Trip Bitten Looking Back at Our Travels in 2015

2015 has come to an end, time to look back at our travels in the past year and think back to the trips we went on, together or individually. This year we didn’t travel as much as we used to in the past, which had several reasons. Although we traveled less, we still discovered a few new places.

January

As Yvonne was in the Netherlands during the first 2 months of this year, she had some time to see different places there. In January she went to Amsterdam for a day to meet up with a friend. This day trip was focused on talking with her friend, eating food (although not the typical Dutch food) and exploring a few new areas like the ‘Westerpark’.

February

To my surprise I had won a stay in the Ibis City Centre Hotel in Rotterdam! I had been wanting to go to Rotterdam for a while and with winning this prize I no longer had an excuse not to go. So in February I booked a room and planned a trip to Rotterdam, together with my mom. We enjoyed exploring the city, eating delicious food at the ‘Bazaar’, the Markthal, and at the Hotel Restaurant New York. We saw the famous cubic houses and wandered around the Delfshaven area. Rotterdam is a lovely city and it was nice spending time with my mother.

June

June was a good month for us! We didn’t travel to other cities, but had a staycation in Beijing. June was special to us as we got engaged! We didn’t feel like buying an engagement ring, but since we wanted to do something we would both enjoy, we deciced to have a staycation in a nice hotel. We loved the breakfast in the morning and having the option of taking a bath! (We regularly shower, but we do not have a bathtub in our apartment just a shower. Sad times.)

July

July was a great month when it comes down to travels. Classes were over and I decided to take advantage of my time off. The month started with a citytrip to Seoul where I spent 4 days exploring the city and eating lots of Korean food. I joined a food tour, learned everything about Korean ghosts and went hiking in Bukhansan National Park.

After I got back from Seoul right away I had to pack for my next trip. Together with China Daily and the Shanxi Tourism Board I went to the Chinese province Shanxi and visited some amazing places there like the courtyard of the Qiao Family, the Hanging Monastery and Pingyao.

My last trip in July was a weekend trip to Wuhan, China. Wuhan isn’t a popular tourist destination like Shanghai or Xi’an, but for those living in China it is definitely worth visiting this city. There are some nice areas to explore in which you will find old and authentic building in European style. We haven’t written about it yet, but it’s on the list for 2016!

August

In August one of our dreams came true! We went on a backpacking trip through Japan. We had been wanting to go to Japan for years, but for financial reasons we had never booked those tickets. This summer we decided to ‘just do it’ and booked our tickets for a 2 week trip through this amazing country. We probably gained a few kilo’s each as we didn’t stop ourselves from eating lots of ramen, sushi and ice cream! We still have to write a lot about Japan, so make sure to come back for those articles.

September & October

September and October were work months and we didn’t have much time off. We didn’t have much time or motivation to get out and explore, which means we didn’t take any trips worth talking about.

November

Early November Yvonne was invited by the Tourism Board of Hainan to come to this Chinese island and explore the island and taste its food. She had a great time visiting parks, eating a lot of coconut-based dishes and soaking up the sun. Hainan is a lovely place and would be a great destination to end your China trip.

Miguel went to the States to visit family. He stayed on the beach for about 7 days and enjoyed seeing his sisters and brother. He hadn’t seen one of his sisters in over 7 years and it was nice to see her family. Overall, he really enjoyed the time spent with his family, but it wasn’t much of a travel vacation and he didn’t explore anywhere new.

December

We didn’t go anywhere in December because the last few years we have not spent Christmas or New Year together and we wanted to have a ‘normal’ holiday session. We spent the time together and now the new year is upon us! We are looking forward to next years trips. The first major trip we can’t talk about….. You will just have to wait until we get back to hear about it.

Final thoughts on our Travels

Overall, it was a good year for Trip Bitten. We started this site and started to record our travels. Yvonne was happy to join a few press trips and tours and we have started to build something fun and interesting for our friends and family to read. We want to say “Thank You” to everyone that worked with us this past year and we want to say “Thank You” to everyone that followed and commented on your travels! Thank you and see you in 2016!