Canada's National Parks were free this year because auf Canada's 150th Birthday. So we took the oppportunity to go hiking, rafting and kayaking.
Unfortunately this year, there were a lot of wood fires (mainly in BC) and on some days the air quality (and visibility) was really bad. Luckily during our trin ride with the Rocky Mountaineer, the air was perfectly clear.

Attractions: Calgary, Edmonton, Jasper N.P., Icefield Parkway, Lake Louise, Kootenay N.P., Banff N.P., Rocky Mountaineer

As a round trip through Alaska, we followed the "usual tourist route" and we were wery lucky with the weather. The first week all clear skies!
A great trip with cool outdoor activities, although we were a little disappointed by the Denali NP. However, we could have easiely spent another week in Alaska.

Attractions: Anchorage, Talkeetna, Denali N.P., Fairbanks, North Pole, Copper Center, Matanuska Gl., Seward, Exit Gl. N.P., Mt. Rainier N.P.

Rather unusual for us, we drove with our own car. And we used this opportunity to take along our bikes for a few tours around/near the Wörthersee. As usual, we were very lucky with the weather during our rather short ten day vacation.

Attractions: Burg Hochosterwitz, Minimundus, Tscheppa-Schlucht, Pyramidenkogel, Keltenwelt Frög, Affenberg Landskorn, Nockalmstraße, Großglockner, Folttermuseum, Bonsaimuseum, Wurzelpark Arriach

First, we stayed 4 days in Vancouver. But this time, the distances were so long, that we decided to take the plane to get from Seattle to the Yellowstone N.P. where we spent about a week (incl. Grand Teton). Finally we had the last three days back in Seattle.

Attractions: Vancouver, Boeing facilities Everett, Seattle -> Bozeman, Yellowstone N.P., Grand Teton N.P., Billings -> Seattle, Seattle.

This short five day trip was planned to be a whisky tour. And that's exactly what we did: we visited a lot of distilleries and did a lot of tastings. A total of about 40 different whiskys. Hightlight of this journey: Attending the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo 2014.

Attractions: Aberdeen, Dufftown, Elgin, Inverness, Aberfeldy/Pitlochry, Edinburgh

This was the first "guided tour". I was very fortunate with the people on the tour as well as the weather and the lodges. I saw a lot of animals (also with their young ones) - a great experience!

Attractions: Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Nairobi, Amboseli, Tsavo N.P. East, Mombasa

Since a long time, this was the first vacation where I did not take a plane to get there. Main intention was to visit freinds in Munich, but then quickly the descision was made to prolong the visit and take a short vacation.

Attractions: Munich (Nymphenburg), Hohenschwangau (Neuschwanstein), Herrenchiemsee, Salzburg (Hohensalzburg, Hellbrunn), Untersberg, Nürnberg (Kaiserschloß)

Main reason for this journey was a fixed appointment in Phoenix. So the minimum stay was exteded to a short vacation to see some of the National Parks that I had not seen yet.

Attractions: Tucson, Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff, Arches N.P., Capitol Reef N.P., Salt Lake City

his was a rather short eleven day vacation, which was mainly used for visiting theme parks. As recreation we had another two days at Miami Beach before heading back home.

Attractions: Disney's Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Kennedy Space Center, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Universal Studios / Island of Adventure, Fantasy Of Flight, Miami Beach, Everglades

This was a nineteen day roundtrip through south California from/to Los Angeles.
We visited a lot of sights during this time, but for me, the most impressive one was the Sequioia National Park with it's giant trees.
We were lucky about the weather, too. Not a single cloud during the whole trip. Of course the only exception to that was San Francisco with the usual fog (but also here, we had one sunny afternoon!).

Attractions: San Diego, Joshua Tree N.P., Sequoia N.P., Yosemite N.P., Sacramento, Reno, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Monterey, Highway One, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles

Since more than five years, this was a skiing-vacation.
Driving up to Cortina D'Ampezzo from Venice, where we arrived by plane, we had a lot of "Bear Fun" during these 6 days - including a broken (well, in fact two) rental car.

Attractions: N/A

Just a short vacation to leave the bad weather in mid November in central Europe. We spent a week in the sun to relax.
This was already the second vacation near Costa Adeje in the south of the island. We also visited a great water park and the L'Oro Park - a mixture of zoo and Sea World...

A great adventure to travel through the canyonlands. Although I visited parts of this journey before, it was still impressive again - and I think it probably was not the last time in this area...

Attractions: Las Vegas, Death Valley, Valley Of Fire, Zion Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon, Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell), Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Verde Canyon, Sedona, Montezuma Castle, Sunset Crater, Wupatki N.M, Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, Biosphere 2, Saquaro N.P. East, Tucson, Tombstone, Pima Copper Mine, Sonoran Desert Museum, Old Tucson Studios, Phoenix

The first time on this canary island. In late november, this is the right time to be here and leave the grey skies behind.
So we found a week of relaxation - but also visited some interesting spots like the Teide volcano and the Djungle Park - a great zoo with excellent landscaping!

In only eight days we visited the "big sights". The theme parks were almost empty at the time of year, so we were lucky not to que longer than a few minutes on each ride! Also the weather was geat - luckily no tropycal cyclone ;-)

Attractions: Key West, Miami Beach, Palm Beach, Orlando (Sea World, Epcot Center, Universal Studios), Tampa, Busch Gardens, Everglades, Miami

Although Toronto could be replaced by any north American city, the rest of Ontario is quite unique and especially Ottawa is rather British...
Great landscapes, a lot of nature, good food - and mosquitos...

Attractions: Toronto, Kingston / Thousand Islands, Ottawa / Hull, Algonquin P.P., St.-Marie among the Hurons, Midland / 30.000 islands, Royal Botanical Garden (Hamilton), Welland Canal Lock #3, Niagara Falls

A short visit to this big city. In just four days we managed to get by all the "important" sights and get a glimpse of Manhattan.
It is an interesting city - I have never seen so many skyscrapers...

Attractions: Ellis Island / Statue of Liberty, Pier 17, Times Square, Midtown, Fifth Avenue, Empire State Building, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, USS Intrepid Museum, Roosevelt Island