Digital Nomad Life: 2024 in Review

2024 wasn’t as incredible as 2023 in terms of international travel, or in general really, but it was still a pretty good one looking back on it. 

I visited 8 countries this year – two of them new to me – and eleven states. I started the year in New Zealand ringing in the New Year in beautiful Uretiti, spent a week in Sydney, did a six-week road trip in the Southwest U.S., saw the Northern Lights for the first time in Alaska, spent three weeks exploring Cuba, did a 3.5 week Utah, Vegas, and California hot springs road trip, bought a new vehicle, worked another summer season at the Gorge Amphitheatre, did a two week Canadian Rockies Road Trip, traveled all over Washington, revisited Seattle (three times) and Vancouver (three times), enjoyed the fall colors on some stunning hikes in Washington and Colorado, spent four weeks exploring rainy Costa Rica, one week island-hopping in Panama, and soaked up all the Christmas vibes in Colorado and New Mexico.

We finished the year off in Arizona, spending Christmas with family then renting an apartment on the side of the mountain in quirky Jerome, a historic mountain town where we spent a fun New Year’s Eve.

But with the highlights come the lowlights, and it felt like a worse than normal year for them in 2024 unfortunately. Lowlights in 2024 included depression over the Palestinean genocide and other atrocities in this greedy, selfish world, lots of work issues and stress, the van dying for good halfway to the Gorge, some bad news about a close family member’s health, a massive traffic drop for this website due to Google algorithm changes, various aches and pains from getting older, getting sick with COVID when I was on Vancouver Island, extreme heat and fires in Washington, rainy weather for four weeks straight in Costa Rica, Trump getting in again, finding out the RV is going to cost thousands to fix, and someone I care about dying.

Here’s what my 2024 looked like month by month. But first off – here are a few quick stats:

Countries Visited: 8 – New Zealand, Australia, U.S.A, Cuba (new to me), Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica (new to me), Panama.

States Visited: 11 – Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Alaska, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho.

Number of Flights: 16. I don’t like flying and feel guilty flying often because of the massive carbon footprint it creates so I mostly road trip in the summer and only fly in winter when I travel internationally.

Number of Road Trips: 5 total not counting shorter 2-4 day road trips in Washington and Canada – 6-week Southwest road trip, 3.5-week Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon road trip, 2 week Canadian Rockies road trip, 9 day Vancouver and Vancouver Island road trip, and a 1 week Washington to Colorado solo road trip.

Days Traveling: 214 days.

House Sits Completed: Two – one in Squamish and one in Denver. Now we have the cat, it’s harder to do housesits like we used to.

Hikes Tackled: 86. Not as much as I would have liked but I did a lot more longer and difficult hikes this year than usual and I am proud of myself for that.

What I Spent: $32264 (not including international flights, our new (used) vehicle, and my vein procedure)

I was really hoping to spend less than $30,000 this year but everything is so expensive these days and we splurged big time on our Alaska trip in March. Costa Rica also ended up being more expensive than we thought it would be.

We have a very big splurge trip coming up in January to Tanzania, and I’m hoping to go back to Europe and then Patagonia at the end of the year so I doubt I will be able to get my total under $30,000 next year either. It’s probably going to be a much more expensive year.

(To see a more detailed breakdown of each month, check out my monthly round-ups)

January: New Zealand, Australia, Arizona 

I started the year in New Zealand, ringing in the New Year in beautiful Uretiti Beach in Northland with friends, then I had three more nights relaxing at the beach before heading back to Auckland.

I had five nights in Auckland and made the most of the sunny weather, doing day trips to Piha and Rakino Island, and then it was time to fly to Sydney.

I spent one week in Sydney, my former home, catching up with friends and visiting some of my favorite places. I also did a two-day road trip south of Sydney with friends to Gerringong, Gerroa, and Berry.

From Sydney, I flew to LA then Phoenix where I spent a couple of nights in a hotel in lovely Scottsdale and then a further six nights with my MIL in Goodyear. Toby and Joni met me there and after visiting with family we hit the road for a six-week Southwest road trip.

We spent the first six nights in Tucson exploring the city and doing lots of hiking amongst the saguaro, and then we moved on to Tubac and Bisbee to finish off the month.

Read more about this month here.

February: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado

We started the month with another couple of nights in quirky Bisbee and we completely fell in love with this historic town. From there we visited Chiricahuua National Monument before heading into southern New Mexico for some hot springs hopping.

