2022, a Tribute to You: The Travels & Travails of the Best Year Yet on All Things Wanderful
A little jaunt to the Caribbean was easily the highlight of a slightly travel-subdued 2022 (Photo: Ryan Pienta)
There are so many cliché ways that a year-in-review post like this could begin. But instead of saying “another year in the books” or “isn’t it funny how time flies” — or even “what do you know, here we are again” — let’s just steer clear of all that gobbledygook, am I right? After all, this is now the sixth year (!) I’m sitting down to write this annual postmortem, and it certainly doesn’t deserve to suffer an indignity like that.
Instead, we can begin with this fact: 2022 is officially a record-breaker here on the blog. After the down year that was 2020, and the nice rebound afforded by 2021, this year was simply off the charts. I don’t usually like to get right into the numbers, but when they’re this good, I think it’s justified. Year over year, visits were up 72 percent; unique visitors jumped 77 percent; and page views bumped up 55 percent — all huge numbers, and definitely the biggest year-to-year increases All Things Wanderful (née Logan’s Run) has ever seen.
What’s especially encouraging is that many of those visits and page views were driven by older content, which signals to me that people keep coming back for posts that were designed, and are proving to be, evergreen. There are a handful of posts I could give a shoutout to here, but in 2022, in particular, the three that simply continued to drive clicks were these:
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Which Great Lake is the Greatest of All? — The Great Lakes, Ranked (May 13, 2019)
7 Social Norms From Around the Globe That May Seem Strange to Americans (May 30, 2019)
The Legendary Lodge on the California-Nevada Border That’s Trying to Make a Comeback (July 17, 2020)
As you may have noticed, two of those bad boys were published in May 2019. I guess I was on a heater or something that month, because the post that preceded my ranking of the Great Lakes — Star Wars Filming Locations That Should Be on Every Fan’s List (May 4) — has done really well over the years, too. One last note on all of this before we move on: “Mirror, Mirror…” is actually the most popular post of all time on All Things Wanderful. So, you know, stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
And while you’re at it, let’s take a brief look back at where our travels took us this year. Other than an overnight ski trip to Wisconsin in late February, the first three months of 2022 were fairly uneventful. However, practically just as the calendar flipped to April, things took off in a big way with a weeklong excursion to the Caribbean — specifically, to Sint Maarten, Saint Martin, and Anguilla — which also included a quick stop in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on the way.
Following that little extravaganza, funds in the ole disposable income depository became very limited, as I decided to save up my pennies and buy a condo in Chicago, just as the Federal Reserve was beginning to raise interest rates (making me somewhat of a wild man, I must admit).
Due to that major life decision, the summer and fall were pretty quiet in terms of travel, with a pair of sports-focused trips taking center stage — first to Detroit in June to see the Tigers take on Toronto, and then to Iowa City in October to see Michigan football battle with the Hawkeyes (the latter notable for being my first time in Iowa).
The 2022 travelogue closed out with a couple of epistles from the Lone Star State, where we turned back the clock at Medieval Times in Dallas, before getting a taste of the wild, wild West at the famous Fort Worth Stockyards. It was my first time back in Texas (discounting layovers at DFW in the interim) since 2011, when I took part in a student leadership conference in Austin, and it was certainly a great return trip.
But whether I’m traveling like a madman or not, there are always travel-related topics to write about. My biggest non-trip-specific project this year was easily The Mitten State of Mind series, which provided readers with a little snippet on one thing to see or do in all 83 of Michigan’s counties.
It wasn’t planned this way whatsoever, but the three-part series ended up being spread out over nearly the entire length of the year. Part 1, covering the first 29 counties alphabetically, debuted in February; Part 2, which took on a whopping 32 counties, entered stage right in late July; and Part 3, which handled the final 22 counties, appeared on the scene in November. Reading through them, you could perhaps appreciate why it took so damn long, but we do it for the kids, right? Yeah, sure, something like that.
I wrote less in 2022 than perhaps any other year in the history of the blog, except for maybe 2016, before this site was exclusively travel-focused. But of the 14 posts that hit the airwaves this year (excluding the one you are currently reading), these were the five that broke through in the biggest way (clicking each image will open the original post in a new tab):
5. 8 Tips to Help You Thrive on a High-Altitude Adventure
(Photo: Ante Hamersmit)
-published March 29
So I’m not totally positive on this, but… *pretends to check notes …I think this may be the first time a guest post has cracked the yearly top five. The idea for this one was submitted to me pretty early in the year, but, true to form, I procrastinated in responding and we didn’t get the stars to align until late March.
The title pretty much says it all, but what you get here from Say Insurance’s Kristen Seymour is a handy-dandy guide to avoiding altitude sickness, and all of the maladies that come with it, while hiking.
An excerpt: “Also known as acute mountain sickness or hypoxia, [altitude sickness] can affect anyone who isn’t acclimated to their elevation (especially if their home altitude is closer to sea level), and usually occurs at elevations above 8,000 feet … You can reduce your risk of altitude sickness by being mindful of your rate of ascent, sleeping at a lower elevation as you climb, and avoiding too much exertion for your first 24 hours at high altitude.”
