton Pass into New Mexico.

Santa Fe offered a different rhythm. We explored the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, stepped into the surreal world of Meow Wolf, and lingered over meals at local restaurants around the Plaza. From there, we drove north to Taos, taking Highway 68 through the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, one of those roads where the journey itself is the destination. The year ended quietly with a final night back in Pueblo, Colorado.

A Perfect Bookend

There’s a symmetry I didn’t notice until later: I was traveling to India on the first day of 2017, and I was traveling home on the last day of the year. It felt like a perfect bookend—a year opened and closed by movement.

2017 stretched me geographically, mentally, and emotionally. It reshaped how I think about distance, time, and what it means to go somewhere unfamiliar. As the calendar turned, I found myself already looking ahead.

Here’s to 2018—and wherever the road leads next.