2025 has been an awesome year so far, and there’s still so much opportunity to make more amazing memories. But with 2026 approaching, we all are ready to turn the page and start planning our trips for 2026.
Even if you aren’t planning your trips, you certainly will be making a rough plan to what you want to see and do over the next 18 months. And we are all here for it!!
This is where we step in!
We all know the world is full of wonder.. So what wonder are we going to see in 2026? Don’t know?
*This post contains affiliate links, which we may earn from. This does not come at an additional cost, but helps us to pursue this dream 🙂
Then you have come to the right place – these are the top 25 countries that you must visit as they are criminally underrated.
Albania
Kyrgyzstan
China
Oman
Uzbekistan
Romania
Morocco
Tunisia
Estonia
Pakistan
Micronesia
Nicaragua
Mongolia
Papua New Guinea
Argentina
Canada
Iraq
Latvia
Tanzania
Andorra
Scotland
Norway
Poland
Timor-Leste
Tuvalu
On this list sits an array of different holidays.. from the winter tundra of Norway to the perfect beaches of Tuvalu. So no matter your preference of hot, cold, or just anywhere, you are totally covered.
So get researching into one of these up and coming countries before it’s too late. Organise your trip, book that flight, and take that plunge for 2026. We know we will be doing taking our advice, so you should to.
If you want to see more of our Blogs and travels, make sure to visit other posts or check us out on YouTube here. We have been to Morocco, Thailand and more with soooo many more planned… including China.
Find our Travel Essentials!
We have a full list of recommendations for any travels! Check out our:
We also recommend using these when planning your next trip!
Trip.com– Find amazing flight deals, with over 2 million flight routes, and being one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.
Airalo – With over one million people using Airalo, it is our go to eSIM provider for our worldwide trips! Having data packs from over 200 countries, find combined area packages and deals to suit your travel style and data needs!
Booking.com – Offering over 28 million accommodations to book, we will always use booking.com! Having a rewards system built in, the more you book, the more perks you get!
HostelWorld – You cannot budget travel without hostel world! Having over 17,000 hostels, boasting over 13 million reviews, hostel world is one our of top websites for budget travel! They are now offering more ways to meet people abroad, with meet ups, group chats and more available!
Get Your Guide – Book unique (and common!) experiences and activities worldwide, including skip the line tickets to big attractions worldwide!
Eat With– Experience authentic travel experiences with locals worldwide! Use eat with to book unique and intimate dining experiences, such as dinner parties in big restaurants, big feasts with a local family, cooking classes with a local and more!
ETKA – Every age from 3 to 85 can buy ETKA’s travel insurance, offering multilingual 24/7 chat support, and your insurance policy within 2-3 minutes!
We post Youtube Videos now! Please check out our newest Vlog!
If you would like to support our own travel Journey, please check out all our other blogs, and subscribe to the newsletter where we are currently uploading daily blogs!
Wanting to visit a city free of tourism while traveling Croatia? Meet Osijek! This smaller city packs a punch, and is a great place to spend 1-2 days while in Croatia! It was an amazing spot to slow down, and really take time to breathe!
So, here is our travel guide to Osijek in Croatia! We will share some things to do, places to eat, where we stayed, and some other helpful top tips!
*This post contains affiliate links, which we may earn from. This does not come at an additional cost, but helps us to pursue this dream 🙂
With Osijek being a smaller city (well, 4th largest in Croatia), it isn’t as cram packed as Zagreb, but still there are some great things to do!
Wander Ante Starčević Square
Ante Starčević Square is in the centre of Osijek city, surrounded by shops and cafes! Here you will find a cute water feature, alongside a statue of Ante Starčević himself! It is a great place to take time to relax and wander, as it is very quiet and peaceful.
Visit Petar Pan!
We’ll be honest this place was so yummy it really deserved a spot on the list! Perfect for a hot sunny day, we stopped here for an ice cream break and was not disappointed! With a menu full of ice cream sundaes, they had ones designed to look like Disney characters which was so fun. The only downside was they didn’t take card (we believe), so make sure to have some cash!
Look how cute this Pinocchio themed ice cream was! Yum!
SS Peter & Paul
This Neo-Gothic co-cathedral in Osijek is really stunning! We saw this cathedral on the walk through to the city square, and it is breathtaking! We didn’t go inside, however we have heard some great things about the people running the cathedral.
Find the 8 statues!
Find the 8 statues of Osijek! We saw three of the eight and they are really special! Some include a mum holding her baby, the Croatian Paganini, an elephant, and a writer (one of Croatia’s most famous statues)! This can be a great way to explore and take in the city atmosphere as you find all of the statues!
Franjo Krežma – the Croatian PaganiniŠetač – a writer in eternal walk
Walk along the Drava River
With a nice breeze, you will appreciate walking along the river in summer! We spotted some boats, and took this time to chat and decompress.
Osijek Zoo
We didn’t actually go to the zoo, however this is a recommended spot in Osijek. You can find tickets here! Some animals they have include lions, bison, zebras and giraffes!
Where to eat
We will be honest with you, the night we stayed in Osijek we struggled to go out due to Aimee’s health, so we got some snacks from the shop!
Mlinar bakeries
These are dotted around Croatia, but we made sure to grab snacks from here! Our top recommendation would be a chicken burek (we miss them very much)!!
Restaurants
As we didn’t visit any set restaurants, we will share a list of some recommended ones for you to try!
Travelling Osijek was pretty straight forward, but these are some top things we recommend!
Croatian eSIM
For a ‘set’ amount of data, we found Airalo to be the best choice! You can find their packages here.
You can find bundles with unlimited data, that span across the whole of Europe, perfect for those backpacking around multiple countries… Find them here at Yesim!
Google translate app
Osijek was a little harder to navigate due to not everyone knowing English (it was a lot less touristic). Therefore, having the translate app was a godsend! The best thing about having the app version is you can use your camera to scan your surroundings (think menus, signs etc), and it will translate it to your language in real time!
Pre-booked transfer
If you are flying into Osijek (yes they have an airport!!), please try to book prior transfers. We struggled to find a bus and ended paying for taxi transfer, which we aren’t sure was the best deal. This was just based on our own experiences.
Where to stay
For this trip we stayed in such an amazing airbnb! We only spent £29 for a night, which at the time was a lot better than hotels in the area at our time of searching! We genuinely are so happy we stayed here, we will leave the link here, this isn’t an affilate link, just somewhere we wish to get the love they deserve!
We hope this guide helps you for your next trip to Osijek! It is an amazing city to visit for a stop-gap, and was a place to stop and breathe.
Find our Travel Essentials!
We have a full list of recommendations for any travels! Check out our:
We also recommend using these when planning your next trip!
Trip.com– Find amazing flight deals, with over 2 million flight routes, and being one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.
Airalo – With over one million people using Airalo, it is our go to eSIM provider for our worldwide trips! Having data packs from over 200 countries, find combined area packages and deals to suit your travel style and data needs!
Booking.com – Offering over 28 million accommodations to book, we will always use booking.com! Having a rewards system built in, the more you book, the more perks you get!
HostelWorld – You cannot budget travel without hostel world! Having over 17,000 hostels, boasting over 13 million reviews, hostel world is one our of top websites for budget travel! They are now offering more ways to meet people abroad, with meet ups, group chats and more available!
Get Your Guide – Book unique (and common!) experiences and activities worldwide, including skip the line tickets to big attractions worldwide!
Eat With– Experience authentic travel experiences with locals worldwide! Use eat with to book unique and intimate dining experiences, such as dinner parties in big restaurants, big feasts with a local family, cooking classes with a local and more!
ETKA – Every age from 3 to 85 can buy ETKA’s travel insurance, offering multilingual 24/7 chat support, and your insurance policy within 2-3 minutes!
We post weekly Youtube Videos now! Please check out our Osijek Vlog here!
If you would like to support our own travel Journey, please check out all our other blogs, and subscribe to the newsletter where we are currently uploading daily blogs!
Flying long haul can be scary, especially when you have never done this before. It’s such a different experience to flying locally. The plane is larger, you get food, and special amenities including a screen to watch movies, shows and play games! But where do you start and what’s the best tips and tricks for the flight?
As some of you may know, we had an amazing trip to Thailand at the end of August ’24, and therefore had a long haul flight recently. We thought there is no better way to share our experience than to write a blog so you can see all the little tips to use as well.
*This post contains affiliate links, which we may earn from. This does not come at an additional cost, but helps us to pursue this dream 🙂
Comfortable clothing is a NECESSITY when traveling on a long haul flight. A simple yet effective outfit like joggers and a baggy top would be perfect. The last thing you want to is constantly toss and turn trying to be comfortable. Or even worse – have to try change in one of those tiny bathrooms that you can barely go toilet. A hoodie would be prefect for this situation, a great multi-use item that can keep you warm but also act as a makeshift blanket or pillow if you need it.
