I’ve never done as much travelling in one year as I have in 2018. I travelled to three countries in Asia and four countries in Europe. Not only did I travel with friends and with family, I also travelled with a bunch of people I had never met before. This is a short overview of all the trips and crazy experiences I was fortunate enough to go through this year. This is my 2018 travel report.
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I’m not sure if everyone will count this as travelling, but I’m including it anyway. There’s nothing you can do to stop me.
In September 2017, I set off on my most ambitious project abroad to date. I spent four months studying abroad in Salamanca, Spain. Since I came back home in January 2018, I’m going to say it technically counts for my 2018 overview.
During my semester studying abroad, I met amazing people from all over the world (see Instagram picture below), I learned how to be independent and how to solve problems that I had never come across earlier. My Spanish also improved tremendously.
(The only reason I’m not on this picture is because it was taken the night before my first exam and I went home early to revise. See, Mom, I can be a responsible student.)
Studying abroad is usually something you do on your own. I was in a special situation, where I had a classmate who went on her Erasmus stay to the same city as me. We made friends together during the first few weeks, we were in class together and we studied together for our exams.
Big shout-out to Amy for helping me out with all kinds of problems I came across. <3
I went to Amsterdam in February.
One of the artists I had been following for a few years, Quinn XCII, was touring Europe in January and February 2018. When he dropped the announcement for the Europe leg of his The Story Of Us tour, I saw that the closest he would come to Belgium was Amsterdam. I messaged a few of my friends and one of them was willing to go to Amsterdam with me for a concert by an artist she had never heard of. What an absolute legend.
I combined this show with a visit to my sister, who was studying abroad in Amsterdam at the time. She was in the middle of her exams and we met up a few times to go for dinner and to explore the city.
In total, we ended up staying in Amsterdam for three days. We didn’t really visit any popular tourist hotspots, since my friend and I had both been in Amsterdam before (on the same school trip, by the way) and my sister obviously didn’t need to visit them anymore after having spent a few months there.
As I mentioned before, I went to Amsterdam with one of my best friends from high school and we met up with my sister a few times once we were there.
I went to La Plagne in February.
As I mentioned in my travel story, yearly ski trips have been an essential part of our family bonding since I was four years old. Before 2018, we hadn’t gone skiing for a while, but this year we went to La Plagne for a week of fun plowing through the snow.
We skied a lot. I reached a top speed of over 90 km/h (55 mph) rushing down a slope with nothing but two long sticks attached to my feet. I believe everyone should go skiing at some point, but that’s not the question here.
Also: I ate a lot of food. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
I went skiing in La Plagne with my parents and my sister, and we met up with a friend of my sister’s who was there with her family at the same time by chance.
I went to Lille in May.
After I came back from my four-month stay in Spain, I realised how much fun it was to be in an international organisation of exchange students and Erasmus students. While I was in Spain, I went on many trips that were organised by the local office of ESN (Erasmus Student Network).
Many of these trips can be seen in my Travel Videos playlist!
And so, when I was back in Belgium, I wanted to return the favour to the international student community. I contacted ESN Ghent (the city I’m currently studying in) to see if there was anything I could do for them, and it turns out there was. We agreed that I would join an upcoming ESN trip to Lille and take care of the pictures and video.
No sooner said than done, I found myself filming an international group of students I had never met before in a French city.
I went to Lille with two guys who volunteered at ESN Ghent and a group of 30-something international students who were out to explore the best Lille had to offer.
I went to Japan in August.
It’s been almost four months since I came back from Japan, but it still feels surreal to me that I actually went there and it was not a dream.
I spent two weeks in Japan and I visited Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Itsukushima, Hakone, Shirakawa-go and Kanazawa. (More blog posts about Japan coming soon, by the way)
It was action-filled, ridiculous, exceptional, adventurous, unbelievable.
I can’t wait to go back and explore more of this crazy, crazy country.
I went to Japan with my parents and my sister. We also met up with a few people my dad knew from work when we were there.
I went to Bali in September.
After our two-week trip to Japan, my sister and I were still feeling energetic and ready for another trip. So we went to Bali for a week.
Admittedly, we had booked all this in advance, so it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment kind of deal.
While we were in Bali, we visited Ubud (Monkey Forest, rice terraces and Bali Swings), Canggu and Nusa Penida (Kelingking Beach, Broken Beach & Angel’s Billabong). We also ate. A lot. And we got a few massages. #thegoodlife
Bali might be on your bucket list, but you might want to revisit that. Here’s why Bali may or may not be worth a visit.
I went to Bali with my sister.
I went to Singapore in September.
Since I was only in Singapore for a 30-hour layover, I didn’t do a whole lot.
In our short available time period, we managed to check out the Supertree Grove at Gardens By The Bay (during the day AND at night), the Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, Little India and Chinatown.
