My travel year of 2023

2023 is coming to an end and it’s time to reflect on the year that has passed. 2023 was a year full of changes for me. I moved to a new country, became a full-on crazed Swiftie, travelled to a bunch of amazing places including a long-time dream destination and adopted a little dog, Minnie.

Adopting Minnie meant finally slowing down my travels, something I had wanted to do but struggled to do in the past. Before Minnie arrived, I spent much of the year roaming around and actually regretted not spending much time in my new city. But it was also in a way my last chance to go crazy and visit some of my dream destinations. Because now I have a responsibility, someone to take care of who is way more important than travelling. But that being said, my travels did not stop just because Minnie came into my life. They just slowed down significantly, and are now always going to revolve around her. And I love it!

In 2023, I visited eight countries (besides Denmark). It was another year of not visiting any new countries, however I did get to explore some favourites more in depth and I also added a new territory to my list – the gorgeous US state of Alaska! I settled into my new life in Scotland and went on several weekend trips to the mountains and islands, went on a field trip to Orkney, visited my best friend in Norway, conducted an independent research trip to the Faroe Islands, roadtripped with a friend in Canada, worked on an excavation in Alaska, showed family and friends around Scotland, and went on a long overland journey back home to Denmark with Minnie towards the end of the year!

Here’s a recap of my travel year of 2023:

January-March: The beginning of my life in Aberdeen

The year began with the biggest move I’ve ever done. I’d been accepted to study my Master’s in Archaeology of the North at the University of Aberdeen, so on January 12th, I travelled from my family’s home in Denmark to my new home city, Aberdeen. Because I didn’t want to worry about finding an apartment, I settled into student accommodation for the first term, but I didn’t love living there so I spent most of my time either at the university, at the local pub or out and about exploring.

I didn’t leave Scotland for three months and while it was a busy time with lots of school work, I managed to get around Scotland quite a bit. I spent several weekends hiking in the Cairngorms National Park, which is just a short bus ride away from Aberdeen, and spent a long weekend in Oban where I went on day trips to the islands of Mull, Kerrera and Lismore in the most beautiful February weather ever!

Life in Aberdeen was nice but I was often lonely and not as in love with my life there as I’d hoped I’d be, so by the end of March, I was itching to get out of the city….

April: Orkney, Norway and Denmark

When April came along, travels followed and I hardly stopped until mid-August! I boarded a ferry in the beginning of the month to Orkney and spent my 28th birthday among classmates and lecturers. We had three days packed full of archaeological sights and presentations on the Mainland island. When the others left to return to Aberdeen, my friend Sara and I took off on a five-day roadtrip through some of the other islands that make up the archipelago. We visited more archaeological sites and joined a local quiz on the island of Rousay, went hiking on the mountainous island of Hoy and fell in love with everything about the remote island of Sanday. Orkney was such a dream!

A few days after returning to Aberdeen, I flew to Bergen in Norway to visit my best friend who has lived there for several years now. This was my second time visiting her, and this time it was sunny the whole week (very rare for Bergen!). While I was mostly busy writing an essay that was due soon after my visit, I did find time for a bit of sightseeing in the city and we both took a day off from our work to go hiking up a mountain above the city in the most glorious weather!

From Bergen, I flew home to Denmark and spent a few weeks with my family in East Jutland and friends (and dogs!) on Lolland. Again, I was busy with an essay but I did have time for a few local adventures here and there and especially enjoyed re-visiting all of my favourite places in and around Rødby, the wee town I used to call home on Lolland!

May: Research on the Faroe Islands

On May 1st, I travelled to my favourite country in the world, the Faroe Islands! This was my fourteenth visit to the archipelago but it wasn’t just any ol’ visit – this time, I was there to conduct research and fieldwork for my dissertation! I spent the month searching through libraries and archives for material on eight abandoned settlements, and visiting them all to produce drone-based topographical models and do manual surveys. It was a lot of fun and I really thrived having to plan and do everything myself! But it was also long days with lots of bad weather, drone problems, camping in storms and hiking to remote locations with heavy backpacks. Looking back, I can hardly believe that I managed to do it!

When I wasn’t out doing my research, I spent time in Tórshavn with a friend, participated in the first ever colour run on the Faroes, hung out at the hostel at Giljanes, went on a few hiking trips with new friends and visited friends in Toftir!

June: Denmark and Canada

On June 1st, I flew back to Denmark for a few weeks of relaxing and exploring with family and friends. My brain needed some time off from uni work so I did not look at my dissertation while I was home, instead I just enjoyed the Danish summer and went for little local adventures. I spent a day walking around the island of Tunø (my favourite!), showed my besties around my hometown, spent an evening making food over the fire at Brigsted with my younger brother, joined my family for a ride on the historic steam train between Vrads and Bryrup, went for long countryside walks with the dogs and my besties on Lolland and spent a day canoeing on the Maribo Lakes!