However, if you are looking to take a hoodie be aware that this is something you will need to carry on the duration of your trip. So if you don’t have space in your luggage for it, you might need to compromise.
Bring Snacks
Now, as budget travelers, we always look to find ways to cut down on costs but also to have the top experiences we can. So unless you want to spend £4 for a chocolate bar you wouldn’t normally choose when you are home, then make sure to be prepared. We look to bring our own foods to the airport to avoid the prices and this is the same for the flight. Usually we pack rolls/baguettes for the airport AND for the plane ride with some additional sweets/snacks. However, you can’t just pack your whole bag full of snacks and food otherwise you won’t have all the other important things for your trip. We would recommend bring a meal deal or a roll as a snack between meals, as well as some sweets of your choice.
After all, you will be sitting for a large amount of time and likely to get bored, so hunger will strike.
Small Carry on Bag
Now this seems counter-intuitive as you’ve just been told to pack snacks and food alongside the important items in your bag. But you need your bag small enough to save yourself a lot of time and effort during the flight. Picture this, you pack your bag and it doesn’t fit under your seat. That’s fine, you just pop it in the overhead compartment and it’s out the way. Time to kick back and relax right?
What if you want snacks?
Or your phone runs out?
Or you realise there’s something in your bag that you need? Like a toothbrush as after all, it is a long haul flight.
It could be anything and you don’t want to keep jumping up and down to grab it as it will become annoying for you and your fellow travelers.
So the solution?
Find a bag that has good space but is also perfect to slide under your seat with still having a decent amount of leg room. This will allow for sure an easy grab for any unexpected issues or objects that you need to get from your bag.
Have your charger in your carry-on
If you never have been on a long haul flight before, then you may not know that the screens you have for entertainment also include a charging port and a headphone port for you. This is super important as you are likely to run out of charge on your device so make sure to pack your charger in a convenient spot.
The last thing you want to do is realise it is right at the bottom of the bag and have to pull EVERYTHING out to just to reach it, or worse! Put your charger in the holder so you have no charger during the whole flight. No one wants that problem.
Get up and walk around
It’s very easy to just sit in your seat and sleep, eat and watch your way through the flight but your body won’t be happy after it. You are likely to be very achy or tired by the end of the flight or maybe even light headed. You have to think, there’s not many times in your life where you are sat down in the same position for longer than 8 or so hours. Yes, we have sleep but that is usually in a more comfortable position than you one you will be in during a flight. It is recommended to get up and stretch every 2 or so hours.
However, we would recommend to not only do this, but walk up and back down the aisle once or twice to stretch your legs and get the blood flowing. This will help your body regulate and keep yourself from getting stiff.
Remember, after a long haul flight you will likely have after affects from jet lag so the last thing you want to do is add to that by making your body achy and stiff.
Plan your flight
Now this isn’t planning it to the minute. You don’t have to schedule each activity during the flight and keep to time constraints. That isn’t what we are saying. However, you will have 8+ hours worth of travel time with not a lot to do. So, how can you fill this time?
We would recommend to have multiple ideas of ways to keep you busy during this time. We have even seen people take Nintendo switch as a good activity which would definitely kill a few hours on the flight. However, you will soon get bored so what else is there to do. We would recommend having 2/3 other options on top of what they provide on the flight.
They provide great entertainment with many new and classic films, popular TV Shows, and music and even some pretty cool games with who wants to be a millionaire and popular games like battleships being available. For us, a great way to enjoy the first 30/60 minutes is to scroll through to see what they have to offer and pick out a few films/shows you will want to watch during the flight. We also do this with the games, have a little scroll and find games that will occupy us during the flight.
We would recommend to have a pack of cards, or a travel game to bring that is small as well as some games on your phone. But be sure that they are games that work offline as you won’t have any internet connection during the flight. Also include some sort of chilled activity like a book or E-book that you can read or a diary/journal that can occupy you.
Having these vast options will give you the option to change when you are bored and not run out of things to do. And worse case, you can just go sleep for a few hours to kill time!
Dietary requirements
Now this may not be important to everyone, but if you have any allergens or dietary needs such as being vegetarian, then make sure to communicate this. This is done BEFORE your flight and is necessary to put the steps in place to avoid any problems during this flight.
If you have an allergy with peanuts for example, it is a MUST to let them know beforehand. They will make an announcement during the flight that passengers are not to open any packets of peanuts during the flight. They will also make sure that the meals provided don’t include any peanuts. This will save any last minute conversations and problems during the flight.
For dietary requirements, such as being veggie, they usually take your meal orders when you book so that they can allocate enough to bring on board before the flight. The last thing you would want is for meal time to come around and there are no veggie options available because you didn’t let them know ahead of time. They will have a list of all those who have requested dietary specific requirements which likely means you will get your meals before the rest of the passengers which is a little bonus if you are super hungry.
These are super important to know so you don’t run into any problems during the flight and so you can enjoy your experience before heading off on your backpacking journey. These tips and trick will guide you through a smooth ride and allow you to make the most of your time in the sky.
If you did enjoy this blog, do let us know below by liking, subscribing or leaving a comment, it would be much appreciated.
As mentioned above, we are soon to be heading to Thailand so we will be using this tips ourselves! But also, look out for some amazing Thailand Vlogs, Blogs and much much more on our socials which is linked below.
See our Long-Haul Experience!
We recently uploaded our full travel vlog for our flight with Gulf Air to Thailand! So, if you want to see how a long-haul flight works out, then check out our vlog!
Find our Travel Essentials!
We have a full list of recommendations for any travels! Check out our:
We also recommend using these when planning your next trip!
Trip.com– Find amazing flight deals, with over 2 million flight routes, and being one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.
Airalo – With over one million people using Airalo, it is our go to eSIM provider for our worldwide trips! Having data packs from over 200 countries, find combined area packages and deals to suit your travel style and data needs!
Booking.com – Offering over 28 million accommodations to book, we will always use booking.com! Having a rewards system built in, the more you book, the more perks you get!
HostelWorld – You cannot budget travel without hostel world! Having over 17,000 hostels, boasting over 13 million reviews, hostel world is one our of top websites for budget travel! They are now offering more ways to meet people abroad, with meet ups, group chats and more available!
Get Your Guide – Book unique (and common!) experiences and activities worldwide, including skip the line tickets to big attractions worldwide!
Eat With– Experience authentic travel experiences with locals worldwide! Use eat with to book unique and intimate dining experiences, such as dinner parties in big restaurants, big feasts with a local family, cooking classes with a local and more!
ETKA – Every age from 3 to 85 can buy ETKA’s travel insurance, offering multilingual 24/7 chat support, and your insurance policy within 2-3 minutes!
We post weekly Youtube Videos now! Please check out our newest Vlog!
If you would like to support our own travel Journey, please check out all our other blogs, and subscribe to the newsletter where we are currently uploading daily blogs!
Now as we enter the new year, it’s the exciting time to ponder the travels and adventures you look to embark on.
Hopefully, 2024 included some of your best travels yet and you made the most amazing memories to cherish. But let’s make sure 2025 can top this!
When looking for inspiration it can definitely be overwhelming as there are so many options and opinions expressed and you just can’t decided on which one can you? Well.. this is where we come in!
We are going to breakdown all the best locations to visit and categorize them so you can tailor your searches to EXACTLY what you want to get out of your travels in 2025.
But before we begin, it’s important to reflect on the travels you embarked on in 2024. So tell us yours in the comments below once you read ours!
Our Travels
March 2024
To start our travels we have to revisit March where our first journey of 2024 began. Here, we took 7 days to not only experience but also explore different parts of Morocco!
Morocco was very different to a lot of the travel we were used to but dove in head first and enjoyed every second of it.
We spend 3 days exploring the old Medina in Fes; which are small, narrow streets squished between tall, antique style buildings. Like we were stuck in the maze runner’s maze (if you have seen it!).
After long we then moved to a small city called Meknes around an hour or so train ride away for 2 days, before hitting our last location of Rabat (the capital). Rabat was a beautiful split between being a built up city, full of local markets, and an unique way of life.
Morocco was a lovely place to visit and one we would always recommend to readers to explore! Check our Morocco blogs and YouTube videos below!!
June 2024
Here we headed on a relaxing, all-inclusive family trip with family to the lovely seaside town of Side, Turkey. This was a quaint location which we plan to visit again, but more-so to explore the ancient areas and activities in the town. It was super vibrant and of course included a beautiful beach which was boasted lovely weather.
August/September 2024
For Jack’s birthday, we decided to plan and embark on a last minute trip to Thailand! Now, this was Aimee’s first time in Thailand and even Asia so she was super excited!
We left a few days before Jack’s birthday and celebrated it in Bangkok eating food, walking around markets and living our best life. We spent a total of 4 days here before moving north to Chiang Mai, one of Jack’s favourite places in North Thailand. Unfortunately Jack was ill (with a respiratory infection) the duration of Chiang Mai, but we managed to see a few markets and temples on the better days. We did manage to see the elephants of course though!
