2017 has almost come to an end and we look back on what we have done this year.

Around the world

This year’s travel didn’t really start this year. On New Year’s we were in Cape Town and had already spent 2 months travelling around the world. The part that happened in 2017 started as mentioned above in Cape Town and continued throughout South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

During our journey we were chased by an elephant and got to experience the marvellous Okavango Delta.

Ultimately we visited Amsterdam before returning home, a city we quickly started to like.

Paris

In May we flew to Paris because Tora had never been there before and we were celebrating our five year relationship. Oh, and because we were going to eat at the same restaurant as Donald Trump (nope, we visited first, so I guess I travelled to Paris to eat at the same restaurant as us?). The restaurant has a Michelin star and is located in the Eiffel Tower, well worth a visit!

Returning from Paris we had a layover in Amsterdam and not enough time to visit the city. Therefore we decided to spend the night at the airport at Yotel. Previously we have visited Yotel in New York, something that could be described as a strange experience. Yotel in Amsterdam is a bit more normal, yet still an unusual hotel.

The pulpit rock

The pulpit rock, or Preikestolen as it is also known as, is not the most exotic travel destination for a Norwegian, especially when you live 30 km away and have been there before. However, when you visit during one of the rare occasions when the fjord is covered by clouds and the mountains appear to be floating above the skies, it definitively is a place worth returning to.

Belgium and Luxembourg

During a business trip to Belgium I sized the opportunity to extend my stay to see more of Europe. In the tiny Belgian town of Thieu I discovered the second largest boat lift in the world, a truly remarkable sight. After this I travelled to Luxembourg, a country  I thoroughly enjoyed. This also marked the goal of visiting a quarter of all the countries in the world.

Scratch map cleanup

Scratch maps are awesome. Unfortunately they also make it very easy to see which countries you haven’t visited yet. Therefore we decided to spend our summer vacation traveling from Rome to Zürich through three micronations:  The Vatican, San Marino and Liechtenstein. During this trip we took 10 000 photos and stitched them together into a 5 minute hyperlapse movie:

If you consider visiting San Marino (and you should!) we came up with 10 reasons to do so here.

Borderline, Miniature City, and the EU bridge island

Taking advantage of another business trip in October I travelled borderline, quite literally. The small towns of Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog, belonging to The Netherlands and Belgium are the strangest border towns I’ve ever visited. The international borders cross more or less everywhere, straight through a house and a war memorial to name a few.

On the same trip I also had time to visit The Netherland’s euro note bridges, something that must be the biggest “in your face” to the European Union ever.

At the end of the trip I visited Madurodam, The Hague’s miniature city with a collection of buildings, roads, airports and most of the sights The Netherlands is known for.

Christmas

It’s been three years since we celebrated Christmas at home. The last two years we have not exactly been in snow filled areas, first spending Christmas in Cuba, then in Thailand. Therefore we decided to spend this year’s Christmas in Norway with snow, family and everything.

2017 in numbers

Finally we have summarized some interesting numbers related to the travel year of 2017:

• 14 countries have been visited (in addition to Norway)
• 26 flights have been undertaken
• 41 hours have been spent in the air
• 8000 km we have driven on a bus or car bil (half on gravel!)
• 23135 km in the air
• 40000 photos taken
• Countless good memories!

Next year

We were supposed to save money in 2018, because that’s what sensible people do. Planning two weeks in the Caribbean during Easter is probably not the best way to start, but hello, it’s the Caribbean! The journey starts Florida and carries on to Puerto Rico, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada and finally Antigua & Barbuda before we return to Florida again.

After this we have no plans, but two years ago I asked Tora if she wanted to marry me. She thought that was a great idea so we are trying to figure out how to do that. Tora is focusing on the wedding, I put my energy to good use looking for honeymoon options. At the top of the list is Galapagos, but we have not decided yet. Maybe we’ll also postpone for one year, and maybe we need a small warmup honeymoon. Why knows, but in 2018 we’ll figure it out. Happy New Year!