My best travel moments of 2018

2018 has been maybe the most memorable year since I started travelling extensively in 2015. I’ve had some incredible experiences, and for the first time in my life, I moved abroad and discovered a new home of my heart (which is shared with the Faroe Islands!). In 2018, I visited 13 countries, five of them new, on four continents. I had some amazing adventures in all 13 countries, but below are my ten most memorable travel moments from 2018!

Realizing my love for Moscow at the Church of the Ascension

Moscow may be most known for the St Basil Cathedral, which is definitely very beautiful and unique, but my favourite place in the city was actually the Church of the Ascension, located quite a way out of the city center, but easily accessible by metro and a bit of walking.

I had enjoyed my day in Moscow, but it wasn’t until my last stop at this church, that I felt overwhelmed with a feeling of never wanting to leave the city. I LOVE Moscow, I love the church and I love the view over the city from there! 21 hours was nowhere near enough time, so I’m definitely coming back to Moscow, and to my favourite spot.

Read now: 21 hours in Moscow

The Cheeky Carabao Backpackers Hostel experience in Baku

If there was ever a hostel to make you feel welcome and at home, it would be Cheeky Carabao, located on Tolstoy Street in central Baku. I stayed there during my days in Baku back in January, and I can honestly say that I didn’t want to leave. The place was so full of fun and friendly people, awesome staff and volunteers, and even after one day, I felt like I was part of one big family.

As my days were spent with intense exploring in the city, it was lovely to come back to a hostel where I immediately felt accepted and at home. In the evenings, we would play ping pong, watch movies, listen to music and just chill.

The hostel is newly opened by Maryam and Jordan, who run it with love and help from volunteers from all over the world. Whenever I needed help, Maryam, Jordan and the volunteers were right there to help me.

I will just point out that this is in no way sponsored, but simply my honest opinion. If you want to feel at home and have some fun in Baku, do stay at Cheeky Carabao (it’s also extremely cheap!) – and say hello from me!

Update 2021: Unfortunately, Cheeky Carabao no longer exists :'(

Getting to the summit of Høgafjall on the Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands is full of spectacular spots just waiting to be discovered, and this Easter, I think I found my favourite (at least so far). On a beautiful day in late March, my friend Andras and I decided to climb no less than THREE mountains on the island of Vágar, ending the trip on the highest, Høgafjall at 515 meters high.

After a long and exhausting day, locking in many incredible views, getting to the top of Høgafjall gave me a feeling that I can’t even describe. We had finally reached our end destination, and the view was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. From the rocky west side of Vágar, we could see the crown-shaped islet of Tindhólmur, the flat islet of Gáshólmur and the Jurassic Park-like island of Mykines. An absolutely breathtaking view, undiscovered by the masses. I felt like we were the first people on earth to experience this, to see this incredible spot.

Bridgewalking over the Little Belt Strait in Denmark

One of my favourite travel experiences this year was had in Denmark, the country I grew up in! For Christmas last year, I gave my two brothers and father tickets for bridgewalking over the Little Belt Strait, on a bridge that connects Jutland with the island of Funen, and adventurous as I am, I of course joined them!

On a warm and sunny day in late May, we climbed 60 meters above the Little Belt Strait and walked across the bridge for 1½ hours, 1178 meters from Funen to Jutland, over to the other side and back to Funen, with incredible views of the beautiful Danish landscapes throughout.

Reaching Machu Picchu after four days on the Inca Trail

The most adventurous experience of the year was the four-day trek to Machu Picchu that I completed together with my younger brother and a bunch of archaeologists! After four days of climbing thousands of steps, through jungle landscapes and high-altitude mountain passes, exploring numerous incredible Inka ruins along the way, we finally stood at the famous Sun Gate at 7.30 AM on the fourth day.

Machu Picchu was right before our eyes – the place that most of us had dreamt of seeing for our entire lives. The feeling was indescribable. FINALLY we were there, after a challenge bigger than I ever imagined it could be. But the reward was so worth it.

Flying over the Nazca Lines in Peru

Famous for its ancient human-made geoglyphs in the dry desert that can only be seen in full size from the air, Nazca is one of those place in Peru that simply cannot be missed.

My friends from the Inka Trail and I all went on a trip to Nazca together, where most of us boarded the tiny jets to see the lines from above. Despite feeling a bit dizzy from the turbulent ride, it was an absolutely amazing experience to see the mysterious lines from above.

Experiencing Ólavsøka on the Faroe Islands

Ólavsøka, the national holiday of the Faroe Islands, is a three-day event that takes place every year in late July. Despite having been to the Faroe Islands eight times before my trip in the summer of 2018, I had never attended Ólavsøka! I had heard about it, read about it and dreamt about it for ages, so finally being there to experience it on those days was amazing.

I experienced the opening ceremony with music and speeches, walked with the Faroe Pride parade, watched the Ólavsøka Boat Race, joined in on the midnight songs in the center of Tórshavn with the entire population of the Faroe Islands and danced the traditional Faroese chain dancing. It was great to finally experience this part of my beloved Faroese culture.

Seeing whales and a calving iceberg in Ilulissat

Since moving to Greenland on September 1st, I’ve had many incredible experiences in the beautiful and wild country. But it’s hard to beat the first hiking adventure that three friends and I had when we were in Ilulissat in early October.

We were hiking along the Blue Trail, the longest marked trail to the famous Kangia Icefjord. The hike in itself was amazing because of the views of the enormous icebergs, but it became ten times more special, when two whales decided to swim by, giving us a good look at them before they disappeared into the fjord. And as if that wasn’t enough, we also experienced an iceberg calving, an extremely rare event where an iceberg completely changes its shape! I couldn’t believe our luck.

Hiking solo to the ice sheet in Narsarsuaq

Another one of my favourite experiences in Greenland was when I hiked solo all the way to the ice sheet from the tiny village of Narsarsuaq in South Greenland.

With a little help from a new local friend, I found my way to the trailhead and started hiking through a beautiful valley until I got to a point where I had to start climbing up. Luckily, there were ropes so I could pull myself up, as it was really steep, but all the hardship was soon forgotten when I finally saw it after hours of hiking. The Greenlandic ice sheet, right before my eyes. It still doesn’t seem real that I’ve actually seen it, and the fact that I trekked there by myself makes it even more special.

Experiencing the holidays in Greenland

Nothing screams Christmas as much as Greenland. It’s the home of Father Christmas, it’s mostly snow-covered during this time of the year and everyone goes all-in on decorations! This year, I was lucky to spend Christmas in the country that I’d been living in for the past four months, with my family who flew over to visit me, my roomie Charlotte and friend Nnamdi.

My family stayed in Nuuk with me until January 2nd, so we also got to experience New Years together. Never in my life have I seen so many fireworks before! Nuuk went all in, both at 8 PM for Denmark and at midnight for Greenland. It was the perfect way to end the year 2018.

2018 sure has treated me well with travel experiences. I’ve been blessed to meet amazing people in many different countries and to have some incredible adventures and special moments that I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life.

But while there are – thankfully – mostly good experiences while travelling, there are of course also bad experiences, and those I will be sharing in my next post, so stay tuned for some funny stories of my travel mishaps in 2018!