After leaving here we went to Pai and explored the beauty of the village going on tours, walking markets and making the most of our time in the north.
We finally finished Thailand with a 4 day stint in Koh Tao, an island south of Bangkok. Here we rested up the best we could after a busy travel schedule and illnesses. The beach was paradise, and a place we wish we didn’t have to leave. We spent time snorkeling looking for turtles (sadly didn’t find any), and seeing many colourful fish.
The food across Thailand is wonderful and super fresh, and we made sure to make the most of it haha!
Unfortunately, this was our last trip of 2024 with only a seaside U.K. trip in October rounding off the year with our old dog Bruce.
Bruce’s 17th Birthday at the beach.
2025??
Now, what’s in store for 2025? Travel plans definitely differ person to person, with some looking to organise their year before it even begun, whereas some like to be spontaneous and let their impulses decide. Neither of these options are right or wrong, it just depends on who you are, and what you want.
For longer trips, you have to consider more of course (including flight price etc). But for shorter flights, you could even book just before you take off!
So how are we planning it?
We have broken it into the months we are looking to travel, and times where it’s best to go to make the most of the time we have.
Jack as you may know is working full time, and Aimee is recently out of surgery (for more information on our daily lives check out ourInstagram), so getting out isn’t realistic for now. But we have a plan!
We have decided on a break, no matter small or large, every few months so we have explore and have time off from our busy lives. So the schedule is as follows:
March
April
June
August
October/November
Disclaimer** Now this is subject for change but it’s a rough plan
March
March is the first trip after Aimee’s surgery and will be a small one together (likely with a family member). We plan on a 3/4 day trip to somewhere quaint like France, in a town that is less busy.
We have a rough plan but these types of holiday are great when you are working with limited days off, and a great way to travel during the winter months. Across Europe are some beautiful areas (one coming to mind being Aarhus- Denmark) which many people wouldn’t think about visiting. So why not choose somewhere you might not usually consider and give it a whirl?
It would likely be a quiet, less busy style of trip, where we would go to a smaller area and spend our time exploring the lesser-known location. You don’t necessarily need to know everything you are doing here, the trip would be split between some planned activities and some spontaneous.
April
April would be more exploratory for us. This would likely be a 2 location trip over 4/5 days which again would be relaxing like the March trip but a little more adventurous.
Examples would include trip that consist of either of the following:
2 town/small cities in a larger, popular country like Spain or Italy. Like Gijon and Oviedo in the north of Spain!
2 cities from neighboring countries. Examples would be like Eastern European countries who are close to each other. Like Podgorica and Dubrovnik or Rotterdam and Antwerp.
The trip again would be like March’s trip, but with more activities and planning involved (with a likelihood of more days than less). For sure it should be warmer than the other trip so why not explore more and spend more time here!
June
Our plans for June are likely to be a warmer location. The summer time has started and there’s no better way to celebrate it than going to a warm country! This trip is likely to be a longer trip than the previous 2 of the year, so let’s dig in.
The trip would be to a location similar to Greece or Turkey – probably sticking to Europe somewhere.
For us, it will be at the start of June to avoid the busy months of the summer holidays and to also skip the hottest months of July and August which can definitely get too hot. This trip could be completely different, and is likely to be either of the 2 below:
A, recovery holiday that is very relaxing and a time to just enjoy the sun and being in a different country.
Or B, a busy experience holiday of trying to see the most of a country.
I suppose it depends on how we both feel when we are looking to book, and whether we need a detox or are ready for a busy adventure. Either way, June is a super good time to go away.
August
Now, at the end of August 2024, we were in Thailand so that would be very hard to beat but we can definitely try. This trip could be a big one for us and likely to be at least 1 week depending on whether Jack is still working. This trip could be the first of the year that would be outside Europe but may not be as spectacular as last year. We would choose an exotic place that is a warm location where there is a lot to do. Examples would be Egypt, or like our trip last year to Morocco.
As Aimee would be over 6 months through recovery we would plan to be super busy and plan to explore each location/region we visit; so we can gauge how prepared we might be for our next trip of 2025.
October/November
This is where, at the start of 2025 at least, we have the plan to potentially take a leap towards long-term travel to some degree. Whether this would be a few months abroad or the start of a one-way trip with no planned end… we don’t know.
Sounds super exciting right?????
This would likely be a trip to South East Asia, more specifically, Vietnam! Vietnam is a place you may know Jack has visited, and Aimee is highlighting it as her next bucket list location. Now, Aimee has a family member here which she hasn’t seen for a decade which means that Hanoi is a great place to start our travels (since that is where they live). In Vietnam, we would likely look to slowly travel through Vietnam to explore each location thoroughly. Here, we would be looking to spend close to a week in each location and soak up what we are actually doing.
Vietnam is such a diverse country and the perfect start for travel as it has a blend of bustling cities, beautiful beaches, rural towns & natural delights.
It’s likely from here, we would move to bordering countries like Cambodia or Laos, with another trip back to Thailand.
If you aren’t already aware, we would be looking to earn for ourselves during our trip and therefore would stick to the ‘cheaper countries’ so our money can stretch us for the longest time whilst we earn/save.
This is something we are working towards even now, and cannot wait to start this new chapter in our lives. Closer to the time we will design ideas and travel plans ready for this big trip.
A trip we plan to last us into new year and hopefully further beyond!
This is SOOOOOOOOO exciting for us and we cannot wait to experience all of this, and bring YOU along with our traveling journeys and experiences.
Not only do we want to show you our life of travel, but also motivate you to take this leap of faith as we plan to do soon so that your dreams can also come alive.
Be sure to follow along for more travel stories, trips and so so much more!
Check Out Our Latest YouTube Video!
Find our Travel Essentials!
We have a full list of recommendations for any travels! Check out our:
We also recommend using these when planning your next trip!
Trip.com– Find amazing flight deals, with over 2 million flight routes, and being one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.
Airalo – With over one million people using Airalo, it is our go to eSIM provider for our worldwide trips! Having data packs from over 200 countries, find combined area packages and deals to suit your travel style and data needs!
Booking.com – Offering over 28 million accommodations to book, we will always use booking.com! Having a rewards system built in, the more you book, the more perks you get!
HostelWorld – You cannot budget travel without hostel world! Having over 17,000 hostels, boasting over 13 million reviews, hostel world is one our of top websites for budget travel! They are now offering more ways to meet people abroad, with meet ups, group chats and more available!
Get Your Guide – Book unique (and common!) experiences and activities worldwide, including skip the line tickets to big attractions worldwide!
Eat With– Experience authentic travel experiences with locals worldwide! Use eat with to book unique and intimate dining experiences, such as dinner parties in big restaurants, big feasts with a local family, cooking classes with a local and more!
ETKA – Every age from 3 to 85 can buy ETKA’s travel insurance, offering multilingual 24/7 chat support, and your insurance policy within 2-3 minutes!
Also, check out our Social Media’s for our amazing travelling journey! Hint Hint: we have just came back from our trip to Thailand!!
Slow travelling is something we touched upon in a recent blog called ‘Fast Travel vs Slow Travel‘ which compared slow travel and fast travel. It’s understanding what they both are and which would be better suited to your travel needs and plans. It’s not a topic many think of when deciding to travel but really provides insight on how to plan your trip and helps you to make the most everyday.
For those who aren’t aware of what slow travel is, it’s pretty simple. Slow travel is the design to travel at a slower pace. Now, this can be for a number of reasons. And this is what we look to delve deeper into later on in this blog. But slow travel isn’t usually the common type of travel for most.
Fast travel seems to be a lot more popular and here’s why. The main benefit of fast travel is so you can see more place compare to slow travel. It’s like visiting a sweet shop and buying one of everything. You know you are buying too much, but you don’t know when you will be in the sweet shop again so you make sure you don’t miss out. When travelling there is so much to see and do, travelers often get FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). It’s common and leads people to visit more places just to cram it all in. This partnered with the fact that many travelers only do this part time or rarely meaning they aren’t likely to be back at this corner of the globe any time soon. So they think ‘while I’m here I might as well make the most of it.
But this is enough about fast travel, after all, it’s not the topic of conversation.
Benefits of Slow Travel
As mentioned above, slow travel comes with a lot of benefits which we will put under the microscope now.
Becoming A Local
The main benefit of slow travel is being able to enjoy the places you visit more. Picture this, you have 2/3 days in each location and you are constantly rushing around to complete to ‘top things to do in each location’. By doing this, you will be missing out on the rest of the activities in the location as well as a host of things to do there. This includes the best coffee shops, places to eat and so much more.
Slow travel really allows you to savour each moment and enjoy the little things. If you are just racing through each place you may not remember much about it other than the ‘big activity’. Some of the fondest memories is the ones where you weren’t necessarily doing the craziest of activities, rather, the most simple. An example of this would be enjoying a late night sing along with locals in Indonesia where a local was playing guitar and we sat with him and his friends for hours singing. It was amazing!
