2018 Year in Review: the Good and the Bad | Tripsget Travel Blog

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It’s the end of December 2018, and it’s time for a review of this year. While this year is technically not over yet, I don’t have any trips planned anymore, so it’s time to sum the end up. It’s the first time I’m doing a yearly recap, not sure why I haven’t done any before? There must have been a reason, right? I was usually writing posts on blogging anniversaries, e.g. 1st year of blogging – the mistakes I learnt and same on the second blog anniversary, however, nothing about my personal life and there has been a lot this year.

Highlights of 2018. Three dream destinations crossed out from My Travel Bucket List

2018 was the year of travel. Finally, I had a full-time job that paid pretty well. Finally, I could spend a fortune on my trips. Finally, I could afford to stay in bucket list-worthy hotels from time to time. I bought a camera I was dreaming of for years – Sony Alpha – the most recent Sony A7 III. I even managed to buy a great lens (Sony FE 85mm 1.8) in Japan. My laptop died – I was able to buy myself a new MacBook Pro. I was almost well off, ready to buy myself new clothes every month (affordable clothes from ASOS, but still) and pay for nearly all the trips.

The White House in Jersey 2018 Year in Review: the Good and the Bad | Tripsget Travel Blog

And oh my, there were many trips in 2018.

In January, we went to Marseille, France and spent there a wonderful warm weekend.

In February, there was Luxembourg that we witnessed in the unusual snowy condition and our friend’s sister’s wedding in India. Despite being experienced travellers, we got scammed so many times in India, so this post about the scams in India was born.

Dreamy Luxembourg castle

In March, we went to Geneva, and I had a business trip to Hamburg, the city I was afraid of since I was 15 (I never wanted to come back). In the middle of the month, we went to Capadoccia and Istanbul, had a very crowded hot air balloon flight and witnessed the entire Istanbul being renovated 😀

 Tripsget Blog Year 2018 in ReviewA guide to flying in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia: all you need to know

In April, I received the worst gift from Pepe for my B-day – tickets for the concert we couldn’t attend because we booked flights for these dates before, but he didn’t remember. LOL, what do you know about bad gifts?) But I also went to Seattle for a business trip, and at the end of April, we went to Paris for a weekend to hunt for the most Instagrammable places in Paris.

 Tripsget Blog Year 2018 in Review  Most Instagrammable places in Paris that you need to visit

May… well, May was terrific. One of my bucket list destinations, the Maldives, was planned for the first bank holiday in May and we spent five most amazing dreamy days in a 5* resort in the Maldives. At the end of the month, we headed to Moldova and the Pridnestrovje – Transnistria – a country that is not recognised by anyone.

 Tripsget Blog Year 2018 in Review  How much is a holiday in Maldives? Cost of a holiday in the Maldives

In June, we went to Stockholm for a weekend and later to Moscow and St. Petersburg for the World Cup (it was awesome).

In July, we took a small break and only went to Lignano Sabbiadoro in Italy.

Lignano Sabbiadoro Italy

In August, we had two fantastic press trips planned – to York and Bristol, and I loved both cities. However, later in August, we headed to another bucket list destination – safari in Kenya and Tanzania. I was dreaming of visiting Serengeti since I was a child and I finally saw it with my own eyes! We slept in a tented camp in the middle of Serengeti, and it was the coolest experience ever.

 Tripsget Blog Year 20 18 in Review Our African journey: 7-day Safari in Kenya and Tanzania. 5 parks in 7 days

In September, I went to another business trip – it involved visiting Oktoberfest in Munich and later visited my brother in Berchtesgaden, Germany. Berchtesgaden is a beautiful city in German Alps.

In October, we only had one short trip – a road trip around Northern Spain (Santander, San Sebastian and Bilbao).

In November, we made another road trip combining Andorra and Midi-Pyrenees in France and visited 5 charming villages near Toulouse and later at the end of the month, crossed our another bucket list destination – Japan and also spent a wonderful layover in Seoul, Tokyo, a place where we will return for sure.

In December, there was Poland, Jersey and Seychelles, woah. 

 Tripsget Blog Year 2018 in Review  Most Instagrammable places in Tokyo, Japan - Tokyo photo locations

I set specific targets for this blog at the beginning of the year, but I sadly didn’t achieve them.

Lowlights of 2018: Health issues, job dissatisfaction and mild depression

2018 was the year of comparing myself with the others – hence the depression. I was trying hard to be the best at everything – travelling as much as I can, blogging a lot, working full-time, but I just realised that I couldn’t do it all well – I don’t have enough energy.

There were people I know that archived milestones in the projects they were working on: from blogs to high positions at work, however, I just felt like I couldn’t be good at anything. I tried to overcome this somehow, but I still get blue when I don’t achieve anything.

How expensive is Tokyo and Kyoto?

At the same time, I was experiencing some health issues, and I had to fly to my hometown 3 times to place dental implants that cost me £4,000. I couldn’t have gone to Australia or saved this money to buy a flat at some point, but my teeth told me otherwise.

Finally, I didn’t achieve most of the targets I set for myself in 2018 (weight loss, doubling the page views on this blog and more), so that just added the extra bitterness to the year.

How much is a holiday in Maldives? Cost of a holiday in the Maldives

Summary and the goals for the next year

In 2019, I promise not to be that harsh at myself for not achieving something. Working full-time, commuting, running a blog, Instagram and a demanding Youtube channel surely can’t be easy. I will set the goal to grow this blog to 40K page views a month and double my affiliate income.

I will improve my video-editing skills. I love shooting videos, and I hope to dedicate more time to it next year!

I will eat healthier, and I will go to small group PT classes. I will also actively fight my cellulite.

I will try to be more environmentally friendly, and I will eat less meat.

I will eat LESS sugar.

And finally, I would love to visit 15 new countries next year (and 2 new continents), let’s see how it goes. What are your achievements this year: 2018 year in revie? What are your goals for the next year?

2 thoughts on “2018 Year in Review: the Good and the Bad | Tripsget Travel Blog”

  1. Love this post. Thanks for opening up and sharing your success and failures. I think you’ve done wonderfully and shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You have so much to feel proud of. 🙂

    Reply

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