 | Hi! We're Alex & Victoria - a digital nomad couple from Copenhagen escaping 9-5 to chase adventures in our beautiful world. Learn more about us here. |
A year of slow travelling
2019 has been such a fantastic year full of exciting adventures!
For some time, we have been travelling for several months of the year, but this was probably the first year we spent more time abroad than in our hometown of Copenhagen.
Heading off to Thailand in mid-January, escaping the cold Danish winter was one of our best decisions ever.
We stayed in Asia for six months before returning to Europe for two months.
In October we trekked in Nepal and afterwards, we drove around New Zealand to explore the incredible landscapes.
It was the first time we visited those two countries and it really has been a dream come true!
Here’s where we’ve been in 2019.
Table of contents
- Working out in Egypt
- Two months in the land of smiles
- A month on Vietnam’s paradise island
- Bali: the island of gods
- Georgetown living
- Indonesia’s largest island
- Turning 27 in Kuala Lumpur
- Camping in Norway
- Quality time in Denmark
- Italy is calling
- Paying a visit to Alex’ grandparents
- Wedding in Copenhagen
- Trekking in Nepal
- New Zealand, we love you
Working out in Egypt
In the beginning of January, Alex and his father travelled to Hurghada in Egypt.
Vacationing in Egypt is an old classic for Alexander and he has visited the country several times with his parents since he was a little boy.
As his mother is an Egyptologist, it’s been one of their favourite countries to visit.
This time he and his father decided to burn some calories instead of lounging by the pool.
They spent a week playing tennis, swimming, running and working out.
All the while, Victoria boxed our apartment in Copenhagen.
Two months in the land of smiles
Workation on Koh Samui
We keep coming back to Thailand and we most likely will continue to do so!
Beaches, warm weather, palm trees, Thai food and happy people make this country a joy to visit every time.
We chose Thailand for our workation in January and February for those exact reasons.
As with our Koh Lanta workation in 2018, we had to work on our documentary film about shade grown coffee + a few other projects we are juggling with.
Koh Samui is one of the more developed islands in Thailand with lots of great food options and high-speed Internet. Working online, that’s all we need.
It was the ideal place for us to have stability while still having access to all the wonderful activities the island has to offer.
Eating our way through Koh Phangan
After Koh Samui, we visited it’s neighbour Koh Phangan.
We immediately loved this small island. The vibe is super relaxed with lots of places where you can do yoga, meditation, healing and all kinds of therapy and retreats.
The best of all, we had sooo many delicious meals!
The vegan options were plentiful and we wish we could have eaten out even more just to try all the restaurants and cafés on the island.
We mostly worked on our documentary film and blogs, but fortunately, we also had time to explore the gorgeous beaches.
A month on Vietnam’s paradise island
After Thailand, we decided to head to Phu Quoc in Vietnam.
Victoria has been dreaming about spending time on the island since we visited Vietnam back in 2013.
With a month, we had time to have stable workdays mixed with days of exploring Phu Quoc’s natural attractions.
We loved eating Vietnamese food again, we met so many super cute baby animals and the beaches were striking.
All in all, Phu Quoc was very good to us.
Bali: the island of gods
For two months, we made Bali in Indonesia our tropical home.
We had a lot of fun exploring the beautiful landscapes including a sunrise volcano hike, amazing rice terraces, beaches, cliffs and numerous waterfalls.
Most of the time we didn’t venture too far out from our base in Canggu, though, trying to create a healthy work (and workout!) routine.
We loved the balance between a comfortable, productive setting and an island full of adventures; Bali really is a digital nomad dream. We’ll be back.
Georgetown living
After our two-month Indonesian visas ran out, we headed to Georgetown on the island of Penang in northwestern Malaysia.
We visited last year and loved the historical part of town and especially all of the great food available.
Here we worked hard on finally completely finishing our documentary film. And, of course, ate lots of delicious Indian food. Huge masala dosas, anyone?
