I had a big accomplishment last January 1st: I completed a full year without setting foot inside an airplane!

How cool is that?

No airports, no transfers, no hotels, no taxis, no rental cars, no delays, no cancellations, no security checks, no lost luggage, no sleeping as an “L”, no weird passengers to sit next to, no stressed-out airport and airline officials, no having my back on fire and my butt getting flat…

How things change overtime! One year without flying? In a not so distant past that would have made me feel like the biggest loser in the world!

Many years ago flying to me was synonymous with professional success and the epitome of being a “citizen of the world”!

Back even more years, when I had my entry-level jobs I remember how jealous I felt of my superiors and more seniors co-workers. They got to travel to meetings and conferences and that made them look so cool.

Then there were the rich friends and acquaintances spending vacations and holidays in Disney, in Paris, in New York, in Rome! And I wondered how cool it would be to ring in a New Year in Paris or New York.

Well, thanks to a lot of hard work (and travel) I was able to start discovering the world. How cool that WAS! I was planning my next trip even before completing the previous one. Why would you visit your family when you have the whole world to explore? They can wait!

Not that I have been to that many places, but soon all the places around the world don’t look so special anymore. Certainly not as special as in the pictures, in the movies or how you pictured them.

So this year I was happy to just stay where I was. I rang in the New Year at a party TWO BLOCKS AWAY from my apartment in beautiful and WARM Miami!

As for how cool it feels to ring in a New Year in Paris? Well… Pretty COOL I guess, as Paris can be pretty cold in January.

And in New York? Well, I lived there for a couple of years and wouldn’t set foot on Times Square to see a ball DROP instead of raising up!

P.S.: Don’t get me wrong. I still want to visit many places on Earth. If only my couch wouldn’t get in my way!