Many in the blog world are writing summaries of 2015 now. As you know, we travelled throughout the year - with our motorhome around Europe. We're not going to write a long summary, but we'll take the opportunity to highlight some of the highlights of our 2015 travelling year and show our most liked pictures on Instagram.
Travelling Europe on the map
Here is a map image that roughly shows our motorhome journey around Europe. We started by driving at a fast pace down to the west coast of France and then slowed down and followed the coast of Europe at a leisurely pace. We also went around the islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily.
Highlights of the 2015 European trip
We left Sweden on 1 December 2014 and didn't return until the end of November 2015. During this time, we mainly had time to look around the country. France, Portugal, Spain, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Italy, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Croatia.
A lot of people ask for 'highlights' and 'best countries', which is incredibly difficult to answer because most countries have different things to offer and are good in different ways. But we'll try to come up with some awards:
- Best destinations: Corsica
- Most beautiful beaches: Corsica & Sardinia
- Most beautiful nature: Corsica & Croatia
- Best food: France
- Most friendly people: France, Albania & Macedonia
- Cheapest: Albania & Macedonia
Most liked Instagram photos in 2015
Instagram has a feature that allows you to see the 9 most liked Instagram photos of the year. Here you see ours! There is an emphasis on the latter part of the year, which is probably related to the fact that we have gained more followers during the year.
Thank you to everyone who follows and likes on Instagram! Please take a look at our Instagram account (where Peter posts pictures) you too, if you don't already do so. Now we want to wish all readers a Happy New Year!
Monet says:
Happy New Year to you too, from Provemce. And many thanks for the fantastic travelogue! We are especially happy that we could recommend you the pearls of Brittany and also the Gorges du Verdon! Nice to see that you also experience the friendliness of the French. Many people have the idea that they are a snotty people but that is certainly not the case and we are glad that you appreciated both food, people and nature in this fantastic country where your favourite Corsica belongs!
31 December 2015 - 11:04
Ama de casa says:
Yes, what a fantastic year you have had, and it has been super nice to follow you on that journey here on the blog 🙂.
Have a Happy New Year!
Hugs
31 December 2015 - 11:45
Imelda says:
Thanks for the inspiration during the year and a great blog. Wishing you a great ending and an equally fantastic new year 2016!
31 December 2015 - 12:05
Krisztina says:
Happy New Year!!! ??
31 December 2015 - 12:12
Travelling happiness says:
What a year of travelling you have had! It's been so much fun following you on the road.
Happy new (travel) year to you! 🙂
31 December 2015 - 12:29
Mr Steve says:
What a fantastic year you have had! Which you also invited me and your other readers to. Thank you for that!
Interesting about your "best list".
Happy New Year!
31 December 2015 - 11:31
Åsa says:
What a mix of best-loved images! Did you get my email by the way? PS. I think you met too few Portuguese! 😉 Happy New Year!
31 December 2015 - 13:01
Hamaca travel blog says:
Exciting to see your entire itinerary on the map! You have really experienced large parts of the European coast! I think I have to write down both Corsica and Sardinia on my bucket list now! It just looks absolutely beautiful!
Thank you for the great inspiration and great trip to Riga together! Have a great new year in the houseboat! =)
31 December 2015 - 13:04
Fantasy travel says:
Wow, what a year you had! Got really hungry for Corsica now. Happy new year to you!
31 December 2015 - 13:48
Lennart says:
HAPPY NEW YEAR
31 December 2015 - 13:52
Anki says:
Wonderful trip and many nice travel stories in the meantime... I think I read most of the posts and am so impressed by your long journey 🙂.
Yes... that's what they are called... bomb murmurs and are one of the only four or five species of mushrooms that are protected in our country. 🙂
Wishing you a wonderful New Year's Eve and a Happy New Year!
31 December 2015 - 14:02
BP says:
It was really a great 2015 for you and us who got to join you on the adventure. Hope you plan more trips in 2016. Always fun to get to know new countries:-)
Thank you for the past year. And I wish you a very happy ending and a great new one!
31 December 2015 - 13:18
Across the board says:
We wish you a Happy New Year 2016!
