2018 was a good travel year.

2018 was another good travel year for me. I went to see some new countries. Returned to some countries I have previously been to. I had a pretty good work-life balance, with 150 days of work and 215 days of traveling the world for fun.

January, February and March.

I started my 2018 travel year by flying to Sri Lanka. For the first time in a few years I actually spent new years eve in my native Denmark, but I took off to Sri Lanka right after new year, with a little stop in Qatar, where I spent the night.

I was in sri Lanka for almost 3 months. Some of my stay there was work. Some was holidaying, where I was cycling around Sri Lanka.

Showing tourists around Sri Lanka, was the start of my 2018 travel year.

April and May.

In April and May I was on the island of Madeira to work. Always nice to return to this very unique island in the Atlantic Ocean.

Madeira is always wonderful.

After Madeira, I took a trip to Bosnia. This was a trip I took with my dad to Sarajevo. We try to take some trips every year for a few days. This year it was Sarajevo, which in my opinion is the most interesting city in Europe.

Visiting Sarajevo in may.

Back in Denmark, I visited some family for a few days. Then I saw that Nuseir Yassin, who is the guy behind “Nas Daily”, was coming to Copenhagen. I had to meet him of course. So I went to a public meeting he hosted in Copenhagen. I ended up giving him the idea to make a video about the Danish language and how we do not have the word “Please” in the Danish language. You can see that video here.

Nas Daily in Copenhagen.

I was also briefly in another video he shot in Copenhagen, talking about Denmark being called the happiest country in the world. That video can be seen here.

Taking part in the Nas Daily show.

Nusseir was actually a super nice guy, who has as much energy when he is not shooting, as when he is shooting videos.

June and July.

Then came June and the football World Cup in Russia. I was there for 4 weeks and went cycling around Russia, between the host cities. Really a fantastic trip, where I had the chance to travel around Russia without any restrictions. This is the first time since 1917 this has been possible for a Dane. The World Cup can sometimes really open borders.

Attending the World Cup in Russia.

I went straight from Russia to Portugal, where I spent a week, holidaying with my brother and his wife and kids. We had rented a holiday home in Alentejo and it was really a nice week, where we drank plenty of good wine and emptied the local butcher for BBQ meat several times.

After Portugal, it was time for a new adventure. This time in the Czech Republic. I was attending a travel blogger conference called TBEX. I have been to TBEX before and I love this event. Fantastic place to learn new things about travel blogging. And a fantastic place to network with fellow bloggers. All while you are exploring another interesting country. I participated in a lot of outdoor activities there and the Czech Republic is really a perfect outdoor destination.

Cycling in the Czech Republic with fellow travel bloggers.

Playing golf in the Czech Republic.

August.

After taking the bus though Germany and visiting Dresden, I spend a bit of time in my native Denmark in August visiting family. I also met up with a guy called Mark Hasenkam. He had come across my blog when searching for photos from Horneland in southern Denmark, where one of his ancestors came from. I met up with Mark, his Thai wife and his two friends, who were Aboriginals from the Torres Strait. It was really nice to meet them and show them around the part of Denmark where I grew up. And where some of Mark’s ancestors came from.

Meeting Mark Hasenkam from Australia.

Even if you travel a lot, never forget to host foreigners in the place you grew up. It’s a very rewarding experience too.

September.

Then came September and that means work for me. September is a very busy month for us Freelance tour guides. So I was working flat out the whole month. I worked in both Portugal, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and England.

I was working in Portugal as a tour leader.

October.

In October I went back to the island of Madeira one more time, for a week of work. Then it was time to take it easy the rest of the year. At least when it came to work.

November and most of December.

I came across an insanely cheap ticket to Gambia in November. 40€ for a return flight including taxes. I would be a right idiot to pass that one. So I flew to Gambia with a very short notice, together with a friend of mine who also likes to travel. We spent a week touring Gambia and Senegal and had a really cool trip. This is a part of the world that I want to return to in the future and go more in depth with in the future.

Senegal was fantastic.

Now I am sitting here, the day before Christmas looking back at 2018. and wondering how the hell I got to do all this. But I do this every year pretty much. It’s all a matter of taking control of your own life and not letting well meaning people, who do not understand you, or the bank do it.

And the last week of the year.

I’m flying to Sri Lanka tomorrow by the way. I think I deserve spending the last week of the year on a tropical island with a cold drink.

Cheers to everyone and have a fantastic day and a good travel year.

Happy new travel year.