PHEW what a year! People always comment about how much I travel, but I honestly didn’t realize until I saw it written out in black and white. If you weren’t one of the lucky 73 people to get a holiday card from me and my emoji bf, I recapped the travel we did this year, and spoiler alert… it’s a LOT. I would simply post a PDF of the card, but that would require a lot of emoji-placement on my sweet boyfriend’s face, so instead I’ll just recap my travel here. There is still going to be some emoji-placement.
Maybe after you see how I spent half of 2018 in airports, you’ll forgive me for posting infrequently here. I left the state every single month of the year with the exception of July, when my best Australian buddy was here in the USA so I had to stay and eat Tim Tams with her.
January – Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia
I wrote a blog post about this trip, which you can back-reference here, but the main highlights were a lot of amazing food, gorgeous views of Granville Market and Deception Pass, having an all-night dance party, finding $100 on the floor of a pub, Segway-ing up the crazy hills of Seattle, and of course spending QT with my bestie! Lowlight (is that the opposite of highlight?) was leaving my phone, which was on airplane mode, in a cab. Somehow it was miraculously recovered! Not a lowlight after all.
February – Los Angeles, California
I didn’t blog about this trip per se, but I did go to a lot of ice cream places and blogged about that! I had to continue my #30Years30IceCreams with a travel edition. Also, I’m 31 now, but ice cream is still just as good. This trip was mostly for work, but every time I am in LA I try to tack on a few extra days to hang out with my college roommate! I also got to see another friend from college and watch the Olympics with him. Side note: LA is SO FAR! I always hate that long transcontinental flight, only to land in the SAME COUNTRY! I’d rather go to Europe.
March/April – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I went to the first Passover Seder at my sister’s house in NYC, then the 2nd at my parents in Philly! I dragged my emoji bf with me as well. He is a Seder pro now. It also happened to be my mom’s birthday that weekend. My family surprised my mom by chipping in for a YMCA membership for her birthday, the one thing she wanted. She was so happy, she cried, and the video warms my heart! Thankfully, Philly does not require an airplane ride, and for this trip, I took my sister’s car. Much more convenient!
April – Chicago, Illinois
I wrote a post about this trip! (Maybe I wasn’t as bad at blogging this year as I thought!?) My work’s annual conference changes place every year, and this year I was super excited to go to Chicago because I’d never been! Technically the conference was in Skokie, but I extended my trip with my work bestie to explore the city! Highlights included: A Segway Ride, gorgeous weather, deep dish pizza, a GORGEOUS view from out penthouse Air Bnb, which had the electricity turned off for non-payment while we were staying there. Oops.
Vancouver Exploring 
Gorgeous Walk to Granville Market 
FOUND: $100!! 
Road trip with purple bear back through the Canadian border to Seattle. 
Quick stop at the GORGEOUS Deception Pass. 
Deception Pass Pics 
Hike in the mountains outside Seattle with her adorable pup, Charlie. 
Segway with the Space Needle! 
California Nitrogen Ice Cream 
Quick Stop to pose with famous art at the Getty 
Why so prickly? (#cactusgarden) 
My happy place. 
Road trip up to Malibu to a secret beach. 
Can you tell she’d been crying? 
CHICAGO!! Beautiful view from our penthouse AirBNB before the electricity was turned off. 
Always gotta pose with Long Legs where I find them. 
CHI-TOWN & SEGWAYS! 
How gorgeous is this?? 
Also gorgeous: deep dish pizza. 
Chicago Bronze Cow. 
THE BEAN.
May – Cordoba, Seville, Granada, Madrid, Spain
Yeahhhh… this must have been when my blogging fell off because HOW DID I NOT TELL YOU GUYS ABOUT THIS TRIP!? It’s also when my Braid in Manhattan Instagram began, and I’m pretty sure there’s a correlation/causation there. Anyway, SPAIN. GO THERE. I fell in love with all the places we went, but my favorite was Granada. They have free food! Literally! Buy a drink, get amazing food for free. How can any place like that be bad? Also, we planned this trip during the famous Patio Festival in Cordoba, which was breathtaking. Cordoba now has the most UNESCO heritage sites as of this year! Jump on it before everyone else does. Trust me.
I loved traveling abroad with a group of girls. We all packed in backpacks and took trains around the country. I can’t wait for the next excursion.
June – Charleston, South Carolina
My best friend and I went to visit another friend in Charleston, SC and it was my first time there. It was fun to travel with a friend, especially since I usually fly solo (plus purple bear). We had lots of girly time, and I discovered the amazingness of Truly, a sparking water that is alcoholic. What? Amazing. We hung out at the pool, and the beach, and we rode around her neighborhood in her new golf cart. The next time we see each other will be at her wedding in ITALY! I’ll definitely have to tell you guys about that.
July – Beacon, New York
I said I didn’t travel in July but that is sort of a lie, I went upstate to Beacon, NY for my friend’s bachelorette! There was no airport involved (thank goodness) but it was still fun to get out of town for a bit. If you missed my blog about it, you can find it here!
Backpacking for the first time ever! 
First train of MANY. 
Our adorable Air bnb in Cordoba, actually one of the famous patios! 
1st day Cordoba exploring. 
First of a LOT of ham and sangria. 
Free walking tour! We did one of these in every city. 
The famous
Calleja de las Flores (Street of Flowers)
GORGEOUS patios. 
Inside the Mezquita ( The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, aka the Great Mosque of Córdoba) 
City #2: Sevilla! 
Spanish Square (Plaza de Espana)
Alcazar 
Blogger Photo at the Alcazar 
Secret Flamenco show in Seville 
More Trains Busses and Automobiles! 
