In 2016 I had the time of my life and managed to visit 19 countries. I got to see places that I’ve been wanting to go all my life.
It really was a dream come true. I’m sure I started writing lists of countries I wanted to visit when I about 8, going through our giant blue encyclopedia that had one page dedicated to every country in the world, and then noting down all of those I liked the look of. Interestingly, Asia was not on 8 year old Miranda’s list because ‘ew it’s dirty’ but now some of those Asian countries are my among my absolute favourites. Europe, however, was all over my list (I blame this brainwashing on Hollywood’s stereotyping of east and west by the way).
2016 started off with a big trip flying from NZ and arriving in Istanbul, then travelling overland through Bulgaria (Plovdiv and Sofia), Macedonia (Lake Ohrid and Skopje), Kosovo (Prizren), Montenegro (Kotor, Perast), Bosnia (a day trip to Mostar), Croatia (Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, the islands, the national parks), France (Marseille at this stage!) and Morocco (Rabat, Chefchaouen, Marrakech, the Sahara) before finally landing in London, my new home!
It really was a dream come true. I’m sure I started writing lists of countries I wanted to visit when I about 8, going through our giant blue encyclopedia that had one page dedicated to every country in the world, and then noting down all of those I liked the look of. Interestingly, Asia was not on 8 year old Miranda’s list because ‘ew it’s dirty’ but now some of those Asian countries are my among my absolute favourites. Europe, however, was all over my list (I blame this brainwashing on Hollywood’s stereotyping of east and west by the way).
2016 started off with a big trip flying from NZ and arriving in Istanbul, then travelling overland through Bulgaria (Plovdiv and Sofia), Macedonia (Lake Ohrid and Skopje), Kosovo (Prizren), Montenegro (Kotor, Perast), Bosnia (a day trip to Mostar), Croatia (Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, the islands, the national parks), France (Marseille at this stage!) and Morocco (Rabat, Chefchaouen, Marrakech, the Sahara) before finally landing in London, my new home!
I moved to London because I wanted to be close to Europe so I can pop to Spain or France or wherever during the weekends, and also so I can work and experience life in one of the most important cities in the world. I’ve nearly been here 7 months and it really is great. Before I got this job, I was unemployed so I have managed to fit in quite a few places since I've been here! Other places I managed to visit include:
As well as extensive London exploring!
- Oxford
- The Cotswolds
- Poland (Krakow)
- Czech Republic (Ostrava, Brno, Prague)
- Wales (Cardiff)
- Brighton
- Republic of Ireland (Dublin, Galway, Doolin, Aran Islands)
- Germany (Munich for Oktoberfest)
As well as extensive London exploring!
I started my new job at the end of October, and thankfully my workplace is lovely and flexible and since then I’ve also managed to get to:
It has been a busy year. I’ve been sick a lot, which has been frustrating and is something I hope I can fix in 2017. I won’t be travelling as much now that I have to fit it around work, so I hope that will help lessen the chances of me getting sick. I still have some great trips planned for 2017 though! I really want to focus on smaller towns as I find these more enjoyable – though I obviously will be going to some large cities too! I can't leave Europe without seeing Rome and Athens, afterall.
First up will be Bristol for a weekend in Feb with some friends. I've been wanting to check out Bristol for ages as it sounds like a town with a lot going on.
I’m going to Naples, Positano and Rome at Easter. I've been obsessed with Positano for ages after seeing it so frequently Instagrammed.
The early May bank holiday will see me visit Northern Spain – which is exciting because I can’t find much information about it online. We are flying into Astarius airport, and will do some walks in the Someido National Park, and hopefully stay a night on the coast at the little town of Llanes.
In July we are going to watch the Tour De France in the Rhone Alps, after a few days in Annecy. After the Tour De France we’ll head down to an peaceful Provencal town – I can't decide which one though, they all look amazing. Hopefully somewhere near to Gorges Du Verdon. I also want to check out the Les Calanques du Cassis near Marseille.
