At the time of writing, I've been to about 70 countries. This means that deciding on my favourite holidays is quite difficult (accounting for the fact that some of the countries have been visited multiple times, such as Portugal and Italy). Nonetheless, I have done the impossible and compiled a list of my favourite holidays to date. They encompass a wide range of holidays, including snow-sports, road trips, and holidays with friends, and I've tried to make sure that they aren't based solely on my experience but also the places themselves and what they have to offer.
The Maldives (2010)
Whenever I am asked about my favourite country, I always answer The Maldives. My parents went together for my dad's 40th birthday, but loved it so much that they took us with them two years later. This is a popular honeymoon destination and I definitely understand why: the islands were stunning, the people were very friendly, and the service was impeccable; overall it was an incredible holiday. We stayed on the tiny island of Mirihi, which was so peaceful and beautiful, with only 36 guest bungalows on the whole island. This holiday also takes the number one spot for novelty, which is probably a major factor in it being my favourite holiday: it was my first time out of Europe, on a long-haul flight, swimming with a whale shark (the biggest shark in the world), scuba-diving, and on a sea-plane, amongst many other firsts. If you're looking for heaven on earth, here's where you'll find it.
Brazil (2013)
Brazil was the first country I visited in South America and I truly fell in love with both the culture and the landscapes. We visited multiple places, including Rio de Janeiro, Manaus, Iguaçu, and the Amazon Rainforest, which gave the trip a lot of variety and made it very memorable. Being Portuguese was very helpful as we could communicate with most of the locals and the Brazilians were all very friendly and welcoming towards us. Despite a bout of food poisoning and accidentally getting caught in the middle of a protest, Rio was my favourite part of the trip as I loved having the city, mountains, and beach all close by. I learnt so much on this trip and since visiting have had my heart set on spending a couple of months touring South America, as I love how upbeat the people are and learning about their rich cultures and history.
South Africa (incl. Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia) (2019)
As mentioned in the full blog post about my experience in Cape Town, I absolutely fell in love with this city, and would even consider moving here. I was never able to study abroad during my time at uni, so decided to attend a Summer School in order to meet people and explore a new city whilst learning about a new topic. Little did I know that I'd end up loving all three of these things. Cape Town will always hold a special place in my heart as the two weeks ended up being more than I could've wished for. Obviously the people I met were a big part of the experience, but Cape Town itself is also incredible, with the best sunsets I've ever seen, and my favourite combination of city, beaches and mountains all at your doorstep. There are also so many areas nearby you can visit, including Cape Point and Stellenbosch. Obviously Cape Town has a lot of issues and the trip wasn't completely smooth-sailing, but there's honestly nothing like it.
One thing that I didn't mention in the post was that after my two week course, my parents then flew out and we visited a few other countries, including Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. I had wanted to go on a safari for several years and despite the 5am wake up calls, I could not have been happier. We stayed in Chobe National Park, where we saw everything from hippos to rhinos and even caught a glimpse of a lion - unfortunately, we didn't see any leopards but that provides a good excuse to revisit in the future! The baby elephants were a highlight of the trip, but another memorable party was trying mopane worms for the first time (which weren't to my taste). Victoria Falls was also gorgeous, but the main thing that stuck with me in these countries was how hospitable and friendly the locals were. It's very rare that locals abroad are unkind to us, but here everyone was especially lovely and happy to talk.
Mexico (incl. Cuba) (2020)
Although I knew that I'd love Cuba, I assumed that Mexico would be full of American and British tourists and therefore overly touristic and less enjoyable. Boy was I mistaken; I ended up loving Mexico a lot and some of my fondest memories occurred on this trip. I went with a close uni friend and although we stayed in Cancún, we went on multiple excursions including to Tulum, the Chichen Itza, Playa del Carmen, and Valladolid. I loved the swimming in cenotes, but my favourite part of the trip ended up being the people; we met multiple locals on our excursions who were more than happy to teach us about their culture and were (for the most part) very encouraging as I practised my Spanish. I was so sad to leave this beautiful country and would recommend visiting, you can see one of the Wonders of the World if nothing else!
Route 66 (2015)
Route 66 was a surprising one, because having only been to New York in the states previously, my family assumed they weren't going to enjoy this trip very much. We ended up having the opposite experience and this ended up being one of our favourite trips to date, with another USA road trip in the books post-pandemic. Route 66 goes from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California, and every state we visited offered something completely different to the other states and a new experience. In Missouri we watched a baseball game, in Texas we stayed in a classic motel, in Arizona we viewed the Grand Canyon from a helicopter, and in Vegas we saw attended Cirque du Soleil. I loved the variety between cities, canyons and desert - one day we'd be in a smoky casino in Vegas, and the next on Santa Monica Pier in LA. Each state exceeded our expectations and our small detour via Las Vegas, Nevada was the perfect additional touch. My family certainty preferred this trip to when we visited New York and it gave us a new appreciation for America.
Whistler, Canada (2012)
Last but not least is Whistler. Given that skiing and snowboarding are my favourite sports, it felt only natural to include a snow holiday on this list, and although I do love skiing in Scandinavia, Whistler tops the list. Not only do I think that Canada is just a fantastic country overall, with lovely people and stunning landscapes, but the slopes are perfect and the vibe is always great. It was here that I first learnt to snowboard and one of the great things about travelling to Whistler is that we often will take the time to visit another city or area in Canada since the flight is so long, so you get two trips in one; I'd especially recommend visiting Banff National Park if you are ever in the country.
All of these countries are places that I'd love to visit again, and most of them I'd even consider living in for a few months, but it's important to realise that just because I loved it doesn't mean that everyone will. When somebody tells me their favourite holiday destination, I get very excited to visit, but after visiting a few of my friend's favourite places and being underwhelmed (with Bali being the most prominent example), I realised that most people base their favourite country off of their specific experience in that country, as opposed to the culture and landscapes of the country itself, so I've tried to avoid doing this as much as possible and truly believe that each of these countries is incredible on its own merits.
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