When I first started this travel blog, I had no idea what I was doing and I wasn’t entirely sure what my objective was. I just knew that I wanted to help others to travel more and get more out of their experiences. It took me a long time and a lot of experimenting, trial and error, and countless mistakes before I realized that I need a cause or a purpose for this blog. After coming to the realization that I am probably not ever going to travel to every country in the world and I won’t be the youngest or first to complete any sort of awe-inspiring trip around the world, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of this site is simply to document my journey around the world in a lifetime and share any of my own personal stories and experiences that I feel might have an impact on others.
My hope is that you find something on my site that either speaks to you on a deeper level or simply just helps you to get more out of your own travel experiences. Stay the course.
My Trip Around The World
Whenever I travel, I am reminded of a quote that says “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” I know that I won’t be the first or fastest or youngest person to travel around the world or to visit every country but I can travel around the world on my own schedule and focus on my own journey and learning experiences. As long as I never stop working towards my end goal and I continue to make small efforts day after day, I will eventually achieve my goal of traveling around the world in a lifetime.
In order for me to call it a true trip around the world I have set some basic guidelines for myself:
– I must set foot on all 6 inhabitable continents.
✅ North America
✅ South America
✅ Europe
✅ Oceania
❌ Africa
❌ Asia
– I must travel to all 4 Hemispheres.
✅ North
✅ South
✅ East
✅ West
– I must counterpoint in all 4 hemispheres. (Travel to points on exact opposite points of the world. Twice.)
– Any ocean crossings must be by boat. (Flights across any of the 5 oceans don’t count)
– Each leg of the trip can be completed in a any direction. (East to West OR West to East)
– Each leg needs to start where another ends. (Denver to NYC and then Lisbon to NYC)
– I want to travel through at least 100 countries. Since there are approximately 200 recognized countries in the world, I think about half of those is a nice rounds number to aim for along my journey.
Here is a my trip around the world so far…
Where To Next?
The only thing I need to do in order to complete my journey around the world in a lifetime is to keep on setting goals and actively taking steps to achieve them. So, I do what I can to take any trips possible to slowly and steadily make my way around the world in a lifetime. Here are just some of the places that I am thinking about traveling to next.
Finland + The Baltic States
– Finland
– Estonia
– Latvia
– Lithuania
Latin America
– Mexico
– Panama
2024
2024 has been full of all sorts of new experiences for me as well as another big life change. Not only did we complete our longest trip across Europe ever but we are also moving back to the United States.
Netherlands & Belgium
While it’s going to be difficult to ever top the Euro Trip of 2024, this short but incredibly sweet trip in Belgium and The Netherlands was one of the most amazing experiences of our time living abroad. We visited an incredibly unique “resort zoo” named Pairi Daiza in the French part of Belgium before meeting up with a friend to spend a few days exploring a few cities in the Netherlands. We finished this trip by paying a visit to some friends just over the Dutch/German border.
Euro Trip
Since we knew that we would be moving back to the US in 2024, we decided that we had to go on one final and epic Euro trip. This was the longest trip with the most countries visited as well as one of the longest road trips either of us had ever been on in Europe. We both visited several new countries and multiple new cities.
France
The first trip we took in 2024 was a couple weeks in Normandy France. This was might first time really exploring this region of France and I absolutely enjoyed it. Every time I come to France, I think I end up falling in love with it just a little bit more.
2023
2023 has been another great year of travel for me as I continue my travels around the world in a lifetime. I finally hit my 30th country when I visited the small nation of Andorra just between France and Spain.
Netherlands & Germany
I took the ferry from Harwich, England over to the Hook Of Holland and then drove across all of the Netherlands to a little town just across the German border to visit some family friends.
- New Countries: None
- New Cities: Geilenkirchen & Cologne, Germany and Sittard, Netherlands
- New milestones: Not much was new on this trip but I have now driven across the entire country of the Netherlands.
Denmark, Norway, & Sweden
This was my first time to Scandinavia and I absolutely loved it. I flew into Copenhagen and then took an overnight ferry up to Oslo where I then took a train across the southern portion over to the west coast to Bergen which is the second largest city in all of Norway.
