Year in Review 2018 – Joel Oleson Adventure Traveler Fun Photos

At the beginning of 2018, I started working at Blizzard Entertainment and visited a couple of offices in Europe as well and now two of my oldest sons started college.  Great accomplishments for which I’m very pleased.  As a result of supporting 2 in college, I’ve had to get good at cashing in airline miles.   Our big family trip this year was to Ethiopia and Tanzania and it was awesome!  The great migration and seeing the It’s one my wife has been asking to do for years.  I finished the Western Hemisphere UN (North and South America).  I started the year with 155 to go and ended with 163… but lots of great highlights as you’ll see below.

Screenshots above are from “App in the Air” based on Tripit.  Reality is somewhere around 1.5 million miles, but who’s counting?

These stats are primarily based on flights alone since I left Microsoft about 11 years ago.  It doesn’t count the visits by car or train.

8 New UN Countries

Roadtrip from Bissau to Dakar

• Guinea Bissau
• The Gambia
• Senegal

Island hopping around Madagascar

• Seychelles
• Madagascar
• Mauritius
• Reunion (TCC)
• Mayotte (TCC)

Weekend in the Caribbean

• Antigua
• Grenada

Revisits and some New Areas (Some selected photos below)

• Italy – Verona, Ramona & Venice
• Slovenia – Roadrip from Venice to Ljubljana
• Tanzania – Serengeti and the Great Migration
• Ethiopia South – Omo Valley Tribes
• Zanzibar – Stone town, Plantations and South Beaches
• Mexico – TJ x3, Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado
• Portugal – Lisbon
• France – Paris, Normandy, and the coast
• England – London

The tribes in the Omo Valley were like visiting my ancestors from 5,000-10,000 years ago.  Huddling in the grass huts and talking about their experiences was surreal. Having my son and nephew experience this ancient tribe was so fantastic.  I do worry these days are limited.  Life on this planet is changing quickly… There was a group of Chinese tourists complete with green screens and lighting equipment that beat us to one of the tribes and I struggled to not be heartbroken.  Just when you think there’s no way you’ll see a tourist…

The Great Migration is one of the most amazing things on the planet, and is the largest mammal migration of it’s kind with more than 1.5 million individuals.  I was told by my driver that I would cry I’d see so many wildebeests. I think my heart was full, but it was others in the group that voted to move on. I couldn’t get enough of these odd creatures.

Travel can be so much more interesting you see a place not how it is, but how it changes… our perspective changes…  a place can be so different at different times of the year.  Our driver was telling us about the different times of the year based on baby animals, the rainy seasons with the hippos and crocks, the dry season where the animals get close and the lions have an easier time.  Imagine how the Serengeti looks if you’re standing in the middle of a meercats den… every day a different story. (Yes, I did see Meerkats and they did NOT dissapoint!) The Wildebeests were a testament to a creator.  The creations of this planet make us think of organization on a massive scale rather than pure chaos.

Watching The Lion King… in Nature play out in front of my eyes… now that brings you to tears!

Watching the lions in the Ngorongoro Crater was fascinating.  The density of large mammals is the most dense on the earth in the crater.   (Minus the lemurs in Madagascar more on that later). It was incredible to see this lioness be first tracked by a male, then go hunting. 

This massive 49 meter tall bronze statue located on top of one of the twin hills known as Collines des Mamelles, outside Dakar, mixture of corruption, Stalinist architecture, and North Korean architecture.

I LOVED Madagascar…  The Lemurs, the Baobabs, the surprise trekking of nocturnal night lemurs by flashlight… oh, so amazing… There is so much rich and unique biodiversity in Madagascar, and while it’s so difficult to get there, it ended up being more amazing than I hoped.  Madagascar as a culture is still quite primitive and not without problems, but wow what an amazing experience.   You can read more about my experiences with the lemurs and baobabs of Madagascar. I couldn’t believe I found covered wagons like those who crossed the plains to Utah in Madagascar. I’ve seen a lot of camels, donkeys, and horses, but true classic covered wagons with wooden wagon wheels… that was a first in Madagascar for me.

Seychelles with the largest nut, the large rocks, the beautiful beaches… I had the opportunity to do some diving.

Venice is a magical city.  St Marcos Square with it’s looming tower and incredibly ornate frescoes, mosaics,and golden horses.  It’s a must see for any traveler, and even better on this my second visit.

The Mosaics in Ravenna, Italy seem to capture lost mysteries.  It’s super fascinating to study and wander the dozens of basilicas and churches in the surrounding areas.

From underwater sculpture gardens, to waterfalls and sulfur hot springs, Grenada was a very green relaxing spice island.

Antigua is a beautiful island.  It got quite a bit of destruction recently mostly on Barbuda.  This dog followed me for over an hour.  By the end of my walk I had 6 dogs following me.

Christ the Redeemer in Lisbon was a gift from Brazil

Mont Sant-Michel on the coast of France… very appropriate given the anniversary of the end of World War 1. Our visit to the coast included a walk along the beach in Normandy and a heavy heart.

Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see more blogs on some of my adventures last year…  Thanks for your support!  Here’s to travel in 2019!

Current Travel Plans for 2019…

• Family Spring Break trip to China – Xian Terra Cotta Warriors, Heavens gate, Glass bridge, Huge Buddah statues, Avatar Forest, and Pandas (My youngest LOVES Pandas!)
• Remote South Pacific island hopping for my birthday including Vanuatu and Tuvalu and possible diving in the Great Barrier reef
• TBD

Hope you’ll like and subscribe for more in 2019! Let me know what you’d like to see!

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