2023: Year in Review (Awards, Newlywed Game, Stats)

2023: Year in Review (Awards, Newlywed Game, Stats)

With Travels by land sea and air 2023 had it all and now it’s time for our annual recap hello jet Setters I’m Jeb Brooks from Greener grass.com and I’m Suzanne and we are here to celebrate the end of the year and the start to a new

One so the very first thing we need to say is Happy New Year jet Setters we are so excited about everything we accomplished with you in 2023 and we’re going to share what’s to come in 2024 but first it’s time to reflect on what an amazing year it’s been so let’s visit

Some of the videos we’ve made some of the experiences we’ve had the first thing we’re going to do is kind of a quickfire either or for Jeb which one was the more Lux experience the GF stream g450 or Singapore sweets the Gulf Stream g450 I mean come

On that was incredible which one was scarier driving a train or Landing in Saba driving a train I was responsible but it’s like on Rails so you couldn’t really stray she’s never driven a train she doesn’t know I I was scared Landing in sa just just for the

Record okay if you had to do one again crjs across the country or American Airlines hub hopping crjs across the country yeah Hub hopping I can only handle one Hub hop a year I’m still recovering from that all right which flight in Delta 1 did you enjoy more

Delta one to Sydney or Delta 1 to Johannesburg Sydney because we got to go through LAX and I love that Sky Club how about you they were both like really great like really great Long Haul experiences but there’s something special about going to Australia it’s so far away I still call Australia

Home last one ah Shin kensen or bright line I mean bright line I like the service like shink kensen didn’t have a lot in the way of service but I really like the service on bright line we have another train coming from the trip to Japan that will blow your mind you’re

Saying you didn’t like the Bento Box well it was different also bright line is not true highp speed train that’s true we learned that in the comments okay and now it’s time for the awards segment of this year-end video and there are four of them and uh we we’re we both

Have a nomination so the first award we’re giving is the wow I can’t believe I’m getting to do this award Suzanne what is it all right ladies first for me it was when we went behind the scenes at Frankfurt airport we were standing down

On the apron and Jeb was in a push back tug pushing back and A330 headed for Washington Dallas and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken that flight so it was just kind of surreal to see that experience from down on the apron and Jeb was pushing back the plane like

Incredible yeah that was pretty magical for without a doubt uh my wow I can’t believe I’m getting to do this award goes to getting to visit the South Pole that has been a dream of mine for so long and it was was uh about this time

Was actually January the 2nd 2023 that I got to visit the South Pole it was an amazing experience we tried really hard to get there and uh finally made it it was a little too cold for Suzanne which I was sorry about but maybe we’ll do it

Again I don’t know uh so that’s that’s for me now next award what have I gotten myself into the what have I gotten myself into award for Suzanne is taking crjs all the way across the country wow we got to like the middle of that which

Was in Lincoln Nebraska and we still two flights to go and I was thinking what in the world are we doing it was a really fun day though a little insight into that trip so we were in Lincoln Nebraska we went into town and had lunch in a

Restaurant and we had our suitcases with us it was a part of a longer trip so we had some carry-on suitcases with us lady saw us and asked if we were traveling through and we said yes ma’am and she said well that’s good for you that’s

Great and I was thinking to myself if only you had any idea why we’re traveling through and what this is all about it would blow your mind because not many people intentionally choose to take crjs across the country but we did and I thought it was a fun trip yeah

Ending up in Fresno California all the way across the country what an experience all right my what have I gotten myself into is a specific moment and it was American Airlines hub hopping in Miami and the reason it was what have I gotten myself into is it was the end

Of the day it was a full day and I had not yet left the East Coast because American Airlines has so many East Coast hubs and I was like what am I doing how is this happening but I kept going you’ll have to watch the video If you

Haven’t to find out if I’m made this is the this is the I’m so over it award at one point in the year where we like I can’t what is I’m so over this Suzanne kick us off okay and I gotta say first most of the time we absolutely just have

