With the end of the year wrapping up, I thought but would be nice to do an annual recap of my 2024. Then I realised not much has happened in my daily life, nothing to write home about really, other than my travels.
March, Portugal
My first holiday of 2024 was a free holiday that didn't cost me anything 😄. You may or may not remember, in December 2023 I went to Cologne in Germany to visit the Christmas markets. On our return flight back, we were delayed for about 6 hours and according to European regulations we can claim compensation from the airline. I got €300 back, that's €600 for the two of us, so we decided to use the money to go on another holiday. The €600 was enough to cover our flights and accommodation for 5 days in Porto in Portugal. What a great way to start my 2024 travels.
I made a couple posts about this trip, going to a fishing village and a beautiful train ride, but nothing about Porto city yet. So many travels that I still need to share.
May, USA
This is my main holiday of the year, a 20 day road trip in USA with my family, 10 of us. We started at Denver in Colorado, drove north to South Dakota, then west to Wyoming to Yellowstone Park, that was the highlight of our trip, south to Utah, crossed the border to Arizona before finishing at Denver. Overall we drove through 8 states and did over 3000 miles which is considered quite a lot for us Brits. I've posted about 80% of my trip, just got Yellowstone, Badlands National Park, plus a couple of Capitol state building that I haven't done yet.
This trip has opened my eyes to another side of America that I've never seen before. The vast area of land that seems to goes on and on forever, driving for hours with nothing on either side of the road, the natural beauty in the many national parks. It was a long road trip but definitely a very enjoyable one, and nothing that we could ever experience in the UK.
July, Sweden
In July I went to Sweden to my friend's belated wedding party. I met my friend when I was living in Taiwan previously, and last year she got married to a Swedish guy in Taiwan. They didn't get to celebrate their wedding with their friends when they moved back to the Sweden, so decided to throw a midsummer party after they had settled down. Apart from a day trip to Malmo which is about half an hour away from the Danish border, I've never been to Sweden before. Having local friends meant I got to visit places outside the main tourist destinations, plus of course I had to go to Stockholm. I've posted about the midsummer party at my friend's parent's beautiful place and going to the Abba Museum. Still got a few places I haven't posted about yet.
September, Croatia
This year's Hivefest was at Split in Croatia. It's my fourth HiveFest, and each one gets better than the last. Needless to say I had a great time at HiveFest and made quite a lot of posts about it, but not yet about the actual travels. One highlight at HF was the lovely Worldmappin team gave me a coveted Worldmappin hoodie, aren't you all jealous!! This is the prize that you can win in the #winterchallenge which will end in a day's time.
After Split, I went to Dubrovnik, and posted about a viewpoint and a craft beer place, but not yet about the famous Dubrovnik Wall. That will follow soon.
October, Greece
My final holiday of the year was a cruise, starting from Athens ending in Barcelona. Those who follow my travel posts may know that I'm not a big fan of cruises. I went on this one because it's a Virgin cruise which is operated quite different from the traditional cruise companies. Plus it called at some places that I haven't been before like Greece and Cinque Terra in Italy. Most important of all, it stopped at Nice in France and I went to visit my friend whom I haven't seen for 10 years
I've only made one post about this trip, it was my first stop in Athens. I still have more on Athens and Mykonos in Greece, a couple of places in Italy and Nice in France from this trip to share.
2025 travels
Next year I have my biggest trip coming up, it will trump all other places I've been so far.The trip will take me to a place not many have been. No, it's not the moon 🌙 😉. There are pins on Worldmappin already, I won't be the first to go, but I will be part of a small handful of people to go there. You can be sure I'm going to post about that trip. I shall keep the destination under wraps for the time being, don't want to jinx it.
Other than that, nothing else is planned yet. I normally prefer to organize trips on the whim, so let's see where 2025 will take me. You can be sure anywhere I go, you will see it on Worldmappin first!