We visited Silver City, Faywood Hot Springs, City of Rocks State Park, Gila Hot Springs and cliff dwellings, Truth or Consequences, and Mesilla in New Mexico before crossing into Texas.

Texas was all about the National Parks and interesting small towns and we did some great hikes in Guadelupe Mountains National Park and Big Bend National Park. We also visited the towns of Marfa, Marathon, Terlingua, Fredericksburg, and Gruene before spending a week in Austin where we mixed downtime with exploring different parts of the city.

From Austin, we traveled to Dallas, Grapevine, and Amarillo before crossing back into New Mexico and spending a few days in Northern New Mexico between Albuquerque, Espanola, Ojo Caliente and Santa Fe.

We finished the month back in Denver, preparing for our spring trip.

Read more about this month here.

March: Alaska, Mexico, Cuba

March was a big travel month and we began the month with an eleven-day dream winter trip to Alaska to experience the Northern Lights. We traveled to Fairbanks, Chena Hot Springs, Talkeetna, Anchorage, and Juneau, taking the Aurora Winter Train, dogsledding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and yes, seeing the Northern Lights on more than one occasion.

From Alaska, we flew to Cancun for a night then onto Cuba, where we spent the rest of the month.

We spent our first two nights in Havana, now one of my favorite cities in the world, before moving on to colorful Trinidad and the Valle de los Ingenios, off-the-beaten-path Sancti Spiritus, interesting Cienfuegos, stunning El Nicho Waterfall, chilled Playa Larga, astounding Varadero (that beach!!), and our favorite place in Cuba, Viñales.

Read more about this month here.

April: Cuba, Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada

We had a couple more nights in lovely Viñales and did a day trip to beautiful Cayo Jutias before returning to Havana for our last two nights in Cuba.

After a night in Cancun, we took the bus to quieter Puerto Morelos for the last three nights of our trip and did a day trip to Cenote Kin Ha from there.

We had 11 days back in the Denver area, and stayed in lovely Golden for most of it, hiking often and visiting friends and family. From there we embarked on our 3.5 week road trip up to Washington via Utah, Nevada, California, and Oregon.

After a night in Glenwood Springs, we crossed into Utah where we spent three nights in Moab doing some of the excellent hikes outside of the National Parks. From there we visited Capitol Reef, Bryce, and Zion National Parks for more hiking, and then finished the month in Las Vegas.

Read more about this month here.

May: Nevada, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington

I had two more nights in Vegas, staying at the Mirage, and did an excellent full day trip to Grand Canyon West.

Then I crossed into California, driving through Death Valley to Lone Pine. This is when I first started having trouble with the transmission in Casper the van, although it was still driveable at this point.

I visited Alabama Hills and Manzanar National Historic Site on the way to Bishop where I met up with Toby and Joni after a night apart (RV issues). From there we headed north on Highway 395, visiting lots of natural hot springs along the way, as well as Mammoth Lakes and Mono Lake.

After that Toby left in the RV and I took the van to explore further as he had to be at the Gorge for work earlier than me. I spent a day hiking at Lake Tahoe and driving around the lake and then a night in Reno to check it out.

Unfortunately, when I went to leave Reno, the transmission on the van got much worse. I went to a transmission specialist and was told I’d need a new transmission at a minimum of $4000 – not worth it for how many miles the van had on it.

I spent a couple more nights in Reno trying to find a charity to donate the van to. I didn’t know where the title was and I didn’t have the time to wait for a replacement and then sell the van for scrap because I had to get to work. In the end, I sold the van for $1 to the motel maintenance guy, with the promise I would send the title on once I found it. 

I did a two-day one-way car rental to Portland, stopping at Umpqua Hot Springs and Toketee Falls on the way, and then spent four days in Portland purchasing a used vehicle (and eating lots of good food).

And then I drove to the Gorge where I spent a week onsite getting ready for the season and then worked two shows – Illenium and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Read more about this month here.

June: Washington, Idaho, Canada

After one more day of working Red Hot Chili Peppers and a day of packing and errands, I left for a two-week Canadian Rockies road trip, one of my favorite places in the world. I spent a night in Sandpoint, Idaho on the way up then met up with my friend Dani in Calgary, where we spent our first evening of the trip.

Our next stop was Canmore for three days of hiking and exploring, before spending a night in busy Banff town. We then drove the Icefields Parkway up to Jasper. We spent two nights at the excellent wilderness hostel at Athabasca Falls and a night at a modern hostel in Jasper town center – both now lost in the devastating July wildfires.

