My 2017 Travel Roundup
Friday 15 December 2017
I don't really make new years resolutions but at the end of last year, I was adamant that 2017 was the year I was going to start traveling more. I never could have imagined, however, just how much I would achieve in this past year. I have been on some of the most incredible adventures from squeezing trips abroad into my weekends when I had a job to get back to on Monday morning, visiting some dream destination that I never thought I'd actually see and a monster three month trip at the end of the year which basically changed my life.
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Apart from getting to see the world, this years travels have done so much for me as a person you wouldn't believe! I was scarred to do anything at the start of the year and by the end of it, I was gallivanting around South East Asia all alone and loving every single second of it. This year, I managed 12 trips in all, 29 flights, 6 all day bus journeys and only two minor meltdowns along the way! and here they all are:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2N-T5y9zrXiOhVcdcvCiBbUcoCUkSlVyQwTfsmOkRVX3du3emdtLu4vqfmFWHZlkd_da4MZVFXo1XqjRzzThq1NtM7j6pnIl0ZqTwg9xuQkz-7ICEfGwRAUsdmYQyNz7XfRqkbyVZMP0/s640/22549651_10159344688870234_5252292728895307418_n.jpg)
Apart from getting to see the world, this years travels have done so much for me as a person you wouldn't believe! I was scarred to do anything at the start of the year and by the end of it, I was gallivanting around South East Asia all alone and loving every single second of it. This year, I managed 12 trips in all, 29 flights, 6 all day bus journeys and only two minor meltdowns along the way! and here they all are:
My first trip of the year, although it was only overnight, was a pretty big deal for me. When it actually came around, I didn't really want to go; it was -19 degrees at night, I'd never stayed in a hostel before and I was going with a complete stranger who I'd met on Facebook but I knew I was going to have to push myself if I was going to do this travel thing. Turns out it wasn't so bad. It was pretty cold, yep but I really enjoyed seeing a new country and spending the weekend seeing what Gdansk had to offer!
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The boys invited me along on the first lads holiday of 2017 which was alot of fun! We did a couple of big nights out at the Reeperbahn and once I had managed to get them up and out of bed, we got to see a few of the local attractions as well.
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Being invited on this trip with Much Morocco was a bit of a pinch me moment; I had always wanted to visit Morocco, Marrakech especially! As well as wandering around the souks, Jemaa El Fna Square and doing a cooking class, I also got to see some real life tree goats whilst we were driving to Essaouira which was another life goal ticked off of my list!
Porto | PORTUGAL | More: here
Selena & I got on so well the first time that we decided to take one more trip before she had to go home to Canada. This time we decided on somewhere warm: Porto. All I want to mention from this trip is the pretty blue tiles that decorated buildings around the city and Portuguese tarts. So many Portuguese tarts.
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Going to Vietnam was a huge turning point for my style of travel. It was my first budget holiday but you know what, I really enjoyed staying in hostels and eating street food - would you believe I'd been to Asia twice before that and never eaten any street food?! I love south east Asia but I would say Vietnam is one of my absolute favourite countries there. Two weeks just wasn't enough.
Schladming | AUSTRIA | More: here
Another summertime trip to Austria although this time there was much less snow and much more kaiserschmarrn - yum. I did alot of things that scared me that week; zip lining, biking up a mountain and another cable car but I left Austria feeling rather pleased with myself having given them all a go!
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Santander | SPAIN | More: here
I had never heard of the Camino before this trip but since then, I have seen it being mentioned here there and everywhere! Whilst I didn't walk the whole thing, I really enjoyed seeing a different side to Spain. As usual, the food was a huge highlight of this trip for me; the hearty mountain stews were perfect for refueling along the way.
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Catalonia | SPAIN | More: here
This month was literally crazy. I had three back to back press trips and I had just found out that I was being made redundant as well. What better way to spend my last working month than using up my leftover holiday in sunny Spain?!
Menorca | SPAIN | More: here
This was a really lovely week that felt much more like a holiday with friends than it did a press trip. We were in the country for a blogging conference but spent the rest of the week exploring what Menorca has to offer and taking a day or two to completely chill out around the pool.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gzpFI3dFYaKWCRpATX2bTiy2NXEdklv8TlB-YatE_ITSJjhc_kBhCWNwxv5Z79gaP_O9Cc9lqinFlWcqWi0uZaFHPI048OlLl5kj9PQNmH5R-SS0XR7RCoZXLJvrgZ0pdSRPtu_yam0/s320/FRIENDS+IN+MENORCA.jpg)
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Disneyland Paris | FRANCE
Andrew and I hadn't been back to Disney for a few years and I had just lost my job so lets just say this was the best birthday present ever! We love Disney so much; just how happy and carefree it makes us both feel; plus it was great to spend some time together before I left for my big trip.
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Kuala Lumpur, Yogyakarta, Canggu, Bangkok, Perhinthian Islands, Penang, Langkawi, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Pai, Phi Phi & Singapore
This trip was more than I could ever have imagined; leaving the UK on my own was nerve wracking to say the least but it turned out to be the most amazing adventure. I had spent months planning and had it worked out literally day by day but as soon as I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, the whole thing went out the window. I wanted to hit up 8 different countries but I only managed three (and a half - the volcano scared me away from Bali). I was only meant to spend 4 days in total in Malaysia but I ended up staying for two months, one of which was spent just in Kuala Lumpur; I would have stayed even longer if I hadn't booked return flights! Hardly anyone had mentioned it on their itineraries when I was reading blogs beforehand but it was the cheapest place to fly into and within days, I very unexpectedly fell in love with the place.
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Although
I haven't written much about it yet, I have a couple of posts in the
pipeline which I am super excited to share with you all over the next few months!
The Hague, Utrecht & Rotterdam | THE NETHERLANDS
Somehow I managed to squeeze in one more trip abroad this year and left for The Netherlands two days after I got home from Asia. After a 15 hour flight home, I was pretty pleased that we were getting a ferry over rather than another flight and as usual, Stena Line were on point with their food, service and comfy cabin rooms! This five day trip with the girls was a little colder than I was used to but certainly lots of fun and very tasty which seems to have been a running theme throughout the year!
What will 2018 bring?
Whilst I did some amazing trips and also some pretty lovely stay-cations in London as well, alot of them were on a very tight budget; I only spent £74 all in on my weekend in Poland! I've come to love budget travelling but if I were to win the lottery tomorrow, there is one place that I would love to splash out on and that is the Maldives - somewhere I wouldn't even attempt on a budget! I'd also love to visit Japan, & India next year which are maybe a little more attainable on my current budget!
Who knows what 2018 will bring. I certainly didn't think I'd have the guts to go solo backpacking at the beginning of the year and I also didn't think I'd be finishing it as a single woman for the first time in my adult life so these days I'm all about just seeing where it takes me! Hopefully to somewhere far away and exotic!
*In collaboration with Lottoland