2019: The Year That Was

Perhaps a little later than I should have done, I wanted to sit down and take a break from chronicling my adventures to reflect upon the past year, where I’m at now, and what I am hoping for in 2020.

I left my job in June 2018, so 2019 was my first full-year on the road. So what did life on the road look like for me? It was a busy year. I was on five continents: North America, South America, Antarctica, Asia, and Australia, including two I had never been to before 2019 (Oz and the Great White One).

In Antarctica

In South America

In North America

In Asia

In Australia

I trekked my way through 15 countries, 11 of them new to me in 2019 as well: USA, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Australia, and New Zealand. And if you count countries where I did not spend the night or Antarctic bases (which I don’t), you can add in Myanmar, China, and the UK.

In a new country: Thailand

And in a beloved country I had been to before: Chile

To get to all these places, I took a total of 27 flights (that’s counting legs, not individual flights – so a flight leg with a stop over counts as one). Staggeringly, that added up to 298 nights away from my beloved homeland of Virginia.

Where I’m at right now: Queenstown, New Zealand. Where I’m at emotionally right now: tired. Traveling all the time sounds like the dream to many, but honestly the life of a nomad is a tough one. I am tired of living out of a suitcase and wearing the same shirts all the time. I am tired of having the same conversations with people I meet in hostels. I am tired. I am tired of constantly being on the move, figuring out what I am going to do, where I am going to sleep, and how I am going to get there every day.

Although I’m tired, it’s hard not to see the beauty here

I honestly did not think I would get to this point. I thought for sure the money would run out before the energy did (and let me tell you, it’s close)! But this is quite a common sentiment among travelers, and I thought it was worth mentioning here. It isn’t all wonderful experiences and glamour. Homesickness is real and there are pros to comfort and stability. Every day is a struggle to get out of my head and live in the moment. But I’m doing it (the abundant natural beauty of New Zealand certainly does help).

While I may be starting to feel like settling back down, that doesn’t mean I don’t have a wanderlust bucket list that is constantly in development. Returning to Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, and Australia are definitely in the running, and I am overdue for a Eurotrip for sure. But here are my top 3 travel bucket list items as of right now:

1. Go on safari in Africa. As my last remaining continent, getting to some place in Africa tops the list – and what better way to do it than to go on a classic game drive hunting the perfect pic of the big five.
2. Cross the Arctic Circle: Well, I’ve been down across the Antarctic Circle, so it just seems natural to want to get to the northern side. The wildlife will be totally different (polar bears!), but big ice is usually what thrills me most.
3. Go on a SCUBA focused trip: Now that I am a certified PADI diver, I’d like to put those skills to use. While Indonesia and Malaysia were spoken very highly of by divers I met in Asia, I’d be fine with going somewhere in the Americas.

Here’s to hoping I can check off at least one (or more!) in 2020. Happy travels.

Have PADI cert, will travel

New Year, New Zealand

I was originally going to come home for the holidays. I had never been away from home during Christmas before, and traveling solo during this time just seemed too sad. But then some dear Kiwi friends of mine helped me to see how silly it was to spend money to go home after SE Asia and then come back to explore Oz and NZ. They invited me to stay with them instead, and I said yes! So I got to enjoy Kiwi Christmas and ring in 2020 before pretty much anyone else in the world.

In some ways Kiwi Christmas is very similar to that in the US – focused on big meals and spending time with family. However, there are some key differences. It involves a lot more cream. Kiwi dip and cream based desserts, like ambrosia and pavlovas, are the standard fare (love it!) They tend to not be big on showy light displays or gaudy decorations. And, of course, it’s summer here! So you aren’t freezing to death and can actually play outside or even hit the beach.

Presents under the tree

Dessert time, featuring pavlova

One of the spreads

Another Christmas spread

Jess decorating some desserts

I feel so blessed that my friends and their lovely families welcomed me so fully into their homes. It was really special to have this opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, including two other Christmas refugees from Jersey. It means more than words can ever say, and I thank Jess and Matt from the very bottom of my heart.

Christmas walk with the pupper

Viola! Brunch!

