When I was little girl, I always remember hearing adults talking by the end of December about “how fast the year has gone.” I never used to understand what they meant, because when you’re a kid the years seem endless, and the time is slow stretching out in front of you forever, especially during high school years. The idea of growing older seems impossible.
It’s become a cliché, but now I understand what they mean. The older you get, the quicker the years seem to pass by. In less than 9 months I will be married and in 3 months I am turning 25 years old. That seemed absolutely ancient and so far away when I was younger!
When you’re a teenager you feel like you’ve got all the time in the world to do the things you want. I did all the things that I was supposed to do at a certain age – left home at 18, studied and worked until 24, will be marrying at 25. I didn’t want to sink in a routine of a corporate life and in April 2017, I quit my job to pursue my dreams and work as full time blogger. From that time, I got the ability to organize my own schedule and travel as much as I can.
It was the best decision to say goodbye to the office, and it feels just amazing! Now all I want to do is experience life and do all the things that I didn’t do when I was busy with study or work, and travelling is at the top of that list.
I can officially say that the second half of 2017 was a year of travel for me. I have never traveled so much before. Of course, I wasn’t able to go through all and every destination in my bucket list, nevertheless, I had wonderful time in every place I’ve been to. In 2017 I visited Italy, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Russia, Georgia, Indonesia, Turkey, Switzerland, and Mauritius. And the funnies thing about this is that, mostly, I visited these places for the second time and for some of them it was my 4th or 5th visit!
So I set myself a huge number of travel goals for 2018. There are a lot of places that I would love to go, I hope that there will be mostly new countries I have never been before. Maybe there is no way to visit them all especially with the wedding organization rush, but I will do my best.
Here is a round up of 5 top places that deserve a spot on a bucket list of everyone:
MOROCCO
A short flight time from Europe and good value for money are the key reasons why you should not miss Morocco this year. Colorful cities, a myriad of oriental mosques, a labyrinth of narrow streets – is a photography heaven for someone like me who likes bright colors and authentic places.
And most importantly, leaving behind the buzz of the cities, you can drive through snow-capped mountains and reach the desert. A night camping under the shining stars, a camel ride in the Sahara, and absolutely dreamy pictures in a contrasting red dress on sandy dunes make me crave for Morocco!
GREECE
I always seem to be a little bit strange when I say that I have never been to Greece as Santorini and Mykonos have become such a huge destination for tourists, so there was literally everyone in Greece. Greek beaches consistently are placed in top most beautiful places in the world. It is incredible, but estimates of the number of islands in Greece ranges between 1200 to 6000! And also, my favorite part of traveling – delicious local cuisine. It bases on resh seafood, vegetables, tasty feta cheese, and of course, meats (mostly lamb and goat). Everything I love!
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Modern and dynamic United Arab Emirates are exciting not only for architecture and technology but rich culture and history. It is also a place to enjoy luxury vacation that offers unique experiences to have in life like underwater dining, skydiving over tallest skyscrapers and, of course, Safari experience.
PERU
See with your own eyes Machu Picchu, isn’t it enough? Of course, there is a lot to places to visit and things to do, like enjoying Peruvian handcrafts and local food, go hiking and experience natural diversity. Peru is the country that proposes views for a lifetime.
ICELAND
Iceland is one of the best places in the world to witness the wonders like northern lights. Everyone has to see it at least once in life. Steaming geysers, drifting icebergs, black lava beaches, erupting volcanoes — you’ll find them all in Iceland, and sometimes within a half-hour’s drive of one another.Iceland is a can’t-miss and offers unbelievable views of flora and wildlife.
On top of that I would like to visit further regions of France as I have been to only to Normandie, Alsace and Provence and I am sure that Bretagne and Pyrenees have a lot to offer.
To spend so much time traveling, having so many photography gear, it’s essential to have bags and accessories that complement your life and style. This month I discovered Longriver bag and accessories that have already had been so much time in travel with me through Russia, England and France! The backpack functions perfectly as a great bag and something you want to wear while you are out. We even got stopped by random people in the streets of London to receive compliments about its stylish design.
It is a beautiful leather bag with stylish metal clasp accents that looks something out of Indiana Jones movie. The entire bag is made out gorgeously crafted high quality materials. Inside you can comfortable fit a 15 inch laptop and any equipment and documents you may need. I couldn’t resist and also bought passport holder that looks absolutely amazing.
The minimalism of Longriver products is refreshing making its accessories very beautiful pieces.