Hugs
31 December 2015 - 14:31
admin says:
Many THANKS for all the great New Year's greetings!!! We wish everyone a Happy New Year again!
Monet, those were great tips we got from you that we really appreciated! Some places we probably would have found anyway, but others we definitely would have missed without your tips (Baux de Provence for example!). Yes, we enjoyed France very much and found the French to be incredibly friendly, even though we are bad at French (I can cough up a few sentences and words if necessary but that's all). We have also heard that they are snotty, but they were not at all! Many thanks again for your tips while travelling!
Ama de casa, it's so nice that you have wanted to follow along during the year - and that you have left all your comments! You are a master at seeing things from a different perspective 😉.
Imelda, how nice that we have been able to inspire with our blog! We wish you the same!
Reiselykke, how nice to hear that you enjoyed the trip!
Åsa, I have received the email! Thank you very much! Sorry I haven't answered yet, there is a little too much on the pile in the inbox 😉 We probably did not meet a lot of Portuguese people really. The ones we met were really nice though! We liked Portugal a lot, yet it did not come the highest on any of these points, but it is tough competition 😉.
Hamaca travel blog, Corsica and Sardinia are really worth visiting! Thanks for taking us to Riga, it was a great trip!
BP, of course we are planning new trips! If you are looking at a computer or iPad (not a phone), you can see "Ongoing" in the right-hand column of the blog. This is where we enter upcoming and planned trips.
Fantasiresor, Corsica we can highly recommend!!!
Anki, how nice to hear that you followed our journey! Interesting with the bomb squirrels. You always learn something new! 🙂
31 December 2015 - 14:33
Nilla says:
Happy New Year to you too ????
31 December 2015 - 15:20
Role o Carina says:
It has been really wonderful to travel with you! 🙂
Happy end of 2015 and a very Happy New Year 2016
31 December 2015 - 15:23
Annika says:
Yes, what a year you had! Absolutely unique!
I also want to thank you for all the nice blog posts during the year, it has been fun to read about your journey.
Now I wish you a Happy New Year!!!
31 December 2015 - 16:37
admin says:
Many THANKS for even more great New Year greetings!
Rolle and Carina, what fun that you think so and fun that you wanted to "follow along"!
Maria Nycander, we do! 🙂
Annika, glad to hear you enjoyed our blog posts! That's so warm to hear! 🙂
31 December 2015 - 16:37
Maria Nycander says:
What a year you have had! Happy new year and see you in the travel blog world during the year =)
31 December 2015 - 16:06
Ditte says:
Thank you for this year and I have been on your year-long journey and enjoyed the graceful text and all the nice pictures. Funny that you had eKorsica as the best destination in Europe and I completely agree after the countries and places I have visited so far and as for beaches in Europe, I also think Corsica and Sardinia. Corsica's nature I am also very fond of but would share my place there with southern Switzerland.
Great pictures from Instagram and it's nice that the most popular ones were so varied.
I would like to wish you a Happy New Year, which will surely be an exciting year of travelling.
31 December 2015 - 17:21
Lanclin says:
I actually wrote down Corsica on my wish list for the future already when you were there and blogged about the beaches and the sea 🙂 But the highlight of the year must still be the lussebullsfikat at my home? Ha ha! 🙂
Good news from us in Bavaria!
31 December 2015 - 18:05
Anita Malta says:
What an absolutely fantastic trip you have made and so many beautiful, exciting places you have visited. Can believe that there is a multitude of valuable memories to bring out and look back now as well as later in life 🙂 .
Haha... I thought you were travelling around Europe with your houseboat 😉 Now, unfortunately, I have not followed you at all as I have not "found here" until now! Will for sure check in here again to go back to your trip and read your new posts about life on a houseboat in the beautiful main city 🙂.
Wishing you a very Happy New Year from Malta !!!
31 December 2015 - 19:27
Matts Torebring says:
Make that journey again, whoever can. We wish you a very Happy New Year.
31 December 2015 - 22:41
Mrs Anne-Marie says:
What a fantastic year you have had and 2016 seems to be filled with a lot of nice things too. 🙂
Happy New Year to you!
31 December 2015 - 23:38
admin says:
THANK YOU for even more New Year greetings!!!
