Places I slept, 2013

San Francisco, CA
Santa Monica, CA
Cherry Hill, NJ
Manhattan, NY
Brooklyn, NY
Danbury, CT
Toronto, Canada
Green Bay, WI
Las Vegas, NV
Shanghai, China
Yangzhou, China
Shenzhen, China
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Miami, FL
El Paso, TX
Hamamatsucho, Tokyo
Harajuku, Tokyo
Yanasegawa, Saitama
Fukuoka, Japan
Kagoshima, Japan
Osaka, Japan
Santa Cruz, CA
Belden Town, CA
Guerneville, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
Portland, OR
Chico, CA
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Scottsdale, AZ
Itabashi, Tokyo
Malibu, CA
Fort Collins, CO
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Trinidad, CA
Moss Beach, CA

In so many ways 2013 was an excessive year. This list, at 35 separate zip codes, reflects that excess. An average of one new zip code slept in every 10.7 days. More than 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009. And many of these multiple times, on multiple trips. 4 different beds in Shanghai alone that are here listed as one location. 2 different beds in Santa Monica. Twice to the same hotel in Tokyo, the same apartments in New York and La Quinta in El Paso. For the first time ever, Las Vegas, Fukuoka, Idabashi, Shenzhen, Malibu, and Kagoshima, a city I’ve wanted to visit since first reading Number9dream in 2002

And yet more and more this list is a reflection of exhaustion and a nebulous toll on our environment. 2013 also marked the first year I considered giving up flying.

2013 was also filled with amazing things. From Tara asking me to marry her and me vice versa in Japan in May to winning the Hong Kong Ultimate tournament with old friends and new in October, it was a year that saw adventures I’d never imagined.

Here’s to 2014. May it bring more adventures for all of us, though perhaps not one every 10 days. I’d like to spend a bit more time with my cat.

Then again, he’s been traveling too. His list for 2013:

San Francisco, CA
Fort Collins, CO
Petaluma, CA
Malibu, CA

Impressive, no?