For us, 2016 was a year filled with full time travel. Until August 14th at least, when we returned back to Brussels after 11 months and a week of non-stop traveling. For the remainder of the year we focused on expanding our online business (Bootstrapped Ventures) to sustain our travel plans for 2017. New Year is just a couple of hours away now, so time to look back on our 2016 travels.
We also made a video recap of our round the world trip, so go all the way to the bottom for some video footage of 1 year of traveling!
2016, 16 dives and counting
At the start of our trip around the world (September 2015) we got certified to scuba dive down to 30 meters in Koh Tao, Thailand. That took us 11 dives. Another 16 dives in 2016 brings our total to 27 dives in 3 different countries.
We started out 2016 in Bali, Indonesia. After dancing our way into the new year in Ubud, we headed to Amed for some underwater exploring. We spotted a turtle, tons of beautifully coloured fish and coral, a shipwreck, and a silly American. Thanks, Bali Reef Divers for guiding us!
Our next series of dives was at a spot that’s high on every scuba divers bucket list: the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Pro Dive Cairns took us out there on a 3 day/2 night liveaboard dive trip, good for another 11 stunning dives. We saw several reef sharks, a couple of turtles, a giant clam, some sting rays and lots of beautiful coral formations.
We absolutely love the underwater world, so there will definitely be more dive trips in the future!
2016, 4 months of living in a campervan
In 2016 we lived in a Spaceships Campervan for 4 months on end. Well, actually it was a big car, redesigned on the inside to have a bed and some storage room. I’m still wondering how our relationship survived that period.
We spent a lot of nights in there while temperatures outside ranged from freezing cold to scorching hot. From southern New Zealand to Australia’s Red Centre, we’ve driven over 18,000 km (about 11,000 miles) in our campervan.
The Australian leg of our 4 month road trip was a loop from Sydney via Melbourne, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Cairns, and Brisbane, all the way back to Sydney: 13,429 km. We have selfies with the Sydney Opera House, the Twelve Apostles, Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and visited the Gold Coast Theme Parks. We petted kangaroos and koalas, and hiked in a couple of national parks. Those 3 months were over in no time.
The vanlife wasn’t over though, we booked the same Spaceships campervan for another month in New Zealand. When we weren’t driving those narrow and winding NZ roads we were hiking to the most stunning viewpoints and waterfalls. Or working. We saw impressive glaciers, gorgeous sunsets, and the bluest lakes. From the most touristy activities (a Milford Sound Cruise and Hobbiton Movie Set tour), to the lesser known spots (Carlucci Land and the Mahinepua Peninsula Track), we’ve done them all.
2016, 1 national park pass, used 10 times
After New Zealand we spent another 3 months in the USA. We met up with Brecht’s parents in New York and visited almost every museum in Washington DC, before flying to the West Coast. Our road trip started and ended in Las Vegas, with 9 national parks, 2 big cities, and meet-ups with some diver friends along the way. From Yosemite to Joshua Tree and Arches National Park, we were impressed again and again by the beauty and diversity America has to offer.
After some gambling wins and (mostly) losses we flew back to the East Coast for another month and a half of road tripping in Florida. We picked up my aunt and sister from the airport and took them from Miami via Everglades National Park, all the way to The Keys. Before dropping them off again we made a short detour via Universal Studios Orlando and the Kennedy Space Center. Our round the world adventure was coming to an end.
2016, 13 theme parks in 17 days
The last 17 days of our trip around the world were spent in 13 different theme and water parks in Orlando. From Universal Studios to Disney’s Magic Kingdom: we tried them all. It would probably be overkill for most, but we just couldn’t leave the theme park capital of the world without riding every coaster they have.
2016, back in Belgium
Since August we’re back home and mainly spending our time in Stevoort, recovering from a full year of traveling and spending time with friends and family. We did leave Belgium for two city trips: one to Timisoara and one to Lisbon.
2016, a 2:35 minute recap
During our trip around the world we kept our friends and family posted through daily Snapchat stories and a weekly Skype session. We published 141 blog posts (with a lot more to come), posted 321 Instagram pics, and took over 16,000 photos. My only regret is not making more videos of our experiences. Nevertheless, with the limited footage available Brecht managed to create this awesome video overview of our trip around the world. Enjoy!
Pin it!
How was 2016 for you? Tell us about it in the comments. Want to help us spread the word? Pin the following image. Thanks!
Filmpje nog eens kunnen bekijken … zalig!!!
What an amazing year! You were able to get in so many great adventures. And I love how you seemed to fashion your trip based on the things YOU liked, not just what you’re ‘supposed’ to do – you like rollercoasters, then yes ride them all!! 🙂 Good luck on your work/travel ventures in 2017!
Thanks so much, Cynthia! You’re right, you shouldn’t travel because other people do, or visit/do stuff because other people do, but do what you want and enjoy every second of it! And that’s what we did. Too bad our year of full time travel is over, but we’ll keep traveling, all be it not for such a long period of time. 😉 What are your plans for 2017?
wow! amazing write up! thanks for sharing.. i love the video.. cheers!
Thanks! 🙂