Happy New Year from Madrid, Spain!
What a year it’s been, eh? As December 31, 2011 draws to a close, here are some glittering photos of holiday-decorated Madrid, Spain (as snapped last night), along with a kind of “State of the Union” run-down of statistics from this teaching-traveling website empire for 2011. (As always, click blue-highlighted words for related articles.)
2011 IN NUMBERS:
- First-person world travel articles written on AroundTheWorldL.com in 2011: 59
- Global education interviews and opportunities published on TeachingTraveling.com in 2011: 60
- Countries visited in 2011: China, Spain, Bahamas, U.S. = 4
- U.S. states visited in 2011: FL, PA, RI, MA, NY, DC, OH, SC, CT = 9
- 150-person events organized in 2011: 3 (Meet Plan Go Travel Conference 10/2011, Teaching Traveling Night 3/2011, Boston Education Technology Conference 12/2011)
- Students taught in 2011: 300 (150 per school year, not including Study Halls or Homeroom)
- Wedding Proposals received and joyfully accepted: 1!
- Awards and honors earned: 4 (Teach Plus Education Policy Fellowship, Massachusetts Literacy Champion Award, Boston Teacher Residency Mentor Teacher, Top Travel Blogging Diva of the year)
- Free travel tours earned: 4 (Madrid teacher training tour, Boston Movie Sites, Big Dig, Black History)
- Current Twitter Followers for @WorldLillie: 3,005
- Current Facebook Fans for AroundTheWorldL.com: 1,405
- Total pageviews for AroundTheWorldL.com in 2011: 135,204!!!
- Turkeys at my Thanksgiving in 2011: 0 (It was a Vegan Thanksgiving!)
- Destinations already planned for 2012: at least 6 (Spain 1/2012, China 2/2012, Greece 4/2012, Arizona 5/2012, Colorado 6/2012, and a mystery Honeymoon destination 7-8/2012!)
- Rating of life satisfaction (10 being the highest), in terms of feeling empowered, fulfilled, contributing, and on a thrilling track: 11!
So that was 2011. WOWZA. Thanks for being a part of it! I’m so psyched for 2012 and beyond!
Want to see more beautiful European holiday lights? Click here for photos from my New Year’s Eve 2009 in Florence, Italy!
The author, Lillie Marshall, is a 6-foot-tall National Board Certified Teacher of English, fitness fan, and mother of two who has been a public school educator since 2003. She launched Around the World “L” Travel and Life Blog in 2009, and over 4.2 million readers have now visited this site. Lillie also runs TeachingTraveling.com and DrawingsOf.com. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media!
Jun Hao
Monday 23rd of January 2012
This looks so colorful I feel like I could touch it as if it was near me.
Amy H
Sunday 22nd of January 2012
You've visited so many places in 2011! Almost everywhere you went was the places I want to go when I get a chance. I really want to go to Spain, since the articles and pictures you posted up was delightful!
Jason Zou
Tuesday 17th of January 2012
If it was all vegetarian, then did you have any stuffing??
Lillie
Friday 20th of January 2012
Read the article to find out! https://www.aroundtheworldl.com/2011/11/26/my-first-vegan-thanksgiving-was-delicious/
Kelly
Tuesday 10th of January 2012
2011 was such a fantastic year for you -- congrats on everything you accomplished! I'll be in China in February, too -- how fun. :)
Dylon C.
Wednesday 18th of January 2012
I want to go to Bejing! :( The lights in Madrid look amazing from the pictures, and I've never been on a plane before. :D
Kelly
Tuesday 10th of January 2012
Oh, I'm flying in and out of Beijing! I'll definitely be in the Beijing area on Feb. 3-5 and for parts of the days Feb. 10-11. It would be super cool if our paths crossed, but if not, I hope you have a wonderful time anyway!
Lillie
Tuesday 10th of January 2012
Thanks so much, and yay! We will be on an ultra-whirlwind 5-day tour around Beijing, but if there's a chance of us crossing paths, let me know!
Qiyin Y
Monday 2nd of January 2012
Oh my. The lights are so bright. They remind me of light pollution in Japan and Taiwan (the two countries with the highest light pollution). The lights look like they are floating, just like UFO's. There are UFO's above everyone's heads then. :D