As I enter the new year, I wanted to reflect on all the amazing opportunities I had to travel. It’s easy to forget how much I’ve done and all the places I’ve had to good fortune of visiting. It’s a good reminder to be thankful for all these opportunities and my current situation. Just a few year’s ago I didn’t have nearly the amount of vacation time given to me at work and found myself not leaving home much at all. Here’s to another great year of seeing more new places.
Eureka, CA
I started the year by traveling up to Redwoods near Eureka over MLK Weekend. We spent the long weekend exploring Redwood National Park, Lady Bird Johnson Grove, the shoreline and beaches at Trinidad, and camping at Gold Bluff Beach Campground where we witnessed an incredible sunrise.
Washington DC & Chicago
I also went to DC in February to visit Alice for the last time before she moved to the Bay Area. While in DC, we also took a quick trip to Chicago. It was even colder there than it was in DC..
Los Angeles
Also took a quick trip down to Los Angeles and Orange County over Memorial Day Weekend.
Barcelona
My big trip of the year came in July where we went on a mini Eurotrip prior to attending Tomorrowland for a second year in a row. We flew into Barcelona which was everything it was cracked up to be and more. We happened to be in Europe during record breaking heat which was particularly noticeable in Barcelona but still had an incredible time exploring this beautiful city and eating obscene amounts of incredible tapas. I also managed to get a reservation at Tickets, a michelin-starred restaurant and widely regarded as one of the best restaurants in the world, where Alice, Jimmy and I had the best meal of our lives.
Baga, Spain | Ax-Les-Thermes, France | Andorra
While in Barcelona, we took a day trip to explore more Spanish and French Catalonia as well as Andorra. We woke up early to catch our bus which then took us up to medieval village of Baga, Spain. We spent some time exploring the winding alleys and trying out some of the local baked goods at a bakery. From there, we went deeper into the Pyrenees Mountains and stopped at Ax-Les-Thermes, just over the Spanish border in France. Ax-Les-Thermes is full of character and is known for its hot springs. We spent some time here and had a picnic lunch of charcuterie, cheese and some local wine. The locals were incredibly friendly and patient with us even though our french was incredibly limited (thanks BJ)! Finally, we made a stop at Andorra la Vella in Andorra before making the long trek back to Barcelona. I’m glad we stopped in Andorra to say we’ve been but I wasn’t particularly blown away by it.
I’m not normally one enjoy guided tours in a bus filled with other tourists but this was well worth every penny and would definitely recommend this one to anyone.
Ibiza, Spain
From Barcelona, we took the short flight over to Ibiza to hit the beaches and check out the legendary Ushuaia to see Oliver Heldens and David Guetta. With only one day here (not nearly enough) we were scrambling to see and do as much as possible. Unfortunately, while at Ushuaia I started to feel a tickle in my throat and knew I was starting to get sick..
Lisbon, Portugal
I spent my entire time in Lisbon with a cold and attempting to kick it. This involved me resting in our awesome Airbnb and watching Netflix. Other highlights included leaving the apartment to buy shawarma.. So ya, I definitely did not have the perfect trip to Lisbon and I absolutely feel like I owe it another visit in order to properly see it.
Tomorrowland 2018 (Boom, Belgium)
I don’t have enough good things to say about this magical festival. Everything from the decorations and attention to detail at the stages throughout De Schorre, amazing food, people, energy of the crowds, and of course the music makes this a truly one of a kind experience. There’s a reason I was willing to fork over a bunch of money to attend for a second year in row. Like most of the other destinations in Europe, we happened to be in Belgium for record breaking heat. It was so hot that after the first day, I woke up early and found a random barbershop in Brussels to cut my hair. Year 2 did not disappoint at all. In addition to the awesome music, I got to travel over there with an incredible group of friends and meet back up with some old ones. Also met Throttle and Don Diablo (my favorite DJ) after their sets which was the cherry on top of this awesome weekend.