We also admired a light show at the Supertree Grove (called the Garden Rhapsody) and one at the Marina waterfront. We experienced both shows within about half an hour of each other and it was the perfect end to a perfect trip.
Blog posts and video coming soon.
I went to Singapore with my sister, after our visits to Japan and Bali.
I went to Slovenia in September.
We arrived in Ljubljana, where we stayed for two days and mostly wandered around its quaint streets and neighbourhoods and discovering everything the Slovenian capital had to offer. Some recommendations: a stroll along the Ljubljanica river, Dragon Bridge, Preseren Square and Ljubljana Castle.
After two days in the capital, we took a bus to Bled, where we stayed in an Airbnb located at about ten minutes of Lake Bled. Also, I accidentally walked all the way around the lake on our last day. But that’s a story for later.
Related: get €30 off your first Airbnb booking here.
From Bled, we also went on a day trip to Vintgar Gorge. It was extremely tiring since the hike up there took us a lot longer than we had anticipated, but it was totally worth it. The views were gorge-ous. (I’m so sorry.)
Blog posts and video coming soon.
I went to Slovenia with one of my best friends from school (who is also an avid world traveller and one of the biggest fans of this blog, by the way).
This 2018 travel report wasn’t just meant to make anyone reading this jealous of how much I travelled. It was meant to show you that anyone can travel. If I, a full-time university student, can go on seven trips in one year, there’s no reason for you not to be able to do the same thing.
I’m not rich. I don’t have more time than you do. But I do make travel a priority.
As a travel blogger, writing a travel report like this is like a photographer making a photo album. In the future, I’ll be able to look back at this post and relive everything I experienced in 2018.
All I’m trying to say here is that it doesn’t always have to be a big, fancy trip. You can go to a city one hour away from your hometown and discover things you had never seen before.
Travelling is not about collecting trophies from the most extreme destinations across the world. It’s about experiencing life and living your dreams.
Here’s to travelling more than you think you can in 2019. Let’s make this the best year of our lives.
Amsterdam is a city you can always come back to. Whether you’re 16 years old and looking for a place to visit with friends, you want to go on a city trip with your girlfriend of you want to show some of the world to your kids, Amsterdam is the place to be.
Quick tip: for a more concise, easier overview of how we spent our three days in Amsterdam, be sure to check out my new video. (Watch in 1080p!)
Honestly, Amsterdam is probably one of the easiest cities in western Europe to get to from just about anywhere. Schiphol Airport is one of the biggest airports in Europe, the Netherlands have a very efficient public transport system and there are lots of buses and trains that will take you to Amsterdam from nearby big cities.
And that’s what we did. Using FlixBus, we took a bus from Antwerp to Amsterdam. This meant that we had to take a train in order to get to Antwerp. All in all, this one way trip cost us about €20 each. Not too shabby.
Read more: Best Restaurants in Antwerp: The Ultimate Foodie Guide
Of course, considering the fact that I booked the tickets, something had to go wrong. On this trip, the biggest facepalm moment was the moment I realized that I had booked the bus back for the wrong day. But more on that later.
This, however, was not the only mistake I made. You see, in order to get to Antwerp, we had to take two trains. I had a ticket to get from our hometown to Ghent – where we were to transfer trains – but I forgot to buy a ticket to get from Ghent to Antwerp. Luckily, my friend was able to help me out because she had a spot left on her card. God bless her.
After strolling around the streets of Amsterdam, getting lost just a little bit and dropping our bags at our hostel, we met up with my sister.
You see, while I was studying abroad in Spain, she was doing her Erasmus semester in Amsterdam. Visiting her was one of the main reasons I decided to go to Amsterdam.
She showed us around a little bit, sharing her favourite hipster hotspots with us. One of those places was Pluk, a cute little restaurant located in what Dutch people call “De 9 Straatjes“. This neighbourhood is known for its picturesque scenery and adorable little shops and restaurants.
After this, we said goodbye to my sister – until the next day – and we went back to our hostel to check in. Fun little fact about StayOkay: I’ve already stayed in this exact hostel three times, and I love it there. I’ll probably even stay here again the next time I’m in Amsterdam. And no, they’re not paying me to say this.
When we got to our room, we found out that there was nobody else there. We had a six-person dorm room to ourselves. And if you’ve ever slept in a hostel dorm room, you know how amazing that is. If you haven’t, you’ll just have to take my word for it.
We hung out in our room for a little bit, unpacked our bags, freshened up and started getting ready for the other reason why we came to Amsterdam.
Yep. We went to a concert in Amsterdam. And it was awesome.
A little bit of background information might be useful here. A couple of months ago, I messaged my friend, asking if she wanted to come to a Quinn XCII concert with me. The thing is, she didn’t know about this guy until I messaged her about this concert.
She looked his music up, and (needless to say, but I’m going to say it anyway) she fell in love. This should come as no surprise, because I honestly feel like my taste in music is pretty good and I knew it would be something she would like.
