2024: By the Numbers

At the end of every year, I look back at past 12 months to see what it was all about. And let me tell you: 2024 was ALL about everything travel!

All about travel ... plus a few Chapeaux fascinators!

I retired with just over 25 years of service for the State of Louisiana in March 2024, and three weeks later, I launched my little travel company, Curated by Karla LLC. It's been my long-time retirement dream to help people create their perfect itineraries, so I've had a long time to think about the best way to bring my vision to life. As with Chapeaux LLC, a millinery business I co-own with a dear friend, I expected a slow launch. 

But also as with Chapeaux, "slow launch" is the opposite of what actually happened: Within two days of my launch and FaceBook announcement, I had two sets of clients! And it only grew from there.

From the end of March through December 2024, I sent clients to 4 states and 15 countries -- and some countries, like France, Italy, and Scotland, saw multiple sets of Curated clients!

And how many cities? More than 50!

With extremely high hopes, I set a lofty goal of planning 10 weeks of travel in 2024. Slow launch? No way: I almost quadrupled my goal. Since my launch at the end of March 2024, I've helped people vacation for a full 38 weeks!

And what about Chapeaux? Yes, those travel, too! We designed 17 fascinators that traveled to London for a wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral, plus we dressed a bride and her dear friend for private wedding in Greece ... and we designed so many pieces for the Kentucky Derby and other spring events that we lost track of our total!

And what about my own travels? Well those certainly have not stopped! I must keep traveling and planning my own experiences to assist others in planning their best vacation days ... right? So here's my personal travel year by the numbers.

Seems like I like hiking even more than fabulous dining!

As part of those trips, I visited countless museums - literally more than 100 - plus so many gardens and city centers. I've walked countless miles over pavement and through forests. I've seen some of the most famous art, some of the most unusual art, and attended one of the premier art festivals in the world. I saw a few shows in NYC, and I was able to find good homes for all my Broadway tickets after my July trip was canceled by a medical emergency.

Stunning scenery on a self-guided Jersey (UK) cliff walk.

Did all that travel involve any organized tours? As a matter of fact, yes! In addition to days and days of self-guided explorations, I enjoyed

2: Multi-night tours -- one with a small group of 14 guests for one week and one semi-private tour with a total of 4 guests for three days. These tours included lots of planned activities and scheduled sub-tours, not separately counted below.

5: Small group single-day tours.

5: Private single-day tours.

But that might not be all the private or small-group single-day tours ... seems like every time I have time to think, I remember another!

How many types of transportation did I use? Let's see ...

(Did I remember them all?)

And writing! You know I love writing about travel *almost* as much as I love traveling itself. This year, I penned three articles for The Advocate and two for Fora Travel, covering topics from the swamps of my own back yard to steamy baths in Eastern Europe. Plus I launched this new travel blog, with 10 editions published so far on topics ranging from why I started this little travel company to useful travel tips to interesting trip reports to a new way to travel.

And of course, my husband and I are foodies, so I can't even count the number of amazing dining experiences we've had this year! From making new friends at a whisky pub in the English Channel to eating kabobs delivered in a burning urn in Cappadocia to enjoying crepes inside a walled city of coastal France, this has been quite the year of culinary adventures! 

What's coming in 2025? ... stay tuned ...

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