A great time traveling we really love it but there’s certain moments where you’re like not a lot of them but there are certain moments so mine for this year was an Amtrak moment actually we were taking Amtrak while we were attempting to take Amtrak across the country we started in Seattle ended up

In Chicago after the Empire Builder that was two nights on Amtrak spent a night or two in Chicago in a hotel thankfully to kind of recover from that and we were carrying on to Washington DC via the Cardinal now you don’t know this from the video but I had a sinus infection I

Didn’t sleep like it was it was pretty Grim that night on the Cardinal um I was not feeling too hot so to wake up in the morning in Huntington West Virginia to find out this train is terminating we’re not going any further and we have to

Find some other way home I had just had it I was so over it and then also knowing you know Jeb’s gonna want to cross the country by Amtrak another time so we were gonna have to do this all over again another time we get to do this another time all

Over again hopefully successfully and might be coming this year we’ll see the spoiler alert yeah okay I really struggled with this and confession I had to ask off camera like for some help remembering a time I was so over it because I really I could give you the I

Can’t believe I get to do this award all day long because it’s basically every minute of my life but the uh the I’m so over award I had to get some help for because it’s something that didn’t happen it’s something we didn’t get to do when we were in Japan in November we

Planned a number of things some of which you’ve seen some of which you haven’t there’s still more to come but we had booked an overnight sleeper bus and I was really excited about this a big part of the reason I wanted to go was to experience this bus and we were

Literally in the hotel lobby arranging transportation to the bus stop when Suzanne got an email saying it was cancelled we ended up taking the Shinken which was a cool experience uh wouldn’t have done it otherwise it wasn’t in the in the itinerary so that was pretty special wait so you’re really

Disappointed about not sleeping on a bus yeah that’s What Makes You bus boy as denn Dennis bunck would say yeah Dennis bunck thanks for that nickname Suzanne won’t let me live it down bus boy all right now the final award the most excited to release video award what

Video were you most excited to release we get excited every Saturday morning we have a video coming out I got to say like we put out things we’re excited about and feel good about but the one in particular this year that I was super excited about was Queen Mary 2 that was

Our first time dabbling into Transportation by ship and I really had no expectations for how that would do and it turns out people like really seemed to enjoy that video I had a fun time doing it a fun time making that video so I was excited to get out there

And see kind of what the response was and it was it was quite overwhelming so thanks for watching that one yeah that was really cool and it’s a lot of fun when people come up to us and in real life when they see us and say they

Really enjoyed that video too I’ve heard from so many of you who’ve stopped uh stopped stopped Us in airports or all kind of places it’s my mom’s favorite video too so that’s what really matters uh my most excited to release video award goes to the Canadian train and

That’s because that edit just kind of came together and it really like I I every every time I think about that video I have certain edits that come to mind that are almost emotional kind of experiences and I think that translated because the the video did really well

This year so uh that was one I was most excited to release which brings up our next segment which let’s do a countdown of the most viewed videos on our Channel this year coming in at number five with 1.3 million views since it was released is a 2023 update to the lowcost carrier

Comparison get ready for seats that squeeze no space for your knees and endless fees Allegiant Frontier Spirit which is the best and worst ultr lowcost airline in the United States let’s find out as we try all three back to back at number four with nearly 1.5 million

Views since since it came out it’s Australia’s world famous train the Gan welcome on board the Gan this is Australia’s most iconic rail journey over the next 3 days we’ll cross the remote and rugged Outback with a healthy dose of luxury along the way coming in with more than 1.6 million views and

Earning the third spot it’s Lanza’s first class welcome on board first class on the most iconic plane in the world the Boeing 747 we’re about to spend 24 hours in LT tanza first class and we’re sitting in in front of the pilots along the way we’ll eat drink sleep and

Experience all the luxury Lanza has to offer and best of all you’re coming along and a distant second with 4.6 million views it’s Singapore sweets It’s the best first class in the world in fact it’s beyond first class welcome to Singapore Suites we’re about to spend 22 hours experiencing the ultimate luxury

