My 2014 Best Travel Moments

2014 is coming to an end, and boy, it has been a very exciting year for me!

2014 marked the passage from university to real life in March withmy master’s graduation and the start the start of this blog. It’s been awesome to see it growing day after day, and I would like to take this chance to thank all of you who are making my dream possible.

This is the recap of my 2014 best travel moments.

1| Drinking tea with the berbers in the High Atlas of Morocco

” It doesn’t matter where you are from and what you believe in, we are all part of the same world. And we all believe in the same God. This is what the Berbers believe” – said Hassan, my guide, while serving tea.

I instantly knew I was in the right place. We had stopped while trekking through the Berber villages surrounding Imlil and there, in the middle of nowhere in the High Atlas, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.
It was one of the most peaceful travel moments I’ve ever lived.

Read more: The Atlas and Kasbah du Toubkal, there where time stops

2| Finding a kaleidoscope of colours in Burano, near Venice

Last January I was in Venice and brrr it was cold! Our last day we visited the islands of Murano and Burano, close to the city and famous for the handcrafts.

Murano left me a little disappointed, while Burano instantly conquered me. Even on a riany day like that, the island looked cheerful and vibrant thanks to the bright colours in which the houses are painted. I couldn’t help it but snap like a hundred pictures.

3| Being stupid with Tianna in Nantes

Last September I flew to Nantes, in France, for TBU, my first bloggers’ conference. I didn’t know anyone, and I was a little anxious, so I looked for a roommate beforehand and I found her…on Twitter!

Well, we ended up really bonding and liking each other, having lots of fun in Nantes and later in London and she’s now my best blogger friend! Looking forward to more adventures with her in 2015…going to Thailand together in October!

 4| Touring London with Henri, a homeless guy 

I’ve been in London many many times, only in 2014 I went twice, but the more I visit the city, the more I fall in love with it.

In May I joined one of the Unseen Tours, which allow tourists to see a part of the city, in my case Shoreditch, guided by a homeless or ex-homeless person,while giving the profits to the guides themselves. It was a unique experience, which really changed the way I think about homelessness.

Read more: Unseen Tours: exploring London with the homeless

5| Making friends with a sea gull in Nazarè, Portugal

Last summer in Portugal I learnt that Portuguese are very warm people, always smiley and helping. Easy to become friends with… But the best friend I made, well, was not exactly human.

He liked me. He truly did. As soon as I laid down my towel on the beach in Nazaré and got ready to get some zzz under the sun, he approached me. I opened my eyes and almost screamed.

A few centimeters from my nose, a sea gull was sitting down and staring at me. I moved a little…and he moved to come closer.

Everyone on the beach was looking and laughing… I tried moving a few other times, but he kept moving with me, so I gave up amd got some zzz with my new best friend. He just liked me too much!

6| Sailing for the first time in Brittany, France

I had never tried sailing before October, but when I did on my way to Hoedic Island, in Brittany, France, I loved it so much…and getting to fairy tale’s Ile de Hoedic was the cherry on top!

The sails are finally up, another passenger is at the helm helped by another sailor, and we skim the water at 7 knots; a gentle breeze caresses my face, the sun warms my skin and I feel utterly at peace.
It’s a warm late summer day, and the weather couldn’t be more perfect.

Read more: Sailing to Brittany’s fairy tale island: explore Ile de Hoedic

7| Getting caught by a summer storm and having a junk food overdose

Who says that the best moments involve perfection?
Sometimes things don’t go as planned, yet you can make the best of it.

When my boyfriend and I were in Portugal last summer, we got to a point where we were really fed up with the food in the restaurants…don’t get me wrong, it was super good, but rich! So we decided we wanted to go to a supermarket, buy lots of junk food and eat it in our room…rebellion!

We started walking to the nearest supermarket, which in reality was not near at all, and got there about an hour later; we pretty much sacked the supermarket and headed out…uh oh! The biggest summer storm was awaiting, and OF COURSE we didn’t have an umbrella, OF COURSE I was wearing sandals and a short dress and OF COURSE the supermarket didn’t sell umbrellas.

We are going to take the bus, we decided, and we waited…and waited…and waited some more…and we finally came to the conclusion that the bus would never come. We cursed all the way back and arrived to our hotel dripping and soaked.

But then we had our junk food orgy while bathing in the bath tub, and that was one of the best moments of our holiday.

READ ALSO: What to do do in Lisbon: 17 things not to miss

8| Visiting the tanneries in Marrakech

Marrakech was chaotic, emotionally tiring and extremely seducing, difficult at times. Getting lost in the Medina was a continue discovery, and visiting the tanneries in the north side of the Old city was fascinating.

It smelled bad, oh so bad, the stink of the skins macerating under the African sun, but seeing the whole process was one of the moments of the year.

What was your best travel moment in 2014? Tell me, I want to know!