Post written by Laura
Throughout 2024 we had quite the eclectic mix of adventures with a range of trip types, trip durations, trip companions, and of course, destinations.
Summary of 2024 trips and holidays:
- Jan: a short break to Hammamet, Tunisia with Chris
- Feb: a weekend in the Chilterns, England with Chris
- Feb: 2 weeks in northern India by myself
- Apr: a walking weekend in Norfolk with friends
- May: 2 weeks in Borneo, Singapore and Qatar with Chris
- May: a long weekend in Macedonia with my bestie Bridget
- Jun: a week in a holiday house in the Lake District with friends
- Jul: a week of trekking in Norway with friends
- Sep: another section of the Via Francigena in Italy with friends
- Nov: trip to Argentina including Patagonia with Bridget
As of the beginning of January 2024 I had 5 trips firmly booked and another couple in mind. By the beginning February I had 9 trips booked having spent January busily planning and booking things. I had booked flights and about 8 hotels in Italy for 4 of us to do another section of the Via Francigena; a large holiday house in the Lake District for a different group of friends and the long weekend in Macedonia.
In early February at the Destinations travel show I scored a generous 20% discount off a hiking trip to Argentinian Patagonia! Wow – what an exciting adventure to spend most of 2024 looking forward to. I was by now pretty much fully booked up having allocated almost all of my annual leave for the entire year.
Is this a good thing?
Is it best to plan trips up to a year in advance or is it better to go with the flow?
Planning trips
Firstly as a project manager, this is what I spend my work life doing. Planning, reviewing options, managing risks, adding contingency, working with stakeholders and managing budgets. Essentially all of the elements needed for planning and completing a trip!
One advantage of planning and booking trips well in advance is the costs can be lower. Budget air fares tend to be lower when first released although this isn’t always the case. In my experience, if you have some dates and places in mind, it is a good idea to track the flight costs on a regular basis and jump in and book at a price you are happy with.
If you are planning to make reward flight bookings you must secure these as soon as they become available. Generally each flight has a limited number and these are quickly snapped up – I booked my Virgin return reward flights to Delhi about 10 months in advance of the trip.
Another advantage of being a planner is you have more choice if you book early. For example, accommodation along the Via Francigena can get booked up quickly and if you know what you are doing and when, you may as well lock in your preferred options.
The key to managing this and having an element of ‘go with the flow’ is to try and be as flexible as possible, for example by booking accommodations and tours that can be cancelled or re-arranged at no cost. That way, if you find a better option, you can just switch to it (although generally, to be fair to the accommodation owners (especially small independent ones) I wouldn’t chop and change unless there was a real need to do so).
An element of contingency and space within a trip is usually a good thing however I’ve found that if you have a total ‘roll with it’ mindset, time ticks by and you often just don’t do things. Trips and experiences don’t fall into your lap and happen without them being planned, organised and booked! For me, life would be boring with nothing to look forward to and no trips on the horizon.
Trip types
I adore all types of travel but I’m less keen on repeating past trips and experiences. I guess I am always on the lookout for something new and something unknown to get excited about. I’m happy to repeat a country multiple times, as long as I’m visiting different places and having new experiences. I think it is the anticipation of the unknown!
One of my work colleagues thinks I am an ‘experience collector’!
Some trips might be camping and some might involve a 4 or 5 star hotel but I’m happy if each one provides a new and unique set of experiences and memories. I generally prefer a small boutique style hotel over a large international branded resort and I’m really not keen on the whole big breakfast buffet thing but I have no set criteria for an adventure!
Walking a different section of the Via Francigena for 3 years running? Each day of these Italian holidays has provided a mini adventure in itself! You wake up in the morning and every day is different and filled with little surprises as you never know what you may come across or who you may meet. A multi-day walking holiday enables you to take in your surroundings, chat with people and see the little treasures you would miss if you were driving past.
Even travelling on different airlines and in different cabins are new experiences! To me, the journey is as much a part of the trip as the destination.
2024 statistics
During 2024 I visited 4 continents and a total of 9 different countries with India, Qatar, Macedonia and Kosovo being new ones.
Two new European capital cities: Skopje and Pristina
Two new Asian capital cities: Delhi and Doha
One new African capital city: Tunis
One revisit to a South American capital city: Buenos Aires
One new huge island: Borneo
Norway ‘coolcation’
With soaring mountains, turquoise rivers, glaciers and fjords Norway felt very alike to New Zealand. With well maintained, single carriage roads with little traffic even driving around Norway had a similar feel to driving around New Zealand. For us, with Norway being so much closer to home than NZ it showed me that you don’t have to travel to the other side of the world to see magnificent glaciers, fjords and mountain scenery.
I came across a new travel terminology this year… a rather cringey one called ‘coolcation’ where there seems to be an emerging trend for people to want to visit the cooler countries of northern Europe rather than the traditional hotspots of Spain, Greece and Italy. Let’s hope that term doesn’t catch on 😦
Summary
What a fabulous year of travel! Throughout 2024 I was fortunate to experience such a variety of different trips and holidays and all done (and funded) while working full time. I learned the following:
- India is a huge and fascinating country and I’m keen to go back and explore further!
- Norway is as stunning as New Zealand and much closer to home.
- It isn’t all about the weather! The one day in Norway where it rained all day (the ice cave photo above) was the best day of the trip.
- Even though I am now closer to age 60 than age 50, and closer to 10 stone than 9 stone, I can still manage tough 22 km day hikes!
- Chris and I enjoyed staying at a wonderful budget homestay far more than a 5 star resort in Borneo… adventures don’t have to be expensive… which is just as well but more about that in my next post which sets out our 2025 plans.
“Enjoy your amazing life… you will never exist again…” a thought provoking if a little scary quote from Ricky Gervais
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