- New Countries: Denmark, Norway, & Sweden
- New Cities: Copenhagen, Freetown Chrisitiania, Oslo, Voss, Bergen, & Stockholm
- Milestones: A bunch of this travel was by land and sea so I completed a little more of my trip around the world in a lifetime.
Greece: Athens To Chania
We were able to get some cheap airfare from London to Athens with a return flight from Chania on the island of Crete. In order to get to Crete from the mainland, we wanted to take a boat since that is how a lot of the locals travel between islands.
- Milestones & Learning: This trip was my first time to Greece as well as the first time I have ever been to Athens, or the Island of Crete as well as the city of Chania. More importantly, this was the largest amount of water travel I have ever done on the Mediterranean Sea (or more specifically, the Aegean Sea) with an 8 hour ferry crossing between Athens and Chania.
- New Countries: Greece
- New Cities: Athens, Chania
Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, And Montenegro
In late July and into August I got my first taste of the Adriatic Sea and some Balkan countries. I flew into Zadar, Croatia and drove along most of the Croatian coastline all the way into Montenegro with a quick stop in the small town of Neum in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Not only was this my first time in all of these countries but I also got to experience one of the only standing citadel cities in the world, Dubrovnik.
- Milestones: This trip I experienced countries 31, 32, and 33, more than a dozen small coastal cities, and has brought me one step closer to my goal of traveling around the world in a lifetime.
- New Countries: Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, & Montenegro
- New Cities: Zadar, Split, Neum, Dubrovnik, Perast, & Kotor
Spain: Barcelona To San Sebastian
In July, I took a road trip across a bunch of northern Spain. I traveled from Barcelona to San Sebastian with a quick stop off in Andorra. While I had been to Spain multiple times, I traveled to a few new cities and was fortunate enough to experience the running of the bulls in Pamplona during the San Fermines festival. I also visited Andorra on a quick day trip which was the 30th country that I’ve visited.
This leg of my trip around the world in a lifetime took me to some new cities like Zaragoza, Andorra la Vella, Pamplona, and San Sebastian all by car so I have now traveled across a good portion of Spain. I hope to connect some of these trips with some other fun adventures next time I experience new parts of Spain.
- New Countries: Andorra
- New Cities: Andorra la Vella, Zaragoza, Pamplona, San Sebastian & Pasaia
France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Monaco
In May we had the opportunity to go to Germany for some work training and jumped at the opportunity. On this trip, we managed to squeeze in some personal travels as well but we had to drive across all of France to get back in time for some work obligations in the UK. The trip took us from the UK to Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, and back into France and then to Monaco where we got to witness some of the Grand Prix madness.
This leg was kind of a big one because not only was it road trip from the French Riviera on the Mediterranean coast all the way to the English channel, it was also the first time I had ever taken the Chunnel by car but since we drove through Lyon along the route, we passed right by the Confluence Museum which was one of the museums that I visited when we were in Lyon for the festival of lights. That makes this trip an important connecting leg on my trip around the world in a lifetime. Now, I have completed a continuous route all the way from Edinburgh, Scotland all the way to Vienna, Austria. Also, if I ever do any other legs through France moving east or west, I will have to intersect this trip route and hopefully add to my overall trip. Very exciting for me and an important leg of my journey.
- New Countries: Monaco
- New Cities: Coquelles, Ramstein, Heidelberg, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, Strasbourg, Geneva, Nice, and Monaco
Netherlands: Den Haag, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Kinderdijk, Utrecht, & Haarlem
We went on a trip across the Netherlands in May to see a bunch of new cities as well as spend King’s Day in Amsterdam since that has been on my bucket list for years.
- Milestones & Learning: This trip was full of milestones. We took a ferry from the UK to Hoek Van Holland which was a new city before exploring about a half-dozen new cities before going back to the UK. I also got to enjoy the festivities of King’s Day in Amsterdam and my wife got to see the Tulips which had been on her list for quite some time.
