Travel Wrapped: Going Overboard in 2025

Introduction – Too Much Flying in 2025

2025 had a ton of flying. Honestly, too much flying. Probably entering the territory of an unhealthy amount of solar radiation and spending way too much time in airports. This was the first year of some truly great business class points redemptions for me, round-the-world solo trips, combined with routine work travel and trips with friends. While it was fun and I got to go all over the world for (mostly) free, I’m grateful to be away from airports and airplanes for awhile this winter. Travel is fun, but too much travel mixed with a busy work schedule starts to feel like work instead of play over time. First world problems. But hey, anything worth doing is worth overdoing … at least once?

In 2025, I really tested the upper limit of what the “unlimited” in unlimited PTO means, and the limits of remote work / digital nomad life. But it was exciting, and I got to see a lot of cool places. Here are my stats from this year:

Miles Flown	82,232
Number of Flights	34
Days / Hours in the Air	8 days (190 hours)
Countries Visited	9 (only 1 new, though – St. Kitts and Nevis)
Airlines Flown	12

Here’s my route map for the year:

Similar to last year’s travel wrapped (2024), here’s a recap of all my favorite travel experiences of 2025.

In this post, you’ll find my 6 favorite travel experiences from this year (not just flying!):

Solo Trip (in Style) to Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore

This was my biggest and most fun trip of the year, and my first real far-away-from home solo travel. At least since study abroad, which was years ago. I burnt a ton of points on this trip but flew both the outbound and return in business class, which made it super enjoyable.

Air France’s New Business Class Bulkhead Seat (A350)

This was just pure luck – I was flying EWR-CDG-HAN, with the first leg on Air France business class. Upon check-in, one of the prized extra-room bulkhead seats opened up and I was able to snag it – for free! This seat is truly the nicest business class hard product I’ve experienced. While the service can be hit or miss on Air France, they have some of the nicest cabins flying out there. The next leg from CDG to HAN on Vietnam Airlines was not as nice, but still memorable.

Finnair A350 AirLounge Business Class

This has to be a runner-up alongside Air France for the best business class flight this year. Their no-recline business class seat is controversial but I thought it was super comfortable and spacious, even for a 13 hour flight. I flew this seat on Finnair’s seasonal route from Phuket to Helsinki.

Singapore … Twice!

Two times to Singapore from NYC twice in one year is a lot! Before this year, I hadn’t been in Singapore since I was a little kid. The first visit was part of my broader Southeast Asia trip, and the second time was spontaneous from a block of PTO I had to use after a trip fell through. I love Singapore: Changi is aviation geek heaven (and just objectively nice), the weather is always hot which I love, and they have some of the best (and also surprisingly affordable) food on the planet.

Wisconsin, LA, and Mexico with Friends

While this year had a lot of solo travel, it was also fun to travel with friends on trips in the US and to Mexico. Minus the food ritualistic food poisoning (does anyone go to Mexico and not get food poisoning?).

Paris, Paris, and more Paris

I went to Paris 3 times this year, which is arguably too much for someone who does not speak French. I went in March, August, and November. Mostly on Air France, mostly in economy (although once in premium econ and once in business class via connecting in CDG). Outside of home NYC airports, CDG was actually my most trafficked-through airport with 10 (!) visits this year. Yuck. Honestly I feel like CDG hate is overblown, the airport is fine and gets the job done. They could use some priority pass / and / or and Amex lounges, though.

Conclusion

I’m super grateful for all the cool travel I got to partake in this year, and for having a job that allowed me to see the world on my own time. While it was a ton of fun, in 2026 my goal is to be more deliberate about travel with less trips, and only go on trips for special events or for places I truly want to visit. And of course, to replenish my stack of credit card points for some future blowout trips.