Christmas refugee gang

During Christmas week, we went camping which is pure Kiwi holiday style. Or so I’m told. I hadn’t been camping in a good long while, so I was unsure how I would feel about it. But I really enjoyed it! We stayed in a holiday park right on the beach, went tubing (or biscuiting, as they call it in NZ), and took in views of the recently erupted White Island. We also went camping up on the Coromandel peninsula and hit up a concert by NZ hit saxophone band Drax Project. I really liked their music, and can’t get Woke Up Late out of my head (and even cooler, they did a version in the Maori language Te Reo).

The girls with the Drax Project frontman

Jess and Jess at Drax Project

The gang’s morning stroll on the beach

Beachside campsite

On the road around

Other highlights of the week were taking in majestic views of Hawkes Bay and Gisbourne, as well as eating an award winning potato-topped pie which converted me into a bit of a junkie. For New Year’s Eve we were in art deco haven Napier, at a concert on the top of a mountain. After a day of literally doing nothing but ordering pizza and watching movies, it was time to hit the road and explore this magnificent country.

Potato-topped pie on the beach

NYE view

NYE concert

Art Deco Napier

Classic car in Napier

The Emerald Cities of Oz

It is impossible to talk about a trip to Australia without mentioning their fabulous cities, the jewels in the crown of a truly wondrous land down under. As a city girl, FINALLY visiting these cities that I have heard about forever was the juicy cherry on top of a gigantic sundae.

First stop for us was Melbourne. For seven years, the world’s most livable city until recently dethroned (by Vienna). It isn’t difficult to see why. Downtown is compact and walkable, their public tram system is fantastic, and there is plenty to see and do. Museums? They’ve got it. Rowing on the river? They do it. Spending all afternoon doing nothing but drinking in a pub? Yes, let’s! (We did that). I hear tell they even have a beach… with penguins. There are great museums, theaters, and parks too. For me, this is what *makes* a city. Looking back, mostly I remember just how pleasant it was.

Mom and dad enjoying the trolley ride

Mom liked the cafe breakfast scene

Outside the Australian art museum

Sitting riverside, taking in the skyline

Australian bush art

Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria

Next up: Canberra. Did you know it is the capital of Australia? No one would blame you if you didn’t. It doesn’t make a lot of must-see lists, but it is a good stopping point on the road between Melbourne and Sydney. It didn’t feel much like a city. In fact, it felt like a sprawling suburb for a city that was never built. Now this doesn’t sound particularly charming… but it kind of grew on me. The days were sunny, there was never any traffic, and we stumbled upon some good eats and drinks. If I had more time to explore, I feel like I would have uncovered some hidden gems for sure. It is well worth a visit just to see the Parliament and National Museum.

We found a decent brewery

Lots of open space and highways = Canberra

Inside Parliament

On top of the Parliament building

The super cool, super huge National Museum

Their “national mall” …?

Is a trip to Australia really complete without a visit to Sydney? I don’t think so. With its shawl of fire haze, it maybe wasn’t looking its best, but the thickest smog couldn’t hide all the charm and wonders Sydney has to offer. The harbor is incredible, and setting eyes on the harbor bridge for the first time is so exciting! I could have spent endless days just riding the ferries around, taking in the sites and visiting the different beaches. As evening rolls in, what is better than a trip to the famous opera house. It is gorgeous, and as soon as we took a tour I knew I had to come back and see something, anything, in the cathedral to the arts that is the symphony hall (check).

The harbor bridge from the botanical garden

The concert hall inside Sydney Opera House

Mom and I enjoying bridge views

Maori art installation on the Opera House roof

SOH at night

Enjoying a wine at the club

Super adorable city

Finally, I ended up in a city that I had never really dreamed of going to: Brisbane. It was here that I most felt the Christmas spirit (or, as they would call it, Brismas). Light shows and Christmas spectaculars were the order of the day. But it is also just a really chill city with a great food scene, perfect for stuffing your face or grabbing a pint with a new friend. Brisbane also takes beaching seriously. Surfers can catch the gold coast express to hit the waves not too far from the city. If that’s too far, you can go to the beautiful man-made beach right in the heart of downtown alongside the banks of the river. Serious, Alexandria needs to get on this.