On the way to Granada 
ALHAMBRA! 
SO. MUCH. HAM. 
posing on a hike up into the gypsy cave territory. 
Flamenco show in cave of the Sacromonte of Granada
Final city of Spain: Madrid! 
Mojitos on the top floor od a department store with an amazing outdoor patio 
Charleston with my ladies! 
Golf Cart Chillin. 
Truly Sparkling and a FAB pool. 
Bachelorette Party to Beacon! 
Wine Tour commence! 
How many vineyards can we hit in one day? 
Hiking off the wine from the previous day! 
More Vineyards 
Out of Order Charleston Cycling 
Any Airport with an insta-frame in a friend of mine.
August – WEDDING SZN! New Jersey, Philadelphia, Brooklyn
Within 5 weeks’ time, my emoji bf and I went to 3 weddings in 3 states. Gratefully, they were all accessible by train, and we even hitched a ride home from the New Jersey one in my cousin’s car.
September – Dublin, Ireland
What. A. Whirlwind. Thanks to my job and the many many Jewish holidays in the Fall, I was able to take a trip with my mom without taking any vacation days. We based ourselves in Dublin and took a few day trips out of the city to Cliffs of Moher, Cork, Galway, Blarney Castle, Rock of Cashel, and many other sites. We went to the Guinness Storehouse, Kilmainham Gaol (a historic jail), The Whiskey Museum, and a National Camogie Championship game. Then, as if sightseeing all day wasn’t enough, it happened that my friend from Florida was in Dublin at the same time with friends, so I went out and partied with them every night! I think I slept a maximum of 4 hours/night. It was SO fun, and I can’t wait to travel again with my mom.
October – Cancun, Mexico
This trip was for one sole purpose: relaxation. I definitely needed it after Ireland. Also, this trip came at the perfect time because it was in the middle of The Great Bed Bug Scare of 2018! It was Emoji-bf’s birthday, and all we wanted to do was sleep in and lay by the pool and read. Sure enough, that’s what we did! We also drank a lot, went to a glow party, and made new friends. But mostly, we relaxed.
November – Los Angeles, California
I went to LA again for work and hit up my favorite spots: Santa Monica beach path for a few runs, Philz for coffee, and Sidecar Doughnuts because DUH. Also, I got to have dinner with my college friend, and extended my visit to stay with my college roommate! We saw the BEST burlesque show EVER, Cherry Boom Boom, and now I follow them on Instagram and fall in love with every post. Also, we took a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park which was AWESOME. When we got back to Santa Monica, the smoke in the air from the wildfires was very intense. It’s been a rough year for the LA region.
Wedding #1! I was a bridesmaid in this one. 
Wedding #2. How snazzy is my date? 
Wedding #3! Same emoji, different dress. 
Sister-Sister! 
IRELAND! Whiskey barrels. 
And lots of kegs. 
Visiting one of the oldest jails. 
GUINNESS! 
Inside the Four Courts. 
Up early… out late! 
Cahir Castle and a few cannons 
Inside the Cahir Castle. 
Blarney Stone! 
Climbing in and around the Blarney castle (my mom skipped this one). 
Rock of Cashel! 
Croke Park and CAMOGIE. 
Outside the stadium 
Cliffs of Moher 
Selfie at the Cliffs 
More Cliffs of Moher. 
Largest glass of whiskey out there. 
Galway City. 
Trinity College 
Selfies in Dublin. 
RELAXIN in Mexico! 
Beach and Bf = happy Emily 
Glow par-tay. 
I must be back in LA… SIDECAR! 
My happy place. 
First time at Joshua Tree. So gorgeous! 
Explorin. 
Joshua Tree Handstand. 
How gorgeous is this?? 
KING OF THE WORLD!
November – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
After we spent real Thanksgiving in NYC because I was in the Macy’s Parade (did you guys really think I wouldn’t bring that up again??), we went to Philly for the weekend to see my parents and celebrate a belated Thanksgiving. This meant two feasts, which I will never say no to. My brother came, too! We ran a 5K together as a family and I did surprisingly well, considering how I swore off running for 6 months to heal my ankle. Most of our time in Philly was spent relaxing, but we capped off the weekend with a DELCIOUS third feast at a dim sum restaurant in Chinatown called Ocean Harbor.
December – Delray Beach/Boca Raton, Florida
At the beginning of the year, I was determined to travel more internationally, which meant forsaking a trip to Florida for the first year since I moved to New York! But by September, I really missed all my friends and I found a $207 roundtrip ticket on JetBlue and packed my bags. It’s so fun to visit my friends and soak in the warm temperatures.
December – Dallas, Texas
Every year we visit my emoji-bf’s non-emoji family in Texas for Christmas. It’s fun to get together and hang out, watch movies, wrap presents and eat way too much! I even snuck in a workout class and a run with his sisters. Even my brother drove from San Antonio to spend a few days with us. We went out for dinner and yummy cocktails with a college friend in Deep Ellum one night but other than that, we stayed pretty close to home. Also, Santa got me a new phone! Better resolution braiding pics coming soon!
Are you guys exhausted reading this? Because I am!! I love traveling, and I hope to do more of it in 2019. What are your plans for the new year? Any exciting destinations?
Our first 5K together! 
Always on so many modes of transportation. 
It’s a family affair. 
FRIENDS!! I love these ladies. 
How cute are we?? 
Aqua Aerobics and tanning. #FloridaLife 
Besties! 
Tree pics. Necessary. 
Bro-Sis time in the Lone Star State. 
Cutest Elf Family you ever did see. 
End of the year is for family! 
Cutest emoji couple out there. 
Here’s to more travel in 2019!
