Mental arithmetic is not my forte, not by any means. I may have fluked my way to some decent maths grades in high school but that, essentially, was where my expertise ended. And then with the advent of phones, smart phones, smarter phones and smartest phones, my brain no longer felt the need (or desire) to mathematically figure out anything but in place of that, the words started to flow unapologetically, both here on the blog much to the bane of you lovely people, my readers, and in real life, to the annoyance of my loving family and husband.
My 2017 in Travels
While division and subtraction might remain a challenge, one thing I can always tot up accurately is the number of flights and adventures amassed in a year. In 2017, a year in which I feel I could have potentially squeezed in more if I had been more organised, I still made it to….drum roll please…
- 8 countries (5 new and 3 previously visited countries)
- 22 flights
- 15 hotels
- A 3 Michelin starred UK staycation
- Around 30 boat trips (if you go island hopping in the Philippines, you really will lose track of the exact number)
I am by no means breaking any records but for a full-time NHS employee, I think this proves just how much globetrotting is achievable if you use your pennies wisely and exhaust your annual leave to the max.
Rather than a boring chronological recap of my year in travels (because frankly, no one other than my Mum will enjoy reading that,) instead, I thought I would sum up the trips of 2017 by telling you what made each one so memorable, annotating my travel tales with the Instagram updates that accompanied them. Is it lazy blogging? Quite probably but it’s Boxing as I start to draft this and the blood flow that usually supplies my writer’s brain has been diverted towards my gut to digest the festive turkey dinner so you get what you get.
The Best Party of The Year– New Delhi, India, February
When you start off 2017 with the best party of the year you’ve ever attended, surely your social life can only go downhill from there? Thankfully not but that was the very real risk we took when we flew abroad for the first time this year for a family wedding in New Delhi, a glittering, gleaming function of epic proportions, which also happened to fall during my own birthday week.
Why celebrate one occasion when you can celebrate two right, so whilst the bride and groom jetted off on their honeymoon, we used the opportunity to dine at Indian Accent, one of World’s 50 Best Restaurants with a menu worthy of the accolade. If the London foodies among you are tempted but can’t justify flying all the way to New Delhi to sample it, I have good news for you – they’ve just opened up a brand new shiny branch of it in London.
The Laziest Holiday of the Year – Oman, February
When you spend 3 consecutive days eating afternoon tea (in my defence, it was complimentary,) you don’t leave your resort for your entire time in the country (in my defence, I was unwell) and you spend most of your waking days quite literally on the lazy river (ok no defence for that one,) you pretty much have all the essential ingredients for the laziest trip of the year.
Our brief stint at the adult-only Shangri La Al Husn resort in Oman was the ideal peaceful and romantic antidote to a week of non-stop parties, celebrations and hopping between relatives’ houses in India; it was just a shame I wasn’t feeling a hundred percent healthwise but hey, what’s room service for right?!
The Most Gourmet Break of the Year – The Waterside Inn, UK, April
When it comes to Pumpkin’s birthday presents, you could say that I had a bit of making up to do, considering his gift from 2016 was nearly 10 months overdue. In the past, he has been the (less than) proud recipient of chocolate-flavoured ketchup and pizza cutters at the hands of his wife so this year, I compensated for this by splurging on a one-night 3 Michelin star dinner & hotel staycation at the legendary Roux establishment, The Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire.
The location for the break remained a surprise right until we pulled up outside, when our car was whisked away from us. A little valet? Don’t mind if I do. Despite the weather having been atrocious just a day before, we were thrown a lifeline for our Sunday night stay with a day bathed in warm sunshine, worthy of sleeveless clothing. It also meant that we could enjoy the eponymous waterside deck, where we spent a couple of hours sipping coffee ahead of our 3 Michelin star tasting menu. After a decadent in-room breakfast the following morning, loaded with handmade French pastries, we burnt off the carbohydrate load with a walk around the world-famous nearby royal town of Windsor.
The Best Value Destination of the Year – Sofia, Bulgaria April
Of all the destinations we explored this year, Sofia was by far the best value for money and considering that we flew out on Good Friday and returned Easter Monday, it proved to be the most economical on the annual leave front as well, deeming it one of the best last-minute bargains of the year.
With a hip, edgy and innovative foodie scene and magnificent monuments within easy reach both within the city and beyond, all travellers looking to explore a city still relatively protected from mass tourism should put this on their must-see lists. And if you do as we did by travelling over Easter, be sure to try out the traditional Bulgarian Easter bread – Kozunak. Trust me on this one – it is worth the carbs 😊
The “I feel like I could live here” Trip of the Year – Berlin, Germany, June
When I was asked to participate in the #CheapflightsChallenge in Berlin earlier this year, I went in with the mindset of exploring a new city and proving to you all that it is entirely possible for two adults to go on a 3 day holiday abroad for less than the cost of a designer wallet and prove this, I did.