After hiking around Jasper and soaking at Miette Hot Springs, we drove back on the Icefields Parkway to Banff National Park, spending four incredible nights at Castle Mountain wilderness hostel.

We explored the Lake Louise area and Yoho National Park from there, including meeting up with one of my friends for lunch in Field, and then headed back to Calgary for our last night together, where we celebrated a fantastic trip by brewery hopping.

I had one night in the cute town of Fernie on the way back to Washington and then after a day of errands, I worked the Beyond Wonderland music festival for five days. After that, I had a lovely two-night getaway to Seattle, and then it was back to the Gorge to work the Noah Kahan show for the last three days of the month.

Read more about this month here.

July: Washington, Canada

I started the month at the Gorge, where I had a couple of days to work and run errands before the next show of the season, Odesza. I did sneak in a few hours in lovely Leavenworth amidst the errand running.

After my five days working Odesza, I dropped our worker off in Seattle then headed up to Bellingham for a night before crossing into Canada for three wonderful nights in Vancouver. Then it was back to SeaTac, this time to pick up my brother who had been traveling in Mexico.

We rushed back to the Gorge to attend the staff party then I had three days working Blink 182, going into see the show with my brother. After work on the last day we hit the road again, staying a night in Issaquah before taking the ferry to Vancouver Island for a one week Vancouver Island road trip visiting Victoria, Sooke, Port Renfrew, Tofino, and Ucluelet.

Unfortunately, I got COVID soon after arriving in Tofino so that sucked and limited what I could do because I felt like shit and I didn’t want to infect anyone. We headed back to Vancouver after that and I laid low in a self-contained Airbnb for a couple of nights before I was feeling better and testing negative.

But I still wasn’t 100% so my original plan to hike at Mount Baker and North Cascades National Park was out. Instead, I found a three-night housesit in Squamish, a town I visited last summer and enjoyed relaxing and doing some gentle nature walks in the forest with the dog I was looking after.

After a fun rainy day exploring Vancouver on the way south, I spent a night in Bellingham then headed back to the Gorge to prepare for the next show – Watershed Country Music Festival.

Read more about this month here.

August: Washington

The first five days of the month I worked Watershed then headed over to Vashon and Maury Islands for a couple of relaxed days of camping and exploring before heading back to the Gorge again to work the three-day Outlaw Music Festival.

I visited the impressive Oscar the Bird King troll on Maury Island and it inspired me to try and visit all six in the Pacific Northwest. I also visited Jakob Two Trees in Issaquah, Frankie Feetsplinters in Ballard, and Bruun Idun in West Seattle this month.

After the Outlaw Music Festival, I had a quick night in Seattle to pick up a staff member for the longest show of the year – Bass Canyon. Six days of 12-hour shifts with challenging guests was exhausting so I stuck close to home on my two days off, hiking in Leavenworth and into the Gorge where I swam and saw otters!

The next show was Tyler Childers for three days then I headed back to Seattle again, basing myself in artsy Georgetown two nights before the busiest show of the year – Dave Matthews. 

Read more about this month here.

September: Washington, Canada

I spent a couple more days working Dave Matthews at the beginning of September. Toby’s cousin came out for Dave Matthews and the following show, Hozier/Glass Animals, so we hung out in Ellensburg for a day between shows, and I did a hike in nearby Frenchman Coulee.

Hozier was one of my favorite shows of the year along with Red Hot Chili Peppers, and it was a chilled one workwise. I had three days off before the next show, Everything Always/King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard for four days, so I headed into North Cascades National Park to camp and hike.

Our friend Griff came out to work Everything Always/King Gizz and it was a fun one. My next mini getaway was three days visiting a friend in Kelowna, a beautiful lakeside city in Canada, then it was back to the Gorge to work Sturgill Simpson/Lord Huron for three days.

I drove back up to Vancouver for a few days after that and then spent an incredible day hiking at Mount Baker before staying in a treehouse in Bellingham! I then had one night back at site to relax before working Imagine Dragons for three days, our second to last show of the year.

I had one more mini trip in Washington planned before we closed down for the season, and it was one of the best yet – staying in the cute Western town of Winthrop and doing some stunning fall hikes nearby. 

Read more about this month here.

October: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado

I put my neck out pretty bad sleeping on it wrong so I couldn’t do the final hike I had planned on the way back to the Gorge but I loved my little getaway regardless. It was time for the last show of the year which was also our quietest – Luke Combs.

