10 Favorite Travel Memories of 2018

I never know what to say with these year recap posts. I could talk about what this year taught me, or how I’m filled with gratitude, or how much I’m looking forward to making more memories in 2019, but it’s all been said before. When I was trying to select pictures for this post, it hit me how I have some of the most insignificant moments captured–sun falling on my lap at a picnic, or the blurry neon smear of a friend caught in action on a dance floor. I wonder if these snippets will be enough to truly make me remember what this year was like, if they’ll give me a clue to what it could mean for all the years to come. Whatever they mean, here are 10 of my favorite memories from these last 365 days.

Finding a hostel family in Prague— I reeeeally left this one up to chance since it was the first time I showed up in a country without having made any lodging reservations…but it turned out just fine!

Dodging the heat in Szentendre. Just a 40 minute train ride north of Budapest, Szentendre blossomed in the summer. I loved having a lazy summer day here, fighting the heat with an ice cream coffee, overlooking the city from a hilltop churchyard, and shuffling along the riverside. It was a good reminder that you don’t have to travel too far to find a new experience.

Rediscovering my solo prowess/reveling in fries and waffles on an (accidental) solo trip to Belgium. I learned how to manage my expectations and how to depend on myself again. And how to tie my scarf in the most strategic way because oh man, it was cold.

Getting ditched on some random pullout by our Uber driver and still stumbling upon a beautiful beach in Croatia. I don’t even know why I bothered to be stressed at first when this happened, it had so much potential to be one of those “look back on this and laugh” moments. And it was. Maybe we were stupid and in love, maybe we were just determined to get our money’s worth, but either way, nothing could rain on our parade. That trip was golden.

Rediscovering the best Seattle had to offer at a food festival and a beer festival for my birthday weekend. I never did these kinds of things when I lived close to Seattle…I guess I had to move across the world to appreciate these kinds of things! I’ve always had trouble finding my place in Seattle, but I had fun celebrating under the shadow of the Space Needle. Y’all should have seen my face walking down the crowded street of the food festival…I was eating everything up with my eyes long before it made its way to my stomach. Thank goodness for local Seattle friends who know what not to miss in the city!

Learning to fly at a birthday trapeze lesson (and sharing it with my mom!) I still don’t know how I managed to talk my mom into hovering 60 over the ground with just a coupla ropes and a net beneath her (or talked myself into it, for that matter), but my, was it a sight to see.

Embracing my inner foodie during a summer weekend in Boston. The weekend in Boston was a weird one, I’ll give you that. Half of my heart was with all of the family I had just finished visiting and the other half was pining away for my boyfriend and raring to set off on our trip through Croatia. I was tempted to just put my head down in the hostel and sleep away the weekend to try and fastforward through the time, but I’ll give you three good reasons why I’m glad I didn’t: 1. Pizza. 2. Cannolis. 3. Lobster Rolls. Yup, instead of wallow in my impatience I ate my way through Boston. I hopped on a train and experienced my first charming New England beach town. I even stopped over in witch country (Salem, MA) to see what I could see. Can’t say I regret anything.

Becoming a true Hungarian during a summer weekend at the “Sea of Hungary” at Lake Balaton. I started to understand why everyone flocks here in the warmer months for their dose of freedom, sun, and lángos. Perhaps the most unpredictable was our daytrip half an hour west where we got to
feel like Indiana Jones and boat through the lake caves of Tapolca.

Working on my archery skills at Eger Castle. People had talked up this medieval town so I was glad to experience it for myself. Feeling incredibly small standing in one of the huge cathedrals, praying the clouds would hold back the rain as we strolled along the cobblestone streets, sitting back and relaxing as I let C do all of the bartering for my bottle of local wine…maybe there should be an Eger 2019 trip?

Somehow finding delicious Mexican food in a tiny market square of Bratislava, Slovakia. Who would have thought? I was positively itching to get out of Budapest and see something new, but I only had a day to do it. So 2 1/2 hours on the train brought me to Bratislava, where I was able to meet up with an old friend from high school. I had only just gotten used to the Hungarian language, so being thrown back into a country where all of the signs, menus, and background noise was indecipherable was a little jarring. But it also helped me tune out the noise and have a refreshing (and freezing) morning taking in another city’s ruins and jewels.