2019 already waved goodbye and with this post we are remembering our adventures of the past year one more time. It was definitely not a boring one in terms of travel – we ended up visiting 18 countries on 3 different continents! Some of them with Lu and some of them just the two of us. Besides these really awesome trips there were lots of changes and in the end, tears as well. But about all that some other time. Let´s now focus on the good stuff – here is a list of where we´ve been this year with links to blogs. If you haven´t find a destination for 2020, you might get some ideas here :).
January | Slovenia
We stepped into 2019 back home in SLOVENIA and we returned one more time at the end of the month for a short SKIING ESCAPE. For those who don´t know yet, we are living in northern Germany but usually always visit Slovenia over the Christmas and winter holidays.
February | Malta
Because there are no real winter holidays in the German state we live in, Charlie and me took off to MALTA in February by ourselves, for 5 DAYS. It was splendid – we were very lucky with warm and sunny weather and the best of it all was that there were very few tourists. We rented a SCOOTER and went around the island, including a day trip to the neighbouring COMINO ISLAND.
March | Germany
February was unexpectedly important month mostly because of 2 events. First, I GAVE IN MY NOTICE AT THE OFFICE. I decided to continue working until middle June though – this way I could finish my projects in peace and my boss had enough time to find a proper replacement.
Second one was us BUYING OUR LAND ROVER, which we later named LENI. And not just any Land Rover, but an 18 – year old Defender. We picked it up close to Cologne and spent a great deal of time in the following weeks / months to CONVERT IT TO A CAMPER. Originally we had 9 seats, now we have just 3. Therefore we filled up the space with a small kitchen area, a sitting place which converts into a bed, water tanks, second battery, solar panel, electrical plugs, a fridge and and and. We learned a ton while doing it all by ourselves, although I have to admit, Charlie did more work than me. A detailed post about this conversion is still waiting to be published, bear with me, it´s coming!
April | Seychelles, the Netherlands
At the beginning of April Lu finally started his EASTER SCHOOL HOLIDAYS and we were off to the beautiful SEYCHELLES. We visited the 3 main islands, MAHE, PRASLIN and LA DIGUE. We have been to many dreamy destinations, but we really liked these islands, especially La Digue. I´ve posted blogs about each of them, read more about it by clicking the button under the picture.
And while Lu was spending the other half of his holidays with his dad, me and Charlie took advantage of the 4 work free Easter holidays to take our very FIRST ROAD TRIP WITH OUR DEFENDER. I´ve always wanted to see the TULIP FIELDS in the NETHERLANDS, so there it was. Perfect timing and the border is not too far from our German home as well. We had amazingly warm weather for the time and a great trip between wind mills, sandy beaches, tulips and great cities. Read more about it in the FULL POST by clicking the button under the picture.
May | France
We took a couple of days off around the first of May and drove the long 1500km all the way to the FRENCH ATLANTIC COAST in order to see friends and family, but also to finish the works on the Defender. We had more space and tools there and we were planning a longer road trip in the summer, which was approaching way too fast. ILE DE RE island is always beautiful, but especially in Spring time when everything is in bloom.
June | Denmark
And finally. My last day at work. Some tears, but also good memories. Grateful for all the opportunities the last 5 years there gave me, but now it was time to move on. The new adventure was waiting and it was an adventure on 4 wheels. With our Defeneder through SCANDINAVIA and BALTIC COUNTRIES. We have about 5 weeks time before we had to be back in Germany to pick up Lu. First stop was DENMARK and we loved it. The sunny weather might contributed to that, but hey we really said we will definitely come back soon. For a FULL POST on Denmak please click the button below the picture.
July | Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland
Second country on the route was NORWAY. Norway is just so big and so diverse, we spend the most time here. The landscapes are surreal at times and we really loved the whole WILD CAMPING experience. Since it was peak season there were quite some tourists at the major spots, but we managed to find more secluded places as well. We drove from the south to the north, passed the FJORDS, LAKES, WHITE SANDY BEACHES, GLACIERS, MOUNTAINS, ISLANDS and more. It is hard to put it all in a few sentences so everyone interested in reading more about our time in Norway read the FULL POST by clicking the button below the picture.
From Norway we drove through SWEDEN towards FINLAND and unfortunately we only spend about 2 days in Sweden. Have to come back some day. But Finland, wow, Finland was so great for WILD CAMPING! Endless FORESTS AND LAKES, no tourists at all, just us and the nature. It is truly a paradise for all the NATURE LOVERS. But I do admit, the city life in Helsinki on the last few days was not bad as well. You can read a FULL POST about it by clicking the button under the picture.
From Finland we took the ferry over to ESTONIA. None of us was every in any of the BALTIC COUNTRIES so we were really looking forward to it and were excited to see how it was over there. Estonia didn´t disappoint us. From TALLINN to LAHEMAA national park, SAAREMAA island and other parts of the country – it was really nice. Also quite cheaper than Scandinavia of course and WILD CAMPING was allowed as well. Read more about it by clicking the button under the picture.
LATVIA was another thing though. Also nice, but much less “Scandinavian-like” and much more “Eastern-European – like”. Not that this is a bad thing, we just felt a difference after weeks on the road. We can point out RIGA and KEMERI national park as two of the absolute highlights. I reckon Riga is a great place for a weekend getaway. Click click on the button below the picture and read more about it.