Luxembourg, France, & Germany
In April we took a short trip over to Luxembourg to see what it was like. While we were there, we took multiple day trips into France and Germany.
- Milestones & Learning: This was a pretty simple trip but we managed to spend some time jumping across borders by train which was a nice little trip and I hope to connect this leg to my journey around the world in a lifetime at some point in the future.
Italy: Venice To Matera
In early 2023, I drove across most of Italy and experienced a bunch of new cities that I had never been to before. Some of the highlights on this trip were getting lost in the winding streets of Venice, visiting all 5 lands of Cinque Terra, climbing the leaning tower of Pisa, visiting the ruins of Pompeii, and exploring the Sassi district of Matera. It was an amazing trip that I will never forget.
This leg of my trip around the world in a lifetime didn’t connect with any other past legs but it took me across most of Italy but I have plans to come back many more times in the future. Next time, I hope to be able to do some sailing in the Adriatic Sea,
2022
In 2022, I traveled by train a number of times largely in the UK and continental Europe. I was able to travel by train from London to Paris and then on to Bruges, Belgium. I was also able to travel on a series of scenic trains from Lyon, France across Switzerland (highly recommended if you’re ever able) all the way to Vienna, Austria. I have a feeling that at least some of this trip will become a part of my final trip around the world in a lifetime.
Scotland: Hogmanay New Years Eve In Edinburgh
For NYE, we ventured up north to Scotland‘s capital city to bring in the new year. It was a pretty simple trip but always nice to be surrounded by the energy of the crowd as we all say goodbye to the current year and bring in a new one as we all make out way around the sun yet another time.
- Milestones: This leg of my journey was the first time I had ever taken a train up into Scotland from England as well as a good bit of train travel that connects Northern UK to the rest of my journey around the world in a lifetime.
France, Switzerland, & Austria
The festival of lights in Lyon, France has been on my bucket list ever since I first saw some of the projection mapping shows on YouTube. After doing some research, we noticed that we could experience a number of things that we had both been wanting to do for a long time so we committed to a trip from Lyon, France for the festival of lights and then took a series of scenic trains across Switzerland until we took a completely underwhelming overnight sleeper train to Vienna from Zurich.
This leg of my trip was kind of important because the trip itself was a big part of the destination. The golden pass rail trip from Montreaux to Interlaken is one of the most beautiful train rides I have ever been on and also one of the most impressive scenic experiences ever. Not only that but when we completed these series of train rides, we ended up in Vienna, Austria for the many Christmas festivals.
Spain: Reus To Seville
Driving across Spain has always been a dream of mine but in late 2022, that dream became a reality when I drove from Reus Airport all the way down to Gibraltar before making my way back up to Seville to catch a flight back to the UK. This trip was full of new experiences for me like visiting a number of small coastal towns along Spain’s Mediterranean coastline, seeing a flamenco show in Granada, visiting the aquarium in Valencia, and the mosque in Cordoba.
This leg of my trip around the world in a lifetime was a big piece of the Iberean peninsula. Not only did it cover a large portion of Spain’s southern coast, it brings me a lot closer to connecting one of my souther legs in Portugal. As soon as I complete a few smaller trips in Portugal and Spain, I will have traveled all the way across the Iberian Peninsula by land! Such an Iberian wanderlust has been on my bucket list for years.
England, France, & Belgium
I took my first train through the Chunnel to continental Europe from London to Paris where I enjoyed France for the very first time. After that, I continued on to Bruges, Belgium which felt like going back in time to a truly unique city that I would absolutely recommend that you visit at least once if you ever get the chance.
This leg of my trip around the world in a lifetime connected with a past leg that went through Brussels so as soon as this trip was concluded, I have traveled from London, England all the way up to Amsterdam, Netherlands by train because of a past trip that took me from Brussels up to Rotterdam and another trip that took me from Amsterdam to Rotterdam.
