Welcome to 2024 here at The Royal Tour! 2023 was an exciting year (click here to read my wrap up of the year) and 2024 will hopefully be just as fun – for me and for all of you who are readers here.

As many of you know, I’ve always been hesitant to set goals in terms of numbers of page views, subscribers, followed, and the like. Too much is overly dependent on algorithms from Google or social media platforms (see my 2023 drop in numbers from Google web stories, for instance), so no matter the quality or quantity of my and my guest writers’ writing, we are not totally in control over that. Obviously an increase would be wonderful, but I don’t want to judge a successful year based on something out of my complete control.

With my travel schedule what it is, I will continue to offer at least three (two during a holiday week) articles per week, and I might even go to four and three, respectively, if content during the first part of the year allows. After all, articles from my summer/fall Europe trip are still being released and will be through sometime in March (to be determined based on a few factors). My ultimate goal is to get up to three personally written articles per week and one guest article, but that relies on the availability of my amazing writers, all of whom have lives and jobs outside of The Royal Tour, so I don’t want to pressure them.

Ok, now the fun part. What does my travel schedule look like so you can get a preview of where content will come from this year? Let’s walk through the fully planned and likely being planned trips.

January – Tropical Winter

This is two trips back to back. First, I will be spending a week in Kauai, the last of Hawaii’s “main” tourist islands I have yet to see. Then, after five days back in Los Angeles, I am off to Cartagena, Colombia for two weeks, including a night spent in the Rosario Islands and a side trip to a mud volcano.

February – Cincinnati

This month I’m going to mostly be in LA, but I will be spending a few days visiting my father in the Cincinnati area. My plan is to visit and write about the Underground Railroad Museum, but it will depend on his health and schedule.

March – Temecula

A and I are nearly out of wine at our place, so we are headed back to one of our favorite wine regions in California to restock.

April – Japan

Third time is the charm (I hope) for this family trip, which has been canceled twice for Covid. In just over two weeks, we will be spending time in Tokyo, Odawara, and Kyoto, with plenty of fun side trips to places like Kobe, Nara, Hakone, and Yokohama. We will experience a tea ceremony, enjoy a traditional onsen, taste Japanese whiskey, eat the best ramen and sushi, see gardens and temples, and hopefully catch the cherry blossoms. It is my second time in Japan, and the remainder of my family that is coming with is visiting for the first time.

May – Toronto and Calaveras

Early March brings my first time in Toronto, visiting A’s family there. The latter part of the month will see my third trip to Calaveras County, California, to participate in the annual frog jumping festival.

June – Sicily

A few days in London, and then I am meeting my aunt in Palermo for about three weeks in Sicily, on a guided tour around the island. Then I have a week free (considering Manchester and Glasgow) before meeting up with A.

July – Edinburgh

A month in Edinburgh is probably the thing I’m most excited about this year. I’ve never been to Scotland, and A used to live here, so it’s a mix of familiarity and new excitement. History, literature, whiskey, food… all will play roles in my experience and writing. Plus we are taking a side trip to Inverness, so our photos of the Loch Ness Monster will make us billions!

August – Greece

Four weeks in Athens seems like a lot, but when you consider that there will be a long weekend in Malta and an overnight trip to Delphi and Meteora, it will fly by. The end of August will see us on Crete to explore Greek island life and the Minoan civilization.

September – Crete and Istanbul

After finishing ten days on Crete, it’s back to Istanbul for a few days before flying back home to Los Angeles.

October – Victoria

Another trip to Canada to visit family, this time on Vancouver Island in beautiful Victoria.

And that’s it for the year, with holidays keeping me at home. I’ll try to get to the Bay Area and to Phoenix to visit friends and family, and maybe another fall trip to Cincinnati and Dad.

I hope you are excited by these destinations, and by the content that will be coming out of them. I hope I am as excited to write about turn as I am to visit, and am able to come up with interesting aspects on these places that others don’t. And of course I hope you all follow along!