Sometimes you need to just embrace the place you are in, take a moment to be present to enjoy it the most.
Recovery Days
Traveling will be an amazing experience no matter where you go. Whether you enjoy partying, living off grid or just exploring new cultures, you will be sure to have the time of your life. So many memories will be made and you will likely see more than most. However, a lot of people don’t mention one of the downsides to travel.
It. Is. Exhausting.
First of all, living out of a backpack or suitcase is pretty simple for a few weeks but when you are venturing into months or even years, it can be quite a challenge. Not to mention the endless activities you have planned each day to make the most of each trip. The last thing you want to do is have an ‘off day’ and miss out on some awesome experience!
So don’t!
It’s super important, if not a necessity to allow for down days. Days where you can relax and allow your body to recover. You have to think, a lot of your travel time will be lugging round a heavy bag and moving from place to place so 1-3 days every so often is so needed.
For traveling, we would recommend roughly a 2 day break every 3-4 weeks depending on how fast you travel and how much of a veteran you are at traveling. After a busy few weeks jumping from place to place and completing daring, once-in-a-lifetime activities, there’s no better way to spend some time.
For this, we would recommend you to find a place near the beach (if possible), a pool would work well also. And spend time to yourself, reading a book, or relaxing in the sun and taking the days easy. For adrenaline seekers, this may seem boring. However, your body cannot keep going at a fast pace forever when travelling so make sure to take this breaks to avoid travel burn out.
We would suggest to maybe revisit some old fond memories you enjoyed before travelling such as tennis or hiking but do it without feeling the need to be somewhere. Have a wander up the beach or through some shops and really let your body recover. It’s important to note that your mind would need a rest also. Having a few days without a packed schedule might help with this.
Avoid Missing Out
Travelling really is an open ended book. You have the possibility to experience whatever you want in each location and it’s your job, as the author, to make these decisions. A slow travel plan will allow you to learn about travelling on the way and maybe even be informed by fellow travellers of new, unheard of experiences that you are interested in. Research can only give you so much.
The idea of slow travel is learning more about each place and embracing the little things so when you go you will have added time in each location. This will give you a buffer so that if there are any other activities in a location you might not of planned for, then you have the time to schedule it in.
If you are running off a fast paced travel schedule, you will either have to miss out of the activity or substitute it with another which either way, you will be missing out.
Flexibility
Even if you have done hours and hours of research into where you are heading, and planned it perfectly, it doesn’t mean your schedule will work perfectly. You have to understand you are heading into new places which running totally different to what you are used to. They may have poorer transport, or different open and closing times which you can’t always plan for.
Slow travel lets you substitute your time and move about days to suit any issues that may arise. An example would be in Philippines which have poor transportation links which require a few days buffer. If not, you will have to lose out on parts of your plan. If we had planned slow travel, then we could of worked around it with the added days as safety. This is a mistake we aim to not make again as we missed out on one of our top activities because of this and we don’t want you to do the same.
Overview
Slow travelling is, at least for us, the desired way of travelling. It really allows you to make the most of your time and be flexible when deciding on your plans. There’s so many things that can delay your travels that are out of your hands, it’s best to have a little buffer. Therefore, you can still see everything you want plus more without missing out on your bucket list activities. Obviously, this is location specific but we would look to use this method when visiting most places. Your body will always need a day or more to recover when travelling so make sure to adhere to your bodies needs before getting travel burnout.
Thank you for reading this blog and we hope you enjoyed! If you did, make sure to subscribe for more blogs and check out our social media’s below to follow along with our daily travels. This includes a VERY exciting trip to Thailand over the next month where we will give you loads of Thailand related content!!
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We also recommend using these when planning your next trip!
Trip.com– Find amazing flight deals, with over 2 million flight routes, and being one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.
Airalo – With over one million people using Airalo, it is our go to eSIM provider for our worldwide trips! Having data packs from over 200 countries, find combined area packages and deals to suit your travel style and data needs!
Booking.com – Offering over 28 million accommodations to book, we will always use booking.com! Having a rewards system built in, the more you book, the more perks you get!
HostelWorld – You cannot budget travel without hostel world! Having over 17,000 hostels, boasting over 13 million reviews, hostel world is one our of top websites for budget travel! They are now offering more ways to meet people abroad, with meet ups, group chats and more available!
Get Your Guide – Book unique (and common!) experiences and activities worldwide, including skip the line tickets to big attractions worldwide!
Eat With– Experience authentic travel experiences with locals worldwide! Use eat with to book unique and intimate dining experiences, such as dinner parties in big restaurants, big feasts with a local family, cooking classes with a local and more!
ETKA – Every age from 3 to 85 can buy ETKA’s travel insurance, offering multilingual 24/7 chat support, and your insurance policy within 2-3 minutes!
Bangkok is a bustling city that truly never sleeps so make sure your Instagram posts don’t either! There’s an endless supply of activity so make sure to keep your posts booming for all your followers and get them dreaming of their own Bangkok adventure’s!
Also, check out our Social Media’s for our amazing travelling journey! Hint Hint: we have just came back from our trip to Thailand!!
The Ha Giang Loop for us was a hidden wonder! A place we wasn’t aware of and didn’t plan to visit at all once we headed to Vietnam. Vietnam has so much to offer we didn’t come across it when researching – we only learnt about it when meeting fellow travellers who have experienced the loop. We then added it to our itinerary and didn’t regret it one bit! So we wanted to share it with you so you don’t miss out on it as well! Here is our 2 day itinerary for visiting the Ha Giang Loop!
*This post contains affiliate links, which we may earn from. This does not come at an additional cost, but helps us to pursue this dream 🙂
The Ha Giang Loop
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Ha Giang is a town hidden in the north of Vietnam which requires a 12 hour sleeper bus/coach to get there. Crazy we know!! This is usually from the capital Hanoi and can be very daunting for new travellers as it’s such a long time travelling. However, it’s not so bad.
We got a small minivan up to Ha Giang which was quite a difficult ride. The chair was almost a grandad’s armchair, which was cosy and soft. A perfect seat to melt into and enjoy the next 12 hours in. Sleeping was a tough task but with the seat reclining, you had some sense of a bed but it was still difficult to sleep. If you plan to budget and get the minibus we would recommend to go in the day. If we went overnight, we think the experience would be much worse and probably similar to a flight where you just can’t sleep well.
Our recommendation would be to load up on food at the local shop or 7Eleven beforehand to give yourself snacks and meals as you more towards Ha Giang. This bus will include locals making the trip north so be mindful of noise as many of these people will be looking to relax on this journey! If you want help with buses during your southeast Asia travels, look at booking with these!
Hostel stay
We stayed at the Garden Villa Homestay in Ha Giang which is a premium Hostel located in the centre of Ha Giang. The Hostel was unique in it’s reception being full outside in a courtyard type area with the rooms located all around. We opted for a private room as we planned to start the loop in the morning and wanted a good night’s rest (highly recommended!).
The room was simple with a large double bed, a sizeable en-suite. The walls were wooden which was unique but offered a great nights sleep ready for the start of our Ha Giang Loop journey.
In the courtyard they had a rather beautiful seating area which looked over a local lake into the mountains. If we stayed longer we definitely would of enjoyed this with dinner or as a place to enjoy when waking up in the morning. Do be aware, near any fresh water usually brings mosquitos, so to be safe and itch free, use bug spray while staying here!
However, the price of £13 for a deluxe room which is often discounted to £10 is pretty reasonable. If you are sharing this with a friend or partner, that’s only £6.50 each for a night stay with an en-suite! Cannot complain!! Find it here.
Ha Giang Loop Experience – Day 1
For the Loop, we decided to book with Jasmine Hostel as we were recommended these by a few friends to go through. In the morning of our Ha Giang Loop start (9am roughly), we headed to the hostel where we met decided on whether to have an easy rider or not. An easyrider is a local who gets paid to ride you through the Ha Giang Loop as appose to riding yourself. This is perfect if you aren’t comfortable riding a bike or don’t have any experience in riding in the mountains. We opted for an easy rider for these reasons alone.
Having an easyrider allowed for more benefits including able to soak up the views when riding. If you were riding, you couldn’t take any time to look away from the road to enjoy the scenery.
Make sure to pack a small bag for the Loop as there really is limited space on the bike for a large bag. The rider places both yours and their bag between his legs and straps it to the bike so it has to be small enough. Also, make sure to bring Vietnamese Dong with you! If you want to grab some food or drinks out, there will be no card machines as you are in the middle of nowhere so don’t make that mistake.
Before riding off, we decided to rent out knee and elbow pads for the ride. These may look a little silly but these will for sure save you if the worst was to happen. As the saying goes.. it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
So now we have met our easyrider and have 5 or so minutes to get used to being on a motorbike. After this, we all as a group head up to the petrol station and fill up before heading off into the mountains!