Portugal: Lisbon To Faro
I have never been shy about my love for Portugal. In early 2022, I took a road trip from Lisbon all the way down into the Algarve region for a relaxing time in the Portugal’s sun-filled beaches. This trip was a slower pace but I visited a few new places that I have never been to before and re-explored some other places that I haven’t been to in quite some time.
On this leg, I made it further east into Southern Portugal than I ever have before. Up until this trip, I had never been as far east as Albufeira, or Faro. This leg of my trip around the world in a lifetime didn’t complete any connections but I absolutely experienced some new cities that I had never been to before.
2019
Portugal: Lisbon To Porto
I spent some time wandering Northern Portugal with my girlfriend. We spent some time wine tasting and we even crushed some grapes with our feet.
- Milestones: I visited the Douro Valley for the first time and enjoyed smashing grapes with my feet.
Scotland, England, & Portugal
I had the opportunity to walk some portions of the West Highland Way in Scotland as part of a family trip. It was an amazing journey and some much needed time around people I love.
- Milestones: There were no new countries on this trip but I went to Glasgow for the first time ever and also crossed off some land travel in the Scottish highlands as I visited some of the smaller towns along the route.
2017
Iceland, Belgium, & The Netherlands
I found a great deal on a ticket from Denver to Brussels with an optional stopover in Iceland at no extra charge. I found the ticket for something like $348.77 on Scott’s Cheap Flights (which has since rebranded to “Going”) so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Iceland and then travel on to continental Europe for less than $400 return flight.
- Milestones: This trip was my first time to Reykjavik and Iceland which was country number 24 (I think) and my first time to Brussels so I got to experience 1 new country and 2 new cities on this trip. It was also an important train ride from Brussels to Rotterdam because this leg connects a sequence from Brussels all the way to Amsterdam via my travels in the Netherlands back in 2013. A small but important leg in my journey around the world in a lifetime.
2015
Warped Tour 2015: Coast-To-Coast USA Road Trip
Traveling across North America is easy for me since I am a US citizen. In 2014 and 2015, I followed the Vans Warped Tour across the US with my brother to promote his band. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to see the United States from one coast to the other in a single road trip. This has allowed me to cross most of North America off of my list. Spoiler alert, most of the US is pretty boring but we met some absolutely amazing people along the way.
- Milestones: Traveling across the entire United States in a single road trip was a big step toward traveling around the world in a lifetime. I would definitely like to do another coast-to-coast trip like this but I would like to do it on multiple different train routes.
Brazil
I went to Brazil to meet my Brazilian girlfriends friends and family as well as experience some of Brazil’s vibrant culture. I flew in to Sao Paulo and spent some time exploring the coastline and a trip to Rio.
- Milestones: This was my first time in Brazil and South America so I not only got a new continent, country, but I also got to experience a number of cities for the very first time as well. Brazil is an incredible country and I would really like to spend omore time here in the future.
2014
Euro Trip
In 2014, took a Euro trip with a friend of mine and it was his first trip to Europe so he wanted to go to Octoberfest. We made it and had a great time but I wanted to complete at least some legs across Europe by train so we took a train from Munich to Prague and then another one on to Budapest. Those were probably the first 2 legs of my trip around the world in a lifetime.
- Milestones: This was kind of when I decided to give birth to the idea of a trip around the world in a lifetime because I previously discovered that travel is a lot more fun, educational, and insightful when you travel to have a great time and not just to get to your destination as quickly as possible.
Warped Tour 2014
In 2014, I had the opportunity to follow a large portion of the Warped Tour to help my brother’s band to sell CDs and get footage of their band working the lines to get more people people listening to their music and hopefully buying a CD or a t shirt.
Milestones: This trip enabled me to explore new parts of the United States that I had never been to before. It wasn’t until 2015 that I made a complete coast-to-coast road trip across the US.
2013
New Zealand and Australia
This was one of my first trips abroad after I had learned about digital nomadism and began to research it. I was always wanting to learn how I could work from anywhere in the world and this trip helped me to better understand how that could potentially work. The next step was to be able to find out how to work abroad long-term or generate revenue online myself.
