HTMW trips in 2019
‘The gladdest moment in human life is a departure into unknown lands.’ – Sir Richard Burton.
I’m aware that it is, in fact, the beginning of May. We are officially more than a quarter of the way through 2019. How time is flying by, as always!
In 2016, 2017 and 2018, I wrote about my ambitions for the year ahead.
In 2016, I wanted learn more about the dynamics of running a website and improve my photography skills. I don’t really mention travel, except that I wanted to ‘travel more’. So vague!
In 2017, I was aiming to learn how to code and I wanted a new laptop. I still don’t have the laptop, but my coding skills definitely improved! Again, travel doesn’t feature much. I just knew I would travel, so didn’t add it into the post as a tangible goal for the year.
Finally, in 2018, travel featured as a goal for the year. I even wrote about which countries I’d like to visit. I didn’t manage all of them, but I did head to Nepal and went back to New Zealand.
In 2019, I didn’t write about my ambitions for the year ahead.
I made a conscious decision not to write what had become an annual post. I noticed that even if I wrote down my ambitions for the year, I didn’t always achieve them and it was making me feel a bit rubbish about myself. So I stopped.
However, since returning from New Zealand and Australia, I’ve planned out my trips for the year and I’d like to share where I’ll be heading in 2019 (and tell you about where I’ve already been!). I don’t think there is a single month in 2019 where I spend the entire thirty or so days in London and that makes me really happy!
January – March 2019
Of course, my year started in New Zealand and I arrived back in London on 19th January after six wonderful weeks away. To avoid getting the post-holiday blues, I quickly began planning my trips for the year.
I started with a brief night away in Brighton at the beginning of February with J, and followed up with a long weekend at home in Wales at the beginning of March. Both trips were lovely, perfect antidotes to my busy life in London.
Around mid-March, E and I also escaped the city for a day trip out into Kent, where we hiked nine miles from Otford to Eynsford. We enjoyed a glorious country day, with a stop in the pretty village of Shoreham. I would highly recommend this walk if you’re seeking an escape from London for the day!
April – June 2019
I kicked off April in Munich, visiting C for the first time since 2016. It was a lovely long weekend away, spent exploring Tegernsee Lake, eating lots of delicious food and learning about some of Munich’s darker past on a Third Reich tour. There’ll be more detail over on my April Recap post about this trip.
I also spent another long weekend in Wales over Easter, with friends and family. It was a beautiful, sunny weekend and the first time I’d been home for Easter in a long time.
In May, I’ll be heading back to Wales again for a week at the end of the month. I’m also spending a night in Birmingham mid-month visiting J. Additionally, E and I have a day trip planned out in Kent again to hike from Hever to Leigh, another nine mile walk.
Come June, I’m off to Austria for four nights! I’m so excited. Austria will be my 28th country and I’m spending two nights in Vienna and two in Innsbruck. I’ve wanted to visit Innsbruck for years, so I’m particularly looking forward to this portion of the trip. I’ll be catching trains between the cities. For a self-certified train geek, this is just the perfect trip!
July – September 2019
July is a quieter travel month. At present, I only have one trip planned – a short weekend away in my favourite city in England: Bath! I can’t wait to go back! It’s been far too long! J and I will be heading there to celebrate her 28th birthday and I’m so excited to introduce her to this beautiful city and show her around.
It’s possible that I’ll take a day trip to Bristol during July as well, to visit P and spend some time with her. And no doubt there’ll be some hiking out in the counties surrounding London at some point.
August is the quietest month for travel in 2019. Again, I’m sure there’ll be some sort of day trips planned outside of London, and towards the end of the month I’ll probably be heading to Birmingham for J’s leaving party. It’s not the worst thing that August is quiet on the travel front, because September is when my travel ramps up for the year!
In September, I’m going back to Jordan!
P and I were thinking of spending ten days in Italy in September, over his birthday. However, halfway through a documentary about Jordan, we changed our minds and decided to head to Jordan instead. We’ve just booked our flights and will be spending nine days there. Most excitingly, we’re also spending twenty four hours in Bucharest on the way there. Romania will be my 29th new country!
I’m really looking forward to returning to Jordan. We’re planning to visit Wadi Rum (my favourite part of the country), spending some time in Petra and spend a night beside the Dead Sea. We’ll also spend a couple of nights in Amman. Last time I was in Jordan, we spent less than twenty four hours in Amman, so it’ll be good to explore a bit more of the city this time around.
October – December 2019
October brings with it my 30th new country. Uzbekistan.
Mum and I are flying to Uzbekistan towards the end of October and will be spending ten days exploring this country, coming back at the beginning of November. Our flights are booked and we have a rough plan. We’re aiming to visit Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva and I can’t wait! The architecture and culture looks incredible. We’ll bookend our trip with some time in Tashkent as we fly in and out of the country from here.
Of course, November begins in Uzbekistan. Once I return, I imagine it’ll be a quiet month in London. I can’t see myself squeezing in any other trips during November, mainly because I’m pretty sure my finances will need to recuperate!
Come December, I’ll be heading back to Wales to spend the festive season at home. After missing Christmas in the UK last year, it’ll be lovely to have a traditional day again this year, no doubt enjoying the cold and the wet…
2019 is BRINGING it with the travel!
It has shaped up to be an amazing year for travel in my world. I’ve got some awesome trips planned, with some great people and on my own. I’ll be hitting a big travel milestone – thirty countries. And hitting that milestone while I’m thirty! This is what dreams are made of people…
And in between all these wonderful trips, there’ll be plenty of London adventures too. I can’t wait for the next eight months to unravel!