Mid August is Budapest for Sziget – the Music Festival, with a few recovery days nearby. Maybe in Tihany on Lake Balaton - but I'm finding it hard to tell if it's the kind of place I'll like or not.
In October we'll be heading to Athens and Santorini. I'm excited to finally get to Greece!
I’ll hopefully fit some other trips in too. I’d love to go to Amsterdam and Copenhagen for weekend trips. I need to see more of Spain and Italy – and more of France. I want to go and see more of Provence, because I know I won't get to see that much of it in July.
In case you can't tell, I feel like I can hear a constant tick tock, a count down on the months left on my visa, and I find it really stressful that I might not to go to all the countries I want to see. I know I can come back to Europe one day, but I still have so much of Asia to see, and I’m yet to step foot in the Americas – and I've only had one teeny toe in Africa! At least I have no real desire to see Antarctica. That helps. (No one tell me it’s awesome, I don’t want to know).
If anyone has advice on what European countries I don’t need to visit, please help. When am I going to get to Austria? And see more of Germany? I haven’t included any real plans for Scandinavia. I don’t know when I’m going to get to Slovenia or Serbia or Malta or Switzerland! I’m near tears thinking about it! Great, now I’m stressed. Travelling is terrible for my health, so why do I love it so much?
- France (Paris for a week, Amboise in the Loire Valley, Lille at Christmas)
- Belgium (Bruges and Brussels)
- Netherlands (Ok it was just to Sluis for lunch after we cycled from Bruges – but it still counts!)
- Edinurgh (Hogmanay)
It has been a busy year. I’ve been sick a lot, which has been frustrating and is something I hope I can fix in 2017. I won’t be travelling as much now that I have to fit it around work, so I hope that will help lessen the chances of me getting sick. I still have some great trips planned for 2017 though! I really want to focus on smaller towns as I find these more enjoyable – though I obviously will be going to some large cities too! I can't leave Europe without seeing Rome and Athens, afterall.
First up will be Bristol for a weekend in Feb with some friends. I've been wanting to check out Bristol for ages as it sounds like a town with a lot going on.
I’m going to Naples, Positano and Rome at Easter. I've been obsessed with Positano for ages after seeing it so frequently Instagrammed.
The early May bank holiday will see me visit Northern Spain – which is exciting because I can’t find much information about it online. We are flying into Astarius airport, and will do some walks in the Someido National Park, and hopefully stay a night on the coast at the little town of Llanes.
In July we are going to watch the Tour De France in the Rhone Alps, after a few days in Annecy. After the Tour De France we’ll head down to an peaceful Provencal town – I can't decide which one though, they all look amazing. Hopefully somewhere near to Gorges Du Verdon. I also want to check out the Les Calanques du Cassis near Marseille.
Mid August is Budapest for Sziget – the Music Festival, with a few recovery days nearby. Maybe in Tihany on Lake Balaton - but I'm finding it hard to tell if it's the kind of place I'll like or not.
In October we'll be heading to Athens and Santorini. I'm excited to finally get to Greece!
I’ll hopefully fit some other trips in too. I’d love to go to Amsterdam and Copenhagen for weekend trips. I need to see more of Spain and Italy – and more of France. I want to go and see more of Provence, because I know I won't get to see that much of it in July.
In case you can't tell, I feel like I can hear a constant tick tock, a count down on the months left on my visa, and I find it really stressful that I might not to go to all the countries I want to see. I know I can come back to Europe one day, but I still have so much of Asia to see, and I’m yet to step foot in the Americas – and I've only had one teeny toe in Africa! At least I have no real desire to see Antarctica. That helps. (No one tell me it’s awesome, I don’t want to know).
If anyone has advice on what European countries I don’t need to visit, please help. When am I going to get to Austria? And see more of Germany? I haven’t included any real plans for Scandinavia. I don’t know when I’m going to get to Slovenia or Serbia or Malta or Switzerland! I’m near tears thinking about it! Great, now I’m stressed. Travelling is terrible for my health, so why do I love it so much?
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