Last updated: 30 August 2023
Originally published January 2017. Another year passes us by but rather than do a usual monthly overview, I decided to look back and create a Top 16 for 2016. These aren’t just the destinations, but the specifics too.
Here are some quick stats on our travels from the past 12 months.
Countries visited: 15
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Wales
New countries visited: 9
Top 16 of 2016
1. Pierogi
It was during our first trip to Poland in 2016 that I was introduced to Pierogi. Pierogi are small pockets of dough wrapped around a savory or sweet filling and then cooked in boiling water. They’re delicious! This year I also discovered Pierogi (or Varenyky as they’re known elsewhere) are a popular feature on an East European menu across many countries.
2. Chernobyl
As a part of my birthday every year I like to choose my birthday-trip destination. This year I chose Ukraine. It had been the subject of much discussion in early 2016, so when we discovered that the new radiation confinement shelter, also known as the sarcophagus, was to be placed over Chernobyl’s Reactor 4, we wanted to get there sooner rather than later.
Unlucky in love, the day we visited was the day the Ukrainian government gave the go-ahead to move the new shelter over the reactor. Alas, our visit was restricted to much further distances than if we’d visited at other times. Regardless, we still spent two days exploring Pripyat and Chernobyl within the 30km exclusion zone, handling Geiger counters and having endless ‘WOW’ moments throughout the trip.
Our visit to Chernobyl is easily one of my big highlights for 2016.
3. Liberation Route
Forget learning about World War II history in a textbook and YouTube videos, we walked it with Liberation Route.
Our journey with Liberation Route took us to the the historic battlefields of Bastogne in Belgium and Hurtgen Forest in Germany. It was here that we walked in the footsteps of the Allied soldiers where they had once advanced across Belgium into Germany towards the tail-end of World War II.
I’ll never forget the feeling of walking through a tranquil and picturesque forest surrounded by the remains of decaying German bunkers, the sites where countless young men, of all nationalities, gave their lives.
It was an emotional visit.
4. Sweden
When I heard that TBEX, the largest travel blogging conference in Europe, was going to be held in Sweden in July, I jumped at the chance to go. I turned a 3 day conference into a week long jaunt as I joined a press trip to spend five days in southern Sweden. Here we explored the Skåne region which is known as a foodie haven. Freshly caught seafood was high on the diet here combined with a strong ethic of sustainability, I left Sweden feeling really positive about the relationship between the people and their food.
The impressive Vasa ship and ABBA Museum, the archipelago the city of Stockholm had a relaxed charm about it. As I left, I promised Stockholm and Sweden that we’d be back. Maybe in 2017?
5. Switzerland
2016 started with a house-sitting stint in Switzerland. We packed our car and drove from London, crossing through France to reach Basel Switzerland in just under nine hours.
It was here that we were charged with minding this gorgeous ex-guide dog for a few weeks as we lived like locals and were able to fully unwind.
Basel’s location on the Rhine gave us quick and easy access to both France & Germany where we would think nothing of ducking across the border to do a grocery shop where money went a bit further.
While in the region, we took the opportunity to explore Schilthorn in the Bernese Alps, with day trips to Zurich, Lucerne and Liechtenstein. I won’t forget the time I was struck with altitude sickness at Jungfrau, the highest train station in the world.
6. Podcasting
If you are a regular reader of Roaming Required, you’ll know by now that I’m a fan of podcasts. It took a year of Russ husband-nagging for me to catch on, but now I’m on board that train and never letting go.
I listen to countless podcasts about travel, all of which are hosted by a myriad of like minded wanderlusters. One of my favourites being Amateur Traveler with Chris Christensen. So you can imagine my delight when I was asked to be on the podcast to chat about Sydney.
7. Discovering Bulgaria’s History
Scoring some very cheap flights from London, we decided on a whim to go and explore Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria for a weekend.
It was a huge learning curve of history in just a few days. From the ancient Thracians, to the Roman & Byzantine empires, to the Ottomans, and finally the Russians and Soviet Union, there is literally thousands of years just waiting to be discovered during our visit.
If you visit Sofia, be sure to go hungry. Sofia’s cuisine an obvious fusion, influenced by centuries of occupying forces and invasions by neighbouring super powers. From the luke-warm healthy Bulgarian yogurt, to a delicious flakey pastry Banitsa, to Ljutenica, a wonderful tomato-based relish, if you’ve spent some time in Eastern Europe, everything has a familiarity about it.