Regardless, this festival is truly something else. Even though I promised to visit somewhere new in 2019, it is going to be really hard not. I hope that I can go back another year, though. I could easily ramble on about but it will never sufficiently capture the awesomeness of this place. My advice? Do yourself a huge favor and go!
Tallinn, Estonia (and Amsterdam for a day)
After Tomorrowland, I had to say goodbye to most of my friends and I traveled up to Amsterdam with Alice, Jimmy and Rachel. We spent a very low impact day in Amsterdam wandering around and relaxing. The next day, they flew back home while I took a flight to Tallinn, Estonia to continue my trip. For the second year in a row, I learned that it isn’t as fun to travel solo after traveling with friends for two weeks.
Värmlands, Sweden
Having been to Stockholm several times now, I didn’t spend anytime in the capital and instead took the bus straight from Stockholm Arlanda Airport to the Värmlands, where my relatives live. The Värmlands is a region in Sweden about halfway between Stockholm and Oslo, right on the Norwegian border. I absolutely love Sweden and getting to see these people. When I arrived at Karlstad station, AnnaKarin, Fredrik, Oscar and Petter were there to pick me and we went to a fun Tapas restaurant in Karlstad and then walked around town for bit. We then went back to their home and went swimming at a nearby river. Jorgen, Stina, and Ingmar came over for a delicious dinner. When everyone left, I had a lot of fun listening to a lot of rock music and trying to guess the name of the band first with Frederick and AnnaKarin.
The next day, I packed up my things and we drove down to Skutberget and walked around there for a bit. Then we drove down towards Säffle to meet up with Jorgen and his family. We all met at Restaurang Fyren for lunch and got to spend some time swimming in the lake. I then said goodbye to AnnaKarin and her family and then went to visit Jorgen’s mother, Berit’s new home in Saffle, for a fika (Swedish coffee and cake break). I remember from my trip back in 2013 that Berit was an incredible baker and was excited for more baked goodies which were just as good as I remembered. From there, we went to the Nordmarker lake house for a bit and then went to the downtown area of Säffle for a walk. That night, we went to dinner at one of the Nordmarker’s friends beautiful summer home, which was an absolute blast. As has always been the case for me in Sweden, everyone that I met was so unbelievably welcoming and hospitable. Not to mention, they cooked some great Mexican food.
The next day, Jorgen had a band rehearsal but Sylvia, Hugo, Klara and I went to Esters Cafe in Långserud for some crazy ice creams. From there, we went to Knöstad where I got on a bus and headed off to Norway.
Oslo, Norway
After my time in Sweden, I took a bus to Oslo where I finished my summer 2018 Eurotrip before flying back to California. Oslo was beautiful but not prepared for how expensive it was. I had been warned about the cost of visiting Oslo but I was not prepared for paying over $20 usd for the equivalent of fast food.
New York City
Finally got to visit NYC to attend a wedding in Tarrytown, NYC. Also got to spend some time in Connecticut too. While in NYC, I used some hotels points I had accrued to stay at the Hotel Indigo on the Lower East Side. I spent most of my timing wandering around and exploring some of the neighborhoods. Didn’t have enough time to see nearly enough, though. This is definitely a place I need to return to.
Phoenix, AZ
Alice and I took a weekend trip to Phoenix in October. We had planned on just hanging out at the hotel pool but ended up renting a car and visiting the Grand Canyon and making a stop in Sedona on the way back.
Washington D.C.
Took another trip to visit Washington DC and northern Virginia with Alice. We went to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia with some of Alice’s friends and tailgated and saw some remnants of fall color. Also played tourist in DC proper for a day.
Austin, TX
My last and final trip of 2018 came in December, shortly after the end of the fall semester at school. I took a very low key and relaxing trip to Austin, TX and hung out with my childhood friend. As usual, I ate way too much delicious food including some great bbq.
