A new year is now in full swing to develop. Super fun! Before I dive fully into 2017 with all that entails, first a look back at 2016. Because what a great year that was in terms of travel. 2016 Was the year when, in fact, I spent over 65 days traveling. That’s almost 20% of all of 2016! What a delightful retrospective. Where all have I been? And where has Sander been?
Annual review 2016
Berlin- January and August 2016
Visiting our friends in Berlin. It was freezing but that also gave you beautiful pictures. Were few tourists and it was nice to sit warm inside with all of us. And play games. I discovered that I was a true dominator with Settlers of Catan. All the times we played it I won. Undiscovered talent. Besides Settlers, we did many things like visit the Stasi Museum and went to Potsdam. Since we also wanted to go to Berlin in the summer, we booked another ticket immediately after returning home to come back in August. During our trips to Berlin, we tried many vega(n) restaurants! What a delight.
Kenya – February/March 2016
What a beautiful trip this was! Other than Morocco, I had never been to the African continent. But how beautiful it is here. After lots of animal & natural beauty in Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara National Park and Hell’s Gate, I visited a friend who lives on Lamu . What a special time that was! Chatting together again, seeing her baby and an insight into her life on this island paradise. Far from mass tourism. I also volunteered for the 2016 Lamu Yoga Festival. This festival is also here again in March 2017, so if you don’t have plans yet and are a yoga fan definitely recommended!
Thailand – April 2016
Sander traveled to Thailand with a friend in April. He rode many motorcycles here and got to know many Thai people. His friend with whom he went to Thailand had previously lived there for a long time. So lots of eating, motorcycling and enjoying the (sometimes quite extreme) heat. Of course, you can read about his adventures in his blogs. Are you curious about restaurants in Chiang Mai, Pai or Chiang Rai? Or tips to do in Chiang Mai and Pai? Again, Sander did research on vega(n) eating. Once home, we regularly made one of the Thai recipes like Som Tam. Delicious!
Kazakhstan – June/July 2016
An immense country that you cannot see in 3 weeks. We focused on Astana and from Shymkent travel via Taraz to Almaty. Here you have fantastic nature. I haven’t even been able to put all of our adventures online yet. That’s how much it was! And for the people who like to have no meat or fish (there is almost none anyway) for a while, I listed the good veggie addresses in Almaty. Beyond that, the supply is very sad unfortunately.
Spain- October/November 2016
After our trip to Berlin in August, it immediately itched again. So on to another trip. This time to Spain, almost 5 weeks! Here I took Spanish lessons again and looked up a travel companion I knew from my 5-month backpacking trip in 2011. Also, Sander came and we traveled together for 3.5 weeks through this amazing country. One of my favorite countries in Europe. We have many tips for vegetarian restaurants in Madrid , among other places, and for renting a car, for example. Since we don’t like mass tourism ourselves, we also provide tips for places worth seeing. With or without tourism.
That was our annual review for 2016. And now it’s 2017….where am I headed this year? For the first time, I’ll leave it open and see what the year brings me. Only thing is that I’m treating Sander to a surprise trip in honor of his birthday. Where to, you’ll see soon enough! In any case, I can’t wait for my first trip.
What are your plans?
Besos,
Danique