4. Sint Maarten & Saint Martin: Two Countries, One Island, And a Helluva Good Time, Pt. 2
The French flag flies high above the city of Marigot on Saint Martin, chilling next to a bench apparently signed by fictional drug dealer Jesse Pinkman inside the remnants of Fort Louis
-published May 18
It’s only natural for the biggest trip of the year to make the list, right? I’d say so. And here we are with Part 2 of my in-depth guide to the island of Saint Martin, which breaks down what there is to see and do on the French side, from where you might want to stay, to where you might want to get your drank on.
We never actually spent the night on the French side while we there, but, having rented a car (highly recommend), we did get to explore some of its nooks and crannies — including Orient Beach, which is regarded by many as one of the best on either side of this two-nation island.
An excerpt: “As the capital of the French side, Marigot is the main hub on the northern half of the island, home to narrow streets lined with bistros, bakeries, and shops; a pair of marinas; a shopping mall called Le West Indies; and a signature historic site in Fort Louis, which sits atop a hill overlooking the bay. There’s plenty to do here, but even if you get tired of ‘city life,’ sandier pastures are never far.”
3. This Small Ski Resort in Southern Wisconsin Makes for the Perfect Day Trip from Chicago
Lift 1, on the far west side of Wilmot Mountain, gives riders a look at two medium-difficulty runs: Stateline on the left and Shenanigan on the right
-published Feb. 28
I guess we have some winter sports fans in our midst, because this cute little photo essay showcasing a quick overnight ski trip to Wisconsin’s Wilmot Ski Resort managed to garner enough attention since being published on the last day of February to find itself perched in this lofty position as the third-most popular post on the blog this year.
Affordable skiing halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago is what you get when it comes to Wilmot, which straddles the Wisconsin-Illinois border. We opted to stay the night in nearby Kenosha following our day on the slopes, but, as the title of this one suggests, a day trip is definitely doable.
An excerpt: “…the reason this post exists in the first place: to introduce you to the only Vail-owned resort in Wisconsin. Wilmot Ski Resort, found along the Wisconsin-Illinois border in a town bearing the same name, is home to 25 trails, seven ski lifts, four terrain parks, and a snow tubing area — and has been providing affordable winter fun to people from nearby Chicago and Milwaukee (and beyond) for decades.”
2. The Mitten State of Mind: One Thing to See or Do in All 83 of Michigan’s Counties, Pt. 1
Tahquamenon Falls is but one of the many natural wonders found in Michigan’s Chippewa County (Photo: Josh Webb)
-published Feb. 8
All of the posts in The Mitten State of Mind series acquitted themselves well, but none more so than Part 1, which really took off thanks to help from social media (namely, my high school English teacher sharing the post on her Facebook page — thanks, Mrs. G!).
I don’t remember how long it took to cobble this one together, but trust me when I tell you that writing a little blurb about 29 counties proved to be a time-consuming affair. Some offered obvious picks — such as Chippewa County’s Tahquamenon Falls pictured here — and I was thankful for that, but others required a little internet sleuthing.
An excerpt: “While Alcona prides itself on being the ‘first of 83’, Dickinson [County] owns the distinction of being the newest county in Michigan, having formed in 1891 from pieces of three surrounding counties (Marquette, Menominee, and Iron). Thankfully, the state’s youngest county is also hip when it comes to this list, giving us easy pickings in the form of Pine Mountain Ski & Golf Resort in Iron Mountain. Here you’ll find downhill skiing for all skill levels, two terrain parks, a half pipe — oh, and one of the highest artificially-created ski jumps in the world.”
1. Sint Maarten & Saint Martin: Two Countries, One Island, And a Helluva Good Time, Pt. 1
Sint Maarten, the Dutch side of the island of Saint Martin, is good for a spectacular view or two, such as this panoramic shot of Cole Bay, Simpson Bay, & Princess Juliana International Airport
-published April 25
The Netherlands can officially claim superiority over France, because while my post covering the French side of Saint Martin clocked in at number four on this list, it’s the post all about the Dutch side that takes the top spot. And I suppose that’s only fitting, as Sint Maarten served as our primary home base during the week we spent in the Caribbean in April.
Much the same as the writeup on the French side, this post runs through most anything and everything you’d want to know before you visit the southern half of the island, spending a decent amount of time on the main reason we chose to travel to Saint Martin in the first place: to experience the “Maho Blast.”
An excerpt: “Whether you’ve stumbled upon [the pictures and videos] or not, they do exist, and they were recorded at a place called Maho Beach on the Dutch side of the island of Saint Martin. Getting blown off your feet (literally, in some cases) at Maho as planes take off from Princess Juliana International Airport may not sound like your cup of tea, but it is on the bucket lists of many travelers the world over. And it happens to be the reason a good friend and I planned a trip to Saint Martin this spring.”
~~~
Well, as then-U.S. vice president-elect Kamala Harris once said over the phone in a moment that instantly went viral, “We did it, Joe.” We made it; that’s the good news. The even better news? We’ll do it all again in 2023, and be right back here to see how it all went.
-LTH
*P.S. You can take a peek back at the end-of-year posts from previous years by clicking on these links: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017.