At the beginning of 2023, I aimed to take fewer, but longer, holidays compared to previous years so that I could use my time off to properly relax. Therefore, I went on four main trips (Kenya, Colombia, Central America and the Alps), but also managed various smaller trips in addition (mainly long weekends in the UK or continental Europe).
January - Knaresborough, England
In late January, I went up to Knaresborough for a friend and her boyfriend's joint birthday party. I missed the train I'd booked with a couple of other friends and when I eventually made it to Knaresborough, a friend spilled their coffee everywhere, which wasn't a great start to the weekend. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun and we were lucky enough to stay over, which made our lives much easier. If you haven't been to Knaresborough, it is well worth the trip as it is truly stunning.
February - Cullen, Scotland
A good friend (and colleague) of mine invited me to stay with her in her parents house over a weekend in February. Her parents live in a castle in Scotland and their home is beautiful. We spent the weekend going on many walks and drives, including to the beach and the nearby towns, and playing with the family dog. It was a very wholesome weekend and I will be forever grateful for that friend as it was the perfect distraction from my break up at the time. To read more about what we got up to in Cullen, read my post here.
February - Cardiff, Wales
Over another weekend in February, a group of school friends and I decided to have a little reunion in Cardiff, where one of the group is currently studying. This was another wholesome weekend, spent playing laser tag, bowling, and visiting the touristic parts of Cardiff. I was shocked by the £3.60 doubles in one of the local Spoons and spent the entire weekend laughing. To read more about my weekend in Cardiff, click here.
March - Madeira, Portugal
For those who don't know, my entire family is from Madeira, and so, I try to visit at least once a year (this used to be multiple times a year however since starting work, this has become a lot harder to achieve). Six of my family members have birthdays in March, one of my cousins was getting married, and her daughter was getting baptised, so there was a line-up of events to attend. I asked to work abroad for a week and it ended up being one of my favourite weeks of the year; I managed to catch up with most of my family, attended various events, and enjoyed the most beautiful views as I worked remotely. The only downside was that my attempt at whale watching failed as not only did we not see whales, we didn't even see dolphins (which is usually a given). One aim next year is to spend more time on this wonderful island.
March - Ascot, England
A good uni friend of mine lives in Ascot, and for her birthday she decided to host a group of us. She lives on a farm so we got to see a few of the horses, then played drinking games, ate lovely food, and had a sleepover. It was a very enjoyable weekend. We also went back later in the year for the races (which despite being invited to every year since 2016, was the first time I was in the country and covid-free); although I loved getting dressed up and spending time with that group, I did lose all of my bets and got IDed (I was 25 and this has never happened to any of my friends over the past seven years).
April - Belgrade, Serbia
Over the Easter weekend, I visited Belgrade with my go-to travel buddy, Becca. It was my first time in Serbia and I felt that four days was enough to see the city. There was some very pretty architecture, however also some remnants of bombings, and we learnt a lot about both Tito and Yugoslavia. It was a very interesting and educational trip; if you'd like to read more about my experience in Belgrade, read this post.
April - Islas Cíes & Vigo, Spain
At the beginning of the year, I'd planned to spend a week in April in Portugal with my cousin. This coincided with my last week of college for my accountancy exams, however shortly after booking the trip, my employer sent out an email stating that college had to be attended in the UK. As I'd already attended a lot of college abroad and it was my final sitting, this wasn't a battle I was willing to fight, however my cousin and I had arranged and paid for a weekend in some deserted Spanish Islands, las Islas Ciés, which I wasn't willing to miss. Therefore, I bought additional flights in order to be in Spain over the weekend but in the UK for college (which also meant that I could now attend an Elton John concert I'd booked years ago that fell on the same week), so it all worked out in the end. The islands were gorgeous, however on the boat out we overheard a Spaniard insulting Portugal, which was less pleasant. To read about what we got up to on the islands, click here.
May - Kenya
My first big trip of the year was to Kenya for my mum's birthday. I had been on a safari previously in Botswana and loved it so I was very excited indeed. I was yet to see a lion, a cheetah, or a leopard in the wild. We visited three national parks: Amboseli, Lake Nakuru, and Maasai Mara, as well as the capital, Nairobi. The safaris were incredible, and we saw all of the big cats less than two metres away, as well as a pride on the hunt and a fight between two male lions. We spent about 10 days in Kenya over the early May bank holiday and it was one of my favourite trips to date. To read about my experience in detail, read this post.
June - Annecy, France
For Father's Day, my brother and dad went on a road trip across France and my mum and I joined them for the weekend in Annecy. I enjoyed the weekend, however on the Sunday evening when we were dropped off at the airport, we learnt that the flight had been cancelled due to storms in the UK, which then meant that I missed the following morning of work. Regardless, the town is very pretty and worth visiting.
July - Pula, Croatia
After sitting my final accountancy exams, my family treated me to a long weekend in Pula. I'd been to Croatia a couple of times previously, namely to Zagreb and Dubrovnik, however never to Pula, so it was a new experience for me. We spent the weekend exploring the region (and almost ran out of petrol) and swimming in the sea. Oddly enough, each day at around 4pm, there was a thunderstorm which lasted up to an hour and then cleared again, but overall it was a very relaxing weekend.
