Travel past
After not travelling much further than France until I was 18, my first experience of long-haul travel was a university trip to Thailand. It opened up a whole new world to me – starting a long love of SE Asia and a major case of itchy feet. After a few trips that got longer each time, I quit my job to travel around Asia and Australia for 16 months back in 2003. Since then I’ve been fitting in as much travel as I can and always have to have a trip (or three) in the pipeline. Find out more about my past travel exploits in my A to Z of travel.
Where I’ve been
In 20+ years of travelling I’ve racked up a few miles. Here are the places I’ve been so far (I’ll link them to articles as and when I get around to writing them). I thought I was doing pretty well having visited 35 countries, but out of the 196 in the world, that’s only about 18% done so far… I’d better get travelling.
- Australia: Sydney, Cairns, Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation, Townsville, Magnetic Island, Whitsundays, Fraser Island, Noosa, Brisbane, Surfers Paradise, Blue Mountains, Canberra, Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Barossa Valley, Kalgoorlie, Esperance, Margaret River, Pemberton, Bunbury, Perth, Fremantle, Kalbarri, Monkey Mia, Karijini, Coral Bay, Exmouth, Broome, Kununurra, Darwin, Kakadu, Alice Springs, Uluru
- Bahamas: Nassau
- Belgium: Brussels, Bruges
- Cambodia: Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Kampot, Siem Reap
- Cayman Islands: Grand Cayman
- China: Hong Kong
- Costa Rica: San José, Tortuguero, Cahuita, La Fortuna, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio
- Czech Republic: Prague
- France: Paris, Normandy, Brittany, Nice, Cannes, Méribel, Reims, Honfleur, Lille, St Jean de Luz, Biarritz, Carcassonne, Beaune, Soulac-sur-Mer, Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux and St Jean d’Aulps
- Germany: Dusseldorf, Duisberg
- Greece: Rhodes, Symi
- Hungary: Budapest
- Iceland: Reykjavik
- India: Mumbai, Goa, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi, Calcutta
- Indonesia: Bali (Legian, Ubud, Nusa Lembongan, Tanjung Benoa), Lombok (Gili Islands)
- Italy: Venice, Ancona, Bologna, Rome, Bolsena, Tuscany, Umbria, Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii
- Ireland: Dublin
- Japan: Tokyo
- Jordan: Amman, Petra, Dead Sea
- Laos: Vientiene, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang
- Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands, Penang, Perhentian Islands, Tioman
- Monaco
- Morocco: Marrakech, Ait Benhaddou, Todra Gorge, Fes, Volublis, Meknes, Asilah
- Netherlands: Amsterdam
- New Zealand: Auckland, Waiheke Island, Waitomo, Rotorua, East Cape, Gisborne, Lake Waikaremoana, Napier, Taupo, Turangi, Wellington, Abel Tasman, Franz Josef, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Oamaru, Lake Tekapo, Christchurch, Akaroa, Kaikoura, Marlborough, Hanmer Springs, Dunedin, Catlins
- Portugal: Porto
- Singapore
- Spain: Barcelona, San Sebastián
- Switzerland: Geneva, Zermatt, Lucerne, Chur, Flims, Lugarno, Locarno, Interlaken
- Thailand: Bangkok, Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngan, Kanchanaburi, Ko Samet, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Pai, Sukhothai
- Turkey: Istanbul
- USA: New York, Boston, Cape Cod, San Francisco, Sonoma, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Kanab, Monument Valley, Moab, Arches, Canyonlands, Durango, Taos, Santa Fe, Sedona
- UK: way too many to list in full – I’ve lived in Ross-on-Wye, London, Oxford and Cheltenham, and visited Cornwall, Dorset, Chichester, Bath, Manchester, York, Edinburgh and Belfast among others
- Vatican City
- Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City, Dalat, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Halong Bay.
lovely blog, diving in to read some other posts
http://www.tinkerbelle86.wordpress.com
Thanks! Just getting started with this whole blogging thing but hope to have some more posts coming along soon.
Lucy
A bit jealous of your many travels! I’ve been to Belize, Guatamala, Dublin, Navan, Slane, Cork, & Kinsale Ireland, Edinburgh, Scotland, Paris, France and also London, Cambridge, Wales, Bath, Oxford, Stratford, Canterburry, Leeds, and a few other places in England.
I am dying to see Italy, Germany, Czech Republich, Spain, Norway, and many others!