Indonesia’s largest island
We could almost see Indonesia’s largest island, Sumatra from Penang, so we decided to head over there to explore these exotic lands.
Since forever, we have dreamt of seeing orangutans in the wild. And in Bukit Lawang in North Sumatra, our dream came true big time.
We slept in the amazing rainforest and were lucky enough to not only experience several orangutans (and their babies!) but also lots of other interesting animals.
After the jungle, we climbed the active volcano Mount Sibayak near Berastagi, got blown away at Sipiso Piso waterfall and chilled lots on Samosir Island on Lake Toba (an island within an island!).
To end our time in Indonesia in the best way possible, we took the journey to Nias Island and then further on to Asu Island for 12 days of pure dog and beach bliss.
Sumatra was an exhilarating adventure.
Turning 27 in Kuala Lumpur
As our international flight would leave from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital was a fitting place to end our 6-month+ trip to Southeast Asia.
We stayed in Bangsar where vegan options were abundant, and for Alex’ 27th birthday we went to Camp5 for some climbing fun and saw the new Lion King on a big screen where we, of course, had wet eyes right from the get-go.
Leaving Asia was sad, but as we knew what we had in store next, we just about survived the farewell and the long trip to Europe.
Camping in Norway
We hadn’t been to Norway together before, so when we got the chance to go on a dream road trip in August we jumped on the opportunity immediately.
For two weeks, we explored Southern Norway in an Eriba campervan and loved every bit of it.
Quality time in Denmark
After such extensive travelling for months on end, it felt great to spend some time back in Denmark in August.
Italy is calling
For some reason (pizza, most likely…) Italy keeps calling us back.
This time, we stayed in the small town of Montecampione close to the beautiful Lake Iseo surrounded by mountains. It’s a ski resort in winter, but a hiker’s playground in summer.
As we visited in September, we were just in-between the seasons. During the weekdays, it felt like we were pretty much the sole people there. Which was fine with us as we mostly worked on our projects and put in some great altitude metres in the ol’ legs.
Italy’s first completely vegan hotel
Thankfully, we also had time to visit Italy’s first completely vegan hotel, LA VIMEA. What a treat that was.
Paying a visit to Alex’ grandparents
Alex father grew up in Södertälje in Sweden before meeting his Danish mom in Turkey. They settled in Denmark, but Alex’ grandparents still live in Sweden in the same house as his father grew up in.
It’s super nostalgic to visit and it always feels great to be pampered a bit!
Wedding in Copenhagen
On September 28 in Copenhagen, our best friends Clara & Rasmus got married on the most beautiful day imaginable.
Trekking in Nepal
Visiting Nepal has been a dream of ours for many years and after spending almost a month in the wonderful country we can easily attest to its reputation.
You won’t find kinder people (and that’s with some hefty competition in SEA!) or better mountainscapes anywhere else.
Apart from some horrifying roads, it’s super easy to get around and the tourist infrastructure is just good enough to make it fun without taking too much away from the unique culture.
We spent time in Kathmandu, Dhulikhel and in Pokhara where we scaled Panchase Peak and did the Mardi Himal Base Camp Trek.
New Zealand, we love you
After Nepal, we visited another dream destination of ours: New Zealand.
It didn’t take long for us to agree that New Zealand is every bit as awesome as most travellers make it out to be.
We spent a month touring the North Island in a campervan before heading down south to explore the famous alpine landscapes. Our jaws were dropped all the way through.
Unspoiled beaches. Cute wildlife. Empty roads. Volcanoes. Geothermal wonders. Hobbiton. Sand dunes. Snowy peaks. Endless hikes. Serene lakes. Colourful rivers. Kiwis. New Zealand has it all.
2020
2020 will start where 2019 ended, still in New Zealand.
We don’t know exactly where the rest of the year will lead us, but if 2020 gets even remotely as good as 2019, we won’t complain.
Update: You can read Our Year in Travel 2020 right here.
What about you?
What have you been up to in 2019?
Let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear from you!
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