2018 Travel Plans: 15 Countries & 5 Continents

Last fall I landed my first fully remote job, which allows me to work from anywhere in the world. I’ve taken advantage of this amazing opportunity by… spending the last four months home in San Francisco, working my ass off (from my bed, aka my office), and reminiscing about all the fun I used to be having abroad. In retrospect, it was literally the worst time ever to start a travel blog.

But after months of 60-hour work weeks, saving, and being a boring adult, I’m finally setting off on my next adventure. I’ve got a very busy year ahead, visiting roughly 15 countries (!), across 5 continents (!!). Flights are (semi) booked. I leave today. This. Is. Actually. Happening. And if everything goes as planned, it won’t have an end date.

Since it’s me we’re talking about, I’ve done approximately 0 research, and most likely literally nothing will go according to plan. But my job is so flexible that I don’t really need to plan anymore. I could wake up tomorrow and decide I’d like to spend this month working in Portugal, and I could. It’s a weird, indescribable, awesome feeling. And I’ve spent the last four months carefully budgeting and saving to ensure that I have that freedom.

I’ve got a solid idea of how I want to spend this year, but as always, it’s subject to change lol. Read on for everything you can expect to see here over the next few months now that I’m finally back on the road!

March – Iceland, England, France

Today (!!) I’m headed to Iceland with two of my best friends. It’s still the dead of winter aka fucking freezing, so we’ve got a ton of seasonal activities planned like glacier hiking, ice caving, and a Northern Lights tour! We have a kickass self-drive itinerary (created by yours truly) which I can’t wait to share. We’ll also sample some classic Icelandic dishes like rotten shark… Can’t wait.

After Iceland, my friends head back to the States and I head on to London. I’ll be working for a solid amount of the trip, so I’ll hit a different café every day and scope out the best spots. I have a lot of friends and family in London, so I’ll have loads of recommendations for non-touristy activities.

My cousin and I have also planned a weekend in Paris! We’ll do a quick sweep of all the standard tourist spots and probably spend the rest of our time drinking wine and gorging ourselves on food.

April – Australia!!

I come back to the States for a total of 24 hours to pack, and then I head back to Sydney! My visa was finally approved and I literally can’t wait to get home. You can expect a ton of posts about local activities, food, and day-trips! And I’ll get out a couple posts about the Australian visa process, for those of you who are also interested in moving down under. 

My friends might actually murder me if I try to travel anywhere right away, so I’ll stay in Syd until mid-April at least. Then I’m off to visit Melbourne, Sydney’s quirkier cousin. It has a killer food/coffee scene, so I will most likely spend the entire time eating  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My old company, David Jones, has moved their HQ to Melbourne, so I have a ton of friends there to show me around.

After Melbourne I’ll head up to Queensland to see Thursday Island, a very small beach town where a good friend of mine is currently living. I’ll try to squeeze in a visit to see friends in Darwin too!

May – California

One of my best friends is getting married, so I’m headed home to California for bridesmaid duties in May. We are doing a top-secret bachelorette getaway which I will be sure to document, and the wedding is in my college town Davis which I am so freaking excited to see again.

It’ll be a short and sweet trip – just a week and a half – and I’ll most likely be working the whole time since my company is based in San Francisco. I’ll try to fit in something semi fun for the blog. Because flights to the US are eight billion dollars, this is all I have planned for May while I try to get my finances together.

June/July – Europe

I’ll spend a bit of time in Sydney in June, before I head off for a month-and-a-half Europe trip. The exact dates haven’t been ironed out yet, but I’ll hit the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Germany – I’ve got good friends in a lot of these countries so should be able to get some great travel tips from the locals.

I like to get a good mix of both “travel” and “vacation” when I’m abroad. So I’ll probably split my time between hostels & fancy hotels, hole-in-the-wall restaurants & tasting menus, and off-the-grid hikes & cheesin’ at all the standard tourist haunts.

August – Japan, New Zealand

When I was 5, my dad went on a business trip to Japan and brought me with him, and I still have really vivid memories of it! I’ve wanted to go back ever since, and it’s finally happening over 20 years later. I can’t imagine how much it’s changed, and I’ll explore as much of Japan as I’m able to. I’ve got a good friend there too so I won’t just be sticking to tourist traps.

After Japan I’ll head on to New Zealand. I’ve already been there once, but I only visited the North Island, so this trip is all about the South Island. I’ll hit Queenstown, Milford Sounds, and wherever else I feel like can afford. New Zealand has some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, so I will be Getting Outside for this trip – hiking, kayaking, might even slap on a pair of skis!

September – Australia

September will be all about Australia again, as the weather starts warming up. The Whitsundays are probably the most beautiful beach in the world, and I’ve been dying to go since I moved to Aus. The water is crystal clear, the sand is super fine and pure white, and the 74 beaches look like paradise on Earth.

I’ll split the rest of my time between traveling Australia’s eastern coast, and chilling in Sydney with friends. I might try to venture out to Western Australia or South Australia if I can afford to. Thus far I’ve stuck mostly to the major metropolitan areas, and I’d like to see more of Australia’s natural beauty. I’d like to see the famous Pink Lake, cage dive with great whites, and free dive with whale sharks!

October – Namibia, Morocco, Egypt (?)

Namibia is, by far, the trip I’m most excited about. This is one for the bucket list, for sure. I’ll spend two weeks volunteering at a wildlife reserve, getting up close and personal with cheetahs, hyenas, baboons, and more. One of my best friends did this program a few years ago and said it was hands down one of the best experiences of her life.

After that, depending on timing and funds, I may head up to Morocco and Egypt. I’ve wanted to visit both of these countries for as long as I can remember. It should be an illuminating experience for a solo female traveler, so I’m going to try to make it happen.

November – Australia

If you watch Planet Earth, you’ve seen Christmas Island before. It’s an Australian territory off the coast of Indonesia known for its annual crab migration. Millions of little red crabs spawn and blanket the entire island once a year – it’s weird, semi creepy, and totally awesome.

The island is crawling with crabs year-round, so it’s a super unique destination. After seeing the Komodo dragons in Indonesia, I realized I really enjoy observing weird ass animals, so I am totally stoked for this one. Maybe I’ll hit the Galapagos next, lol.

December – Australia

This will be a quiet month, while I figure out my life. I’ll most likely spend the whole time back in Sydney enjoying summer. My second working holiday visa will expire in March, so it’ll be time to decide if I want to give up the digital nomad life for a sponsorship, or if I want to throw away a chance at permanent residency/citizenship to keep traveling.

But that’s way too far in the future to even begin to think about. For now, I’m focused on planning, saving, and figuring out the best things to do all across the world this year!! If you’ve got any travel tips or recommendations for any of these places please let me know!! I would love to hear about your favorite adventures, foods, and off-the-grid activities! Trying to plan itineraries for 15 different countries is super fun but super stressful lol.

Can’t wait to share all these adventures with you and as always thanks for reading! 🙂

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