Travels of 2017

Since the year is slowly coming to an end, I have decided to do a little recap of all my travels of 2017. This year has been a great year and I got to visit several new countries, of which some I’d really love to travel to again in the future.

I’m already planning out new travel plans in my head for the following year but not sure if they are going to happen since I’m not sure what I will be during after finishing my studies. But I guess I will figure it out in the upcoming year. I will keep you updated, but here are my travels of 2017.

Statistics: Travels of 2017

Countries visited (apart from Germany and The Netherlands): 8

New countries been to: 7

Continents visited: 3

February 2017: Brussels, Belgium

In February I had a week off of university and decided to do a short trip to Brussels. It was quite spontaneous and I booked it a few days in advance. I could also travel by train and bus, which only took me about 6 hours.

The weather was really bad when I was in Belgium but it was still an interesting trip. However, I don’t necessarily feel like I want to go back one day.

Check out the beer tour that I went on in Brussels

The other day, I spent sightseeing and exploring the city

March 2017: Milan, Italy

In March I did a short trip to Milan. I had been to Italy before with school, but it’s been a while ago and we only went to Venice. I basically just looked where the cheapest flight would go to from Cologne and if it would fit with my schedule and that’s how I chose my destination.

Pretty much I spent most of my time shopping and eating gelato, which I guess is what you should do in Milan.

July- August 2017: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua

This trip was by far the highlight of my entire year and also my big summer backpacking trip. It took me a while to figure out where I wanted to go for the summer and if it was going to fit my budget. Somehow it then got stuck in my head that I wanted to go to Panama, I also had just finished re-watching the third season of Prison Break again.

What I wanted for my trip was to experience a new culture, as I had never been to Latin America before but I also wanted to be able to combine two countries. The original plan was therefore to go to Panama and Costa Rica but then I somehow ended up in Nicaragua for a week.

I was actually a bit nervous about this trip, especially with not having as much Spanish knowledge but it all worked out fine in the end. I definitely would love to go back to Nicaragua and see more of the country as I only went to San Juan del Sur for the entire week.

These were my favourite things that I did on this trip:

• Volcano Tour in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
• Spending time in Bocas del Toro, Panama
• Visiting the San Blas Islands
• Exploring Panama City

And in case you are planning a trip to Panama yourself, I made a guide on how much money you might need for that if you tend to go over your budget like I did.

August 2017: Abu Dhabi, UAE

On my way to South Korea, where I pretty much spent the rest of the year, I had a two night stopover in Abu Dhabi. This was the third time that I was flying over the United Arab Emirates on my way to my final destination. This time I just decided to stay in the country for a little bit. That was a good decision as it turned out.

It was also my first time staying in a hotel for years, so I was pretty buzzing about that. My flight landed really early in the morning at like 6am, so I was pretty exhausted when I arrived. I was a bit confused on how the bus system worked so I ended up taking a cab to the hotel.

The same day I went to do a desert safari, which was a great way to experience some Arab culture in a short period of time as I have never been to this part of the world before.

Other than that I went to Marina Mall, tried to tan at the beach and of course visited the Grand Mosque. Here is my post on 5 things you should do in Abu Dhabi.

Since August 2017: South Korea

After Abu Dhabi I headed to Seoul, South Korea. Following two days in the capital I made my way to Busan where I was going to stay for pretty much the rest of the year. I wasn’t actually traveling around much, just staying there for my study, which wasn’t as exciting to be honest.

Some things are quite different here compared to living in Europe, so check out 25 things you should know before moving to South Korea.

November 2017: Japan

I always wanted to go to Japan and being just an hour and a half flight away, I just had to take the chance and fly over for the weekend. I originally would have loved to go to Tokyo but the flights were more expensive so I ended up booking flights to Osaka. In total l had three full days so it was quite a short trip but pretty cool.

The first day I spent exploring Osaka and then the day after I did a day trip to Kyoto which was even better and only a thirty minute train ride away. And then on the last day I just had to go to Universal Studios. I’ve already been to two of them but I loved the Wizarding World of Harry Potter so much I couldn’t resist. Japan Blog posts are coming soon!

The rest of the year I will mostly spend in South Korea. But then I will be going to The Philippines for Christmas and New Years. Boracay, to be exact which I am really excited for. I really looking forward to doing some scuba diving.

And that’s it. These are my travels of 2017. I will let you know where I will be heading in 2018 as soon as I know it myself. Where have you guys traveled to in 2017? Let me know! 🙂

xx Becky