Ditte, it has been so much fun to "have you along" on our trip! Glad that you also like Corsica and Sardinia! Switzerland we can write on our Bucket list! 🙂
Lanclin, glad to hear that Corsica is on your "list" now - the island is really worth a visit! And haha, the lussebullsfikan was great! There were many highlights on the trip 🙂
Anita Malta, I understand that it is easy to think that we travelled around in a boat when we live in a boat! Now we have no boat you can drive, but we think the combo houseboat + motorhome is great! 🙂 And you are so welcome to our blog now! There will be both houseboat life and travel and other things!
01 January 2016 - 10:00
Anders and Birgitta says:
Yes, Corsica is a favourite, we have never been there. We wish you a Happy New Year!
01 January 2016 - 12:11
ActiveDays-Camilla says:
You have really had an eventful year 🙂 All the best for the new year, it will be interesting to see what you come up with 🙂 .
01 January 2016 - 20:35
Clara Edvinsson says:
How exciting! What a lot you must have been through during that time. Cool!
02 January 2016 - 21:22
admin says:
Anders and Birgitta, we can highly recommend Corsica! Happy New Year!
Active Days-Camilla, it has been a very exciting year! We hope and believe that there will be many trips in 2016 as well! 🙂
Clara Edvinsson, it has been a great experience! Thank you for your comment!
02 January 2016 - 23:07
Katta - Bucketlife says:
Wow, what a year! Getting very hungry for Corsica now, have wondered about going there several times, but then we have chosen something else. Looks incredibly beautiful and when famous experts like you have it as a favourite, it's just to pack and go!
03 January 2016 - 12:56
solan says:
Yes, it was great fun and interesting to ride with you all year. You are inspiring, never afraid of problems, in short the right stuff! Have a good 2016. We've been nesting on the Riviera for almost four weeks now, and I agree with you, the French are pleasant in every way. And tasty, we live near a Geant Casino, mamma mia so many good things to buy, cook and eat 🙂.
03 January 2016 - 18:04
Elin Nyqvist says:
Just found your blog, which I'm glad about, it's great!
Looks like you've had an exciting year. I really like the idea of posting the nine most liked Instagram photos. How did you manage that? I tried but without success 🙂 .
I look forward to following you here on the blog!
03 January 2016 - 18:12
Maria says:
Corsica seems so lovely! 🙂 Unfortunately I didn't find the function with 9 most liked pictures.
03 January 2016 - 19:41
admin says:
Katta - Bucketlife, we highly recommend Corsica! Go! 🙂 We have collected our best Corsica tips here: http://www.freedomtravel.se/restips/korsika/
Solan, problems are just small obstacles on the road that you have to get past 😉 The French Riviera sounds great, and nice to hear that you also experience the French as nice 🙂 The food is a little bit jealous, but luckily we find a lot of goodies in Sweden as well. Where on the Riviera are you?
Elin, so glad to hear you like our blog! You can make your best 9 on Instagram at this link: 2015bestnine.com
03 January 2016 - 19:36
Solan says:
Hello again, we are at L´Hippodrome, a good little campsite in Villenuve-Loubet Plage. 13 km south of Nice, cycle track along the sea to there. We have friends here who nest in houses/studios. Five minutes to a nice beach. But on Wednesday we leave for Spain. As I said, a change of clothes is good...
03 January 2016 - 23:51
admin says:
Maria, the feature is available at this link: 2015bestnine.com
03 January 2016 - 22:54
Marianne - Glimpses of the world says:
I have not followed you during the first part of the long journey, but from what I have read it seems like you have had a great year! It must be quite an experience to travel around that way for so long 🙂 Happy New Year!
04 January 2016 - 19:50
admin says:
Solan, that sounds great! I think we actually went to that campsite and intended to stay there before taking the ferry from Nice to Corsica, but they couldn't let us out early in the morning (to get to the ferry) so we couldn't stay there. Sure is nice to have a little change sometimes! Wishing a nice trip to Spain! 🙂
Marianne, it has been a fantastic experience! Best wishes for the new year!
05 January 2016 - 6:02
Ann-Charlotte - The World is Waiting says:
What a year! Gets really inspired! Great blog, looking forward to following you in the future! Happy New 2016!
07 January 2016 - 15:19