August - Colombia & Aruba
The second of the sizeable trips that I'd planned for 2023 was to Colombia. Despite planning on visiting South America over a couple of months in 2024, I knew that I wanted to spend quite a bit of time in Colombia so decided to treat myself to two weeks exploring various cities in the country with a friend. We visited Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena, as well as spending a handful of days in Aruba's capital, Oranjestad. This was a very eventful trip, with thunderstorms in Aruba and various odd encounters in Colombia, however it was very varied too, with cities, beaches, and mountains. This was one of my favourite trips to date and I would strongly recommend Colombia (but not Aruba) to everyone. To read more about my trip, click here.
September - Dinant, Belgium
My family take a lots of trips to mainland Europe via the Eurotunnel, and although I have driven in Europe many a time, I was yet to drive my own car in continental Europe. Therefore, in order to feel comfortable driving my car abroad, my parents and I decided to spend a weekend driving to Belgium via the Eurotunnel in my car. We got Flexiplus, which is expensive but means you can go through the tunnel as soon as you're ready and can pick up a packed lunch en route, and is definitely worth it, especially in peak seasons. The main destination was Dinant, which is honestly stunning, however we also passed through a city called Charleroi. I learnt that the saxophone was invented in Belgium and we enjoyed chocolate and mussels, alongside the beautiful views.
September - Brighton, England
For my team's away day, we spent two days in late September in Brighton. The previous year's away day had been in Kent, but the activities this year were much more relaxed and there were fewer town halls, which made the two days more enjoyable. That said, after arriving back to the hotel in the early hours after going on a night out with the team, the following morning's early rise for a scavenger hunt was less pleasant. I've ended up visiting Brighton every summer over the past few years so it was nice to be back.
September - Cotswolds, England
In my third year of uni, I lived with two close mates from my course and one of their first year flatmates. The flatmate had recently moved to Australia, however the rest of us decided to spend a long weekend in the Cotswolds. Although we'd all kept in contact over the years and met up every few months, we wanted to spend some quality time in the countryside together. It was a very wholesome weekend, spent exploring nearby towns, chilling in the hot tub and roasting marshmallows. We made presentations to update each other on what we'd been up to and we had breakfast together outdoors each morning. It was a very special weekend and I couldn't have wished for better company. To read more about this trip, read this post.
October - Manchester, England
In late October, I was asked to attend a Career Fair in Manchester for work, which I was happy to do as it meant that I could catch up with a school friend who now works as a doctor there. The fair was alright but I found myself repeating the same spiel over and over, however I loved catching up with my friend afterwards over some pizza and cocktails. I also am a big fan of Manchester, which helped.
November - Leicester, England
I tried to organise another reunion with the same friends I'd visited the Cotswolds with in September, however the only dates we could do were mid-week in November. This was slightly inconvenient as we all had work or lectures to attend, and it was right before I was out of London for a few weeks (and also coincided with a leak in my flat), however as this was the only time we could all make before the end of the year, we booked our train tickets for Leicester, which is where one of the friend's is currently studying. We all worked from home during the day and then in the evening would go on walks, go to the pub, or watch a film. On the final day, I helped my friend move out (as she'd then be moving to Peterborough for a semester), and then we said our goodbyes.
I also spent a day in Epping Forest in November, which despite being partly in London, deserves a special mention as I hadn't been before and it was so lovely to visit.
November - Yorkshire, England
For my dad's birthday, we spent a long weekend in Swinton Castle in Yorkshire. We'd rented a cottage on the estate, which was beautiful and reminded me greatly of both my friend's house in Cullen, and the cottage from 'The Holiday'. We spent the weekend playing charades and dominoes and exploring the region, and it was one of my favourite British trips to date.
November - Central America
The third big trip I'd planned for 2023 was potentially the one I was most looking forward to: Central America. Now, when I say this everyone asks "but where in Central America" and the answer is that it spanned the majority of the region, starting in Belize, going through Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and ending in Nicaragua. The trip only lasted two weeks, however the majority was with a tour group, allowing me and my friend to see all of the highlights in the limited amount of time. My friend and I decided to visit Belize separately, since we'd already visited Mexico and Cuba together and loved them, and we've now added Costa Rica and Panama to our travel list, which we'll hopefully do together too in a couple of years. This was one of my top trips ever; I loved the tour group, we tried so many new activities (including volcano boarding and cave tubing), and I had the most fun I'd had all year. I could not recommend Central America enough (although I am biased as I love most things Latin American); to read about my experience in detail, read this post.
December - La Clusaz, France
The final big trip of the year was skiing in the French Alps. Skiing is one of my favourite activities (alongside swimming in the sea) and my family tends to go about once a year. Christmas is also one of my favourite times of the year (it helps that my birthday is on Boxing Day) so I was extremely excited for the big finale to 2023. The trip lasted around ten days and consisted of us driving to France via the Eurotunnel, then skiing and snowboarding whilst in La Clusaz. Many hot chocolates were drank, delicious crepes eaten, and beautiful views appreciated. It was very sunny throughout, but luckily the resort is 'snow sure', meaning that artificial snow is made if it doesn't snow overnight. This was the perfect end to the year and I can't wait to see what 2024 has in store.
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