In the sky and you’re coming along finally taking the number one spot not only for the year but but also for all time it’s the Canadian with a mind-blowing 8 million views welcome on board this first class train across Canada the Canadian is one of the world’s longest and most scenic rail

Journeys and over the next 4 days and four nights we’ll journey across Canada eating drinking and sleeping on board the train and will do it in the most luxurious way you can Prestige class it’s always so exciting to see where any video lands and even if one person

Watches it it means the world to us so to see the number of views the channel has gotten over this year has been frankly overwhelming it’s meant so much to us and speaking of of ways to connect to the channel we’ve added a couple that we’re really excited about so one for

The first time ever we are offering greener grass jetsetter merch so if you want to wear a t-shirt like suzan’s uh you can head over to jb. flight merch to check that out I love wearing t-shirts any excuse to wear a t-shirt I’m into it and we’re working on merch like this

Like this this at some point it’s coming no but it’s been so much fun to get uh get pictures back from people who’ve who’ve worn this stuff on their trips that’s been really fulfilling and a fun way to connect with with you all for us another great way that we’ve uh We’ve

Added recently is join Cameo and it’s been so much fun holiday wishes and birthday wishes and and even a number of you uh have allowed me to say congratulations to you or love one about reaching Airline status that’s been so much fun so head to cameo.com jbrooks if

You’re interested in that now back to our regularly scheduled program Suzanne has developed a form of the newly wed game for us to play so we’ve been Mar two years now I would say that’s still newly newly wed status so we’re going to play a little game here to see how on

The same page we are about some experiences we’ve had this year in the travel realm the first category is Airline of the Year all right three two one did we get it the same Oh I thought about using Singapore it definitely occurred to me but I had to

Give it to United for our cross country crj experience also if you remember they won our economy um big three airline Showdown they did and and don’t forget about that no jet lag transatlantic experience that’s right I have to say I earned the highest status I’ve ever had

On United this year I’m pretty excited about it next year well you are a United fan and uh well Singapore was great for obvious reasons but I gave it to it because of the first class which was really our only experience I think my vote would be moved over to United all

Right category number two travel destination of the year so this is about when we got to a place where do we have the best time most interesting let’s see what we said three two one are we the same Oh uh oh I definitely said Japan it’s such an interesting culture and just such an interesting place to be the food the experiences it’s like no other place on Earth I loved our time in Japan I want to go back as soon as possible without a doubt 100% but I

Stand by my my vote for Canada you didn’t convince me this time I just loved everything about Canada everybody we met was so kind and warm the scenery is it’s it’s the best the world has to offer from all these different geographies and it’s right next door to

Us so we’re Super Lucky um yeah love Canada love Japan but I stand by my vote we spent a decent amount of time this year in Canada and I that came to mind when I thought of that and it was really spectacular so I I I can see where you

Came from there category number three okay the video we worked hardest on I’m sure we’re on the same page okay three two one yes okay here we go we like to make some behind the- scenes videos at airports and it takes a lot of coordination behind the scenes to like

Set things up to get things scheduled and this was I mean Frankfurt is a real major legit International Mega Hub right so to have the opportunity to go behind the scenes there was incredible but we had to show up prepared obviously we had to have a very regimented planed for

Filming and then once we had it filmed to like have the right facts do the right research get it reviewed it it was it was a beast what’s interesting and kind of In The Weeds about what we do is that most of our videos are linear right

It’s it’s beginning middle and end and it it kind of follows a straight path but if you look at videos like the Queen Mary 2 or even more so Frankfurt which were filmed by the way at the same time we did Frankfurt and then we came back

Via Queen Mary 2 those were two massive editing projects that required a lot of creative storytelling which Suzanne really crafted um and so it was just a massive amount of work Frankfurt on the front end and and the back end and we are so grateful for the for the team over there

Uh who helped us make make that and we we definitely hope to work with them in the future because as Suzanne said we love the behind the-scenes stuff uh and the reason for that is it’s an opportunity to highlight career fields that uh that are out there and show you

All the professions professionals that are working so hard to make uh make this industry run so category number four the video we were most surprised by okay three two one oh okay hey same boat why were you surprised by the Canadian I was kind of surprised about that that that

