Six Months In | What Have We Learned?
Time flies!
In full transparency, the 6 month-iversary of our sabbatical was technically on November 7th. For reasons we won’t go into here, we were not really in a celebratory mood, and so it took some time for us to refocus on all that we have to be grateful for. The last 6 months have been more than we could have ever imagined and we know these experiences will be etched into who we are for a lifetime.
What we appreciate the most is the exposure to so many different cultures and perspectives. We may not always understand completely how these societies experience the world around them, but with a curious and open mind it is amazing to find how much we have in common as humans. The biggest commonality is how welcomed we have felt in every place that we have been, and we have learned so much from our hosts.
Anyway, we are looking toward the future, but we are excited to share our experiences so far. This is a bit of a long post, but we wanted to share what we have learned.
Where Have We Been?
One question we frequently get asked is where we have been. It often takes a minute to remember everywhere at this point, but here are the quick stats:
16 countries and 3 continents (One side of the Bosporus River in Istanbul, Turkey is in Europe and the other side is in Asia.)
Add these to the 10 countries that we have visited together previously (US, Bahamas, Jamaica, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Denmark, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, and Australia), and as a couple we have now been to 13% of the countries in the world.
Some Fun Statistics:
23,636 miles traveled (just over 38,000 km)
Furthest place from home - Santorini, Greece (5,402 miles)
Over 8000 photos taken
26 blog posts (this is 27 😊)
92 posts on social media, with a combined 155 Comments and 2358 Likes
11 BIG Things Seen!
What have been the highlights so far? What has been your favorite stop?
Picking just one stop along the way as a favorite is hard. Everywhere has its positives and not so positives. I don’t think that there has been one place where we didn’t say to each other, “I need another week here,” when we were leaving.
Instead, here are a summary of sights, restaurants/bars and experiences we would recommend if you ever find yourself in one of these places. There is of course far more to see in each of these places. We have mentioned some of these already in other posts, so we will be brief with some of them. Lastly, everyone knows the “big” sites (e.g., The Eiffel Tower, The Parthenon, Hagia Sophia, etc.), so we aren’t listing them here, but you should see those things too!
Lastly, it’s easier to see all the pictures in one place. so please check out the Photo Gallery for images of all these experiences. This post is long, and adding pictures just made it longer.
United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales
Royal Scottish Military Tattoo: We highlighted this one in our Scotland and Ireland post. Warning — it only happens in August and coincides with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Both worth attending, but the city is PACKED!
Glasgow: We liked Glasgow more than we did Edinburgh. Far less touristy, still tons of interesting history and architecture, and a surprisingly good food scene. Ox and Finch restaurant is highly recommended!
Western Highlands of Scotland: Take a long drive up, ride on The Jacobite (Hogwarts) train, go to some of the whisky distilleries, find a terrace with a view and just take it all in.
Netherlands
Eindhoven: It’s not the first or maybe even third place you might think of when planning for the Netherlands, but it is a fun college town with a vibrant little old town/downtown.
Belgium
Bruge: Super cute and chill old town. We were there just half a day, but it deserves 2 or 3. It is much more picturesque than Brussels.
France (3 times)
Restaurant JAN in Nice: Our friend Anna told us about this restaurant her friend is the owner and chef of. It stands out as likely the best meal we have had so far, and there’s a cheese room!
Le Maison d’Estournel in St Estephe: This is a bit of a bougie one, but if you are ever in Bordeaux this is the boutique hotel you want to stay at, or at the very least plan to have dinner there.
Spain
Gaudi Architecture in Barcelona: We know, Antonio Gaudi’s works are some of Barcelona’s biggest tourist stops. We made an exception in listing them because we were blown away at the blend of engineering and artistry of his work. Go inside each of the buildings (especially La Sagrada Familia) and just take it all in!
Valencia: This is partially because of the devastating floods that just occurred there, and they are going to need the tourists to come back once they recover. But in all honesty, it would still be on this list. We preferred it over Barcelona. Sleepy beach town on one side and quaint little old town on the other.
Montenegro
Tivat: A smaller town on the Bay of Kotor. Kotor itself has become overrun with cruise ships, so this place is less touristy and easier to get to than Kotor.
White Water Rafting on the Tara River: Not easy to get to, but the drive through the Tara River Canyon is stunning on its own. Then you get down into the canyon, on the river and these lush green mountains tower over you.
Croatia
Glam Craft Beer Bar in Dubrovnik: Teeny-tiny little beer bar down one of the alleys off the main square. Great owner, great selection of local craft beers if you are looking for something other than Ožujsko.
Switzerland
Raclette and Fondue: Gooey, melty cheese with bread and pickles. Need we say more?
Grain Craft Experience in Zurich: See a theme here? Jeremy can’t pass on a good beer bar! It’s a bit up on the side of the hills on the outskirts of town, so you need the tram (it drops you off right out front!) or taxi to get to it. The owner, Brian, was a really lovely Canadian guy who really knew is beer!
