2019 in Review

Photos by Patrick Jones. My Instagram BestNine for 2019.

It's my blog tradition to do an end-of-year post, looking at travels and memorable moments for the period since 1 January. Last year's top nine images from my Instagram were an interesting mix, and I'm once again sharing this year's selections. The top left image is from Los Angeles International Airport in January, top middle is from my surfing lesson at Sidi Kaouki Beach in Morocco, and the top right is a mural from Pow Wow Japan in Kobe. Middle left and middle right are both photos from Pow Wow Hawaii (taken in 2018 but shared on Instagram in 2019), while the middle photo is from Echo Park in Los Angeles (also taken in 2018 but shared on Instagram in 2019). The bottom left is from Muros Tabacalera in Madrid, bottom middle is from a sunrise run in Stockholm, and bottom right is from Kobe, Japan.

Looking Back

January began with an around-the-world trip, starting in Los Angeles, then Singapore, Dubai, Brussels, Iceland and back to Virginia. But in between those locations, I also saw the Belgian countryside near the border with Luxembourg and visited the World War II Memorial at Bastogne.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Singapore, 13 Jan 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Dinant, Belgium. 19 Jan 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Rounding out an around-the-world. 20 Jan 2019.

February featured a return trip to Dubai for a conference and a bonus day excursion to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Louvre Abu Dhabi. 22 Feb 2019.

In March I had another stop in Los Angeles, on my way to meetings in Japan and a memorable birthday weekend. Bullet trains, amazing food, running, hiking, temples. A trip I'll never forget.

Photo by Patrick Jones. LAX Theme Building. 4 Mar 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Shinkansen in Japan. 14 Mar 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Book district in Tokyo. 15 Mar 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto. 17 Mar 2019.

In April I went to Sweden, Finland, Russia, Iceland. At the end of the month we made a visit to old friends in Chicago while Allison had a conference.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Vasa Museum, Stockholm. 4 Apr 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Stockholm Metro, 6 Apr 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. 25th anniversary .RU, Moscow. 8 Apr 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Sólfar, Reykjavik, IS. 10 Apr 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Eduardo Kobra. Chicago. 24 Apr 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mirror Mirror, Alexandria, VA. 25 Apr 2019.

For May I was in Thailand for meetings, and then Evansville, Indiana for Allison's Memaw's 90th birthday.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Wat Arun at night. 12 May 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Above Hong Kong, 14 May 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Hayride at the family farm in Indiana. 25 May 2019.

In June I was in Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Morocco. I took a surfing lesson for the first time.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Riga Central Market. 4 June 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Nicholas Copernicus' house. Torun, PL.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Kaunas, Lithuania. 6 June 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Marrakech Medina. 20 June 2019.

For July I was in Miami & Uruguay. We also caught a Dodgers-Nats epic baseball game.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Murals at Wynwood, Miami. 14 July 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Casa de Internet, Montevideo, UY. 15 July 2019.

During the summer we took an amazing two week family vacation to Portugal and Spain. The family loved Lisbon, the Algarve, Sevilla and Madrid. While in the Algarve, Sophia and I took surfing lessons while Silas enjoyed boogie boarding at the beach.

Photo by A. Jones. Sintra, PT. 22 Aug 2019.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Algarve, PT. 23 Aug 2019.

In September, I had more meetings in Los Angeles, and managed to try stand-up paddleboarding in Malibu. Allison coached Silas' Little League baseball team during the Fall Baseball season. My Frequent Traveling Mom visited the Grand Canyon with her sisters.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Allison coaching Silas. 14 Sept 2019.

October brought on a visit to the Brussels office for a training, and then a long weekend in Paris. Frequent Traveling Mom took a trip to France.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Olivier Rameau mural in Brussels.

With my cousin Annie in Paris, 10 Oct 2019.

In November I was in Montreal for end of the year meetings.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Montreal. 6 Nov 2019.

December featured a multi-country swing through Europe, where I visited the Brussels office, Budapest, Bucharest and Istanbul. I've posted more regularly on my Instagram.

It is nice to have a couple of weeks home, as 2020 will pick up with my annual January trip to LA and a visit to Singapore. February already has planned stops in the Netherlands, Estonia and Ireland.

Family history postings have been generally slower this year. I've taken on new responsibilities with my day job, and this hasn't left a lot of time for research. I still have quite a bit of old photos to go through. I've also been connecting through Ancestry and over email with some distant cousins, assisting them answer questions about their family history.

I might have a couple more posts in me for 2019, perhaps more to follow before the end of the year.