Has become our highest performing video in the history of the channel it has something been like 8 million views which is incredible and we like can’t even believe it was caught off guardar with how successful it was yeah I was too I I I still am uh but then when I

Think back on it I just we it was everything came together it was the right time of year it was beautiful the scenery was spectacular the the the train was it was just everything was right about it but yeah I I did not have expectations that it would do that it

Would do that best flight of the year three two one oh that’s the g450 to St Martin that was definitely in consideration for me but I went with Singapore Suites all the way from Sing Singapore through Frankfurt to JFK New York I I was torn between three that one the Gulf Stream

Uh that we got to experience in the beginning of this year and then the third one was Lanza first class like those three were just epic Next Level experiences not to mention uh that flight to the South Pole which was amazing but for me ultimately it was

That one that was fun but it’s time to talk about the stats in general what did this year hold so let’s take a look in 2023 people watched our videos 47.7 million times that translates into viewers spending the equivalent of 616 combined years watching this channel the

Channel took me on 122 flights over more than 130,000 M all told I spent almost 15 days in the air this year we visited 61 airports in 16 countries on 94 different routes on board 27 different airlines absolutely what a year it’s been now it’s time to start thinking about 2024

So what’s on the horizon we’ve started making some plans for 2024 we kind of keep things a little bit fluid too so if cool things pop up like the avel and augural flight from Wilmington Delaware we can just hop right on it there’s more to come from Japan we have still have a

Couple more videos we have not released yet we plan a trip to Southeast Asia kind of early in the year so that’ll be really exciting we might do some more world’s longest flights hint hint any guesses we’re thinking about heading back to Alaska there’s some cool flying

To do up there like the milk run maybe some more trains to get on maybe some more cruising what do you think about that but I’ve got a question question for you actually if you’re if you’ve watched this long what do you not want to see from the channel I mean

Everybody’s always asking what or I’m always asking what do you want to see what do you not want to see us do it’s time to say thank you again we really appreciate all of the support you provide by watching these videos there’s some fun stuff to come for sure a lot of

It we don’t know about but a lot of it we uh we can’t wait to share with you and as always between now and the next time see you in the sky

Watch this video to see the highs and lows of 2023 here at the GreenerGrass YouTube Channel!

We’re two of the luckiest people in the world and, thanks to you, we’ve been able to share some of our exciting adventures on land, sea, and air here in YouTube!

In this video, we’ll revisit the year we’ve just had. We’ll give out a handful of “awards” highlighting the best (and the worst) of 2021 in all kinds of categories!

Here are links to all of the videos we mentioned:

Gulfstream Flight to St. Maarten:

Singapore Suites:

I Drove a Train!

Saba: Extreme Caribbean Airports:

CRJ’s Across the USA:

American Airlines Hub Hopping:

24 Hours on Delta Air Lines:

Delta’s Longest Flight:

Shinkansen:

Brightline Train vs. Plane:

Frankfurt Airport Behind the Scenes:

South Pole:

Amtrak Empire Builder:

Amtrak Cardinal Train:

Queen Mary 2:

Low Cost Carrier Comparison:

The Ghan Train:

Lufthansa First Class:

The Canadian Train:

Merch:
Jeb.Flights/Merch

Cameo Videos:
Cameo.com/JebBrooks

Economy Comparison:

Avelo Inaugural Flight:

World’s Longest Flights Playlist:

0:00 Introduction
0:36 Rapid Fire “Either/Or”
2:06 2023 GreenerGrass Awards
8:27 Most Viewed Videos of 2023
11:28 Newlywed Game
16:39 2023 Statistics
17:15 What’s Coming in 2024

For more trip reports, please subscribe to my channel!
http://www.JebBrooksFlies.com

Check me out on Instagram:
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Tweets by JebBrooks

And don’t forget to take a look at my travel blog:
https://greenergrass.com/

Music
The Path to Innovation – Airae
Black Water (Instrumental Version) – Loving Caliber