My 2020 Travel Review: Was it That Bad?
First of all, I wish everyone a super happy new year, and I want 2021 to be a better year than 2020. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a quiet and simple year? Yeah, right.
I wish for it to be the year we can all safely travel again; however, we all know that we will have to wait a little longer before the world gets back to “normal” if “normal” will ever be something again; that is!
But I know I can at least wish you a safe and healthy year, and don’t be afraid to dream big and start some new projects if you can!
So here is my 2020 Travel Review before I move on to 2021!
My 2020 Travel Review: Was it That Bad?
Yes and no.
I know we are already almost halfway through January right now, and 2021 seems a bit bland and not going so well, but oh well. I thought today was a good day to do my 2020 travel review, which I have been doing for the past four years; although I did miss 2019, which surprisingly was also the year I travelled the most, I digress.
We are here to review my travel in 2020.
Yep, 2020 the start of a new decade and a year most people, including me, were pretty hyped about (spoiler alert: It was not worth the hype), I mean 2019 was overall okay except for the loss of a loved one, which is always hard to go through but I still had a load of things planned for 2020, I had a few trips scheduled through the year, including a BIG trip to Japan at the beginning of March (yes, March yuck), then I was supposed to make a mid-spring/summer contract with the travel company I work for as a temp through the year.
This meant good money, but I would also travel between Paris and London most days and get to see London, a city that I love. Coupled with a few odd weekends (bye Spain & Italy) I wanted to take.
Things didn’t go accordingly. But I still did a handful of cool stuff that I want to write about!
TRAVELLING IN THE U.K
My yearly winter escape to the U.K and, more precisely, Bristol started back in 2017, and I’ve been going back every year after that, although I didn’t know anyone in the city anymore. Still, it became my way to start the new year.
I love Bristol, lived there for two months, and had a great time with my classmates back then; in a way, it’s like a ‘second home’ which I love to visit either to introduce it to my friend or by myself. It’s also a very convenient base to take day trips from.
This time I stayed at the Mercure Hotel in Redhill, which I found to be a great location as it was close to the harbourside and the train station so I could do my thing in the city and catch the train to explore outside if I wanted to.
I went back to Bath as it had been a while since I last visited this gorgeous city, the weather wasn’t the best, but it was nice to be back! I tried to spend more time in Bristol than away though, I got a lot of pretty photos and relaxed a lot; solo travelling is pleasant as it allows you to be with yourself and enjoy simple stuff.
ESCAPING TO NEW YORK CITY
A couple of days after I came home from the U.K, my brothers and I travelled to NYC. It was an early morning flight, and as all three of us were zoned out despite making it to the airport (more than two hours before), we almost missed boarding time; we only heard and saw it was the last call to the gate very last minute.
I’ve been to NYC in the summer, again with my bros, and we had fun, so I decided to check it out during the winter.
Oh boy, it was so cold, I didn’t want to take my hands out of my pockets the whole time, so I barely snapped any photos and even with the cold sometimes, although even with the cold weather, I would find ways not to dress accordingly.
We had already been to NYC, so I can’t say we did much more than the first time except for the Vessel at Hudson Yards and The Color Factory, which was pretty fun but short.
HAVING THE BEST TWO WEEKS OF MY LIFE IN JAPAN
If you’re familiar with the blog and my social media, you know one of my favourite destinations in Japan, I can never get enough, and I loved each trip I took there and can never wait to come back.
This trip was hands down my favourite one ever, not only for the destinations but also because I was with the most extraordinary person ever (might sound biased but hey).
This trip was cut short, but I did so much stuff (and went through all four seasons) in those two weeks; it was amazing! I will be sharing my Japan two weeks itinerary soon enough for those interested!
Our trip started in Tokyo, then we went to Hiroshima, stopping by Karuizawa, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka.
And right after that, we flew for three days to Ishigaki, Okinawa, which was amazing!
VISITING FRANCE
When I say visiting France, I have to admit it’s a bit of a stretch. I decided to stay in Paris for the summer as I didn’t feel like travelling although like more people in Europe I did consider going to Spain or Greece that felt weird to me, so it was better to stay home and save money for me.
Although I did go to Brittany to check the beach and the country to escape the city for a couple of days and visit my family.
Then I also took a sneaky day trip to Lille with a friend and shared some top things to do in Lille in one day! I was looking forward to visiting Lille as I already should have in 2019, but I missed it because I didn’t hear my alarm goes off and missed my bus…Luckily at the time, I paid only 0,99cts € for the tickets for both ways with flixbus.
If you’re too picky, I highly recommend doing this, sure it’s not a top luxury, but sometimes you can get an excellent bus deal to travel through France, which is impressive when you’re on a budget!
EXPLORING MORE OF MY HOMETOWN PARIS
You’d think living in Paris (okay, I live a 10min walk from Paris but still) is impressive? And it is, but also it’s not. I initially had a hard time being okay to see Paris, not because I don’t like this city, I do; Paris is excellent but isn’t it way easier to stay home and watch Netflix?
You know what I mean.
But I still did spend a reasonable amount of time in Paris through the summer, trying some restaurants or strolls to get some air and enjoy the Parisian architecture. It was great to check parks or more touristy landmarks while they were fewer people.
And that’s a wrap on my travel review of 2020; while all wasn’t so bad, I mean there were hard times when I felt shallow and like a failure, disappointing people (turns out a pandemic makes people even more selfish and stupid, shocker) but I instead think about the few fantastic memories that I made.
I am happy to say good riddance 2020!
I will be coming back with more travel stories, tips and guides, and lifestyle tips this year (I have to spice things up when you can’t travel, right?), so subscribe to my newsletter to follow my adventures!
Where did you go in 2020 if you travelled? And what is your goal for this year? Let me know in the comments!
Liked my travel story? Then share it on Pinterest!
✈ Best Travel Ressources To Plan Your Next Trip
✈ How To Find Flights?
– Skyscanner; it is a good comparator for finding the cheapest flights.
– Google Flights is also a good help when comparing flights.
✈ Where To Book Accommodations?
– Booking.com: plenty of options and ways to get discounts the more you book.
✈ Best Sites To Book Activities
– GetYourGuide when I can’t get a ticket directly on the website or if it’s easier to go through them.
– Klook if you need to book more than just activities and would like to get everything from the same website or different day trips—(i.e. transport cards, car rental, hotel…).
✈ Other helpful travel resources
– Radical Storage: If you need a place to keep your luggage for an extended period when you travel, I recommend using them.
– TheTrainline: If you love to travel by train like me, then TheTrainline needs to be your go-to website for train travel in Europe.
————————————————————————————————————-
Disclaimer: This resources box contains affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you book anything through my links at no additional cost. These links help me support the blog and generate more content. Happy travels!
