Where to Party? New Year’s Eve

If you take a look at the New Year’s Roll Call Trip Report, you’ll notice that the tradition of being out of the country for New Year’s Eve began in 2000 in Cancun, Mexico. From there it increasingly improved, went stale for a couple of years, and then it began rebounding.

• 1999: Orlando, Florida
• 2000: Cancun, Mexico
• 2001: Toronto, Canada
• 2002: Montreal, Canada
• 2003: Cancun, Mexico
• 2004: Acapulco, Mexico
• 2005: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
• 2006: Tokyo, Japan
• 2007: Paradise Island, Bahamas
• 2008: Dubai, UAE
• 2009: Bali, Indonesia
• 2010: Panama City, Panama (should’ve stayed in Cartagena, Colombia)
• 2011: New Orleans, Louisiana (The Sugar Bowl New Orleans: Celebrating Brady Hoke)
• 2012: Goa, India
• 2013: Cape Town, South Africa ($77,000 Trip Heard Round the World)
• 2014: Mandalay, Myanmar (Happy New Years from Mandalay)
• 2015: Orlando, Florida (Jet Lagged! The Citrus Bowl Trip Report Debrief)
• 2016: Bangkok, Thailand (New Years 2016! My Last Binge in Bangkok)
• 2017: Scottsdale, Arizona (TPOL in the Desert)
• 2018: Hong Kong (TPOL Down Under Trip Report)
• 2019: Rio Mar, Puerto Rico (Despacito! TPOL Moves to Puerto Rico).
• 2020*: Rio Mar, Puerto Rico (The Lost & Found Year(s): COVID Trip Report)
• 2021: New York, New York (Happy New Year! TPOL’s NYC NYE Party Guide)
• 2022: Rio Mar, Puerto Rico (Michigan loses to TCU in Fiesta Bowl)
• 2023: Bangkok, Thailand

Each year the tradition continues but for one problem: where to go?

Here are the guidelines:

• It can’t be in the United States. How can there be last call on NYE? Rookies go to Vegas for NYE so that’s not an option.
• It has to be a party city. Mandalay certainly was not.
• It can’t be somewhere I’ve already been. An Acapulco remix trip would be great, but there’s no way to duplicate dancing with the devil from a decade ago.
• It can’t be somewhere cold. What’s the point of chicken & broccoli then?
• It ideally would be a new country so I can add it to the Country Count List. Alternatively, it would be in close proximity to countries I haven’t been to so I can see them before or after.
• New Year’s is an expensive time to travel so I want to use points to cover my hotel stays.

As is the format of the segment ¿Sí o No? from the best/worst sports show on television, Highly Questionable, I’ll put some options out there for destinations and respond as to whether or not I’m intrigued.

1. Cartagena, Colombia: Oh, si, si, (in papi voice) I’m very intrigued. The chance to make up for the disaster that took us from Cafe del Mar in Old Town Cartagena to a hell bus ride from Panama City to Bocas del Toro only to find a bunch of surfers and rain would be a good choice.
2. Punta del Este, Uruguay: Oh, si, si, I’m very intrigued. Argentinians fed up with the heat of BA head to what is usually a quiet fisherman’s town for Ibiza style partying. By most accounts, renting a villa in La Barra is the way to go.
3. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Oh, si, si, I’m very intrigued. There are beaches. There is party but damn it I’ve been there for Carnaval. Read the Guns & Butter: Rio Travel Guide to see why it may be worth returning.
4. Margarita Island, Venezuela: Do you want to party with prisoners? I thought you’d be intrigued. This has the makings of a good TPOL Trip Report.
5. Sydney, Australia: No, I’m not intrigued. I’ve been all over Australia including Sydney. I was not impressed with the fireworks in Hong Kong so another display doesn’t sound exciting. Sydney has nice beaches (see Bondi to Bronte: How to Spend A Day in Sydney), but as for the city itself, it’s no different than Los Angeles.
6. Manila, Philippines: Another friend of mine has embraced TPOL’s Shut Up & Book! philosophy and makes the trek at least once a year to SE Asia for some great debauchery and raves about Manila. I’ve been to Boracay so the Philippines wouldn’t be a new country and the rest of the stops would obviously be fun, but how many times can I party with ladyboys in SE Asia? Perhaps one more time.
7. Beirut, Lebanon: This comes from a friend that is risk loving. I’m not intrigued primarily because the weather isn’t great. Temperatures in the 60s and an unstable region – how’s that a fun time? Updated for 2019: Beirut is overrated.
8. Europe: Not intrigued, it’s cold.
9. Caribbean Islands: Good weather, delicious rum, and some decent points options make the Caribbean intriguing. The cost of excursions and food do not. Furthermore, where in the Caribbean besides Bahamas is a big party spot? I guess cases could be made for Jamaica and Dominican. The issue with the Caribbean is its proximity to the US. I could go there any time making it not as adventurous as other places on this list. Still, I’m not ruling it out as a stop along the way. Updated for 2019: I now live in Puerto Rico.
10. The Moon: I could always pick a random place, buy a bottle of Jack, and get after it.

Well, this did nothing for me. If you haven’t gone to some of the gems on the list like Bali or Dubai for New Years then count yourself lucky. You still have options. If you have recommendations for me, feel free to share them. TPOL might come meet you there.

Oh, and I don’t care for fireworks so that’s not a factor despite every ‘top list’ showing a slide show of them going off throughout the world.

In case you’re curious, here’s how it all went down: