As 2022 attracts to an finish, it’s been a reasonably rollercoaster type of yr after being grounded via 2020 and 2021. It truly is a type of years that concurrently feels very lengthy and brief . So what’s been taking place with The Occasional Traveller? It’s all the time enjoyable to have a look again on the previous 12 months simply to see what precisely occurred.
Whole variety of days travelled in 2022: 29
Wow it’s been a very long time since I’ve been capable of sort that. 2022 was the yr I resumed journey once more and made full use of all these depart days, managing nearly a month’s price of journey abroad with !
- Spain: 13 days
- Tioman: 4 days
- Jeju: 12 days
Whole locations visited: 3
Whereas I didn’t go to any new international locations, I did cowl some new cities in addition to revisit some outdated locations from earlier than.
Spain: Seville, Cadiz, Cordoba, Barcelona
In 2021 I nonetheless wasn’t fairly positive whether or not journey was on the playing cards, however as my birthday in March drew nearer, that urge to fly acquired even larger so when good flight costs for Europe began popping up, that’s after I knew I needed to scratch that journey itch and restart these birthday journeys. I wrote a reasonably detailed publish on why I made a decision on Spain and what journey was like again then when each Singapore and Spain had been kinda within the transition in direction of post-COVID guidelines.
This journey was a mixture of outdated and new as I headed again to the Andalusia area which I final visited in 2008.
Revisiting Seville, a metropolis I final noticed manner again in 2007. Spent my birthday weekend on this metropolis consuming a complete lot of tapas, appreciating Moorish structure and simply getting used to not having to put on a masks outside.
Learn my Seville information right here.
Subsequent cease was seaside city Cadiz, a cute little outdated city that I explored fairly totally on foot. Spain’s coastal cities are all the time so fairly, and Cadiz outdated city was an actual good mixture of tradition, historical past and extra nice meals.
See my information to Cadiz right here.
Final cease in Andalusia was Cordoba – principally so I might lastly see the enduring purple and white arches of the Mezquita-Cathedral. I cherished how completely different the vibes had been for all of the cities that I visited in Andalusia and I had some fairly good meals right here too.
See my Cordoba information for extra.
I didn’t get round to running a blog about it a lot, however within the few days I spent in Barcelona I principally revisited La Sagrada Familia, checked out the remaining Gaudi locations I hadn’t visited but like Casa Vicens and Palau Guell in addition to indulged in my love for road artwork by discovering some odd spots to go to and even assembly an artist or two! It was fairly low key however superior. Additionally didn’t get robbed which is all the time a plus, woot.
Malaysia: Tioman
2022 was additionally the yr that tourism restarted once more and I acquired my first press invite as much as the Berjaya Tioman Resort! Now Tioman is a spot I solely dived at earlier than so getting to remain in a elaborate resort and correctly discover the island was fairly cool – I invited my good friend Y with me and we hiked, dived and even cycled as we loved this lovely seaside resort. Getting there from Singapore is a nonetheless an actual ache within the ass, and watch out for sandflies! That was an itchy aftermath…
See my Berjaya Tioman Resort assessment. Biking information from Tekek to ABC coming quickly!
South Korea: Jeju + Seoul
My last large journey for the yr was once more influenced by flight costs – Scoot had simply launched a direct to Jeju flight and I managed to snag an ideal spherical journey promo deal! I made a decision to go there in late September/early October for autumn however nonetheless managed to catch the final bits of summer time simply as issues had been cooling down.
My introduction to Jeju was a tad gloomy, however I did see some beautiful climate and sunsets alongside the northwestern coast the place I stayed close to Aewol and Hallim. Plenty of cute little cafes and climbing as I bused and taxi-ed my manner round Jeju solo!
See my information to Northwest Jeju masking Aewol and Hallim together with the island of Biyangdo.
From the northwest, I headed down south to Seogwipo Metropolis and explored the sights right here. I really meant to do some scuba diving right here however due to climate plans and me being lazy, I made a decision to simply wander round on my whims, however a number of beautiful coastal sights down right here – that’s the subsequent publish developing.
Subsequent cease was the east, and I actually would have spent a bit extra time right here if not for the shitty climate and Seongsan closures that threw my plans off a bit. I pushed ahead my plan to go to Seongsan Ilchulbong by a day in order to not go to throughout dangerous climate, nevertheless it ended up being closed!? Nonetheless I ended up making a random new good friend whereas consuming haenyeo caught shellfish and visited Seopjikoji too.
Am engaged on a Seongsan-Seopjikoji publish, however within the meantime try my information to the island of Udo.
And at last I popped into Seoul only for a bit to do some buying, revisit some outdated favorite spots and go to a Korean good friend who confirmed me her neighbourhood and handled me to dinner at her home. I actually admire with the ability to reconnect with journey buddies that I met on the highway!
Altering journey types
It had been over 2 years since I travelled so I positively wanted a while to get again into the groove of journey.
Packing was one thing I might do in half an hour or so as a result of most of my journey gear was arrange and able to go. Now I needed to recall the place I had stashed the journey sized objects advert determine what I actually wanted to pack. I positively overpacked on my journeys – I’m hoping to begin streamlining my baggage extra in future!
One other large change is that whereas I’m nonetheless completely happy to go solo, I’ve began to fork out extra for personal rooms and bogs. Previously I often saved on journey prices by staying in shared dormitories with shared bogs. With COVID nonetheless going round, I opted to remain in personal rooms in 2022, and I’m positively appreciating the privateness. Sure it’s more durable to make buddies casually in a closed off setting, however perhaps it’s a age factor, it’s kinda good to simply sprawl out with no care on the finish of the day.
Journey in 2023
So what’s up for the brand new yr? Journey positively appears to be like prefer it’s coming again correctly although flight costs nonetheless aren’t as aggressive as they was in my view. Some potential journeys deliberate for 2023 thus far embrace heading as much as Taiwan for his or her lantern pageant, and perhaps a return to Hua Hin in Thailand if these plans pan out. Aside from that, I haven’t made any agency plans as but. Ought to I do one thing epic this yr?
What are your journey plans for 2023? You may try my outdated spherical ups if you wish to see what my previous travels had been like.