On June 24th, I hopped on a plane across the Atlantic – the first time since 2018! I met up with a friend in Alberta, Canada, and then spent six days roadtripping and car camping through the gorgeous national parks of Banff and Jasper! We went for long and short hikes, climbed two mountains, visited the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever seen, saw lots of amazing wildlife, experienced the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, spent seven hours canoeing on Lake Maligne and splurged on ice cream and pizza! Canada was magnificent in every way!

July-August: Excavation and travels in Alaska

On July 1st, I said goodbye to Canada and flew to one of my absolute dream destinations – Alaska! I still can hardly believe that I was actually there as Alaska has always been one of those places I dreamt of but just never thought I’d be able to visit. But when I got the opportunity to volunteer on an archaeological excavation this summer, I had to jump at the opportunity! It cost me my entire savings but it was so incredibly worth it. I’d do it again in a heartbeat!

I spent the first five hours in the state in Bethel, a really strange town in the middle of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (a huge flat river delta) and then flew to Quinhagak, which is probably the most remote village I’ve ever visited (I think it even beats this tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Russia and this tiny tiny village I once visited in Afghanistan!). It’s so far off the Alaskan road network that it takes two separate flights to reach!

I spent the entire month of July in Quinhagak, working on an excavation of an extremely well-preserved Yup’ik settlement (I found a wooden mask and so much more awesome stuff!), and spent my free time getting to know some amazing French girls who I hope to visit next year, watching movies with the others, going for walks in the village, going fishing (without actually fishing…), working (a little…) on my dissertation and – because I’m insane – staying awake for three nights in a row to score Eras Tour tickets for next year!

When August rolled around, it was time to visit the part of Alaska I’d always dreamt of – the mountains and fjords with wildlife and breathtaking views! I spent a few days relaxing in Anchorage and then caught the (very expensive) scenic train down to Kenai Fjords National Park. There, I stayed for five days in an amazing hostel and spent my days biking around, taking a long hike in the most beautiful scenery and going on the most amazing boat tour ever which included sightings of orcas, humpback whales and seals chilling by a glacier! I ended my time in Alaska with a few more days in Anchorage where I hung out with some friends and got a tattoo of the map of Alaska and a gorgeous TS lyric!

September-November: Busy times in Scotland

Two weeks after I arrived back home to Aberdeen, my family arrived for a two-week visit! In the meantime, I had moved to my own rental apartment near the beach! I enjoyed showing my family all my favourite places in the city, and we went on three roadtrips around Aberdeenshire and the Cairngorms, exploring beautiful little villages and castles, visiting a brewery and going for walks in the gorgeous Scottish nature. We also attended the annual Highland Games in Braemar where the royals showed up!

When my family left, I still had over a week until my classes would begin and I felt so lost and lonely that I decided on a whim to book a trip home. It was just what I needed. A week of relaxing with my family, walking around my hometown and cuddling my cat! I also did it because it was my last chance to travel spontaneously before Minnie arrived – she took the long overland journey from Romania to Aberdeen and arrived just a day after I got back to the city!

The rest of September through November was spent in Aberdeen, busy with uni work and getting to know Minnie. Luckily, Minnie is the easiest little dog on the planet so I could bring her everywhere I went, including to classes! It was an extremely busy term but I did find time for a few adventures. A friend from the Faroes came to visit and we went camping and hiking with Minnie, and I took a trip to Dundee and St Andrews to meet up with two German friends for the day. And then there were four field trips with uni, including trips to Dunnottar Castle and Forvie Sands Nature Reserve!

December: Christmas at home

On the last day of November, Minnie and I set off on a three-day overland journey by ferry and trains to Denmark! We explored Amsterdam for a day on the way and met up with my family in Flensburg in northern Germany for our annual Christmas market day!

When we finally got home – tired but happy – we were met with snow! Denmark doesn’t usually get much snow anymore, so it was a really nice surprise for a winter girl like me, and Minnie proved that she is just like her mother. She absolutely loved jumping around in the snow!

I spent the rest of December writing my last two essays for uni and working on my dissertation which is due soon (too soon). It’s been a stressful month but I’m happy to have spent it with my family. It’s been such a joy taking Minnie for walks around my quiet hometown and sharing all the Christmas joy with her!

What’s up in 2024?

2024 is just around the corner and I’m extremely excited for what the new year has to offer!

Minnie and I are off to Lolland for a few days in January and after a few more days at home afterwards, we are off on the long overland journey back to Aberdeen. I still don’t know if we’ll stay in Scotland after January when I’m done with uni, but I’ve applied for a few jobs in Denmark so if I get one of those, we will return home! I’ll be sad to leave my life in Aberdeen behind, but I do need to focus on making some money now after Alaska swallowed it all up!

2024 will be the year of Taylor Swift for me as I’ll be seeing the Eras Tour no less than three times! Paris in May and Vienna and Warsaw in August. It’s going to be such a ride and I can’t wait!!

Other than these TS trips, I don’t have any travels planned for 2024 – yet! But I do hope to explore more of Scotland before I leave, and this includes a trip or two back to the Cairngorms, hikes along the Aberdeenshire coast and exploring the parts of Aberdeen I haven’t seen yet!

Do you have any travel plans for 2024?