2021: A Year of Travel
Another year of travel has come to an end and I wanted to revisit all the places I’ve had the opportunity to go to this year. I don’t travel just to count countries or show off that I’ve been to lots of places, I do learn a lot from each trip. Sometimes it’s more about the culture, food, and people of the place I’m visiting and other times I learn things about myself. Writing out the list of where I went to this year had me remembering what I learned this year, so I thought I’d share with you.
January started with a trip to Ithaca, NY. I had been in the US because I had visited my family for the holidays. My sister, her boyfriend and I took a road trip from NJ to upstate New York for a few days. We knew it was going to be cold but we wanted to go see the Finger Lakes and the many waterfalls that make up the region. In total we saw about 6 waterfalls. After our trip, we headed back to NJ where I stayed for a few days before heading back home to Barcelona, Spain.
February was spent only in Barcelona. I started a new master’s program and was focusing on my life there so I actually didn’t travel anywhere else. Barcelona is still my new home so there’s lots to explore and get to know here. I spent the time finding new gems.
March started off how I expected, still in Barcelona because of my program. At the time, classes were online because of the pandemic but we were supposed to be going back in person after Easter. In March I got a letter saying that my visa was denied. I was devastated so I met with a lawyer who really didn’t give me too much confidence. I decided I would go back to the US to get a new visa. So back I went, unexpectedly, to New Jersey. I ended up staying 6 weeks so of course I went to New York a couple of times.
April was pretty busy for US domestic travel. My sister and I decided to do a roadtrip from New Jersey down to Tennessee. Our first stop was Washington DC to see some cherry blossoms and spring displays around the city. We have family that lives here so our cousin and her boyfriend took us around to all the spots we wanted to see. From here we heard down through Virginia into North Carolina where we visited the Great Smoky Mountains. The views were incredible! First time using the drone, but it was crazy windy so we didn’t use it for long. The next couple days consisted of exploring different parts of Tennessee: Knoxville and Nashville. So that the return trip wouldn’t be through the same places we had already passed through, we went through Kentucky and into West Virginia. Our last stop of the trip was Harpers Ferry where we did a sunset hike before returning back to New Jersey. I had to do one last visit in New York before heading back to Barcelona.
May was all about Spain, mainly Barcelona but I also visited Tortosa which is just two hours south of my home city. I wrote a blog post about what to do in Tortosa which you could check out. More posts about this city to come soon!
June was the first month this year I actually visited a new country and I did it solo! After spending some weeks in Barcelona I found a roundtrip ticket to Dublin for 12 euros round trip so I jumped on it. It was a 5 day trip and I took advantage of every minute. I visited Dublin, Cork, Cobh, and the Cliffs of Moher. It was much colder than I expected it to be so I did get a bit sick, but I did not let that ruin my trip. Blog posts and IG content to come on everything I did.
July consisted of being in 3 continents. It started off in Spain with some Mediterranean sun at the beach in Sitges and Blanes. The month mainly consisted of almost 3 weeks in Morocco for my master’s program. My group was given Casablanca, Morocco but we actually ended up visiting Marrakech, Rabat, and Tangier. Once the trip ended I made it back to New Jersey before July 28th, Peru’s Independence Day. My aunt in Bethesda used to throw huge parties for this day in her home before she passed away a few years ago. I still remember her laughing after drinking a bit too many pisco sours. This year my family just celebrated at home with a BBQ and the pool. My sister and I headed off on our third road trip of the year. Our first stop was Rehoboth Beach, Delaware followed by Ocean City, Maryland.
August started off on our east coast road trip. Our last stop being the Outer Banks, North Carolina. I woke up both days to see the sunrise which was spectacular. Once back in New Jersey, I visited New York (obviously) a couple more times to see friends. The last trip of the summer was to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. This was my second new country of the year and first time ever at an all inclusive resort. I went with my best friend from college who’s been trying to travel more.
September’s first sunrise was beautifully colored right on the ocean. We visited a private island that was gorgeous. Paradise really does exist. After this it was back to New Jersey for a couple days with the family before heading back to Barcelona. The third new country of the year was Hungary. On this trip I only visited Budapest, which I absolutely loved and highly recommend.
October was back to full swing with classes and actually almost the end of my program in Barcelona. I went with a classmate and member of my group back to Marrakech, Morocco because due to visa issues, she had been unable to for the first time and of course I didn’t want her going alone.
November was when I visited new countries four and five of the year, Slovakia and Austria. I did it as a solo trip and since both capital cities are less than 2 hours from each other I decided to do it two in one. My program in Barcelona ended this month and we had a mini graduation ceremony. I ended the month heading back to Hungary, but this time to Debrecen.
December started in Debrecen before heading to Budapest. I had to cut my time in Hungary short by a week due to visa issues and head back to Barcelona. Once I sort of solved the issue, I headed back to the US for the holidays, spending time between New Jersey and New York. This year we had family visiting from Peru which was a first and I was looking forward to until I got COVID which is how I ended the year.
2021 really was a year of travel, adventures, and experiences
So many different adventures were had in this year of travel. Many ones that I didn’t expect but so glad I got to experience. Lots of level ups happened in my personal and financial life. I learned a lot about the people around me and myself. Growth was a central focus point of this year. I’m looking forward to all the new lessons to be learned, the people to meet, the adventures to be had, and the life to be lived in this new year. To wherever you may be right now, Happy New Year! May 2022 be the year you work for everything you’ve ever dreamed of doing✨.
Make sure you’re following me on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for more up to date content on where I’m at and where I’m going next. If you haven’t already, make sure you join my email list so you know about my new adventures, general travel updates, and more before anyone else!
Viaja more y live más,