The first ride took roughly 2 hours until we found our first stop. This first stop is at a mountains edge where a family lives and has a shop of local snacks and drinks to eat and hydrate before heading off. There’s enough time to have a toilet break, grab snacks and admire the view!
After this break you are back on the move to head towards the spot you will enjoy for lunch! You will spend the next few hours weaving through the hills and enjoying the beautiful scenery before you come across a local town which comprises of 1 main road with a few side streets. Here, you will be stopping off where a buffet style lunch will be prepared. This lunch is included in the price of the payment to Jasmine Hostel but do be aware they charge you for drinks. The food here is local and is super tasty. You will order food bits and sit at the table and share between a small group of 4-6. This is a great way to meet your fellow riders and make friends. After all, the Ha Giang Loop is a multiday activity.
Once again you head back onto the bike and head back into the mountains for more luscious views. You just can’t get enough of them!
You will make several stops on the way to your hostel stay including a place where locals will be playing pool and also a viewpoint on top of a tower! All these stops are a great place to soak up the local way of life and experience deep in the mountains!
You are likely to arrive at you place of stay around 5-6 dependant on weather etc where you are likely tired from all the riding throughout the day. You are given an hour or so to freshen up and find your hostel room before heading down for drinks and dinner. We met some friends and ended up playing cards for a good 30 minutes before dinner which was a great ice breaker when meeting people.
As we all started to gather round for dinner, the light from the sun fell and the food was brought out one by one. A feast for all of us to share. The food was all locally made and produced by ohh my it was some of the best food we have ever had. The spring rolls are still to this the day the best food ever! The spread included such variety from meats to noodles and rice and sides including these flavourful spring rolls.
After the food was finished and everyone’s belly was full, there were shots passed around for all the enjoy and cheers to the amazing experience in which we embarked on. From here, the music will be played and the drinks will flow. This is the perfect time to get to know your fellow riders and sing, dance and drink the night away. Karaoke is offered and this entertainment usually lasts until roughly midnight.
Be mindful that you will be back on the bikes for roughly 9 am so don’t drink too much!
Ha Giang Loop Experience – Day 2
In the morning you will be provided breakfast which is rather hearty ready for your long day ahead of riding. As it’s the 2-day itinerary, we were heading back so split off from the rest of the group. Our riders took us back a different way to Ha Giang. This way allowed us to see the different views of the mountains that were just as beautiful. It was only a 3/5 hours back to Jasmine Hostel but included some stops to stretch our legs and even to see some local natural waterfalls.
At the waterfall, we stopped off and even went for a swim in the waters below! The riders got involved and joined us swimming and invited us to cliff jump from the top. This is a remote waterfall but there’s not many opportunities in life where this is possible so why not! We spend 10-20 minutes cliff jumping and wild swimming before trying to dry off and getting back onto the bike.
Our whole experience was amazing with scenic views, friendly people, and amazing activities! There was no fault of the experience and think it is budget friendly only being £215 with 3 days/2 nights which is inclusive of the following: All meals, all overnight stays, free stay at Jasmin Hostel the night before, Bike hire, fuel, transportation from locations across north Thailand. All you are expected to pay for is your drinks, insurance and any tip for a rider if you want. Check this out here.
Overview
This experience was the best we had during out time in South East Asia and something we aim to do again. We would totally recommend this to anyone and it’s truly a once in a lifetime experience!
If you have experienced the Ha Giang Loop, do let us know what your experience was like! We hope this has inspired you to take this trip and travel the world. If you did enjoyed this blog, check out our recently uploaded Hanoi best trips to do here and like this blog, it really does help!
Also, you can follow our travel journey on our social media’s which we will link below where we share all of our travel tips, thoughts and experiences!
Want help planning your Vietnam adventure?
We now offer custom travel planning support! Experience the pinnacle of travel planning, ensuring your journey is luxurious, well-organized, and unforgettable! Find our Basic package, Standard package, and Luxury package, ready for your Vietnam trip! We have made a blog post explaining these packages further here!
Find our Travel Essentials!
We have a full list of recommendations for any travels! Check out our:
We also recommend using these when planning your next trip!
Trip.com– Find amazing flight deals, with over 2 million flight routes, and being one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.
Airalo – With over one million people using Airalo, it is our go to eSIM provider for our worldwide trips! Having data packs from over 200 countries, find combined area packages and deals to suit your travel style and data needs!
Booking.com – Offering over 28 million accommodations to book, we will always use booking.com! Having a rewards system built in, the more you book, the more perks you get!
HostelWorld – You cannot budget travel without hostel world! Having over 17,000 hostels, boasting over 13 million reviews, hostel world is one our of top websites for budget travel! They are now offering more ways to meet people abroad, with meet ups, group chats and more available!
Get Your Guide – Book unique (and common!) experiences and activities worldwide, including skip the line tickets to big attractions worldwide!
Eat With– Experience authentic travel experiences with locals worldwide! Use eat with to book unique and intimate dining experiences, such as dinner parties in big restaurants, big feasts with a local family, cooking classes with a local and more!
ETKA – Every age from 3 to 85 can buy ETKA’s travel insurance, offering multilingual 24/7 chat support, and your insurance policy within 2-3 minutes!
We post weekly Youtube Videos now! Please check out our newest Vlog!
If you would like to support our own travel Journey, please check out all our other blogs, and subscribe to the newsletter where we are currently uploading daily blogs!
There is a brand new eSIM provider that you NEED to see! They create great packages for business travel and tourism, meaning you can be connected to data wherever you go; straight from landing with the plane! This is Yesim, and let us show you why you need to get it!
With many 5 star ratings, we will explain more about this new eSIM provider that is becoming very popular (and it is even backed by companies such as world packers & Raiffeisen Bank)!
Carry on reading to get a €3 discount for your next eSIM purchase, alongside us breaking down what exactly is an eSIM, and why you need it for your travels!
*This post contains affiliate links, which we may earn from. This does not come at an additional cost, but helps us to pursue this dream 🙂
A somewhat new concept that is becoming very popular in the travel community, eSIM’s are simply an electronic SIM card.
Instead of taking out and swapping between SIM cards, you can download this eSIM directly to your phone (check it’s compatibility first); meaning less hassle, and a safer way to change to your different data plans! You simply turn ‘off’ your home sim, then turn on the eSIM.
Similarly to standard SIM card plans, Yesim offers both specified data allowances (such as 10GB), or unlimited data plans- meaning you wont have a cap or extra charges for your data usage!
Why do we use eSIM’s
For us, eSIM’s has made travelling SO much easier! Guaranteed one of us two will usually buy an eSIM prior to departure, that we can switch on once we land in the country we are headed to!
This then means if we struggle to find wifi or SIM card availability, one of us is guaranteed to have data, for if any problems do arise! It just feels a LOT safer when we go away.
Yesim Data Plans
Yesim offers some great packages dependant on your needs!
From individual country plans (such as a Thailand eSIM, Italy eSIM etc), to Regional eSIMs (such as Southeast Asia, South America etc), alongside global packages, and uniquely, Business packages.
Their plans have over 800+ network providers, meaning for seamless connectivity wherever you go! Something interesting to note is that they offer unlimited data packages, which not all eSIM providers do!
Most plans start from around £1.30/GB, with such a long list of countries provided.
Yesim Deals
Something very unique we have seen with Yesim is that they offer discounts that are ‘seasonal’.
For the upcoming Olympic Games in France, you can buy their SIM card here, with using the code OLYMPIC24 for €2 discount off of your purchase!
They also have a rewards system using Ycoins, where 100 coins will equal one euro to spend! By referring friends you can gain Ycoins to use for future eSIM purchases!
Yesim Discount Code
Now, its finally time to share the discount code!
Once you click this link, use code travelpayouts2024 on checkout to receive €3 discount from your purchase! It’s really that easy to get cheap data that quickly!
Our favourite must-needed travel resources
Where to Fly
Trip.com – Find amazing flight deals, with over 2 million flight routes, and being one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.
Kiwi – Use Kiwi’s amazing service that is pioneering in the flight space! They use virtual interlining, which means they can provide seamless connecting flights into one single itinerary!
CheapOair – Being one of the fastest growing online travel companies in the US, CheapOair offers great flight deals, hotel rooms, rental cars and more!
Where to Stay
Booking.com – Offering over 28 million accommodations to book, we will always use booking.com! Having a rewards system built in, the more you book, the more perks you get!
HostelWorld – You cannot budget travel without hostel world! Having over 17,000 hostels, boasting over 13 million reviews, hostel world is one our of top websites for budget travel! They are now offering more ways to meet people abroad, with meet ups, group chats and more available!
Vrbo – Find stunning vacation rentals with Vrbo! Offering over 2 million paid listings in 190 countries, find memorable experiences with this accommodation service!
Where to Explore
Viator – A trip advisor company, viator offers over 300,000 experiences over 200 countries, including water sports, walking tours, boat trips, food tastes tours and more! Including activities for many budgets, check out Viator!
