2024 in Statistics

In looking back at 2024, I have a very similar year to 2023 with which to directly compare. What do the stats of 2024 have to say about my year?

Photography

I took considerably more photos in 2024 than in 2023, and despite travelling marginally less. How? Firstly, I only bought my Sony ɑ7R V in June of 2023, so before that I was only taking photos on my phone sparingly. But more impactfully, buying a telephoto lens in December 2023 exploded how many photos I would take due to the advantages of shooting sustained bursts of photos and throwing most away.

This also explains why I kept so many less photos in 2024. In my editing process I've noticed a big increase in the amount of time I'm spending throwing out duplicate photos, but this is still mostly worth it for me - it is agonising when an excellent shot fails to live up to its potential when the best single frame is blurry. More photos mean a higher likelihood of having the perfect photo, at the cost editing time. Let's see if I still feel this time investment is worth it throughout 2026.

I added more photos to my website than ever last year - 1,423. This purely reflects on the quality of what I'm generally taking and the excellent opportunities 2024 afforded me.

Holidays

I went on holiday more than once per month in 2024. I define a holiday as one or more nights away from home for fun rather than work. A sustained 16 shows that my 2023 resolution to holiday once per month continues to have a habitual impact on my travelling habits.

2024 was my first year travelling aboard since Prague in 2017, and I am so happy to have opened this door to myself once again. My goal to visit five countries was exceeded and I was fortunate to visit five countries for the first time: Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Iceland, and Portugal.

Time Off & Away

2024 was once again a year of spending all my work holiday allowance on actual holiday - I'm not one for taking a few days off to relax or get housework done!

The most notable change was a strong use of remote working or "work from anywhere" employer perks which allowed me to spend 3 weeks working remotely in the UK and with friends in the Netherlands. This meant a change of scenery, photography on the evenings and weekends, and a less cost-effective means of fitting more into my year.

Adventuring

Adventures are my umbrella term for holidays, day trips, hikes, photography outings... essentially anything adventurous. A strong year of adventuring is a good litmus test for my overall feeling of fulfilment.

This year I was slightly less adventurous, though not troublingly so. This was due to a shift towards longer holidays abroad rather than small domestic adventures on weekends.

While I spent less time in concert halls and at my beloved Cairngorm Reindeer Herd than in 2023, 2024 saw an explosion in occasions where I witnessed an aurora - all of which were from within the UK!

Hiking

On the only metric that matters to me, 2024 was a more successful year of hiking than 2023 was, with 58 Wainwrights bagged versus 51. Both years were successful against my target of summitting 50 new Wainwrights per year (and the same will be true of 2026).

In reality, I hiked noticeably less in 2024. I purely hiked in the Lake District, whereas in 2023 I also hiked in the Yorkshire Dales and Scotland as part of other trips. It is now clear that I got more Wainwrights out for the effort I put in which lessened my burden but allowed me to coast rather than excel. If I am to move onto the Scottish Munros after the Lake District Wainwrights, I need to take the opportunity to build strength and fitness rather than purely box check.

Conclusion

Overall I am happy with how my 2024 measures up. It is clear through looking at each metric that I had a fulfilling, busy, and well-balanced year.

Each year isn't a competition, and this time next year I won't be too disheartened to see some of these numbers lessened from 2024, but that is the nature of an ever-changing life and lifestyle.