My 2023 in Travel
This is a post about what and where. An abbreviated telling of my 2023. The platform, from which I plan to do many dives in the weeks and months ahead.
January Destinations
I rang in the New Year in Lisbon with my husband, Chris. Then, we went to Sintra, where we explored a palace and castle and spent the night in a palace-turned-boutique-hotel. On our way back to Albufeira, Portugal (our home then), we picked up a couple of relatives from the Lisbon airport. The four of us day-tripped to Tavira, Seville, and Silves.
February Destinations
I learned to Flamenco with my kind husband in Seville, Spain’s Triana neighborhood and went to my first Carnival parade in Loule, Portugal, home of the Algarve’s biggest Carnival parade and the oldest in Portugal.
March Destinations
First up, Faro, Portugal. When Chris and I went to a wine tasting at Convento do Paraiso in Silves, we were given tickets for a big wine and cocktail event happening in Faro. So, we went. Our next adventure was a road trip from Albufeira, through Lagos, to “the end of the world,” Cape St. Vincent. We ended the month with a historical hike in Santiago do Cacém where extensive Roman Ruins can be explored.
April Destinations
Chris and I moved from Albufeira to Porto. I like to call it our pretty, gritty, and full-of-mystery city. We returned to Lisbon to do a video on its Chiado neighborhood — a neighborhood worth dedicating at least a day to, though two might be best.
May Destinations
Yes, we went to Lisbon again. This time, on a mission to learn about the city’s 1755 earthquake that took place on All Saints’ Day. For a lighter day trip, we toured the Douro Valley after a stop in charming Amarante. The town is known for its phallic sweets inspired by São Gonçalo — a saint and cupid of sorts. Two days later, we boarded a train for Braga to see the town’s rich history during its Braga Romana festival.
June Destinations
Chris and I tried checking out Albufeira in high season. Fortunately and unfortunately, we arrived one week before it really kicked off. While there, we indulged in the best breakfast room service we’ve ever had. I went on my first Travel + Leisure assignment and spent a few days exploring Finnish Lakeland while learning to master happiness. When it was done, I met up with my husband, and we took a train to visit Santa Claus and his reindeer in the Arctic Circle. Before flying back to Portugal, we spent a day in Helsinki.
July Destinations
We went to what will probably be our last 3-day music festival, NOS Alive in Lisbon. While we weren’t the only grandparents in the crowd, the event exhausted us. I might be wrong because Chris is pursuing his rock star dreams. No. Really. Check out his progress here.
I white-knuckled it through a rough ride to Skellig Michael with Chris to see these adorable puffins and to take on a treacherous hike. We returned to Kinsale, one of Ireland’s Tidy Towns, a place we called home for three months in 2022. On our way to Dublin, we stopped overnight in Kilkenny — a city full of medieval history that’s worth a visit. In Dublin, we took in a few places we didn’t have the time to see on our first trip. There are still more unchecked items on our Dublin list, so I hope we return someday.
Before the month ended, we clinked glasses with friends at Colita’s in Minneapolis.
August Destinations
Friends and family filled our August with fabulousness. We started in Orlando. Our time there included a visit to Kennedy Space Center with my daughter, her partner, and our granddaughter. We drove from Orlando to Atlanta to spend time with Chris’s daughter, Kayla, and our granddaughter, Elthea. From there, we flew to Las Vegas to spend time with our grandson, Demari, and his father, Shakeal. We hit the road again, this time for an epic road trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix to Moab to Pocahontas, Iowa, to Rochester, Minnesota — where we spent almost a week catching up with family and friends. Then, I flew to Orlando for a girls’ weekend with our granddaughter Audi while Chris spent the weekend at the cabin with his friends. We met back up in Minneapolis. While there, we dined with friends, went on a couple of adventures with my brother Tony, and met up with my Uncle Joe and his partner, Andrea, for drinks before we departed for Europe.
September Destinations
Our first stop back in Europe was Reykjavik, followed by, I’m not sure exactly, where in the countryside for a real Iceland holiday cottage experience with a couple we became fast friends with. Then, off to the Westman Islands, we went to see beluga whales, puffins and hike volcanoes. We spent a relaxing night in Keflavik, Iceland, at a stunning hotel before flying off to Switzerland in the morning. Due to a booking error, we ended up in charming Sumiswald for a night. Then, we stayed in a barrel on a dairy farm in the Emmentaler region of Switzerland. Bern and Geneva rounded off our most intense two months of travel. We returned home to Porto, Portugal, in mid-September.
October Destinations
In October, we went to Lisbon twice to go to a government office and pick up our SEF cards. To jump through the hoops and cut all the red tape in a single sentence: SEF cards are what you need to have permission to stay in Portugal for two years. We left empty-handed both times. More on that in future stories.
November Destinations
We stayed home in Porto, where we had a delightful new experience or two. One of our favorites, was a combined Port wine and chocolate tasting at DuBon.
December Destinations
We spent a night in Lisbon, en route to Orlando, Florida where I put together a week of holiday family fun that included the Orlando Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker and Cocoa Beach’s Surfing Santas.
In 2023, I went to 37 different places (at least). Some multiple times. My husband and I published 45 videos. We are almost done editing a video about Bern and have two more to do before we take an extended, perhaps forever, pause.
I want time to write and to enjoy places without a camera in my face. He wants more time to play the guitar and create videos about becoming a rock star. In a week we’ll be in Rome. In three we’ll be in Frankfurt. A trip to Edinburgh is slated for the end of March. In April, we’ll be in Kelowna, British Columbia, to see if that’s the right place for us to call home. In short, there’ll be plenty of places for me to write about and experiences for me to share.
What do you like to know about a place before you go? Are there aspects of travel that you want to know more about? Please let me know. It’ll help guide the content here in my travel journal.