Milestones: On this trip, my journey took me to several new cities in New Zealand, where I brought in the new year of 2014 and then on to Australia for the first time in my life where I got to experience several cities in a couple of states. I did all of my travel in New Zealand by bus and a long 10 hour overnight bus ride from Sydney to Byron Bay and back so I have added some good legs to my journey around the world in a lifetime. Unfortunately none of the legs in this trip connected with any previous sequences but have made some good headway for when my journey brings me back to Oceania.
Portugal, Netherlands, And Belgium
In the summer of 2013, I was fortunate enough to be able to do some remote work so I set off to Lisbon, Portugal to live and work for ~6 weeks. I was able to make some trips on the weekends and even worked from Porto for about a week. This trip kind of changed my life because it was my first real taste of the freedom of being able to work entirely on the internet from anywhere in the world. I was making steps towards a new way of living that has forever made it mark on me, my life, and how I travel.
Milestones: This was all new terrain for me and I went from Lagos to Porto by bus so that has covered a good bit of Portugal from south to north. I also traveled a little bit by train between Amsterdam and Antwerp so that is also another section of land travel that brings be closer to traveling around the world in a lifetime.
2012
Euro Trip 2012 to 2013
I went on another Euro trip for New Years Eve and to explore some other parts of Europe.
Milestones: While I didn’t do any land travel between any of the cities I visited on this trip, I did bring in the new year in Berlin, Germany which was something that I had wanted to do for a while.
New Countries: Portugal & Italy
New Cities: Lisbon & Milan
2011
2011 was the year that I finally got serious about making dedicated efforts to travel more often. I took my first couple of solo trips and learned a lot about how I can save money when I book flights.
Euro Trip 2011 to 2012
After Costa Rica, I realized just how attainable travel actually is if you dedicate yourself and look for the ways to get affordable flights and stay in hostels. I used Google flights to find my flight over to Europe but once I was across the pond, all of my flights were either on Ryanair or EasyJet.
Milestones: This was my first trip to Europe aside from a quick trip I took into Berlin back in 2006 to see some of my favorite bands. I visited 5 new countries and about 6-8 new cities across all of them. This trip was one of my most influential because it helped me to see how traveling solo across Europe works and how fun and challenging it can be.
New Countries: England, Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands, & Spain
New Cities: London, Cambridge, Ely, Dublin, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, & Barcelona
Costa Rica
After I finished reading The 4 Hour Workweek, I decided to make some changes in my life. One of the first changes I made was to find a way to travel more often so I set up some flight alerts and it wasn’t long before I get an alert for a flight from Denver to San Jose, Costa Rica for like $385 so I made the purchase and prepared myself for my very first solo trip.
Milestones and Personal Growth: This was the first time I ever traveled solo as well as my first time in a country where there wasn’t much English spoken. It was a truly eye-opening experience and helped push me further outside of my comfort zone. This trip was also the very first time I went surfing which is one of the most satisfying and rewarding experiences when you paddle out past the break and finally catch a wave and ride it.
New Countries: Costa Rica
New Cities: San Jose, Dominical, Quepos, & Jaco
2006
Germany
The first time I ever went to Europe was in Early November of 2006 with my girlfriend to see some of our favorite bands play at Columbiahalle in Berlin. The 4 bands we wanted to see were Saosin, Senses Fail, Underoath, and Taking Back Sunday.
Milestones: This trip was my first time ever going to both New York City even if it was only long enough to buy a slice of pizza and was also my first time ever going to Berlin, Germany, and Europe.
New Countries: Germany
New Cities: Berlin
2005
New Zealand
This was my first time ever leaving the United States on my own and it was what started my love of travel.
Milestones & Learning: It was my first time out of the country as my own person. I left on my birthday in 2005 for the very first new country that I had ever experienced. Tahiti was technically the first country outside of the US I ever visited and then on to New Zealand where I would get my very first dose of culture outside of our little bubble in The United States.
New Countries: Tahiti & New Zealand
New Cities: Papete, Auckland, Paihia, Waitangi, Whanganui, Dargaville,