I helped Toby start packing up and organizing for two days after the show then I hit the road, done with the Gorge for the season (and maybe forever?) I spent a night each in Boise and Provo, visiting the incredible Fifth Water Hot Springs while I was in the area.

I then had four wonderful nights in Telluride, catching the tail end of the fall colors and doing some hiking. I stayed in one of my favorite hostels of all time, The Bivvi, and it was great to be back.

I met back up with Toby and Joni in Denver after that, and after spending six nights mostly laying low in Aurora with family, we spent two weeks in one of my favorite home bases, Golden, where we caught up with family and friends, did lots of hiking, and celebrated Halloween.

Read more about this month here.

November: Colorado, Costa Rica, Panama

After a couple of nights in Golden and a night at an airport motel, we jetted off to Costa Rica where we spent most of the rest of the month. Unfortunately, Trump won the presidency soon after we arrived and with at least some rain every day of our four weeks in the country, as well as flooding, November wasn’t my favorite month.

We spent a night in San Jose, three nights in La Fortuna, then headed to the northern Pacific Coast for a week to meet up with family and stay in an all-inclusive. That week was our rainiest and my birthday also fell during this time. It rained all day and we were pretty much stuck in our leaky apartment.

We escaped the rainy Pacific Coast for the much drier Caribbean Coast for the next part of our trip and my mood definitely lifted. I really enjoyed our three nights in the chilled beach town Puerto Viejo, and from there we headed to Bocas Del Toro in Panama where we spent a week, basing ourselves in Bocas Town and exploring different islands and beaches from there.

The rain caught up with us again and about half of our time in Panama was cloudy or rainy, but I really enjoyed Bocas anyway. We ended up making a new friend there and hung out with her for most of our stay which was fun.

Then it was back to Puerto Viejo for another four nights. Unfortunately, although it was sunny, it was quite windy on our second visit and the ocean was rough and brown-tinged due to a hurricane further north. 

The last day of the month we spent a whole day on buses to get to Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Coast where we were greeted by rain, again.

Read more about this month here.

December: Costa Rica, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona

We spent two days in the Manuel Antonio/Quepos area and unfortunately the weather wasn’t great. Despite this, I loved our animal spotting tour in the National Park and the sun even came out when we went to the beautiful beach in the park.

Our second to last stop in Costa Rica was Santa Elena/Monteverde to experience the cloud forest. I really enjoyed the town of Santa Elena and although it was really windy and rainy on and off during our four nights there, we still enjoyed our ziplining tour and hiking through the cloud forest in the misty rain.

Our last stop in Costa Rica was back to San Jose for a night, where I explored the Amón neighborhood and some beautiful parks, as well as one of my absolute favorite stops on our trip, the Spirogyra Butterfly Garden.

We flew back late to Denver and picked up Joni the next day from the sitter – we missed her so much! I had my varicose veins lasered a couple of days later. I found a one week housesit so that I would have more room to recover, and I looked after a sweet dog while Toby and Joni stayed in the RV outside. 

My vein procedure went well but I was in a fair amount of pain for over a week, although I still managed to fit in lots of fun Christmas activities in Denver and Boulder including Christmas markets, Christmas-themed bars, and lots of Christmas lights.

After our housesit ended, we had three more nights staying with family then we headed south, attending a family friend’s memorial in Capulin then hanging out with my father-in-law in Espanola and visiting Santa Fe and Chimayo for more Christmassy fun.

We spent Christmas with my mother-in-law in Phoenix, via a one night stop in Holbrook, and also visited friends in the area in Scottsdale and downtown. And then we headed up to Jerome, a historic mining town, where we booked an apartment for a week with incredible valley views.

Along with exploring Jerome and nearby Cottonwood, we also headed to Sedona to hike for a day. We rang in the new year at some historic bars in Jerome, singing karaoke and making new friends.

Read more about this month here.

And that is a wrap for 2024! 

These recap posts are my favorite to write because they make me look back and reflect on all the incredible things I have accomplished – things I often take for granted. Looking back at 2024 I know how lucky I am to continue being able to live this life, even though it is not perfect. I’m excited to see what 2025 will bring!

How was your 2024?

If you liked this post, check out my Travel Wishlist For 2025, 2023 in review, 2022 in review, 2021 in review, 2020 in review, 2019 in review, 2018 in review. and 2017 in review.