8. Going home to Australia
I’d been craving some much needed sunshine and family time for almost a year now. The odd glimmer of sun poking through the clouds just isn’t enough for me, I needed hardcore sunshine for days on end, so like a bird, I packed my bags and headed south for the (European) winter.
Australia is fabulous at the best of times. But Australia in summer, combined with the love from family and friends I had been missing dearly, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. Flying solo, I spent most of my 3 weeks in December at my mum’s house just one street back from the beach. My morning coffee routine which regularly featured on Snapchat, would entail me donning on sunglasses, coffee cup in hand listening to the waves crash onto the beach.
When I wasn’t doing that, I was driving back and forth along a highway to visit more special people. We’re both hoping to return to Australia in 2017, so if you see any bargain flight deals, be sure to let us know!
9. Exploring more of our adopted home of the UK
When we’re not packing our bags and headed for the airport, we’re often on the road exploring the UK by car. We’re both big fans of a road trip and in 2016 we spent some more time in the counties of Kent, Cornwall, Devon, and most recently Russ ducked over to the Isle of Wight.
There are plenty of counties we haven’t spent much time in, and even more we haven’t written about here. Stay tuned, we have plenty of time ahead of us in 2017. If you’ve got a favourite that we haven’t yet covered, leave a comment at the bottom and we will add it to the list.
Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
10. Learning from Mistakes
We’re part-time travellers and that sometimes means we have to keep many balls in the air all at once. Sometimes balls fall. Sometimes we make mistakes. A few notable travel snafu’s made it into the countdown for 2016.
That ill-fated Polish summer road trip. You may remember this post? Yes, the one where we said we were planning to drive the northern half of Poland in July? Well at the time, we didn’t know you needed an EU driving license (or an International Drivers Permit) to hire a car in Poland. So our week-long road trip turned into a 7-day rail adventure. While I will always have a soft spot for a good old road trip, after this trip my love of rail increased.
Lesson learnt: Don’t assume your country’s licence will be enough.
There was one (or maybe two) horror house-sitting experiences in 2016. One in particular instance springs to mind. Charged with minding a mid-sized youthful and energetic outdoor dog who was predominately kept inside a London flat. Being a passionate animal lover, I wasn’t impressed with the situation to begin with. A dog like that should be outside, roaming in paddocks or chasing birds but the owners were desperate (hindsight is a wonderful thing!) and I had trouble saying no.
The result was many sleepless nights by being jumped on by a puppy who wouldn’t settle, or being forced to run around several blocks in the wee hours of the morning with this dog to burn up some energy before I went to work for the day.
Lesson learnt: Ask more questions, and have the strength to say no if it’s a bad match.
The last notable fail for 2016 was a rushed trip to Katowice in December. We had one last trip booked in before I dashed to Australia. The plan was simple. Hire a car in Katowice and spend two days between Katowice and Krakow in Poland. While it sounds simple enough, all was not meant to be. In a series of unforeseen comical errors, we missed entry into an attraction that we couldn’t reschedule, combined with a quick (and very poorly researched) hotel booking, we found ourselves at an extremely isolated hotel 15 km from Krakow centre. Driving into Krakow Old Town didn’t seem like a good idea and parking was seemingly impossible, so our “bargain” hotel became expensive as we paid £10 in taxis to and from the hotel. Our modest weekend jaunt ended up costing us A LOT more than it should have.
Lesson learnt: Take the time to fully research locations and distances.
11. Discover London
Our adopted hometown of London continues to make a regular feature in our to-do lists throughout the year.
My after-work life can be a busy one. I took a cruises along the Thames where I took this image, which made my top 9 Instagrams for 2016. This plus more than a dozen hotel and restaurant launches over the year, from budget to ultra luxurious, I’m always keen to be at the front of the latest developments in the tourism industry in the city.
A perennial favourite which will remain a feature in 2017 is the monthly adult-only sessions at the Science Museum. Alcoholic beverages in hand, we love nothing more than strolling the impressive five floors of the South Kensington museum, with its hands-on activities and experiencing the latest exhibitions which centres on a different theme every month: from space to climate change, from big data to childhood. Best of all? It’s free!
Occasionally interesting opportunities cross our paths. A special late opening of St Paul’s Cathedral was one such opportunity. Ordinarily, access to St Paul’s is strictly ticketed and no photography allowed. On this occasion, we were allowed unrestricted access to the cathedral and also to take photos inside.
