But that wasn't really a fair assessment of my year and, in fact, just highlighted how absolutely spoilt I am when it comes to travel and holidays.
How spoilt must someone be to say that x days abroad was a slow year?
Usually I pack in a multitude of trips, whether they be for a couple days or a couple weeks. Usually I manage a good mix of long haul and European trips.
Usually I don't plan that far in advance and travel whenever and wherever I can.
And really this year was no different. The only difference was that I only had 1 non-european trip, and no long haul flights. I'll wait a moment for you to start playing the most tiny violin in the world for my hardships. What a travel brat.
So instead of talking about how much I didn't see, let me focus on what I did see and do. Instead of moaning about how I didn't get to travel long haul, let me focus on how I didn't need to fly long haul to experience had a great time and have some pretty cool experiences to boot!
2018: a year in review
Bruges and Ghent (March 2018)
This was the first trip of the year and the most whirlwind trip. Lasting only a couple days, we managed to visit not on Bruges, but Ghent as well! I love Belgium and Bruges and Ghent just solidified for me how pretty the country is - and how underrated!
Highlights : Eating a big hot bowl of Flemish Beef Stew, soaked up with delicious chunky chips at the De Vlaamsche Pot.
Wandering along the frozen canals and soaking in the atmosphere away from all the crowds of tourists!
Sampling some of the many, many beers that Bruges has to offer. We may not have got anywhere close to trying the 300+ beers on offer, but I made a good attempt! I really love the tiny quarter pints (ish) that are on offer, so much easier to try everything!
Morocco (May 2018)
Morocco was by far my favourite trip this year, as you may have guessed from the amount I wrote about it! Morocco has everything that I look for when I go away; the food was great, there is a little bit of a culture shock, the architecture is stunning, and the people were incredibly friendly and welcoming. Add to that some great travel buddies and I couldn't have asked for more.
Morocco was also my favourite place to photograph, I could spend days in the Medina's of Fes and Marrakech snapping away at the ever-changing landscape of people and things.
Highlights : A day being taken around Fez by our favourite tour guide, Jamal. I love having someone to ask all my many many questions and the medina in Fez is a maze!
All the food that we ate in the various cities, especially the many many breakfasts in our riads and dars. The moroccans sure know how to put on a breakfast spread!
Wandering through the medina in Marrakech; getting lost and aimlessly walking through the alleyways, and marvelling at the colours, sights and smells around every corner.
Switzerland (August 2018)
Switzerland was a flying visit to a friend's family home in a tiny tiny village right next to Liechtenstein. It may have only been two days long but there is nothing better than spending a couple days with a group of good friends in the sunshine. I always forget how much I love Switzerland because of how pretty it is everywhere, less so when I think about how expensive it is!
Highlights : Relaxing by the impossibly idyllic shored of Walensee in an incredibly relaxing day of chatting and swimming. When the backdrop to your photos looks edited in you know that you have chosen a good spot!
Living our most bougie life and having lunch at the side of Lake Zurich. Watching the yachts go by and marvelling at the bluer than blue water.
Saturday morning hikes in the Swiss mountains accompanied by chats with some of my oldest friends. Looking over the trees and into a different country (Liechtenstein).
Budapest (October 2018)
I haven't visited that much of Eastern Europe, and it is somewhere that I have always wanted to explore more. Budapest was always high on my list of priorities on that side of Europe. It is my sister's favourite city, my tor guide friend raves about it, basically no one ever has anything bad to say about Budapest.
When Alex came to visit from the US it was the perfect excuse for a visit and, although it was only a flying visit, Budapest didn't disappoint. I didn't get to do half of what I would have liked to do, but that just means that I will have to go back again!
Highlights : All the amazing views that are on the Buda side of the city from Fisherman's Bastion, Buda castle and Gellert Hill.
Visiting the Széchenyi Thermal Baths and exploring the dozens of different pools on offer; but mostly discovering that an iPhone can be basically waterproof and having an impromptu underwater photoshoot.
The huge ruin bars and all the quirks that they encompass; from trying the deadly pálinka, to eating a carrot as a bar snack! I wish that we had had more time to explore more of the bars and have a proper night out.
Northern Spain (October 2018)
This trip was all about the food and wine. There was little focus on anything else and, as wine isn't my usual drink of choice, I was slightly surprised that I enjoyed this trip and touring Rioja so much. It was so much fun visiting all the different bodagas and learning a little bit more how to vocalise my likes and dislikes with wine (it's a marked improvement from "it just tastes yuck") and to spend our evenings trying all the many many pintxos was an added pleasure!
Highlights :The foodie capital of San Sebastian and specifically our Michelin starred meal at Mirador de Ulía. Locally sources ingredients lovingly crafted into 12 courses of exquisite food. The wine pairing may have been pushing it a little bit too far for me and I was more than a little tipsy by the end of our meal!
Visting all of the bodegas across Rioja and discovering the bodegas which made red wine that I actually liked! Shout out to Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia and Bodega Roda.
Soaking up some culture at the Guggenheim in Bilbao. It is such a great mix of modern and contemporary art and we were lucky that there were some excellent exhibitions on when we visited, especially the Van Gogh to Picasso: The Thannhauser Legacy exhibition.
Paris (November 2018)
Paris is one of those places that I never thought that I would go back to in a hurry. A yet, I find myself returning to the city of lights uncharacteristically often. This trip was for Charles' birthday and involved a lot of art and soaking up the Christmas atmosphere. It was a jam packed trip that left me exhausted and very much touristed out, but it was still a lovely trip that made me appreciate a little bit more why Paris is a city that so many people feel so passionately about.
Highlights :Visiting the Musée d'Orsay and arriving so early that we managed to have an entire gallery of Van Gogh paintings to ourself. There is always something special about being in a gallery when no one else is there, and that feeling is magnified in one of the most popular museums in Paris.
Celebrating Charles' birthday with a cheesy birthday banner and homemade cake lovingly transported to Paris in our hotel room (and finding out that I had bought Charles the same book that he had bought me for Christmas, and that his sister had also bought him for him birthday).
Watching France vs. Fiji play Rugby at the Stade de France. Live sport is always good fun and even more so when you get moved from being some of the worst seats in the house to some of the best! I may not have a great grasp of French but I am more than happy to wave my French flag and shout my "allez les bleus!" with the rest of the crowd!
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