Sunday 25 September 2022

My 30 before 30 travel list...

I am incredibly lucky to have been able to travel extensively over my 27 years; I have travelled with family, with partners and friends, with college/university and so on - I have taken cruise and done multi-country trips, and I always try to travel on a budget now that I'm grown up and paying for it all myself. That being said, I absolutely recognise the immense privilege in how much I have travelled! I really want to visit 30 countries before I turn 30, and with 3 years and 5 countries to go I thought I'd do a blog post to document the process.

Where I've been

As mentioned, I've been to 25 countries so far - and I'm not including England, my native country, in that! I'll list them all below with a bit of background about my trip(s)...

Albania

This was one of my most recent trips; I spent 12 days on the riviera in Sarandë with a day trip to Ksamil too. We also visited Butrint National Park, the Blue Eye and Gjirokaster. Highly recommend this stunning place, we loved it.

Austria

I visited Vienna in Austria in 2020, just before c*vid hit, and honestly didn't like it at all - but I did see The Kiss by Gustav Klimt and that was a major bucket list moment for me.

Belgium

I've been to Belgium twice - once on a university trip to Brussels where we visited NATO and all the EU stuff, and once on my first solo travel experience where I visited Brussels and Ghent before meeting up with my two friends and heading to Bruges!

Croatia

I went to Dubrovnik on a cruise over a decade ago; I also had a trip to Zagreb booked for March 2020 but as you can imagine, that got cancelled... I'd definitely go back to Croatia though, it's so beautiful.

Cyprus 

We holidayed in Cyprus as a family when I was younger, staying in a villa during the height of summer - we only went in the pool at night because it was so bloody hot! I also went with my fam in 2016 and had a ball.

Poznan, Poland; Stade, Germany; New York City, USA

 

Czech Republic

Prague is one of my favourite cities, and I've been three times - I just LOVE it. I also went to Kutna Hora to see the 'bone church' (Sedlec Ossuary) and I'm dying to go to Cesky Krumlov!

Denmark

We recently spent a few days in Copenhagen, Denmark - my 28th country! I absolutely loved it, and I'm getting so close to fulfilling my 30 before 30 dreams...

Dominican Republic

I went to the Dominican with my mum & dad and their friends many years ago; it's your typical tropical beach destination and perfect if you just want to lie there and do nothing. That's not my style, usually, but now I'm older I think I'd definitely appreciate the chance to switch off.

Egypt 

I visited Egypt on the first cruise I ever went on, to see the Pyramids. I was (and let's face it, still am) obsessed with Ancient Egypt as a kid, and this was a dream come true.

Finland

When I was younger, my grandad surprised me with a trip to Lapland which is located in Finland; he told me we were going to the airport for breakfast (more fool me for believing him...) and we ended up in Lapland which was the most magical experience you can ever imagine. If you have kids and the funds to do it, I couldn't recommend it more.

Crooked Forest, Poland; Berlin, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic


 

France

I've been to France sooooo many times - Paris as a kid, camping in the south, a school trip, Paris as an adult, Disneyland...

Germany

I've been to Germany a few times; Berlin on a uni trip, and Berlin again (illegally) on a day trip from Szczecin with my bestie, as well as trips to Nuremberg and Hamburg. It's a great country with a lot of history and so much to see!

Greece

Greece is just breathtakingly beautiful, and I'm lucky to have been a couple of times on family holidays as well as visiting Athens on a cruise. My favourite place in Greece is Kefalos in Kos - I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Italy

I've ever visited Italy on cruises a lot - Rome, Pompeii, Messina - as well as a few days in Milan. It's a truly stunning country and I'd love to explore more of it.

Latvia

I have a bit of a love affair with the Baltic countries, and Latvia was no exception - I went to Riga a few years ago and it's a gorgeous, affordable city with lots to see and do. 

Poznan, Poland; Lapland, Finland; Barcelona, Spain


 

Lithuania

Oh Lithuania, you beauty. I visited Vilnius on a solo trip last year; it was freezing cold and there isn't that much to do but I had the best time regardless. I did a day trip to Trakai too, and felt very proud of myself for not getting lost...

Malta

I've been to Malta a couple of times on family holidays, and don't have a bad word to say about it! Gorgeous place with a lot of history - and I visited again on a recent cruise.

Montenegro

I visited Kotor in Montenegro on a cruise and it's gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. Apparently it's now *super* expensive, so it's one I'm happy to have ticked off.

Poland

Ahhhhh Poland, the home of my soul, my favourite place in the world - I've been 12 times (I think) and I'll never get bored of it. But alas, to fulfill my 30 before 30 plans I might have to give it a miss for a bit...

Portugal

I went to Porto on a girls trip a few years ago and that city is just incredible - so much to discover and just really pleasant vibes. 

Sopot, Poland; Cairo, Egypt; Palma, Mallorca




 

Slovenia

This was another cruise location - we docked at Koper, which is very pretty and I'd absolutely LOVE to go back and see more of Slovenia.

Spain

I've done Spain multiple times - day trips to Barcelona, family holidays, a solo trip to Mallorca... Spain is just an iconic holiday destination for us Brits! 

Sweden

My 29th country, the one taking me SO close to the end of this extended journey, is Sweden - we visited Malmö on a day trip from Copenhagen. It wasn't necessarily worth the visit but I would definitely like to see more of Sweden itself.

Switzerland

My latest addition to this list, I visited Switzerland as part of a Lake Como tour from Milan as it's just over the border. Okay so I was only there for an hour but it still counts, right?

The Netherlands

Years ago I did a DFDS ferry cruise to Amsterdam; we only had a few hours there and with 6 of us, we couldn't make a decision on what we wanted to do so we just wandered. I want to go back and see the Anne Frank house for sure!

The Vatican

Can you count the Vatican? I am, so there, and it's one of the best places I've ever been lucky enough to see. Just iconic and full of sooooo much history.

Turkey

Family holidays to Turkey were a big part of my childhood, and I loved every single one!

United States of America

I've been to America twice; firstly to Florida for Disney/Universal etc and secondly to stay with my best friend in Newton, MA - we went into Boston a lot and then finished the trip with a couple of days in NYC.

Wales

My nan had a caravan in Wales so we grew up going there a lot, and we also used to go as a family over Christmas to stay in a gorgeous cottage. So many memories of Wales - and it's even where I got engaged! 

Carcassone, France; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Brussels, Belgium


 

My future plans

I now have just one country left until I hit the magic thirty... it could be a day trip to Dublin in Ireland, but it could be somewhere we hit as part of our slow travel plans across Europe next year - who knows yet?!

I wrote about my travel bucket list a while back, and it definitely still stands; there are plenty of new countries on there for me to choose from. I'm looking forward to hitting the 30 mark...

How many countries have you been to? Again, I'm aware that this is a massive privilege and I don't take any of it for granted! Travelling is what most of my money goes on (that I work super hard for) and I'm so lucky to have experienced so much of this incredible world.

2 comments:

  1. This is an amazing list of places you've traveled to. This has given me some inspiration to update my travel bucket list!

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  2. I love this! I'm up to 24 countries and want to do 40 before I turn 40.
    I recommend Luxembourg for a weekend break and one of my favourite places is Budapest.

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