This post may contain affiliate links to things like tours, hotels, Amazon associates and products. These help me earn a small commission at no additional charge to you.
This is my 10th blogging year in review! I can’t believe I’ve been travelling and writing this blog for a decade now.
To be honest, I hoped I’d be feeling more celebratory but there have been changes in the internet world and most of us with websites have suffered huge losses in traffic and income in 2024.
So that’s been difficult. But let’s start with something more positive…
2024 travel round-up
January to April – living in Mexico
I began the year in Mexico, where I’ve lived for the last year and a half since the end of 2022.
I knew this period would be the calm before the storm so I mainly just had downtime in my base of Mexico City, seeing friends, eating my favourite foods and getting ready to move out of the apartment where I’d been living with my besties and their dogs. This was sad but necessary so I can travel more without paying double accommodation!
However, being me, I took two trips between January and April: a weekend in La Paz, Baja California as a birthday treat to myself to swim with whale sharks and see Grey Whales during a boat trip.
In February, I also took a week-long trip to a couple of places high on my Mexico bucket list: Palenque (Mayan ruins and waterfalls in Chiapas state) and Merida and Campeche (pretty, cultural cities on the Yucatán Peninsular with options for day trips to ruins and cenotes).
On my last weekend, I had a wedding of a dear friend (also from England but who I met living here) and her Mexican husband. I’m glad I got to experience a Mexican wedding!
April to June – travelling South America!
Much as I’ve loved living in Mexico, I reflected that staying still isn’t what I want right now. After crazy 2022 when I was letting off steam after staying still in the pandemic, I needed some downtime and stability in one place.
But now I’ve had that while living in Mexico throughout 2023, I’m keen to keep visiting new places. Travelling and experiencing new cultures really is what makes me tick!
So this year I spent just under 3 months travelling South America from Santiago (Chile) to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) mainly by land, stopping in Argentina and Uruguay.
Highlights
Patagonia (Chile and Argentina): the destination of a lifetime! From Puerto Natales in Chile, I did the amazing Torres Base hike and from El Chalten in Argentina, I did the comparably difficult trek to see Fitz Roy over the lake. I also loved seeing Perito Moreno glacier on the Arg side.
Atacama Desert (Chile): the desert was otherworldly and incredible. One of the best places I’ve been! I loved floating in a salty lagoon surrounded by miles of sand, stargazing at nebulas light years away, walking on salt flats, and seeing exploding geysers.
Northern Argentina: the states of Jujuy and Salta exceeded my expectations so much! I loved the colourful mountains in Jujuy and the wine region of Cafayate (and Mendoza wine region further south). Read more in my Argentina blogs.
Buenos Aires: within a day, I decided this is one of all-time favorite cities! I loved the cool neighbourhoods, architecture and culture, green spaces, good food and sublime cafe scene. 10/10 could live here… but maybe not in winter!
Rio: I didn’t have that ‘I want to live here’ feeling of BA (and it’s not the safest place) but I loved Rio because it’s so iconic. Watching sunset over Copacabana, seeing Christ the Redeemer up close and riding the cable car up Sugarloaf Mountain are core memories.
Iguazu Falls: a wonder of the world and for good reason. I was mesmerized and could barely tear myself away! I saw them from the Argentina and Brazil sides before getting a $2 bus across the border.
Low lights
Getting my phone stolen in Santiago: it was snatched out of my hand while checking directions on the street; I think the guy had been tailing me for a while. I had to splash out on a new one and it made me feel jumpy in Chilean cities where crime seems high.
Leaving my hostel due to a cat: this is ridiculous for the world’s biggest cat lover! I kept shutting it out of my room and it continually got back in and jumped on my head every 10 minutes throughout the night. The next day, I left for a new hostel even though I couldn’t get my money back for the upcoming night!
Crying cycling in the desert: the hostel in Atacama told me and some guys that it was an easy bike ride to the lagoon… Maybe for them! I held everyone back as I got so hot and tired cycling on sand. I ended up crying and hitchhiking back with an elderly German tourist. Thank god for him! But generally, how embarrassing.
