After being repeatedly thwarted during our trip to Norway, I became even more determined to find a way to see the aurora borealis in person. Lapland, Finland’s northernmost region, is one of the best places for aurora activity at the later end of the season. It's also known for its ski resorts and a ski season that lasts well into May, which made it even more ideal for convincing Andy to give the northern lights another chance.
I had been trying to get my father to come visit me and Andy from the moment we knew we were moving and I started planning out what we wanted to do with him as soon as he booked a trip. It was Dad's first time in Europe and naturally I wanted to take him to a place I knew he would absolutely love: Tuscany. Andy and I actually hadn't visited Tuscany together since our two-week trip in 2019, so we were equally as excited to simply be back in one of our favorite places.
After learning about Andalusian culture and architecture during our trip to southern Spain last summer, we were particularly eager to experience the full impact of the Berber Muslim empires that ruled Al-Andalus...and eat authentic Moroccan food, of course. Marrakech, the ancient city that functioned as the capital of the Almoravid and Almohad empires, was the natural starting point for our first trip to Morocco—and our first time visiting Africa.
I had to make some tough decisions when planning our 10-day trip to Spain last year, but the hardest by far was deciding we didn't have enough time to squeeze in Barcelona. Thankfully, it worked out perfectly for us to plan a trip to this beautiful city on the coast of northeastern Spain over the last weekend in February,
There are so many wonderful places to explore in England and traveling by train is definitely our favorite mode of transportation – especially because it makes it so easy for us to bring our dog, Lily. Oxford had been very high on our list from the outset and our weekend trip to this historic town was even more eagerly anticipated after a full month at home in London.
After an amazing experience in Chamonix last year, Andy and I were extremely excited to head back to the French Alps for our first ski trip of this season. I ultimately decided on Megève based on its reputation as a gastronomy hotspot, and the sophisticated little village certainly lived up to the hype.
We spent Christmas in London with Andy's mother, which was the perfect way to relax and recharge before making our way up to Bodø for our final trip of 2022. Bodø is a small city just past the Arctic Circle in northwestern Norway, making it an ideal place to see the aurora borealis during the winter when the sun barely rises above the horizon. The lack of sunlight combined with insane wind, absolutely frigid temperatures, and heavy snowfall nearly every day made for an incredibly unique experience — it was truly one of the most starkly beautiful places we've ever visited.
I spontaneously set a goal of visiting 10 new countries by the end of 2023 during a random team meeting in January where everyone had to share their New Year’s resolutions. This arbitrary goal combined with my love of European Christmas markets is how we ended up in Kraków during the second weekend in December.
The older I get, the more and more excited I get about Christmas decorations and the holiday season in general. I try to buy at least one ornament on each trip we take, but my absolute favorite places to find new holiday decorations are the Christmas markets that pop up across Europe each season. We had to cancel our 2021 Christmas market trips due to the Omicron variant breakout, so I was more than ready to finally head to Basel to experience its legendary Christmas market scene.
One of Andy's closest childhood friends is Turkish and so he has always been particularly interested in Turkish culture — and extremely interested in Turkish food. Istanbul has always been at the top of his list of travel destinations, so I was thrilled that we could finally check this iconic city (and our first time in Asia) off with a long weekend trip in early November.
Lindsey in London 