Eat With – Experience authentic travel experiences with locals worldwide! Use eat with to book unique and intimate dining experiences, such as dinner parties in big restaurants, big feasts with a local family, cooking classes with a local and more!
Get Your Guide – Book unique (and common too!) experiences and activities worldwide, including skip the line tickets to big attractions worldwide!
Where to get Connected
Airalo – With over one million people using Airalo, it is our go to eSIM provider for our worldwide trips! Having data packs from over 200 countries, find combined area packages and deals to suit your travel style and data needs!
Where to be Protected
ETKA – Every age from 3 to 85 can buy ETKA’s travel insurance, offering multilingual 24/7 chat support, and your insurance policy within 2-3 minutes!
Our Top Traveller’s Essentials
Backpack – Osprey Farpoint 40 – This backpack is a staple amongst many travellers! Being a lot cheaper than the luxury brands, this is a quality backpack from a well known brand. It boasts quality durability, is lightweight with a great framework and is a great option for most people! This backpack has a hip strap to help carry the bag, a breathable harness strap, and comes in multiple colours!
Compression Packing Cubes – Compression cubes are our favourite packing accessory! These cubes are similar to the normal packing cubes, but feature a compression zip, meaning you can compress your clothes down… this makes packing easier, limits the space you are using, and means more room for souvenirs etc!
Powerbank – Don’t lose power when travelling! It isn’t always guaranteed to find charging ports, so we would always suggest carrying a spare power bank, just incase you do run low on power when you need it!
Universal Travel Plug Adapter – Most backpackers/travellers visit multiple countries during one trip. And that means it isn’t guaranteed you will be using the same plug head during each place. A universal plug is great as it lets you switch between each plug head style all in one item! We love ours, it has USB slots meaning multiple items can be charged at once.
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Palawan Island is located in the Philippines, and is a thin strip of land furthest west. It’s a popular place for travellers as there are many stops across the large island, with beautiful beaches, once in a lifetime activities and amazing food!
The Island is one of 7,641 Islands that make up the country of Philippines; with many dotted just off the shores. It’s a convenient location for travellers as you are only a 1/2 hour flight away when arriving in the capital of Manila, making it easily accessible! Also, if you have travelled other parts of the Philippines you can get a ferry from Cebu to Coron, but this will take a long time to travel – roughly 35 hours which will stop at other locations including the capital Manila, before heading to Coron (north Palawan). You can also fly from Cebu to Palawan which is roughly 2,000 Philippine Peso which is a lot quicker and not much more expensive!!
The island is definitely worth the travel and wait time as we have not seen such paradisal beaches and islands anywhere else in the world!! The options are to fly to Puerto Princesa which is in the central part of the Island, or to the north Island of Coron which is the Busuanga Airport.
*There are affiliate links in this post – they do not come at any extra cost to you, but just means we can earn commission to help us pursue this further 🙂
Coron, Philippines
Puerto Princesa
The popular flight (and easiest) is to Puerto Princesa, as it is the larger airport and has more flights. However, Coron is a popular spot and one you don’t want to miss out on. We would recommend to head to Puerto Princesa and get local transport (likely a TukTuk) into the city of Puerto Princesa, which is roughly a 30 minute ride. There isn’t much to do here but is a lovely quiet place perfect to get over any jet lag from your travels! 12Go offer a bus and ferry option to transfer from Coron port to Puerto Princesa Airport here.
We would recommend 1 nights in Puerto Princesa if you are fast travelling and 2 nights if you are slow travelling. As mentioned above, there isn’t much to do in the area but there is 2 activities we would recommend to do that you shouldn’t miss!
The first of these are the underground river! The underground river is a natural UNESCO heritage site which a great way to learn more about the rich history of the Philippines and it’s beauty. This experience is a short walk into the Philippines forest where you come up to large rock formations and stunning blue water which leads into the mouth of a dark cave. You are given a guide who will paddle you through the caves and point out any interesting parts of the cave with his flashlight. Before entering the cave you are provided with a headset which has an automatic recording which will talk to you and inform you on the history of the cave and how it became so popular. Find guided tour tickets here.
In the cave you will learn about Stalagmites and Stalactites, and be notified of the amount of bats in the cave. This will be pointed out by the guide through shining the torch for visibility. All round, the experience is calming, and is a lovely way to learn about the local caves with the potential to see wild monkeys on the way into and out of the caves! Be sure to avoid contact with them as they are wild monkeys, and are not pets!
This is a great way to spend half a day in Puerto Princesa and is one of the most popular spots in the area!
Also close to Puerto Princesa is Port Barton.
Port Barton
This is another popular spot just north of Puerto Princesa which is a literal paradise! The area of Port Barton has a large Horseshoe beach with many islands just off the coast.. perfect for a boat trip! The town has become more popular of recent years as more travellers are becoming aware of it’s natural beauty!
It would be recommended to stay here for 2/3 nights and from here head further north. However, this is a great location to kick back, relax on the stunning beaches and spend time going for swims, snorkelling to look for marine animals, and exploring the area.
It’s located near a mangrove and has some amazing walks to beaches which are so quiet that it seems private! The area is so stunning and always recommended by travellers who have been there. Also here is local waterfalls which you can venture to and spend some time taking in the natural beauty!
There’s even an island called Paradise Island!!! You can book an island hopping tour that visits this island here.
After enjoying Port Barton in all it’s beauty, you can then head up north towards El Nido by taking the most popular transport of a taxi/shuttle dependant on preference. The shuttle would be cheaper as it is taking multiple groups of people but will be slower and will usually take 4 or so hours. You can find a shuttle bus transport from 12Go for only £9 here. When we made the journey up to the north of Palawan to El Nido our shuttle blew a tyre and we were stuck on the side of a road for 1 hour with only a few local huts housing families and stray dogs. It was a welcoming experience as these people lived such a simple life and was so amazing to see it! Hopefully this doesn’t happen to you haha!
El Nido
When looking to visit El Nido there are 2 main hostels that travellers book! One is Frendz Hostel and another is Outpost Hostel. We opted for the latter which turned out to be one of the best hostels we stayed in across the whole 3 months in Asia! The hostel has everything you can ask for! Lovely staff, amazing facilities, good price, boat trips, the beach on the doorstep and more!
When we say the beach on the doorstep, we mean that once we were dropped off near the hostel on the side of the road, we had to wander down steps onto the beach as pointed out by a sign. We wandered the beach for 2 minutes and boom there’s the hostel. Literally 3 steps up from the beach. It is so close that when you wake up in the morning and head down for breakfast, you will notice the tide has come in and if you are to go on the beach you will have to walk through the sea!
You have the choice from a shared dorm of 12/8/4 or a private room. It is known to be a lively hostel, a place for people to meet fellow travellers and enjoy the evenings! Each day the hostel have boat tours running (there are 2 to do which are alternated), which we would recommend 100%. It’s an island hopping tour that really stood out and you will see places that literally look out of this world. The tours (as of September 2022) cost around £15 per person and would be from 9am till 5/6pm, which is inclusive of lunch (fresh fish and fruits like pineapple and watermelon), party games between islands (including alcohol), and snorkel gear and recommendations on where to find marine animals. It’s so worth the money and you get to know all the fellow travellers on the trip as well which is amazing!
On the tour we met up with some local islanders that lived on one of the many islands dotted around the Philippines. Even though they didn’t speak English or we didn’t speak their language, we decided to play a game of Volleyball with the locals with mixed teams. We got to understand the simplicity of their life and how grateful they were for what little they had. It was such a surreal experience and on the island we were able to enjoy the sunset before heading back to the hostel for the end of the trip.
As expected, we did both the boat tours which take separate routes around the islands visiting different areas! Once you get back you are welcomed at the bar with a free drink and the socialising has begun!
The hostel offers great food, but it is a lot more expensive to eat at the hostel compared to local places just a 5/10 minute away. We are taking sometimes 3 times more expensive!
If you do enjoy the party scene, you can venture into El Nido later in the evening and find a popular club called Amigos which has an amazing view once you walk through it! At the back you fall straight on the beach only 10/20 feet away from the sea and we can’t lie we had a few dips in there because why not! Many would take off their clothes and go in the sea in their underwear to then come out the sea, dry off and put their clothes back on to head back into the club! The vibes are electric and the people are super friendly! Even next door to the club there is an amazing burger spot which is a great place to stumble in once you have completed the night and looking for a late snack!
From Outpost Hostel to the centre of town should only cost 100 Pesos (£1.50) each way and you can ride multiple people in one TukTuk!
In the day there is still loads more to do! We ended up renting a driver and a group of us headed to some famous beaches (Nacpan & Duli Beach). These are roughly 45 – 60 minutes north of El Nido but well worth the journey! The beaches were empty, we were the only ones there! We stopped and had lunch on the beach before going into the sea and enjoying the beautiful weather! After a while, and moving between beaches, we came across loads of local Philippines kids running and playing on the sand which was awesome to see! As a group we played some volleyball and tired ourselves out to collapse on the sun loungers and enjoy the sunset. There’s no better way to enjoy this than ordering a local dessert of Halo Halo, which was so refreshing and beautiful! Definitely worth a try!!
