If you’re new here, at the end of each year I do a travel round up/recap to review the past year’s travels. (Click here to read last year’s recap). This year, 2018, I didn’t travel that much, but I still traveled to 4 countries (all not new) and 7 cities (some of which were new!). Here’s a quick summary of it all.
January: Florence
I kicked the year off with a week in Florence! This was my third trip to Italy and boy can I tell you, it never gets old! Florence is less of a happening city than some of Italy’s other cities, but the history and art of the city never cease to make it worth a visit, even though I had visited before. It also has amazing food (as all of Italy does), phenomenal wine (Tuscany is known for its wine), and some pretty great nightlife! I also took a quick day trip to Siena, which was a new destination for me, which was pretty exciting!
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June: Shenzhen
After that, there wasn’t any travel until June! But I’m super excited to have been able to come to Shenzhen over the summer, because I spent my break interning at the DJI Global Headquarters in Shenzhen! Having been a lover of travel films, drones have always been on my wishlist, so getting to work at the most prominent drone company was so cool! I was an international video intern, and got to edit drone footage for advertisements and social media posts, and one of my videos is even playing on a billboard in Spain!
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June: Macau
While I was interning in Shenzhen, I thought it was only fair if I explored a bit of the surrounding cities! I have already been to Hong Kong multiple times, but had never been to neighboring Macau, so decided to hop on over during one of China’s long weekend.
Macau was unlike any other city I had ever been to. Hong Kong felt like two different parts of my life coming together – the Chinese side and the English side. However, Macau was a whole new thing. The Portuguese influence and Chinese influence together is simply fascinating. You’ll see Portuguese tiling mixed in with Chinese decor. Natives of the city often speak at least 4 languages – Cantonese, Portuguese, Mandarin, and English. I have to say, I really enjoyed the experience.
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July: Shanghai, Guangzhou
Going along with the spirit of exploring my surroundings, I also flew to Shanghai for a weekend and took a train up to Guangzhou for a day, both to visit friends. It was not my first time in Shanghai, but the last time I visited I was really young, so getting to see the city again was so fun. Guangzhou was a new location for me, and being somewhere where the main language was Cantonese for the first time was kind of jarring. Luckily for me, most people in the Southern region of China also speak Mandarin, so I was able to get around fairly well anyway.
August: Boston
It was back to my home town for the end of summer, and although my internship had been super exciting, I was really glad to get to go home. But I had less than a month in my hometown before I had to go back to school!
September-November: NYC
For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently in my second year at NYU! Going to school in NYC means that I get to do a lot of insanely cool things like attend Electric Zoo – an electronic music festival. I had made it a goal to attend more events, and am happy to say I accomplished my goal by going to 3 separate concerts over the semester, 3 pop-ups (Museum of Pizza, Panera Mac and Cheese, and OPI), 3 festivals (Ezoo, Dessert Goals, and Food Loves Tech), and 2 holiday markets!
Coming back for my second year in New York City, the city felt a lot more familiar to me, and therefore I felt a lot better writing about it. During my first year, I didn’t really want to write blog posts about NYC seeing as I had literally just moved there. And sadly, its a little too easy to fall into the routine of school and home and back again. One of my goals was to explore more of the city, and I’m happy to say that I succeeded!
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December: Tulum
Having heard so much hype about Tulum over the past two years, it was high time I finally went! I have been to Mexico and the Yucatan before, and I had actually visited the Tulum ruins before, but I had never stayed in actual Tulum. I was worried that Instagram might have heightened my expectations too much, but actually I found that it was even better than I expected! As a lover of design, the boho-grunge chic designs of the stores and hotels in Tulum hit just the right spot, and the health-conscious mindset captivated me. I am now a real proponent of avocado toast and smoothie bowls!! #basic #milennial. Seriously recommend visiting Tulum! I will definitely be coming back.
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That was about it for 2018! While I didn’t travel that much, I still feel like so many things happen. But don’t worry, looking forwards to 2019, I will be traveling a whole lot more! I have a trip planned for Buenos Aires in two weeks, and I’m studying abroad in London next semester, and intend on seeing as much of Europe as I can! In fact, I’m hoping I can hit 20 countries before I turn 20 in April – I’m only 4 countries off so I think I can make it!
Where did you guys travel to in 2018? Let me know in the comments below!