In sunny Brisbane

RIverside manmade beach is the coolest

Aboriginal art in the art musuem

Buds and brews

The oldest building in Brisbane

Celebrating Brismas

Brisbane’s observation wheel all dressed up for Xmas

Could I pick a favorite? It would certainly be hard. Sydney is hard to beat, especially if you are a beach bum of the highest order,… but I think I would give it to Melbourne. It’s chill, with access to spectacular coastline (the Great Ocean Road heads out west from there), good food, good brews, and has all the culture you could ask for.

Water, Water Everywhere

I feel like I really focused on dryness, desert, and fire last post, so I figured I would have a go at another basic element in this one: water. Similar to the US, Australia covers a continent with a long coastline that borders on two oceans. This means there is a lot of spectacular coastal scenery, and probably the first things you think of when you think of Australia are beaches, surfing, and the Great Barrier Reef.

While I haven’t tried my hand at surfing (honestly, I am still working on mastering walking), I did check out a few beaches – some famous even in the States and some that I had never heard of. Probably most famous are the beaches of Sydney, prime among them being Bondi, which I did not go to, and Manly, which I did and loved. What a blessing to live in such a fabulous world class city… yet be able to get to the beach on public transit within an hour. Had me feeling a little jealous of the Sydney dwellers, to be quite honest.

The beach scene at Manly

Manly main drag

Arriving into Manly on the ferry

Surfers in training at Manly

Enjoying the beach

On the ferry to Manly

My folks and I got to explore much of the coastline of Victoria as well, tackling a portion of THE Great Ocean Road, out to the Twelve Apostles (rock formation), before heading up the coast between Melbourne and Sydney. (This is where the fires have gotten way out of hand now, if you are following the news). This is less of a beach bumming kind of beach and more just stunningly beautiful. More Pacific Northwest, less SoCal. I would never get tired of going on drives or walks (and trying unsuccessfully to make the sand squeak) and taking in the scenery here.

12 Apostles

Sunset on the Great Ocean Road

The other group of the 12 Apostles

Mom and I at the chilly beach

Mom and Dad taking a romantic stroll

Although it was too cold for me to go swimming, plenty of animals disagree. This is prime whale watching coast for a good chunk of the year, although we just missed it, and you have to get to the southern coast in Australia if you want to see the penguins. I also saw the largest manta ray I have ever seen in my life, swimming just off the pier in some small town. The road trip took us to plenty of cute little one-horse towns near the coast, where there was one inn, a couple shops and restaurants, and maybe a gas station. My favorites were Tilba, Meeniyan, and Pambula, in case you want to know.

They didn’t seem cold

Giant freaking pelicans

Tilba

If you are looking for more of a “surf’s up dude” vibe, Noosa fits the bill. It’s one of the best in Australia. The Sunshine and Gold Coasts of always sunny Queensland seem lousy with surfers, although they are literally everywhere in this country. Noosa was the perfect spot to crash for a couple days of vacation and enjoy a beautiful beach, lovely state park, and the cleanest, clearest river I have ever seen. We also did some sitting by the river, watching the fires worsen, with mom and dad’s friends at their vacation place in Little Wobby.

Hitting up beaches in Noosa National Park

Chilling by the Noosa River

With Leah on a sunset cruise

Little Wobby, with a dramatic sky

Enjoying the views at Wobby

And last but not least, as I mentioned I did hit the GBR. I accessed it from Bundaberg, at the southernmost tip. Lady Musgrave island in the reef proved to be a great day trip, although I definitely need to go back and do a multi-day beach hopping and diving reef tour. It was so nice being out on the water all day, snorkeling, watching the sea turtles and dolphins, riding around in the glass bottom boat, and strolling on the island. Bundaberg also ended up being quite the cute little stopover since it had the turtle center I mentioned last post and is home to the best rum in Australia. 

Bundaberg Rum!

An eagle in flight at Lady Musgrave

On Lady Musgrave Island

THE Great Barrier Reef

Sea turtles from the glass bottom boat

The Aussie coast offers so much to see and do – there is really something for everyone. And although we drove for miles and miles, we only covered just a small portion of it! I can’t wait to go back someday.