July to August – summer in the UK
I reflected this year that I want to visit the UK and see old friends and family more. When I arrived home this summer, I had been away for 1 year and 3 months, not having seen anyone in that time.
It was too long! Now I’m no longer paying rent in another country, I have more flexibility to come home for long periods.
I had a ‘healthy girl summer’ going to the gym, eating well, and spending time with loved ones. However, being me of course I took a few trips: Manchester to stay with my sister, London to stay with my cousin, and York and Bristol to catch up with Uni friends.
I also went on a cheap break to Malta (a new country for me) for a cat-sitting opportunity!
September – Belgium and Turkey
Retuning to the UK allowed me to visit a few nearby places that had been on my bucket list forever but are too far away when living in Mexico.
I was planning my solo trip to Turkey when I saw cheap deals on the Eurostar from London to Brussels, so I decided to tag on a weekend in Belgium before flying to Istanbul.
I liked Belgium (especially the waffles, fries and beer) but I LOVED Turkey. It’s culturally different despite only being a 3-hour flight from the UK. My highlights were
- Everything about Istanbul! My spirit city
- Taking a balloon ride above Cappadocia
- Visiting the lesser-visited wine region of Şirince, a beautiful and peaceful town slightly off the tourist track
- Marvelling over the incredible ‘cotton castle’ of Pamukkale, a unique white formation made of calcium deposits
- All the food! Turkish breakfasts are the best I’ve ever had… Oh, and the desserts!
October to December – back to base in Mexico
After the summer, I headed back to Mexico. It was never my intention to stay in the UK after it got cold. My plan was to travel next to Central America, and Mexico is kinda on the way. I love Mexico City and have friends there so it was great to be back for a while because, after this, I don’t know when I’ll return.
For Dia de Muertos, I went with friends to Patzuarro, a town in Michoacan state where the unique holiday apparently originated. We caught a boat to Janitizo island at night for the festivities, and we also hiked the world’s youngest volcano, Paricutin, during a day trip.
Other than that, I stayed in Mexico City and worked between October and December before…
Mid-December on – backpacking Central America!
I’m back on the road! After getting a taste for Central America in 2023 when I spent a month in Belize and Guatemala, I was keen to return and see the rest.
I’ve returned to Antigua, Guatemala to do a Spanish school that I hadn’t had time for on the last trip and now I’m setting off to…
- El Salvador
- Honduras (update – not anymore because they just closed visas to Brits!)
- Nicaragua
- Costa Rica
- Panama
- San Blas island boat trip ending in Colombia
I haven’t planned further ahead but I’d love to get back to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia (where I went on my first ever travelling trip aged 19) and even Brazil because even though I only went last year, it’s so vast and there’s way more to see.
But I haven’t backpacked for this long in 10 years so I’ll have to see how my energy holds up!
Work and career
So given the loss of traffic due to changes in the blogging industry, I lost about 50% of my income this year. That’s been difficult and frustrating for obvious reasons.
There’s still a lot to be thankful for. In the years immediately after the pandemic, my traffic and income went through the roof (due to how hard I worked on my blog during the pandemic). I was saving most of my money, having never earned that much before.
So despite the losses, I’m lucky to still have enough coming in to live and travel on, I have good savings, and I may just need to regroup slightly on blogging and income. Most of us travel bloggers are in the same boat.
I guess things can’t stay the same forever even if we want them to!
On the plus side, my new Mexico website I started last year is now monetized with ads and affiliates. The only problem is I’m not sure when I’ll be back in Mexico so it’ll be interesting to see how I can continue to run it whilst away…
Another upside of a huge income drop is that I’ve got more into pet-sitting! I did two in Mexico last month and got to stay in some lovely apartments for free for weeks at a time. Check out Trusted Housesitters if you’re interested in doing it, too.
That’s quite enough rambling!
2025 is going to be one of the biggest years for travel yet. I’m slightly overwhelmed by it all but grateful and excited, too. I’ll tell you all about it in next year’s round-up. In the meantime, follow my Instagram for daily doses.
Read my past yearly round-ups.