Republic of Ireland
Ashford Castle: Stunning castle on acres of manicured lands surrounding it. Not built by them, but it used to be owned by the Guinness family, it is now a VERY posh hotel. The castle itself is crazy expensive so if you are visiting it is worth staying at The Lodge at Ashford Castle. Far cheaper, but you still get all the beauty of the surroundings.
Galway, Killarney & Cork: They are the “bigger” of the small Irish towns, but goodness are they adorable! We only had a couple days in each, but with amazing Irish hospitality in these cities, and there’s more to do than some of the smaller towns, we would love to go just chill in one or more of them for a week or two at a time. We really want to go back and give each a better look around.
Greece
Santorini in September: Still a number of cruise ships at this time of year and the flood of people that they bring, but we found that once they all left places like Oia, we almost had the town to ourselves! Highly recommend a small seafood restaurant on the south side of the island called To Psaraki. Freshest fish meal we have ever had (even Valerie ate fish here!).
Turkey
Istanbul: The main recommendation here is GO! Istanbul is beautiful, the people are so hospitable and it really feels like the cradle of civilization. We definitely plan to return, seeing more of the country, other than Istanbul next time.
The Basilica Cistern in Istanbul: Likely on the list of “big” tourist sights in Istanbul, but like Gaudi in Spain, there was something unique and special about this place. Words don’t do it justice (pictures don’t either). It has to be seen.
Hungary
Beer People in Budapest: Craft beer bar that had been open just 6 months when we stopped in (twice!). Owned and operated by a guy from San Diego who emigrated to Hungary some time ago. So technically this is still supporting local small businesses, right?
Morocco
Like Turkey, GO! We are grateful for the support of Olivia at Audley Travel, who helped us plan this trip. Having help coordinating all our car transfers, hotels and tours ensured that we were always safe, and that we learned a ton about this amazing country. Definitely hire someone who knows the country well to help you plan. We also recommend not trying to do too much during your trip or you will be stuck in a car for hours and hours. It doesn’t look like a big country, but going from Marrakech to Fes or Tangier in the North is a 5-6 hour drive.
Essaouira: Recommendations for Morocco are hard because every place we visited was completely different from the last. Marrakech is worth a look around, but where we felt we really “found” Morocco was in Essaouira. You get to see all the interesting crafts and spices exploring of the smaller Medina here, without all the pressure tactics and far fewer people compared to Marrakech. The locals pride themselves on “not being Marrakech” in that they want people to feel welcome and comfortable. If you buy, you buy. No big deal if not. And it’s all within the walls of this ancient fortress that is straight out of Game of Thrones (literally, they filmed here).
What are some tips you can share for anyone who wants to take a sabbatical?
Make the effort to connect with your family and friends back home, and, if possible, meet them on the road! Even though we are traveling together, this lifestyle can be isolating so it is important to make an effort for these connections. We miss you all and appreciate everyone who calls, texts, DMs and meets up with us!
Don’t over pack. There are stairs, hills and uneven streets. This seems like a basic travel tip, but the pain is real.
Vacation Rentals (AirBnB or VRBO) are not what they used to be. Many are now owned and operated by large companies, so the personal touch you used to get is no longer there. You often are trying to work with a call center somewhere to get someone out to check you in, or fix the wifi, or fix the hot water, etc. (all things we have had to deal with). Plus, they aren’t any cheaper than hotels these days. The main advantages of them are in-unit laundry, and we can see how they might be better for larger parties or families.
The real tip here is that if you are going to use a vacation rental, make sure it is actually owned and hosted by a person, not a company. Otherwise, hotels are far more hospitable and attentive, there are more amenities, you often have 24 hour help available, and things like wifi and plumbing are not typically a problem. So for us, both options have their place depending on our specific needs at the time.
Less is More: We get excited about seeing new places and we had a lot of friends who reached out wanting to meet us along the way. This meant that, for good reason, we packed a lot into the summer months. This is a good problem to have, but it was probably too much. We were very tired as we moved into the fall. We think that being in fewer places for longer might have been a better strategy.
What are experiences that you did not expect?
It is mentioned above, but we did not expect to be so taken in by Gaudi architecture in Barcelona. It’s weird and beautiful and organic and scientifically/structurally fascinating how it was built.
We fully expected Marrakech to be overwhelming and intimidating. What we found was that once you get your bearings for where you are and where you are going, it’s really fun to walk around. Yes, the Souk is chaotic and you might get run over by a moped at any moment, but think of it like the “chaos theory,” (see: Jurassic Park) after awhile you start to see patterns and even a certain order to all the madness. It was fascinating to see! We also never really felt the vendors in the Souk were all that aggressive toward us either. We politely refused and we went on our way.
We hope this gives you a bit more insight to our experiences over the last 6 months. We are excited for what the next six months (or more?) will bring and we can’t wait to share it with you!
Cheers!
Last, but not least…Where To Next?
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Singapore, Singapore
Perth, Australia
2025 Destinations TBD: Beyond exploring more of Australia, the short list includes New Zealand and multiple countries in South East Asia
