Another year of travelling is coming to an end. At least we're not planning any more trips before the New Year. So, how has this year of travelling been? It has been both intense and exciting. Let's summarise.
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Travel year 2023 for FREEDOMtravel in brief
If we summarise the travel year 2023 for us, Peter and Helena at FREEDOMtravel, we have travelled a lot. We've done several long journeys, for example spending two months in Finland and three months in the Philippines.
- Number of continents: 3 (Europe, Africa, Asia)
- Number of countries: 7 (Finland, Poland, Austria, Turkey, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Philippines)
- Number of new countries: 1 (Uzbekistan)
- Time spent travelling: 8.5 months
- Ways of travelling: Motorhome (4 months), backpacking (3 months), flight/hotel (1 month) and car/ferry/cruise (2 weeks).
So, how can we travel so much? Well, running the digital travel magazine FREEDOMtravel is our job, so we work while we travel. The campervan is a perfect office, and we work from airports, hotel rooms, tents, beaches... well, just about anywhere.
January: Austria
In January this year we travelled to Vorarlberg in Austria on a kind of frozen press trip. We were actually invited on a completely different occasion, but that time we got covid and couldn't travel. The flight tickets could be brought forward and, suddenly, we had a trip to Austria. Austria 2023: How nice it is in the Austrian Alps! Fantastic views, wonderful winter experiences and good food. Take me back please!
February - April: Philippines
The longest and most unusual trip of the year took place over three months in Philippinesbetween February and April. It was both well planned and at the same time too unplanned. We travelled together with relatively new friends. We had lots of fun plans together, and we also had many great experiences together, but at the same time we were different in many ways, and after some time we decided to split up.
We got to know many parts of the Philippines: local families, small islands, the sea with its wildlife, and beautiful places such as Malapascua, Bohol and El Nido in Palawan. Memories for life!
May: Three wooden cities
When we returned to Sweden, we took the motorhome out of winter storage and set off on the road. Our first main focus was Three wooden cities. We had a nice cooperation with them and went to visit the three cities. Eksjö, Hjo and Nora. It is recommended by the way, very nice!
June: High Coast, Åland and Tunisia
In June, we had more trips coming up, and the first one was High coast. We travelled here by motorhome and discovered lots of fantastic places such as Skuleberget, Slåttdalsskrevan and Mannaminne.
In June we also travelled with the motorhome to Åland, in collaboration with Visit Åland. Wow how beautiful Åland is! We were impressed by the nature and the historical sights, but also by all the locally produced food.
We also had time for a press trip to Tunisia, where we visited, among other things Sousse and Hammamet. Really, Tunisia is an underrated country. This historically interesting Mediterranean country has so a lot to offer!
July: Finland
We had taken the motorhome from Åland to Finlandso when we came back from Tunisia, we just had to continue our journey. No collaborations now, just a quiet self-drive motorhome trip along the Finnish coast. Oh how much we appreciated this!
During the high season in Sweden it is often crowded, but in Finland it was quiet and pleasant. We travelled at our own pace and were able to discover beautiful places such as Turku, UNESCO cities Rauma and Vaasa in Ostrobothnia. We can highly recommend Finland as a motorhome country!
August: Norrland
We had not travelled so much in Norrland in our lives, and that was a shortcoming of course. Now it would finally happen! Well, Norrland is very large, and we only managed a small part, but it is much more than nothing. We managed to see a lot in Norrbotten and Västerbotten and Ångermanland. Many nice places, lovely nature and nice people. And for some reason we all avoided mosquitoes. We simply must come back to the northern parts of Sweden!
September: Elmia exhibition in Jönköping
The month of September was all in for the fair Scandinavian Caravan Show for our part. For the first time we were involved in organising Destination Square, which is a kind of fair within a fair. Here the focus is one hundred per cent on where you're travelling, with exhibitors from different destinations, lots of speakers and prizes for Destination Sweden of the Year and European Destination of the Year.
We were partners with Elmia in organising this hall - a lot of work and a lot of fun. And yes, there will be a repeat (improved of course) in 2024!
October: Uzbekistan
I (Helena) have always dreamed of travelling to Uzbekistan and Samarkand, at least for as long as I can remember. We met the Embassy of Uzbekistan at Senior Fair in Stockholm 2023and they told us that the conference was coming up soon. UNWTO in Samarkand.
