I’ve always loved to travel, but in 2024, the year I started my YouTube channel, click here to check it out and subscribe, got bigger heavier into my blog, I stepped up my travel game to the next level. This was in part due to a 5-week parental leave, on top of my usual holidays, and also a rush in trying to get as much travel in while it is still free for our baby girl. In 2024 I travelled more than most other years in my life and even though I love solo travel, it was my first year of strictly family vacations; and it was a blast!
I went to four different countries, with 15 major cities or tourist towns along the way, got married in paradise, went on a long road trip and spent quite a bit of time camping and glamping. Here is the Restless Explorer’s 2024 year in review.
First time in Asia and meeting the in-laws in the Philippines
When our baby was only 6 months old we took her on an exceptionally long adventure with cancelled, delayed and rescheduled flights to the Philippines where she met half of her family and I got to meet the in-laws. We stayed for almost a month and I lived like a local in rural Philippines, spent time seeing a monstrous city in the third world (Manila), soaked up the beaches of Boracay and went island hopping in El Nido, Palawan. It was a blast and where, while I was still learning, got my start at making travel Vlogs, to see my earliest (and fun) Vlogs from the Philippines click here.
My new favorite country: Japan
It’s a toss up between Colombia and Japan, but at this point in my life, Japan probably takes the top spot. I rode Go Karts through the busy streets of Tokyo dressed as Pikachu, stayed in what has to be one of the world’s smallest hotel rooms and experienced the video game like lights of Tokyo. In Kyoto I learned the difference between Shintoism and their shrines versus Buddhism and the temples, stayed in a traditional Ryokan and learned about the Samurai. And in Osaka I ate the best street food of my life and found one of my favorite cities in the world. By the way the food in Japan is some of the best I’ve ever had!
A long road trip to another new favorite city of mine, Chicago
After travelling to Asia, the travel bug was reignited, and on Spring Break, we took a 13 hour road trip to Chicago, stopping in Minneapolis and Milwaukee in between. In Chicago we ate at iconic restaurants and tasted some of the most iconic foods in Chicago such as Italian Beef, Deep Dish Pizza and the Chicago Style Hot Dog. We stayed in amazing River North area which has amazing architecture and views. We went on the Skydeck of the Willis Tower (one of the Western Hemisphere's tallest buildings), I went to my first NBA game (and our babies first sporting event) and explored some signature locations from my favorite TV show, Chicago PD. The skyline and architecture in Chicago is an epic city with tons to do, Chicago has definitely creeped into my top 10 favorite cities.
Return to Florida
I was in Miami and Fort Lauderdale as a kid and Miami was one of my favorite childhood vacations. Well, this year on our way to The Bahamas we stopped in Miami for 3 nights and on our way home we stopped in Fort Lauderdale for a night. Miami was awesome and staying in South Beach was a blast. The food scene, especially the Latin food was amazing and the hustle and bustle of the night life in Miami was a lot of fun. We also “won” a free cruise and were sort of scammed while on a cruise looking at the celebrity homes of Miami.
Married in the Bahamas
We love the Caribbean and after watching Black Sails, a famous pirate show that was about the pirates of Nassau, it was even more significant to travel there. The island is paradise, and what was even better was being able to get married and have a small elopement ceremony right on the beach of our resort. It was beautiful. And in addition to getting married and learning about some pirate history, we visited the world famous Atlantis Resort, did island hopping where we saw the swimming turtles, swam with pigs and saw some beautiful islands. It was an amazing vacation with memories we will never forget!
Last Minute Road Trip to Minneapolis
When we thought we were done travelling for the year we decided on a last minute road trip for Gerlie’s birthday to Minneapolis. We went to a Timberwolves (NBA) game, went shopping and went on some rides with our baby at the Mall of America. It was a fun little road trip to Minneapolis and is a quick easy vacation from Winnipeg.
Local Travel/Camping/Glamping
In Manitoba, we live in lake country, with over 100,000 lakes, plenty of wilderness and endless opportunities for camping and cabins. We rented a cabin, went tent camping and camping in the trailer. While camping we did hiking, swimming and fishing and was a perfect supplement to our other vacations.
Add comment
Comments