What at a year. Never in my wildest dreams did I think life would present this opportunity, and I’m forever grateful.
But 2018 is coming to a close, so it’s time to do a little reflecting. I’ve been spending some time thinking about what this year has taught me and how I will carry that into 2019. For one thing, I plan to continue traveling – there’s just so much I want to experience in our world!
The question that I have been asked the most: “What’s your favorite place you visited this year?” Well, I’m going to (attempt) to share my Top 10 Travel Experiences of 2018. Because it’s the experiences that made the trips so special.
1. LAKE BLED, SLOVENIA
Slovenia was a complete fairytale. I have so many great memories from this trip, and getting to travel with my Mom was so fun. I LOVED taking the row boats out to the island on Lake Bled. So picturesque and so many laughs.
2. BRUGES, BELGIUM
My Belgium trip was my first big (as in overnight) solo trip which felt like a big accomplishment. I had the best time wandering around in search of my next snack – waffles, and chocolate and beer, oh my!
3. PARIS, FRANCE
Experiencing Paris with Zack was a dream come true. Of course seeing the Eiffel Tower was a highlight, but one of my favorite things was snuggling up in Bar Hemingway to escape the cold – drinking fancy cocktails and munching on bar snacks.
4. ATHENS, GREECE
Athens blew me away. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. Traveling there with one of my best friends, Megan, was a blast. We ate, drank, and laughed our little hearts out. I loved getting lost in the Plaka neighborhood and taking a million pictures because everything was so darn cute!
5. BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
After spending so much time in this city, how can I pick just one favorite memory? I pretty much covered all my favorite things in a recent post (link below).
6. BERLIN, GERMANY
This spontaneous weekend trip with Zack was so much fun. My favorite parts revolved around drinking and eating – from lounging in biergartens to eating the best ramen EVER.
7. BARCELONA, SPAIN
Another weekend trip with Zack and ironically, my favorite memory revolves around food again (sensing a pattern here…) We ended up going to the same 2 restaurants twice because they were just that good. And seeing all the Gaudi architecture was amazing.
8. SEGOVIA, SPAIN
Segovia is the perfect little day trip from Madrid, I ended up going twice! On my second visit, my cousin, Tanya, and I found a little path that went around the castle. We got some great views of the castle and the cathedral.
9. CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN
Another trip I took with my cousin – we visited Tenerife and La Gomera. While I loved our excursions around the island, swimming in the clear blue waters was so refreshing and relaxing.
10. PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
Our first trip outside of Budapest. When our friend, Alex, came to visit over Easter, the 3 of us took the train to Prague. Favorite memory: seeing the Easter markets that had popped up all over the city. It was so festive and colorful.
So what do you think? Are you surprised by my list? Honestly it was so hard to choose! Looking forward to a new year full of new adventures!
– Courtney
hardys on holiday 