There was so much travel in 2018 and more than half of it was for work! I’m finishing 2018 pretty exhausted and very much tired of airports and flying. I better get over it fast though because I’ll be taking a break from work and traveling for 10-months in 2019.

This post is a travel round up of 2018 but first, here is my year in numbers:

15 trips, 8 of them for work

11 countries visited

14 flights taken (not including layovers)

49,160 miles traveled

15 hotels slept in

4 cars rented

1 tent sept in

Read More: Reflections on 2018

January – South Africa

2018 began in Cape Town, South Africa as I rang in the New Year with my partner, Josh, and his family! It was a whirlwind trip filled with early morning hikes up Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, lots of food, road tripping, snorkeling with seals, and lazy days by the pool and beach. I can’t wait to spend a few months in South Africa in 2019!

Read more about South Africa here. 

February – Palestine

My first work trip of 2018 was to Palestine in February. Most of my time was spent on project visits and in meetings but I snuck a little time in to visit a Hammam in Ramallah in the West Bank. 

Read about my trip to a hammam in Palestine here. 

March – Malta

For Christmas, Josh bought me flights to Malta and we went in March. It’s a country I had never considered visiting but I’m so glad I have. We spent most of our time on the smaller island of Gozo where we went scuba diving, swimming and hiking. It wasn’t terribly warm but we managed to still spend a lot of time by the sea, which always reminds us of home (South Africa for him and Florida for me) during the gloomy London weather. 

April

In April, I didn’t have any work or personal travel! Instead, I had a friend visiting and later in the month Josh and I spent a quiet weekend in the country side.

May – Morocco, Ireland

I went on such a fun road trip in Morocco with a girlfriend in May. We explored Rabat, Fez and Chefchouan. Stayed in Riads, drank overly sweet tea, explored mosques, played in unexpected sunflower fields, and managed to not get in a car accident while navigating crazy city streets!

June – Sweden

In June I went on yet another work trip to Stockholm, Sweden. I arrived a day early and spent a few hours running around the city to see a few sites. 

July – Palestine, Portugal

I went to Gaza for the first time on another work trip to Palestine in July. In the second half of the month I spent 10 days on holiday in the Algarve region of Portugal. Josh and I go every year to stay with his aunt and uncle there on an old ruina they’ve fixed up. It is always the perfect holiday and I have dreams of moving to Portugal one day. 

August – Germany

I love London in August so I tried to make sure I was in town as much as possible. The Hampstead Heath ponds are great for swimming then, the days are long and everyone seems to be happy to have a little bit of sun in London. That being said, we did hop on over to Berlin in August for a quick trip to visit some friends that had recently moved to Berlin from London. 

September – Nepal

I like a lot of my work trips but my trip to Nepal in September was extra fun! After my meetings I took a few days off to explore Kathmandu on my own. I haven’t put up a post yet on it but I will because there were so many great places to see. I can’t wait to get back to Nepal one day to do some trekking!

October – USA

October was a love filled month. I made my yearly trip home and this time I brought Josh with me on his first trip to the United States. We started in NYC, then took the train down to Washington D.C. to attend a friends wedding and then finally flew down to Asheville, North Carolina to spend a week with my parents and friends there. It was such a fun two weeks and I can’t wait to have more time there in 2019!

November – Palestine, Egypt

Between the end of September and mid-November, I was away for 6 weeks. It was a very busy time for travel. In November, I went to Palestine for the third time in 2018 and then to Egypt for work. In Egypt, I was in the southern area of Aswan and spent a little bit of time also exploring the area. 

Read more about Egypt here. 

December – Portugal, Ireland

At the beginning of December I was in Ireland for work. And the year will end on another trip to Portugal to spend Christmas with Josh and his family. The weather probably won’t be great but it will be nice to just chill out after a really crazy year!

Thank you for reading along throughout 2018! Here’s to 2019 and all the adventures ahead!