As the year of our gap adventure, 2011 was huge for us travel-wise. We’d like to take a moment to make some shout-outs about the things we liked best.
Best adventure activity: Climbing Volcan Villarrica in Chile
Best attraction: Iguazu Falls, Argentina
Best beer: Brain Blasta, Porterhouse Brewing Company (John) and Emerson’s Pilsner (Andrea)
Best city: London (Andrea) and Berlin (John)
Best country: Germany
Best new country: Colombia
Best food: Jordan
Best people (friendliest): Ireland
Best hike: Tongariro Alpine Crossing, New Zealand
Best hostel: The Albatross Backpacker Inn, Kaikoura
Best hotel or resort: Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi
Best meal: BBQ at our mate Klemen’s place in Ljubljana
Best Museum: Terror Háza, Budapest
Best national park: Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, Argentina
Best organized: Switzerland
Best restaurant: Francis, Montevideo
Best tour guide: Raed from Jordan
Best town: Grindelwald, Switzerland
Best thing we saw that we didn’t know about when planning: Bozcaada, Turkey
Best wine: Chile
We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the following fellow travellers we met or caught up with this year who made our time extra special. Because it’s always more about the people you meet than the places you see:
Abby (The Jungle Princess), Adam (Travels of Adam), Amar and Dipti, Andi and Lucas (My Beautiful Adventures), Andrew (Grounded Traveler), Anna, Adam and Basia in Poland, Ayngelina (Bacon is Magic), Brad (LindVentures), Brendan (Brendan’s Adventures), Cheryl (Cheryl Howard), Christina (Jandal Road), Christy and Kali (Technosyncratic), Claudia and Umit, Dalene and Peter (Hecktic Travels), Dave (Go Backpacking), Eileen (Bear Shaped Sphere), Emily and Rodolfo (Don’t Call Me Gringa), Jasmine (Jasmine Wanders), Jim (Holes in My Soles), Julie (Nueva Americana), Katrina and Dario (Tour Absurd), Kerry-Ann (Audacious Freedom), Kirsten (Aviators and Camera), Klemen, Kyle and Seba (Kyle Hepp Photography), Laura and Roberto (Travel for Love), Lucy and Michael, Marcello (Wandering Trader), Marko, Melvin and Astrid (Traveldudes), Rease (Travelated), Rob and Angelica (South America Me), Robbie and Luke, Stephanie (The Travel Chica) and Tobi.
What was your favourite travel experience of 2011?