As 2014 draws to a close I encourage everyone to take a look back at 2014 and come up with your own Best Of list. This year was probably my best year for travel ever: 12 countries with almost half of those being new! I’d like to share with you some of my favorite experiences and pictures of 2014, in mostly sequential order. I took just over 13000 pictures in 2014, so I had quite a few to go through, but I’ve condensed it down to my favorites. Halfway through the year I significantly upgraded my camera and decided to take photography more seriously (hopefully you’ve noticed less overdone HDR pictures), leading to a much better-developed knack for post-processing. As a result, I decided to go back and completely re-edit my favorites so you get the best possible edition of my favorite pictures! Great Wall of China I had honestly never been that interested in visiting China. The Great Wall, to me, sounded like just another wall. But that was ignorance on my part. There’s such rich history in that part of the world, it was really unique and special to realize how much had taken place along a cultural path completely separate from that of the Western world. As I detailed in my Great Mileage Run of China post, I found an airfare I couldn’t beat to China and centered my probably-way-too-quick trip around a visit to the Great Wall. It was incredibly special. It should’ve always been on... read more