life

My Cities 2010

January 04, 2011 · By Sloane Davidson, Founder and CEO, Hello Neighbor

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I haven't been as good at keeping this meme as some others I know, but nonetheless, starting in 2009 I kept track of the cities where I traveled and wanted to continue that list for 2010.

I had spent 2009 without a permanent location traveling and volunteering so one of the biggest things I wanted this past year was continuity. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give myself a meager 5. The key is that while I FELT more at home, I physically still traveled quite a bit. Sometimes I loved it, ok, most of the time I loved it. One of my mottos is after all "have passport will travel!" Still, I did crave little things, like the ability to know where I would be one week to the next. The ability to take a four week tennis or sushi-making class and attend each week (that never ever could have happened in 2010). At the same rate, I traveled almost exclusively for work and for fabulous professional opportunities and for that I'm eternally grateful to be at a place in my career where my expertise is requested and valued in different markets. Plus a few trips were for weddings and birthdays with friends and experiencing those special days with those that I love was amazing. Last, there was an annual trip with my mom and little sisters (this year we went to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador) that always brings a smile to my face and the start of an annual humanitarian trip that Taylor and I are going to be taking (this year was Ghana).

All in all, an amazing 2010 of travel. The phrase we coined at NOLAlicious is "heart of a native, soul of a tourist." Truthfully, I feel that way about most places I am. I'm always curious to go and see and explore no matter if I'm at home or in a brand new place. Without further ado, my cities for 2010:

January: New Orleans, LA (as a homebase, I'll only mention it here in January. I do want to add that I moved apartments in New Orleans March 1st so I have two places to count as my own). * World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland as the MySpace & Wall St. Journal Citizen Journalist.

February Why leave New Orleans? Election, Super Bowl, Mardi Gras!

March Austin, TX (RISE Austin and SXSW) Los Angeles, CA (Spoke at CalTech)

April Pittsburgh, PA (Received award from my high school)

May Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Chattanooga, TN Luray, VA

June New York, NY (Spoke at Philanthropy Day NY) Pittsburgh, PA (My grandpa's 90th birthday!) Palm Springs, CA

July Seattle, WA (SummerMash) San Francisco, CA (SummerMash) Alexandria, VA Washington, DC (World Bank Synoposis & SummerMash) Luray, VA

August New York, NY (SummerMash) Chicago, IL (SummerMash) Milford, CT High Falls, NY Brooklyn, NY

September Bloomington, IN (Spoke at The Combine) Brooklyn, NY (Clinton Global Initiative)

October Kittery, ME New York, NY Luray, VA Dublin, Ireland (Spoke at Dublin Web Summit, Founders and taught workshops with ezetop

November New York, NY Accra, Ghana (Delivered malaria nets from Cause It's My Birthday Series) Atorkor, Ghana Late Bosumtwi, Ghana Kumasi, Ghana Cape Coast, Ghana Pittsburgh, PA Hidden Valley, PA

December New York, NY Pittsburgh, PA Luray, Virginia

What a year! Here's to an equally fantastic 2011. What is on your 2010 cities list? Where should I visit this year?