Also in El Nido there is a local waterfall called Nagkalit-Kalit ,which is a beautiful activity to experience, take photos, see the nature and swim under! El Nido is a place full of nature and one that should be on everyone’s bucket list!
Moving on from El Nido would be to take a Ferry from the mainland of Palawan to the island of Busuanga which is the next location of Coron! The Ferry is pretty expensive at £40-£50+ and takes roughly 5 hours dependant on the weather and the choppy waters. Please note that the Ferry only runs 2 times a week (was Tuesday and Thursday we believe in 2022) so be sure to check this before looking to book as you might be stranded in El Nido for a few extra days if you don’t plan ahead. It’s not really the worst place to be left stranded though really!! You can book the ferry here.
Coron
From here you can head up north to the Island of Coron which is part of Palawan. Coron is a small seaside town that has some great activities that you definitely don’t want to miss out on.
Here we would recommend to stay at Outpost Hostel located in Coron. This is the same company as the one in El Nido, but is less party and more chilled out. It is located through the town, and up a steep street that overlooks much of the town- and provide great views of the sea and sunrise/sunset. The Hostel also has a small pool you can use and offers daily entertainment each evening which normally consists of drinking games and fun! The hostel is super friendly and is only a 15 minute walk from the main town, which has some good entertainment like a place to play pool and some great local food spots. In Coron, we would recommend going on boat tours as there are so many pretty islands close to the island. However, be aware that it is slightly more expensive than the tours in El Nido, and doesn’t offer the same entertaining perks as well. You will also be required to provide your own snorkel equipment or purchase/rent the equipment for the tour.
The tour will include going to some beautiful islands and swimming in some amazing turquoise blue lakes which are breath taking. You seriously cannot get bored of the tours and the beauty of the country Philippines. One of these being Barracuda lake which houses actual Barracuda’s that live deep in the lake and are seldom seen. Unfortunately we didn’t see one but one of our friends did and if you are lucky you may see them too!
In the town of Coron you can take a walk up into the hills and find a spot where you can look over the whole town and the waters afar! Mount Tapyas is a popular hike and one that will take you up hundreds of steps and roughly takes 60 – 90 minutes if you take your time. Up here you will see a large sign like the one in Hollywood and be able to witness a beautiful view with picturesque islands in the back. This would be a great place to venture up before sunrise or at sunset to see some beautiful views!
Coron is a hotspot for many aspiring divers to get their PADI diving certificate or learn how to free dive. It has some cool locations including reefs, turtle spots and shipwrecks where you are able to do this and learn how to scuba dive and earn your PADI certificate!
Also in Coron, there’s a natural hot spring called Maquinit which allows you to bathe in naturally heated pools of water to relax and sooth your soul. Coron is such a beautiful seaside town full of character and beauty. It’s certainly a place you can’t miss out on!
Palawan
The best time to visit Palawan would ideally be between November to May as this is technically their summer time. This means there is less risk of bad weather and encountering typhoons or cyclones which are more apparent between June and October. However, when we visited it was the start/middle of September and the weather was beautiful. Full of sun with a few cloudy days! There were a few days (mostly in Coron) where we were hit with heavy rain or wet weather but it adds to the experience and really didn’t dampen our spirits while there!
Leaving the island would generally consist of grabbing a plane to either the capital Manila or onto the rest of the Philippines like Cebu from Francisco B. Reyes Airport. It’s located close to Coron would only be a short TukTuk ride to here!
Visiting Palawan is such a beautiful journey
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Palawan Island is located in the Philippines, and is a thin strip of land furthest west. It’s a popular place for travellers as there are many stops across the large island. There are beautiful beaches, once in a lifetime activities and amazing food!
The Island is one of 7,641 Islands that make up the country of Philippines; with many dotted just off the shores. It’s a convenient location for travellers as you are only a 1/2 hour flight away when arriving in the capital of Manila, making it easily accessible! Also, if you have travelled other parts of the Philippines you can get a ferry from Cebu to Coron, but this will take a long time to travel – roughly 35 hours which will stop at other locations including the capital Manila, before heading to Coron (north Palawan). You can also fly from Cebu to Palawan which is roughly 2,000 Philippine Peso which is a lot quicker and not much more expensive!!
The island is definitely worth the travel and wait time as we have not seen such paradisal beaches and islands anywhere else in the world!! The options are to fly to Puerto Princesa which is in the central part of the Island, or to the north Island of Coron which is the Busuanga Airport.
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Coron, Philippines
Puerto Princesa
The first location in our Palawan guide is Puerto Princess! The popular flight (and easiest) is to Puerto Princesa, as it is the larger airport and has more flights. However, Coron is a popular spot and one you don’t want to miss out on. We would recommend to head to Puerto Princesa and get local transport (likely a TukTuk) into the city of Puerto Princesa, which is roughly a 30 minute ride. There isn’t much to do here but is a lovely quiet place perfect to get over any jet lag from your travels! 12Go offer a bus and ferry option to transfer from Coron port to Puerto Princesa Airport here.
We would recommend 1 nights in Puerto Princesa if you are fast travelling and 2 nights if you are slow travelling. As mentioned above, there isn’t much to do in the area but there is 2 activities we would recommend to do that you shouldn’t miss!
The first of these are the underground river! The underground river is a natural UNESCO heritage site which a great way to learn more about the rich history of the Philippines and it’s beauty. This experience is a short walk into the Philippines forest where you come up to large rock formations and stunning blue water which leads into the mouth of a dark cave.
You are given a guide who will paddle you through the caves and point out any interesting parts of the cave with his flashlight. Before entering the cave you are provided with a headset which has an automatic recording which will talk to you and inform you on the history of the cave and how it became so popular. Find guided tour tickets here.
In the cave you will learn about Stalagmites and Stalactites, and be notified of the amount of bats in the cave. This will be pointed out by the guide through shining the torch for visibility. All round, the experience is calming, and is a lovely way to learn about the local caves. There is even potential to see wild monkeys on the way into and out of the caves! Be sure to avoid contact with them as they are wild monkeys, and are not pets!
This is a great way to spend half a day in Puerto Princesa, and is one of the most popular spots in the area!
Also close to Puerto Princesa is Port Barton.
Port Barton
This is another popular spot in Palawan, just north of Puerto Princesa, which is a literal paradise! The area of Port Barton has a large Horseshoe beach with many islands just off the coast.. perfect for a boat trip! The town has become more popular of recent years as more travellers are becoming aware of it’s natural beauty!
It would be recommended to stay here for 2/3 nights and from here head further north. However, this is a great location to kick back, relax on the stunning beaches and spend time going for swims, snorkelling to look for marine animals, and exploring the area.
It’s located near a mangrove and has some amazing walks to beaches which are so quiet that it seems private! The area is so stunning and always recommended by travellers who have been there. Also here is local waterfalls which you can venture to and spend some time taking in the natural beauty!
There’s even an island called Paradise Island!!! You can book an island hopping tour that visits this island here.
After enjoying Port Barton in all it’s beauty, you can then head up north towards El Nido by taking the most popular transport of a taxi/shuttle dependant on preference. The shuttle would be cheaper as it is taking multiple groups of people but will be slower and will usually take 4 or so hours. You can find a shuttle bus transport from 12Go for only £9 here. When we made the journey up to the north of Palawan to El Nido our shuttle blew a tyre and we were stuck on the side of a road for 1 hour with only a few local huts housing families and stray dogs. It was a welcoming experience as these people lived such a simple life and was so amazing to see it! Hopefully this doesn’t happen to you haha!
El Nido
When looking to visit El Nido there are 2 main hostels that travellers book! One is Frendz Hostel and another is Outpost Hostel. We opted for the latter which turned out to be one of the best hostels we stayed in across the whole 3 months in Asia! The hostel has everything you can ask for! Lovely staff, amazing facilities, good price, boat trips, the beach on the doorstep and more!
When we say the beach on the doorstep, we mean that once we were dropped off near the hostel on the side of the road, we had to wander down steps onto the beach as pointed out by a sign. We wandered the beach for 2 minutes and boom there’s the hostel. Literally 3 steps up from the beach. It is so close that when you wake up in the morning and head down for breakfast, you will notice the tide has come in and if you are to go on the beach you will have to walk through the sea!
You have the choice from a shared dorm of 12/8/4 or a private room. It is known to be a lively hostel, a place for people to meet fellow travellers and enjoy the evenings! Each day the hostel have boat tours running (there are 2 to do which are alternated), which we would recommend 100%. It’s an island hopping tour that really stood out and you will see places that literally look out of this world. The tours (as of September 2022) cost around £15 per person and would be from 9am till 5/6pm, which is inclusive of lunch (fresh fish and fruits like pineapple and watermelon), party games between islands (including alcohol), and snorkel gear and recommendations on where to find marine animals. It’s so worth the money and you get to know all the fellow travellers on the trip as well which is amazing!
