I started 2022 having already visited 21 countries and I was adamant that I wouldn't be able to reach my goal of visiting 30 countries before 30. However, somehow I am ending the year with 27 countries under my belt!! I cannot believe how lucky I have been this year to be able to visit a total of 7 countries with 6 of them being new places to explore✈
It all started back in April when I booked a very last minute trip to Turkey for the Easter break, after seeing a great deal online. We stayed in the most beautiful resort that I have ever had the pleasure to visit, which heightened my desire to travel more. In June, my partner took part in Ironman Nice and after a very kind suggestion from a colleague, I began looking into visiting Monaco which is a 20 minute train ride from Nice. Monaco was an absolute dream and I felt so fortunate to be able to tick another country off of my list whilst not sacrificing any of my time in Nice, due to being able to see all the main sights of Monaco in a few hours. Nice was equally amazing as Monaco and although I have visited France many times before, Nice was a new city for me and it definitely did not disappoint. Seeing my partner, Chris cross the finish line of Ironman Nice 70.3 was a beautiful moment and the stunning scenery and weather enhanced what was already an incredible day.
I spent the majority of Summer in the UK, exploring lots of cities including spending lots of weekends in London, alongside a trip to Brighton and multiple seaside towns. The UK experienced the hottest Summer that I have ever witnessed and every day was a beautiful picture of the sun meeting the clear, blue skies. September is mine and Chris' anniversary and this year we celebrated with a week in Montenegro. Montenegro is the most breathtaking country that I have ever visited and if it is not on your list to visit, I would suggest adding it ASAP! Every time we left the hotel, the beautiful scenery of mountains overlooking the blue sea took my breath away and to top off an already incredible holiday, halfway through the week I was proposed to in the most beautiful way on a stunning desolate island, which was a dream come true❤
In October I visited Kos in Greece with a group of my friends and we had the most amazing time. We parasailed over beautiful clear waters and ate and drank to our hearts content in the beautiful town of Kardamaina whilst having the occasional dip in the warm sea. This was a lovely and relaxing holiday which was much needed to begin to round off an incredible year. In November, Chris and I took a trip to Vienna to visit the Christmas markets. After learning from our triumph in Nice/Monaco, we decided to have a look to see if there were close places that we could visit. To our enjoyment, we discovered that Bratislava, Slovakia is a 1 hour train ride from Vienna, therefore we knew that we had to add a visit to the beautiful city during our short time in Vienna. Amazingly we were able to incorporate an evening in Bratislava to our 3 days in Vienna, as well as visiting over eight Austrian Christmas markets! This was one of my favourite holidays of the year and it reminded me of my love for city breaks, which I am hoping to do more of next year. Overall, Vienna and Bratislava were so fun to visit and they nicely concluded my last visited countries of 2022.
Considering that two of my countries that I travelled to this year were unplanned, due to last minute research into near locations, I am extremely proud to be finishing the year on 27 countries with 2 more years to go until I am 30. I am finally feeling positive about this goal and I cannot wait to see where I end up in 2023.
Below is a bullet-pointed list of which countries I travelled to in 2022:
April - Turkey (Dalaman)
June - France and Monaco (Nice and Monte-Carlo)
September - Montenegro (Bijela & Perast)
October - Greece (Kos)
November - Austria and Slovakia (Vienna and Bratislava)
2022 has been my favourite year of travel so far and I can't properly describe in words how fortunate and grateful I am that I have been able to visit so many incredible places this year.
2022, you have been wonderful beyond words. Here's to 2023 🌟
My year in pictures