That’s the problem with travel – it’s very addictive! I’d love to do Belize and Guatemala, it looks like such a gorgeous part of the world. Maybe next year!
wow, so jealous of all your travels! how did you manage 16 months off? our longest is 4 weeks. lucky you!
Hi, the 16 months was after a whole lot of saving beforehand and quitting my job! Most of the other trips have been a bit shorter, though I did wangle a 2-month sabbatical from my last job. I’m freelance now so have to resist the temptation to give myself the whole year off!
I saw more of Belize, Guatemala was just across the border to one of the big market areas.. that was pretty interesting though.. It was actually my high school senior class trip, being a church school we opted to go on a mission trip for the 3rd year in row. We spent 10 days altogether there, the last 2 nights we were on an island, but the other days did some other things. It was quite an experience. My first time out of the country – in March 2000. Ages ago now.
Quite the impressive list of places. We’re just getting started on our resume of travel, in Korea now teaching and gathering info for a book! http://www.everythingbutkimchi.wordpress.com
Thanks. Korea must be a fascinating place to spend some time – and you’ve got so many great places to travel to in that part of the world too. Good luck with the book and happy travels!
Great blog, just stumbled upon it from a comment somewhere. Traveling really does get addictive! I’ve managed to travel at least every 3 months or so with a full time job. It gets a bit exhausting at times but I just can’t stop. Your travel past is very impressive! I started blogging on and off since about a year ago, I think I’ll dedicate more of my time on it. Did you buy your domain through wordpress or hosted elsewhere? I’m still so confuses with the whole wordpress deal.
Hi Antoinette, thanks for stopping by! Your travel style sounds a lot like mine, I usually managed to get away every few months while I was working, though now I’m freelancing its a lot easier. The travel wish list never seems to get any shorter though! I’ve only had the site about 4 months and am really enjoying it, though it can take up a lot of time. I got my domain through WordPress and they do all the hosting which has been pretty easy. Good luck with developing your site – looks like you’ve been to some really interesting places.
you’ve been to world’s best places. hope you consider visiting Philippines anytime soon. I love reading your travel adventures, such an inspiration Ms. Lucy.
I would love to visit the Philippines some time – so many great places to see!
It is my dream to be like you!! Is it really possible to get by as a freelance writer and travel all over the world at the same time? How do you do it?
Hi Stephanie, well I hope so! I did work full-time for about 10 years so built up some savings and some good contacts before I went freelance, and I try not to splash out too much on anything other than travel. Last year I travelled a lot but this year I’m working more, so it varies, but it’s been good so far to be my own boss. The best thing is the flexibility as you can work from anywhere, so can house sit or do other cheap ways to travel. Good luck if you decide to go for it one day!
The list is long but I see you have missed Sweden
, come visit some time!
I’ve got a big Scandanavia shaped gap on the list so far! Would love to come to Sweden, hopefully I can fit a trip in soon.
Amazing! I love reading your blog. Since you have a unique kind of love for South East Asia. Visit Borneo. I live in Brunei Darussalam, Borneo. You’d be up for a whole lot of new experiences and adventures!
Thanks, I would love to visit Borneo and Brunei some day, it’s a big gap in my South East Asia experience that will have to be filled soon!
Wow, what a great travel history, and a great blog, I think that I’m going to make one of my own.
I only hope my travels carry me to as many destinations you have been to. It’s really impressive!
Great list of countries. Some I have been to and some are on my list. I have visited 36 countries so far and hoping to add a few more while living in Paris for 3 years. Will spend more time exploring your blog later as it seems to have some very nice articles & pictures. (Suzanne)
Thanks for visiting, and lucky you spending three years in Paris! I spent only a few months there last year but loved the city (you’ll find lots of Paris posts on the site) and it’s a great base to travel around Europe. Happy travels!
I used to live in Cayman, what do you think of it?
Nice place to live! I only had a week there so didn’t have time to see as much as I’d like but had a really great time, loved the beaches and the laid back atmosphere. Must get back to the Caribbean some time, I could do with some sun!
Yeah, I’ve been gone for atleast 7 years! I miss it. Did you see the turtle farm?
Hi Lucy, AWESOME blog! But I am missing Stuttgart on your list of German cities
Why it’s worth visiting? Well, check out my blog called “Living in Stuttgart”… 
http://living-in-stuttgart.com/
Hi, my German travels are definitely a bit lacking! I haven’t been back there for years and have so much still to see, Stuttgart included. Hopefully I can fit in a big Euro trip next year and will check out your site for some tips.