Did we want to go to Madrid, where they had a chartered plane, to cover the conference? Yes, we did! It was a very interesting and exciting week in the beautiful and historically interesting city of Madrid. Samarkand. A dream come true!
November: Poland and Istanbul
In November we made two trips abroad. The first was a car journey to Poland and southern Sweden, together with Peter's brother Micke, for meetings with a variety of partners. We then travelled on a press trip to the intense and exciting city of St. Petersburg. Istanbul, which includes fascinating history, boat trips and good food.
December: Cruise to Turku
In December we made the last trip of the year, a winter cruise to Finland with Finnline's fine ship Finnsirius. A really nice Winter weekend in Turku with Peter's brother Micke and his wife Nilla.
Travel year 2023 - that's it
When we summarise the 2023 travel year, we have to say that it was fantastic. We can also conclude that we both appreciate long-haul exotic destinations (such as the Philippines and Uzbekistan) and more intimate experiences (such as the North and Finland).
Do you have an exciting or enjoyable trip in 2023 that you would like to tell us about?
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Ditte says:
Interesting to read your nice summary. Have followed you during the year but still fun to take part of the year in a nutshell.
Have also in the past made compilations of trips but since I no longer blog (have had a break since April and the desire is not there), I have privately made a compilation for myself.
Unfortunately, my health has not been good this year, so I have not been able to leave the EU. I made an exception for London last autumn but have otherwise stayed within the Union. Very unusual to be limited, but that's how it is.
I wish you many more great journeys and today I'm happy about the 64 countries I've visited in the world so far. And in principle all continents are included except Antarctica and I will not go there. I am so grateful for all my travels and experiences.
Enjoy yourselves.
16 December 2023 - 16:25
Helena says:
Sorry about the restrictions of course! Still, it's nice that you find ways to travel that work! 64 countries is impressive! We haven't actually counted, but I think we are slightly lower. Besides Antarctica, South America is a white spot on our map, which would be fun to change at some point. Wishing you a nice December and Christmas!!!
16 December 2023 - 17:49
bmlarstravellingblog says:
What a fascinating year of travelling! One of the things you wrote about that made us interested is Finland as a motorhome country. We have only travelled from Tornio to Kilpisjärvi, Treriksröset, and Finland is a white spot on our map.
Isn't it fun to look back on the past year? We've just done a post on the first half of the year and have started part two...
We realise that while you've had a fantastic year of travel, it's also been a busy one, so we understand that it's nice to spend some time at home and catch up on life.
Have a nice weekend!
16 December 2023 - 16:45
Helena says:
Really fun if we can inspire Finland as a travel destination! Finland surprised us positively and we had a very nice trip there!!! Will check out your summaries! Wishing you a nice weekend!
16 December 2023 - 17:52
Annah says:
I travelled to Canada in September and was away for 10 days. Had 20-25 degrees warm and sunny, two days there were rain showers but those days we had no plans anyway so it didn't matter. I met my friends and explored Toronto, Niagara Falls, Hamilton, St Catharines and Niagara on the lake with them.
16 December 2023 - 16:47
Helena says:
Wow, what a wonderful and exciting trip!!! We have seen a small corner of Canada (Halifax) and would love to see more!
16 December 2023 - 17:52
BP says:
What a wonderful 2023 you have had! Uzbekistan must be a real highlight. In addition, it is so much fun that you both can make a living from the blog. I think that's absolutely fantastic. It must feel fun to be able to live on your hobby, because then you have fun all the time:-) Hope you continue in the same way in 2024.
16 December 2023 - 17:11
Helena says:
Yes, Uzbekistan was a highlight! I had been dreaming about that country for a long time, so it was a special feeling to get there!!! And yes, we are very happy that we can make a living out of this. It is not easy to make it go around, and it goes a little up and down, but we struggle, and working a lot is good when it is fun!!!
16 December 2023 - 17:54
Lena - good for the soul says:
What a wonderful year of travelling you had! Fun to see everything in compressed form (even though I read all the reports continuously). Our best trip must be our very first motorhome trip to Arboga 😉.
Hug Lena
19 December 2023 - 10:24