With more countless numbers of galleries in the city, it was in 2016 that we opened our eyes to the art on the streets of London. Exploring the blossoming street art scene throughout the city. The alternative Camden to the hip streets of Shoreditch, expressionism is alive and well in London.
12. Lithuania’s Dark history – Ninth Fort, KGB Museum, Paneriai Memorial
Lithuania is a beautiful country with amazing scenery and really lovely people but its history is disturbingly complex and absolutely necessary to learn about during a visit.
Lithuania, like its neighbours Latvia and Estonia, suffered through horrific occupations by the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and once again by the Soviet Union (lasting until 1991). It wasn’t until we visited in April that we really began to understand what happened during these occupations and how it impacted the people of the Baltic countries.
With visits to some sites of Holocaust mass murder such as the Ninth Fort just outside Kaunas, KGB museum and Paneriai Memorial near Vilnius, they’re not easy places to visit but that’s precisely why you need to go.
13. Nuclear missile silo
You know that we like to venture off the beaten path during our travels and a visit to a former Soviet Union underground nuclear missile silo certainly falls under that category.
On a rough deserted dirt road, seemingly miles away from civilisation lies the (former) Plokstine Missile Base, now Cold War Museum. Here we had the chance to explore a virtually deserted nuclear base and all about the destructive capabilities of the nuclear warheads which once were housed underground.
Highlight: Definitely taking a selfie at the top of the missile silo, just under the concrete dome
14. Poland
Interestingly, in 2016, Lonely Planet’s listed it’s Top 10 countries for 2016. Number 7 on that list was Poland.
After a really interesting weekend trip to Gdansk in February, I returned home to tell Russ, we should return to Poland for a thorough visit. Little did I know at the time that we would return three times throughout the year. There are many destinations we want to visit throughout the world, so for us to return 3 times in 12 months really says something about the destination.
Our Polish travels took us to Gdansk, Katowice, Poznan twice, Krakow twice and Warsaw.
15. Friendsfest
Could we BE anymore excited to go to Friendsfest 2016? No, no we couldn’t!
We’ve been Friends fans since we were teenagers (yes we’ve seen every episode more times than we’d like to admit…) so the opportunity to visit Friendsfest was one we weren’t going to miss!
Friendsfest was a recreation, and celebration of, all things Friends-related; from Central Perk, to Monica and Rachel’s apartment, to Joey and Chandler’s apartment (complete with canoe), to Phoebe’s grandmother’s taxi cab, to the Little White Chapel that Rachel and Ross drunkenly tied the knot, to the famous sofa and umbrellas in the show’s opening credits.
Sure it’s not for everyone and yes we’re showing our age but we don’t care. It was AMAZING! We spent all night quoting Friends lines and reminiscing about all those special moments;
Do you remember the episode where…..
16. Building the Blog
This blog remains an extension of ourselves and our lives. We tell our stories and spill our travel secrets with you, our beloved readers, but it doesn’t come without work. While it may seem as though we use our annual leave to jet set around the globe, there is a portion of it that goes solely towards development of this site. That’s where travel blogging conferences come in.
I took time out to attend both Traverse in Cardiff Wales, and TBEX in Stockholm Sweden in 2016. It was there I attended networking, seminars and sessions all in the hope of improving the experience YOU have here.
Sure, along the way I have a great time, I reconnect with many people I know online or have some great experiences, like white water rafting in frigid temps in Cardiff. But that’s all a part of the experience. I can assure you there will be more of these in 2017.
Without critique, how can we possibly grow?
So with that in mind, where would you like to see us go in 2017?
What a year you two had! Even with the not-so-great housesitting situations, I’d chalk 2016 up as a win. 🙂 Like you, I’m drawn to historical sites on my travels, even if experiencing them can be difficult (as with the places you visited in Lithuania and Germany). We went to Luxembourg recently and were able to see where my great uncle (who fought and died in WWII) was buried in a American cemetery there: no one in our family had ever made it to pay their respects to him in over 70 years. He died before my mom was born, so I didn’t know him, but the experience we had there among those thousands of graves was incredibly moving and a stark reminder of what so many people went through to win the war. On a lighter note, I love that you went to the Friendsfest! I think that would be SO much fun! I’m looking forward to seeing what 2017 brings you! 🙂
Thanks so much, Natalie!
That’s so great that you were able to visit the American cemetery in Luxembourg and pay respects to your great-uncle, that must have been such a personal and emotional visit. It must have really made the visit worthwhile.
I love being able to connect with history during our travels, just serves as a reminder that it’s such a big wide world out there.