I can’t believe another year has come to an end. Again, I moved, probably like every single year. This time from Amsterdam to Bratislava and after that somewhere new again and I have absolutely no clue where I will go. For the first half of the year I didn’t really leave Amsterdam and was busy finishing my study and my Master Thesis.
I was working in a Hostel bar and with that money booked myself flights to Colombia where I stayed for about five weeks and also went to Spanish school for two of those weeks.
After this big trip and a few weeks in Germany, I made the move to Bratislava for an additional semester abroad. From there I was able to do a couple of trips in neighbouring countries that I had not yet visited before.
Travel Statistics
Countries lived in: The Netherlands, Slovakia (2)
Countries been to: Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Colombia, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Italy, Vatican City (11)
New countries been to: Luxembourg, Colombia, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Vatican City (8)
Airlines flown with: British Airways, American Airlines, VivaAir Colombia, Iberia, Ryanair (5)
Different Hostels stayed at: 16
January 2019: Luxembourg
After I had spent the Christmas break in Germany I was heading back to the Netherlands at the beginning of the year. So instead of driving through Germany I decided to travel through Luxembourg and Belgium instead. Because I had never been to Luxembourg I thought I could stop over for a little bit and get to see some parts of the capital. Technically I didn’t really travel here but since it is such a small country, I thought a stopover in this case can be included as well .
January – June 2019: The Netherlands
For the first half of the year I was based in Amsterdam where I had been living since around September 2018. I had finished up my Master so it was time for me to leave this amazing city in June. I didn’t really travel much during my time in Amsterdam as I was busy with studying and I had to save up my money for the upcoming Colombia trip. However, in the end I tried to squeeze in a couple of day trips in the Netherlands before I would leave the country for good.
Places been to in the Netherlands: Amsterdam, Enschede, Den Helder, Zaandvort, Alkmaar, Harlingen
July – August 2019: Colombia
On the 12th of July I had left to my absolute dream destination. I have been talking about going to Colombia for years and Medellín was my absolute dream city to visit. I also wanted to improve my Spanish so I had decided to do two weeks of Spanish classes in Medellín. In that way I would have a lot of time to discover the city in the mean time.
For that reason I had never been so excited for any trip in the past couple of years. Colombia now is one of my favourite places in the world and I would love to return at some point. I had an amazing five and a half weeks in the country and Medellín just is such an amazing city, I loved it.
Places been to in Colombia: Medellín, Salento, Cartagena, Palomino, Santa Marta, Ciudad Perdida
since September 2019: Slovakia
In the beginning of September I had moved to Bratislava for an additional semester abroad. I guess I chose Bratislava because of its central location and because it is quite easy to travel to other countries in the area where I have not been to yet. So while in Slovakia I also got to go on some cool day trips from Bratislava.
Places been to other than Bratislava: Trenčín, Štúrovo
September 2019: Prague, Czech Republic
On my way to Bratislava I stopped over in Prague for two nights. I absolutely loved it and I think two days was definitely not enough to see everything that I had wanted to see. Can’t wait to return some day.
September 2019, November 2019: Vienna, Austria
Now living in Slovakia, Vienna is only about one hour by bus away which is pretty cool. Since it is so close I did a couple of day trips to Vienna from Bratislava.
September 2019, October 2019: Budapest, Hungary
Budapest is also pretty close to Bratislava, only 2.5 hours by bus/train. That’s why I also got to go there twice. The first time I was there, I stayed at a great hostel but didn’t really see much of Budapest because I just hang out the hostel. It was still good fun though but also I had to return in October to actually see the city some more.
I really loved Budapest, the city is so beautiful and there are a lot of cute little restaurants and cafés. I did a walking tour through the city and the jewish district, visited the House of Terror, went on a boat party as well had a good Langós.
October 2019: Krakow, Poland
I had been to Krakow last year and it was such a pretty city that I wanted to return. Living only six and a half hours away from Krakow by bus, I decided to go back for a weekend. I stayed in the same hostel as last time, but this time I actually met up with other people that I knew so I didn’t actually spent too much time in the hostel.
November 2019: Belgrade, Serbia
As a student in Slovakia I can actually travel really cheaply to Budapest right now. Around €8.50 for a return ticket so that is pretty awesome!
Since from Budapest there are a couple of direct busses to neighbouring countries, I decided to do a little trip to Serbia as I had never been there before. Therefore, I took train to Budapest, stayed for the night and then took an early six hour Flixbus to Belgrade.
Sadly, when I got there, the weather was absolutely terrible and it was raining cats and dogs the entire day. On my second day it was a little better, I loved that they were selling Popcorn on the streets. That seemed really random and I had never seen anything like that before.
December 2019: Rome, Italy
I finished off the year in Italy, where I also spent the first two days of 2020. I had been to Italy before but never to Rome so I ways pretty excited for this trip as I always been wanting to go. While I was there I visited the Colloseo, Forum Romanum, the capitoline museums, Trevi fountain etc. and of course ate loads of pizza.
December 2019: Vatican City
Also, since I was in Rome anyway, I also had to pay a visit to the smallest country in the world: Vatican City. I sadly didn’t have enough time to visit the Vatican museums but I did visit the St. Peter’s dome and went on the viewing platform upstairs.
Overall, I have been to a lot of new countries in 2019! Apart from Colombia, I stayed in Europe and most of the new countries I have been to are pretty much neighbouring countries or close by. It was my first time in Austria and Czech Republic this year, but I’ve grown up in Germany so it was about time that I would visit some of the neighbouring countries at some point as well.
Because I moved to Slovakia for an additional Erasmus exchange, I was located really close to a lot of cool countries nearby so I got to visit some places in Eastern Europe as well which was pretty cool.
The next trip I have coming up is a 4-day trip to Tel Aviv in the middle of January. After that I don’t really have any plans for the new year as I also don’t really know in which country I will be living or what I will do with my life right now. But I am really hoping to go back to Colombia or somewhere else in Latin America and take some more Spanish classes at some point in the next few years.
Where have you travelled to in 2019? What was your favourite destination?
Talk to you soon x
