As every year, along with the Christmas carols, the polvorones and the marathons of "home alone", comes our summary of the traveling year. The first of the series was back in 2014, and we thought it was a great idea to turn your head and remember the best moments of the year that ends. And this 2018 has been another great traveling year. We pass through 5 continents: We started the year in Asia, we went to Oceania, we returned to Europe, we visited America and we walked for the first time in Africa. Not bad, right?
Hopefully 2019 will take a few more trips with it 🙂
We finished the year in Thailand and spent the first month of 2018 there. Those who know us know how much we love Chiang Mai, is our Asian house, a city where we find ourselves super comfortable and that it is hard for us to leave. Between temples, massaman curry, motorcycle routines, beautiful coffee shops, working hours, visits to markets and planning the next trip, the month flew by. And it was time to step on, for the first time, an immense country ...
Australia! The truth is that we never got too much attention, let's see, we always wanted to see koalas and kangaroos (who doesn't?), But it wasn't a dream destination ... So why did we go? Because we found an irresistible offer! So on February 5 we landed in Perth, the most populous city in this part of the country, and started a roadtrip along the West Coast of Australia. Throughout the entire month of February we slept in a jail, took selfies with the quokkas, traveled thousands of kilometers aboard a giant van, swam with stingrays, roasted on turquoise water beaches, watched sunsets in the desert and We begin to understand that this would undoubtedly be a great trip!
After driving along the Great Ocean Road, which many define as one of the most beautiful panoramic roads in the world, we arrived in Melbourne and it was love at first sight. We stayed for almost a week in the Fitzroy neighborhood, which reminded us a lot of Astoria, in New York. Then we moved a few kilometers south to make housesitting and take care of a giant and good-natured dog and an absent cat. It was the break we need after traveling tooooda the south coast and part of the west coast of this immense country. We ate dumplings, saw penguins, explored museums, strolled through the neighborhoods of the city and even visited the doctor (a spider stung my cheek and my face swelled like a balloon!). Melbourne seemed to us one of the best cities in the world to live. We will be back? Who knows!
March was also the month of our trip to Tasmania, a very well used week, during which we discovered that emblematic island. They call her little New Zealand and she doesn't miss us at all: she's pretty to rage.
The month of April is entirely dedicated to getting to know the east coast of Australia. Km after km aboard our van, we pass the beach with the whitest sand in the world, the blue mountains, kangaroo-filled nature reserves, a koalas hospital, the most hipster town in Australia (Byron Bay), we fly over the barrier of coral, we sail in rivers infested with crocodiles, we sleep in a wooden cabin surrounded by jungle and, of course, we met Sydney (for me the most beautiful city in Australia, Rober stays with Melbourne hehe).
When the plane took off to Europe we were clear that we were leaving an amazing land, to which we will probably return in the future. We also have an outstanding debt: Uluru and the Red Center!
We landed in Athens with some jetlag and a lot of desire for gyros. We already knew the Greek capital of other trips, and as on those occasions, the connection was total with this city, so we stayed 5 days before flying to my house in Italy. They were relaxed days, walks through more and less touristy neighborhoods, rich and cheap food, overlooking the Acropolis and beers at sunset.
Italy was our next destination. Here we refuel energies, both emotional (those hugs from the family!) And belly (those ice creams and those pizzas!). Rober traveled with his parents to Verona, we met in Padua, we traveled to Venice and, while I returned a few days to my homeland, they continued exploring the Belpaese, specifically they went to Rome, one of the traveling dreams for almost everyone.
In June we returned, after a few months, to Vera Playa, where we live when we do not travel. Something as simple as going to the supermarket to buy, cook and eat on the couch watching a series, it seemed beautiful. Not to mention sleeping in the same bed, going to the same bathroom, having a washing machine and, of course, working in our office! After so many years traveling from one place to another we discover that having a base is as important as continuing to travel the world. Balance. It is what we really need.
But we are backpacks without remedies, so at the end of the month the opportunity arose to travel to Warsaw, in Poland, and we do not doubt it very much! Warsaw welcomed us with cold and rain, but we quickly got warm with its beers and pierogis, a kind of addictive dumplings.
Back to Vera and after a few dips in the Mediterranean and much typing in front of the screen, something unexpected happened, or rather ... something expected was anticipated: Iago! July 13 our nephew was born, the most handsome child in Spain (and if you hurry us, of the Universe). We drove from Vera to Madrid to visit the little one and the mommy, and the next day to Alicante: I had another trip… Amsterdam! Here we hugged again with our friend Jordi, we walked around a lot, we slept little and had a great time. And those channels ... ains, how beautiful is Amsterdam!
We had both traveled to the Basque Country before: Stealing when I was younger and me for work. But this summer we organized a road trip bearing that allowed us to know this region much better. And jo-eeeer: how Euskadi cool! We left wanting to return, and of course we will return. What landscapes, what villages, what pintxos. In the Basque Country everything is exaggerated. And we love it.
At the beginning of the month my parents came to spend a week at Vera Playa, but luck did not accompany us at all: look that it never rains there and zas! Rain almost every day. Luckily they already knew him from other times. Of course, with sun and rain there is something that never changes: the rich caps that we put pal body!
In September we also traveled to Seville to the wedding of one of Rober's best friends, and we took the opportunity to pass through Córdoba on the way to Sigüenza. Another trip was showing up and we went to ...
Sicily! It was a few years since we had set our sights on this island so complete and beautiful. It really has it all: good food (more than good), interesting cities like Palermo, Ragusa or Syracuse, blue water islands, archeological parks, lovely villages and even volcanoes where you feel like in another universe. Really, if you want to enjoy a complete and quite accessible trip, you don't have to go to the other side of the world: Sicily is an excellent option!
In November we were able to fulfill one of our traveling dreams: visit Mexico. We also did it in one of the most special dates of this country, the celebration of the Day of the Dead. It was a unique experience, one of those that we will never forget. Nor will we forget the excitement of being in front of the Chichen Itza pyramid, the tiredness of climbing to Calakmul, the walks through the colorful streets of Campeche and Valladolid, watching Coco in the cinema while everyone sang or stepping on the beaches full of sargassum (we didn't have much luck with this, really). The trip lasted 1 month, in which we visited the Yucatan Peninsula, but Mexico is huge and we have much to discover!
Traveling to Egypt was something so unexpected that we hardly believe it. The idea was to leave it for 2019, peeeeero, we found a very good offer and decided not to let it escape. We visited the country with Rober's parents and, for the first time since we traveled, we went on an organized tour (interesting experience, although we certainly stayed with the trips for free). Seeing the pyramids, the columns of Karnak, the dawn in Abu Simbel, navigating the Nile, living the chaos of Cairo ... Buah, it was brutal, yes, it was a brutal journey. The best way to end a great year traveler! If you have the opportunity to travel to Egypt, id.
And now we write to you from my house in Italy. We will spend Christmas here and then Rober will go with his family to celebrate the new year in Jaca. What does 2019 hold for us? Who knows ... there is some destiny that we would like to know, but I better close my mouth unless it brings bad luck.
And we take the opportunity to wish you Happy Holidays, near loved ones and away from social networks, near good food and away from bad rolls. And above all, 2019 is a very good year for everyone! Y thank you for reading us, of course!
* Our other traveling years:
- 2017 Summary
- 2016 Summary
- 2015 Summary
- 2014 Summary
