It some how seems that the more I travel, the faster the days pass me by. In order to hold on and treasure those moments that I’ve had in the past, I figured a wrap up of 2015 is in order! So here it goes, where I went, what I did and how it’s changed my life. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Countries I visited in 2015:

1. Canada
2. Germany 
3. Costa Rica
4. Cyprus
5. Belgium
6. Greece 
7. Turkey
8. Spain
9. Czech Republic
10. Slovakia
11. Hungary 
12. Romania
13. Bulgaria 
14. Croatia 
15. Bosnia 
16. Montenegro
17. Serbia
18. Macedonia 
19. Albania
20. Ireland

How was this travel possible?

This is the question that for years (and even today) I still ask myself about other travel bloggers. There’s no secret to it, besides hard work and dedication. Earlier last year when I moved from Canada to Germany it was like starting my life on a clean slate… in a different language. It wasn’t as easy to find a job and to get anything done felt like a huge task on it’s own. Even finding out where to find cocoa powder seemed like a huge task for the daily agenda. Life was different in Germany and it took me quite a lot to get use to it.

Without have much of any other choice, I worked my @$$ (sorry) off to explore the world on a budget while still maintaining what was most important to me, sustainability.

• Canada, Germany, Belgium and Ireland were all self funded. I quite frequently go back to Canada to visit family and friends, and a few weekend trips were in order to take a vacation from my work vacations.
• Costa Rica, Cyprus and Greece were planned and visited for the purpose of promotion via various travel agencies, tourism boards, blogs, etc.
• Spain was funded by Europe’s Famous Hostels as I spoke to the managers and staff of various hostels from across Europe about how to work with travel bloggers.
• Turkey, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania were all countries visited through a campaign I was running via Give for Granted. On behalf of InterRail, I was offered a two month train pass to explore all of Europe. I selected the countries and locations myself and the trip was partly sponsored and partly self-funded.

The Good

There were many highlights along the way, but there are a few memories that stick out to me as I type up this post.

• Spending July of 2015 in Ios, Greece on a once unheard of Island with Traveldudes and Travel Massive for the first Unconference was quite an incredible experience in it’s own. I also managed to meet some wonderful and inspirational people along the way!
• Speaking at my first conference in August of 2015 for Europe’s Famous Hostels in Seville, Spain was definitely a unique experience. I managed to make some new friends and create some long lasting connections.
• While in Budapest, Hungary, for the first time ever I managed to get out the words “I like city travel”. For years I haven’t been able to get back the hustle and bustle of the cities to really wind down and relax. Though I do enjoy short city trips on occasion, I find the reminiscing is better than the trip itself.
• Bosnia and Montengero were probably some of the most beautiful parts of Europe I have seen. The nature there was so untouched and serene, that was when I truly felt like I was on vacation.
• While exploring the coast of Ireland with a couple of my best friends, I had officially titled Ireland to be one of the most lush, green and friendly countries I had ever visited.

The Bad/The Ugly

I had a pretty good year, so I’ve decided to merge these two categories together. Unlike 2013 being chased by elephants and orangutang’s and 2014 winding up in a hospital bed in India with stitches, 2015 was a rather safe year for me.

The worst travel experiences I had this year was probably when I was locked in a old, rusted bus through the winding roads of Albania sitting between a handful of people vomiting in plastic bags the entire journey. My worst nightmare literally came true.

There was also the experience hitchhiking in Albania after finding ourselves stranded a few too many times. However, this potentially ugly experience turned out to be one for the books. We met some awesome locals and hitched a ride with Macedonia/Albania border patrol!