What I was not expecting, however, was to find a liberal, easy-going, multi-cultural city filled with free-spirited individuals, colourful street art murals, countless food markets, green open spaces, live musicians on every corner and quaint neighbourhoods easily explored on foot. It was basically everything I love about London without the stifling crowds, with friendlier locals and with less ludicrous prices. Anyone want to join me on a move to Berlin?!
The Unimaginably Scenic Trip of the Year – Azores, June
When one of my best friends shared her photos of the Azores a little while ago, I only needed to scroll through three or four before I had already made my mind up that I had to see these mystical islands for myself. Pumpkin is an avid lover of the great outdoors so just as soon as I threw in the words, “mountains, lakes, hikes and nature,” he needed no further persuasion.
Little did we know that this cluster of islands scattered in the middle of the Atlantic but technically part of Portugal was akin to a gallery, showcasing the best of Earth’s magic. I have only managed to write about Ponta Delgada, the capital of Sao Miguel island so far but there will be plenty more posts coming your way in 2018 to entice you to visit this beautiful destination – only 3-4 hours away from the UK but worlds apart from any other European destination I had ever experienced before.
The Funniest Trip of the Year – Edinburgh, Scotland, August
I have to say, when planning my travel adventures, of all the specs I tend to think about (hotels, activities, excursions, climate etc,) “funny” is not one of them but in 2017, that changed, when Pumpkin’s more timely birthday gift this year was a long weekend in Edinburgh for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
As our maiden visit to the festival, we booked ahead for 3 live stand up comedy shows at intimate venues, during which we laughed so hard that our abdominal muscles ached for hours. When we weren’t at pre-booked shows, we took in the sights of this quaint, charming city, found ourselves eating high tea in a library, soaked up the atmosphere of all the live entertainers and performers on the street and stumbled upon food festivals, cocktail festivals and even snuck in a retro Ferris wheel ride, which allowed us to watch over this bustling city by night.
The Most Opulent Destination of the Year – Russia, September
Russia might have seemed like an unusual choice for our first big family holiday in four years but when we put together everyone’s individual preferences for a September holiday, it was the one country that floated straight to the top of the list.
If you have any ill-conceived notions of Russia being a grey, dreary or uninspiring destination, then one snoop inside museums like the Winter Palace in St Petersburg or The Armoury Museum at the Kremlin in Moscow will soon eradicate those once and for all. Never before have I seen such unparalleled opulence and glamour from sexy skyline bars to ornate, regal Faberge eggs. If you don’t like gold trimmings, picture perfect manicured gardens and fairytale palaces, don’t go to Russia.
The Favourite Destination of the Year – The Philippines, November
I am a travel writer, traveller and I love exploring this planet. I am not supposed to have favourites. Do parents have favourite children? (OK, in reality, I suspect some do but you get my point!) Every country carries its own unique quirk and charm and it is both naïve and short-sighted to rank them in an over-simplified hierarchy; yet here I am shamelessly declaring the Philippines to be my favourite destination of the year – but it utterly and sincerely was.
The impossibly white beaches paralleled if not exceeded those that I had seen in the Maldives, which I had always imagined would be the most spectacular shore lines I would ever set foot on. The balmy, teal sea water, shallow enough to wade through and laden with rainbow shoals and pristine corals did little to alter that view and the friendliness of the loving, patriotic and hard-working locals only consolidated our infatuation with the islands of the Philippines. We wore swimwear almost every day for a fortnight and of the 5 pairs of footwear I packed, pretty much only the flip-flops were necessary, revealing just how relaxing, laid back and idyllic our island escape was.
The Fly-By Trip of the Year – Qatar, December
My final trip of the year was a complete fly-by visit to Qatar en route back from the Philippines. We could have flown home directly to London without stopping off but after reading so much about Doha from all the adventures that Polly from Follow Your Sunshine has had out there, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to explore the city ourselves.
With just one full day and night and one morning at our disposal as well as a luxury hotel to experience, there was no room for tardiness so even with our limited time there, we managed to squeeze in a visit to the souks, the iconic art museum in Doha, a stroll along the Corniche and a blogger lunch date with Polly herself, which was a delightful way to end the travel year and a fitting way to end the travel blogging year as well.
The Hometown – London
But just in case you think I’ve been sitting on the sofa lacksadaisically in between travels, I better give you a quick recap of the adventures that have taken place closer to home, which have included breakfasting in an ingloo, eating my weight in tapas at the Taste of London festival and finding ancient ruins and Totem poles in my childhood home county of Surrey at Virginia Water.
This is the year that has seen me return to the London Olympic stadium to watch the World Athletics Championships, a sporting venue that I was last at during the London Olympic Opening Ceremony, this was the year that I took in a final glimpse of Big Ben before the scaffolding took over and most bizarre of all, a year in which I played cricket with a former professional England player!
A huge thank you to all of you for being part of my blogging babbles this last year (and to the many of you who have been following along long before that.) I really am grateful for all the supportive comments and love and the travel inspiration you all give me. Hope you have all had a wonderful and restful festive season and wishing you a happy, travelicious 2018. Long may our collective global adventures continue!