So, that’s the story of how I convinced one of my best high school friends to come to Amsterdam with me.
I don’t have any footage or (decent) pictures of the show, but I can tell you this. It felt amazing to see an artist singing his songs and pursuing his dreams after following and supporting him for years. I’m very happy that he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves.
It was also my first show in a small venue, which gives it a very different atmosphere than it would be in a big stadium or venue. Everyone there feels like family, because you’re all there to support the same person and you have similar interests.
After the show, my friend and I got a quick snack from the wall, and we headed back to our hostel for a good night’s sleep.
On day two of our three-day adventure, we set out to Coffee & Coconuts (another one of my sister’s recommendations!) for breakfast.
My breakfast burrito in Coffee & Coconuts (Amsterdam)
When we were good and energized, we continued our journey. Pretty much the only thing we had planned for this day was to visit the Albert Cuyp Market, which is said to be the largest daytime market in all of Europe.
Can I put “photographer” in my Instagram bio yet?
After getting through this street market, we didn’t really know what to do. That’s why we asked one of the vendors where to go, and he told us to visit Waterlooplein, where we would find another flea market. He gave us directions on how to get there and we went on our way.
While walking to this square, we encountered an abnormal number of pigeons. Just thought I’d throw that out there. We also went into a small vinyl and record store, where we stayed and looked at the impressive collection of vinyls in the basement for about 10 minutes.
The flea/street market on Waterlooplein was nothing too impressive, so we continued our journey.
The Amsterdam Food Halls was something we both really wanted to visit. After all, we had both been in Amsterdam before and visited the main tourist attractions. We even did this on the same school trip.
Anyway, the Food Halls can be described as “indoor food markets”. It’s a place where hipsters can get their fix of new, exciting and exotic foods from food stands and trucks.
After leaving the food market, we met up with my sister again for dinner. This time, she took us to Cannibale Royale, a restaurant – or “brasserie extraordinaire”, as they describe themselves – known for its wide assortment of meats and burgers.
We all opted for the ribs, which my sister recommended. And God, am I glad she did. They were the best ribs I had ever eaten. I mean, they quite literally fell off the bone when you picked them up. I don’t think it gets much better than that.
When our bellies were full and our moods were lifted, my friend and I went back to the hostel and my sister went back to her apartment. This was when we found out that we would have roomies that night.
Between leaving the food market and going to dinner, we went to a grocery store and we bought a bottle of wine and some snacks to eat at the hostel after dinner. When we went to drop these off at our room, we noticed a suitcase standing near one of the other beds in our room, so we knew that someone was going to be sleeping with us that night.
When we came into the room after dinner, three other people were there. One older Japanese man, a Taiwanese girl who studies architecture in Prague and an Australian guy who was traveling Europe. They were all very friendly and easy-going, and luckily, none of them cared that we were eating and drinking in the room (which we weren’t actually allowed to do).
Our last day in Amsterdam, we were supposed to catch a bus back at 5 pm, so we couldn’t do a whole lot. What we were able to do, however, was visit Noord. That’s North in Dutch. It’s the neighbourhood where there’s a lot of graffiti, street art and hipsters. And not a whole lot else.
First, we went to a small islet with the EYE – a museum about cinema and film history – and the Lookout tower – a tower with a 360° view of Amsterdam and the highest swing in Europe.
In order to get to the top of the building, we took an elevator, with a built-in light show. It was actually more interesting than I thought it would be. (You can see this experience in the video)
Of course, we went on the swing.
After taking some more pictures up top, we went back down with the same elevator and we were treated to a slightly different version of the light spectacle.
We made our way to an industrial-looking lunch restaurant and had some food. Of course, this restaurant was another one of my sister’s recommendations.
After lunch, we went back to the main part of Amsterdam. My sister went back to her apartment and my friend and I went back to the hostel to pack our bags and chill in the lobby until we had to go.
This is where I tell you the story about how I booked the bus back for the wrong day. You see, I had booked the return ticket for both me and my friend. However, when we were on our way to Antwerp to take our bus to Amsterdam, I realized that I had booked the bus back for 24 January instead of 23.
That’s a bit annoying, isn’t it? My friend made fun of me for about ten minutes (and rightly so, I probably would have done the same). Soon after, I told her I’d fix my mistake that night in the hostel.
Fast-forward a few hours, and we’re chilling in the hostel room that night. I go on the FlixBus website, and try to find a way to undo my mistake. Luckily, I found it. There was an option to re-book the bus for a fee of €6. All in all, a pretty small sum for a pretty big mistake.
We were eventually able to make our way back home safely. I had a lot of fun and chances are I’m going to go back to Amsterdam some day (even though I’ve already been there four times now).
I hope you had some fun reading this blog post. And as always, thanks for reading!
-S
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