Out of all the countries on this road trip, we spent the least time in LITHUANIA. We don´t even know why, but somehow it was not meant to be. It is actually quite a big country and we were “so close” to home, we didn´t feel like driving such long detours. So we skipped VILNIUS as well. Nevermind, something has to stay for the next time. We did see more of POLAND that way. Read more about LITHUANIA by clicking the button under the picture.
Last but not least, POLAND. We actually had a great time in Poland. First, GDANSK blew us away – it´s such a great city, I highly recommend it. Then, the SANDY COASTLINE was awesome too and everybody was very friendly on top of everything. It was cheap too, so all in all a great place to visit. We shall return, next time to the south. Read more about Poland by clicking the button under the picture.
August | Croatia, Slovenia
With Lu on board, we continued towards the south. SLOVENIA & CROATIA it was. Like every summer, we tend to spent a couple of weeks back home and also squeeze in a proper SUMMER HOLIDAY by the sea with the family. Every year we pick another island (we do prefer the south Dalmatian ones though) and rent a house or a larger apartment somewhere low key to avoid the crowds. This year it was PAG ISLAND. Since we have visited lots of Croatian islands and other parts of the country, there are lots of POSTS on the blog – check them out by clicking the button below the picture.
September | Slovenia
Up and down around SLOVENIA and before we knew it, Lu had to go back to school. In Germany there are only 6 weeks of holidays in the summer and I usually get to spend half of that with him. So we flew back to Germany and I returned to Slovenia a week later. Unfortunately health issues prevented us to go on our planned road trip towards Greece, so Charlie and me ended up spending September eating out in RESTAURANTS lots, relaxing in Piran at the coast and doing a few day trips in the country and across the border in Italy.
October | France, Slovenia
In the beginning of October, Lu already started his Autumn holidays and they were quite long this time. This allowed us to spend around 10 days in FRANCE on ILE DE RE and a week in Slovenia afterwards. We had a bigger family reunion back in France so that was nice and special, we also spend quite some time going around the island – if you are interested in what you can see and do there, read the FULL POST by clicking the button under the picture.
On the way to Slovenia, we stopped at LYON to make a break from the long drive. We really liked Lyon, it is a very lively city with great architecture and many restaurants. There is a FULL POST bout it on the blog too, click on the button under the picture for more.
November | Brazil, Istanbul, Zagreb
November was very eventful. Already at the end of October Charlie and me flew off to BRAZIL, where we spend most of November as well. We only bought our plane tickets at the end of August and we really had not much clue what we can do in this, NORTH-EASTERN PART of the country, but in the end it was quite awesome actually. Sunny every day, good food, friends, surprising nature and more. And absolutely no international tourists at most places. I always love to go somewhere where not many people go to and this was definitely a place like that. There is a very long FULL POST with lots of pics on the blog. Click the button below and read more.
Returning from Brazil, we first spent a couple of days getting used to the grey and cold European weather. Then we flew back to Slovenia, but with a 4 DAY STOPOVER IN ISTANBUL. Believe it or not, this was the cheapest connection between Germany and Slovenia. Anyhow, we took advantage of it this time. It was first time in TURKEY for both of us and I´m sure we will be back some day. Read a FULL POST about ISTANBUL by clicking the button below.
On the very last Saturday in November we then took the TRAIN FROM LJUBLJANA TO ZAGREB, CROATIA, together with friends and had a fun day strolling around the CHRISTMAS MARKETS. Zagreb was voted the best Christmas market in Europe for 3 times in the past 10 years and we can really see why. Read more about it by clicking the button below.
December | Dolomites, Germany, Slovenia
After weeks of not moving our Landy, it was finally time for another ROAD TRIP. We had to go back to Germany to pick up Lu and since we had more time than usually we chose the longer way. This one took us through ITALIAN DOLOMITES first. We did WINTER CAMPING for the first time ever and survived sleeping in the car while it was minus 12C outside. It was definitely an adventure, we were also SKIING, sipping MULLED WINE on Christmas markets, walked on frozen LAKES and more. Read more by clicking the button below.
From the Dolomites we continued to INNSBRUCK in Austria and onwards to FÜSSEN in Southern Germany. Here we started our second leg of this road trip which took us over 300km on the so-called GERMAN ROMANTIC ROAD. We passed numerous castles, churches, cute little villages and more – it was a great thing to do in December when everything was in CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. A FULL POST is on the blog about this too, read it by clicking the button below the picture.
After a short visit to our German home, we drove back down to SLOVENIA with Lu, to be with the family over the holidays. A few days at the sea, a few day sin the mountains (inyluding skiing in Austria) and a few days in Ljubljana. 2 weeks went by too fast again. As you can see we did a lot of driving in 2019, especially between Germany and Slovenia. Looking at all the countries we´ve been to and everything we got to see and experience, it was an incredible travel year – especially since we were away more days than we were home. Meanwhile we´ve already stepped into 2020 and we really hope there will be more sunny than rainy days, we especially wish for health, enough sleep and lots of new adventures. Let´s see what happens. Hppy & healthy New Year everyone!
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