On the tour we met up with some local islanders that lived on one of the many islands dotted around the Philippines. Even though they didn’t speak English or we didn’t speak their language, we decided to play a game of Volleyball with the locals with mixed teams. We got to understand the simplicity of their life and how grateful they were for what little they had. It was such a surreal experience and on the island we were able to enjoy the sunset before heading back to the hostel for the end of the trip.
As expected, we did both the boat tours which take separate routes around the islands visiting different areas! Once you get back you are welcomed at the bar with a free drink and the socialising has begun!
The hostel offers great food, but it is a lot more expensive to eat at the hostel compared to local places just a 5/10 minute away. We are taking sometimes 3 times more expensive!
If you do enjoy the party scene, you can venture into El Nido later in the evening and find a popular club called Amigos which has an amazing view once you walk through it! At the back you fall straight on the beach only 10/20 feet away from the sea and we can’t lie we had a few dips in there because why not! Many would take off their clothes and go in the sea in their underwear to then come out the sea, dry off and put their clothes back on to head back into the club! The vibes are electric and the people are super friendly! Even next door to the club there is an amazing burger spot which is a great place to stumble in once you have completed the night and looking for a late snack!
From Outpost Hostel to the centre of town should only cost 100 Pesos (£1.50) each way and you can ride multiple people in one TukTuk!
In the day there is still loads more to do! We ended up renting a driver and a group of us headed to some famous beaches (Nacpan & Duli Beach). These are roughly 45 – 60 minutes north of El Nido but well worth the journey! The beaches were empty, we were the only ones there! We stopped and had lunch on the beach before going into the sea and enjoying the beautiful weather! After a while, and moving between beaches, we came across loads of local Philippines kids running and playing on the sand which was awesome to see! As a group we played some volleyball and tired ourselves out to collapse on the sun loungers and enjoy the sunset. There’s no better way to enjoy this than ordering a local dessert of Halo Halo, which was so refreshing and beautiful! Definitely worth a try!!
Also in El Nido there is a local waterfall called Nagkalit-Kalit ,which is a beautiful activity to experience, take photos, see the nature and swim under! El Nido is a place full of nature and one that should be on everyone’s bucket list!
Moving on from El Nido would be to take a Ferry from the mainland of Palawan to the island of Busuanga which is the next location of Coron! The Ferry is pretty expensive at £40-£50+ and takes roughly 5 hours dependant on the weather and the choppy waters. Please note that the Ferry only runs 2 times a week (was Tuesday and Thursday we believe in 2022) so be sure to check this before looking to book as you might be stranded in El Nido for a few extra days if you don’t plan ahead. It’s not really the worst place to be left stranded!! You can book the ferry here.
Coron
From here you can head up north to the Island of Coron which is part of Palawan. Coron is a small seaside town that has some great activities that you definitely don’t want to miss out on.
Here we would recommend to stay at Outpost Hostel located in Coron. This is the same company as the one in El Nido, but is less party and more chilled out. It is located through the town, and up a steep street that overlooks much of the town- and provide great views of the sea and sunrise/sunset. The Hostel also has a small pool you can use and offers daily entertainment each evening which normally consists of drinking games and fun!
The hostel is super friendly and is only a 15 minute walk from the main town, which has some good entertainment like a place to play pool and some great local food spots. In Coron, we would recommend going on boat tours as there are so many pretty islands close to the island. However, be aware that it is slightly more expensive than the tours in El Nido, and doesn’t offer the same entertaining perks as well. You will also be required to provide your own snorkel equipment or purchase/rent the equipment for the tour.
The tour will include going to some beautiful islands and swimming in some amazing turquoise blue lakes which are breath taking. You seriously cannot get bored of the tours and the beauty of the country Philippines. One of these being Barracuda lake which houses actual Barracuda’s that live deep in the lake and are seldom seen. Unfortunately we didn’t see one but one of our friends did and if you are lucky you may see them too!
In the town of Coron you can take a walk up into the hills and find a spot where you can look over the whole town and the waters afar! Mount Tapyas is a popular hike and one that will take you up hundreds of steps and roughly takes 60 – 90 minutes if you take your time. Up here you will see a large sign like the one in Hollywood and be able to witness a beautiful view with picturesque islands in the back. This would be a great place to venture up before sunrise or at sunset to see some beautiful views!
Coron is a hotspot for many aspiring divers to get their PADI diving certificate or learn how to free dive. It has some cool locations including reefs, turtle spots and shipwrecks where you are able to do this and learn how to scuba dive and earn your PADI certificate!
Also in Coron, there’s a natural hot spring called Maquinit which allows you to bathe in naturally heated pools of water to relax and sooth your soul. Coron is such a beautiful seaside town full of character and beauty. It’s certainly a place you can’t miss out on!
Palawan
The best time to visit Palawan would ideally be between November to May as this is technically their summer time. This means there is less risk of bad weather and encountering typhoons or cyclones which are more apparent between June and October. However, when we visited Palawan it was the start/middle of September and the weather was beautiful. Full of sun with a few cloudy days! There were a few days (mostly in Coron) where we were hit with heavy rain or wet weather but it adds to the experience and really didn’t dampen our spirits while there!
Leaving the islands of Palawan would generally consist of grabbing a plane to either the capital Manila or onto the rest of the Philippines like Cebu from Francisco B. Reyes Airport. It’s located close to Coron would only be a short TukTuk ride to here!
If you would like to support our own travel Journey, please check out all our other blogs, and subscribe to the newsletter where we are currently uploading daily blogs!
Check out our Social Media’s below! We share our daily activities, all of our budget friendly travel tips, travel inspiration and more!
Spain’s capital boasts expansive views, elegant aesthetics, and stunning architecture. Madrid is a city full of adventure and things to do, so let us help you plan your Spanish city trip itinerary!
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Our top list of things to do in Madrid!
Sip on cocktails at Salmon Guru, one of the best cocktail bars in the world.
Walk around the city’s oldest flea market, the Rastro.
See masterpieces at the Reina Sofia.
Spend hours in the Prado Museum.
See a live flamenco performance.
Eat a picnic in Buen Retiro Park.
Have the best chocolate covered churros from Chocolatería San Ginés .
Walk around the largest working royal Palace in Europe.
Take in the views of the second-century BC Egyptian temple.
Go on a traditional Spanish tapas food crawl!
Activity Recommendations
Reina Sofía – Comprising of over 21,000 works, this museum is home to Picasso’s masterpiece the Guernica. Explore the works of Dali and so many more in this multi-narrative museum that is a must visit! Find tickets here.
Prado Museum – Explore the largest range of Spanish artwork in the world at the Prado Museum. Admire the works by Rembrandt, Dürer, Titian, Murillo, Velázquez and Goya, as you take in this beautiful gallery. Find tickets here.
Flamenco Performance – Flamenco shows are a must see when visiting Spain, so treat your senses to a full flamenco performance at this package deal where you can see a show at a usually sold-out venue of the oldest tablao (flamenco venue) in Madrid, alongside a tapas dinner.
The Royal Palace – Discover the Royal Palace and Royal collections in this full guided tour, with chances to see the royal apartments and the royal gardens. This tour comes with a private guide, and headphones for your guided tour, and is the best way to learn about this history of the palace! Find tickets here.
Spanish Tapas Crawl – Experience the original tapas crawl as you visit four different food locations in a non-touristic area of Madrid. This includes 10-12 tapas dishes, one house drink per location, and a guide for your tapas crawl! Find it here.
Places to stay
Here are some of our recommendations for staying in Madrid
Budget Traveler :
2060 The Newton Hostel – Being in the amazing central location of the Tirso de Molina Plaza, this hostel is an amazing start for your Madrid adventure! Offering 8-12 bedroom dorms, this hostel starts from only £19 a night, which is SO good for a capital location! Find it here.
Mid Budget Traveler :
Bastardo Hostel – Priding themselves to not JUST be a hostel or place to stay, Bastardo Hostel is a great mid budget option, offering both dorm and private accommodation, to suit a variety of budgets. They have breakfast options, rooms with terraces and more! Find it here.
Luxury Traveler :
UMusic Hotel Madrid – This 5 star hotel is an amazing luxury travel option to create the most unforgettable Madrid trip! Boasting a sun terrace with pool, a restaurant, fitness centre and prime location, this is a hotel to remember! Starting from £250 a night, this is the hotel to build memories! Find it here.
Have you done any of these things?
Would you add anything else to this list? If you have been previously, what is your favourite thing to do? And if you haven’t been, what is your most idolised thing to do?
If you would like to support our own travel Journey, please check out all our other blogs, and subscribe to the newsletter where we are currently uploading daily blogs!
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