My Top 10 Travel Experiences of the Past Five Years

Later this year, I am travelling to Peru, where I should be able to cross another item off my bucket list: hiking the Inca Trail and visiting Machu Picchu. I'm really excited about the trip, which will be my first time in South America, and I couldn't help but look back on some of the other amazing travel experiences I've been lucky enough to have over the past few years. I hope some of these will inspire you with your own holiday planning for 2018 and beyond.

1. Snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
Since I obtained my PADI Open Water qualification 15 years ago, I have longed to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef, off the eastern coast of Australia. Unfortunately, when I finally made it to tropical North Queensland, my ears were playing up so I had to 'settle' for a snorkelling excursion instead. And it was a beautiful, memorable experience, where I got to swim with turtles, spot a shark and admire myriad species of colourful tropical fish. Despite the climate-change-induced catastrophic bleaching events of 2016 and 2017, the reef is still a fascinating ecosystem to visit. If you're interested in finding out more about the ecology and zoology, I'd highly recommend taking a trip with Wavelength.

2. Ziplining through the clouds (Costa Rica)
Costa Rica is a relatively compact country and you can see a great deal during a two-week trip. One of my favourite activities was a zipline tour through the cloud forest of Monteverde, culminating in a 1km-long zipline through the middle of a cloud.

3. Chasing the Northern Lights (Iceland)
Although the Northern Lights weren't at their most epic the night I got to see them in Reykjavik, they were still impressive and besides, the hunt — with SuperJeep — was half the fun. The tour was expensive but I would definitely take it again next time I go to Iceland.

4. Grotto-hopping in Capri (Italy)
While in sunny Sorrento for my cousin's wedding in 2016, my family hired a small boat to take us out to the island of Capri. We spent a blissful day swimming, snorkelling, sunbathing and exploring the various grotte that can be found along the island's coast. We visited the famous Grotta Azzurra (blue grotto), of course, and although it was very busy and hammier than a leg of prosciutto, I really enjoyed the experience.

5. Early-morning sushi in Tokyo (Japan)
There's nothing quite like landing in Tokyo on a sunny morning after a long, overnight flight, dropping off your suitcase at your hotel and heading straight out for an early sushi breakfast. I missed the fish auction but had the freshest, most delicious sushi of my trip at Daiwa Sushi at the Tsukiji Fish Market. The market is going to relocate ahead of the 2020 Olympics, but the move is now not scheduled to take place until October 2018, so you still have time to enjoy it in its original state. I had so many memorable experiences during my 10-day trip to Japan and it's top of my 'must revisit' list.

6. Oaxacan cooking class (Mexico)
I love the flavours and colours of Mexican cuisine and ate some delicious dishes while staying in the colourful city of Oaxaca. One day, I took a wonderful cooking class with Oscar Carrizosa, where we shopped for food at a local market and then prepared (and ate) a huge variety of dishes. It was an excellent introduction to Oaxacan cooking — and understanding the local food culture also helped me feel more connected to the friendly people of Oaxaca. Needless to say, Mexico comes a close second after Japan on my 'revisit' list.

7. Skydiving from 15,000 feet (New Zealand)
After a fab fortnight in Australia and two wonderful weeks in New Zealand, I celebrated the end of my one-month sabbatical by skydiving from 15,000 feet over Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables. It was a literally breathtaking experience and one of the best things I've ever done. I jumped with NZONE and would highly recommend them; you can watch my (slightly sweary) video here.

8. Sailing through beautiful Ha Long Bay (Vietnam)
Three days and two nights aboard the small but well-equipped Dragon's Pearl, cruising past hundreds and hundreds of limestone islands in Ha Long Bay was as relaxing as it was beautiful. I was glad I upped my budget and booked with Indochina Junk, as they took us to the quieter but just as stunning Bai Tu Long Bay. On our final night, we enjoyed a barbecue feast in a UNESCO-listed cave. A top-notch trip, even if the sun didn't grace us with much of its presence.

9. Motorbike tour of Saigon street food (Vietnam)
I planned only to include one experience per country but I just couldn't choose between Ha Long Bay and the street food tour on the back of a motorbike that I took in Saigon. I'd never ridden on a motorbike before, but my XO Tour guide showed me a great time. I ate some delicious street food dishes and saw parts of the sprawling city of Saigon that I probably wouldn't have reached by myself on such a short trip.

10. Third-wave coffee tour in Portland (Oregon, USA)
You weren't thinking I'd make it through this list without a speciality coffee bucket-list item, were you? And although I could have included my fast-paced, self-guided tour of Melbourne's speciality coffee scene, I wanted to give a shout out to the excellent tour led by Lora of Third Wave Coffee Tours in Portland, Oregon. We visited five of the city's signature micro-roasteries and cafés, with a different coffee experience in each. Of course, I visited plenty of others during my short stay in Portland, but Lora gave me a great introduction to the local coffee scene.

How To Spend a Winter City Break in Reykjavik

I spent four days in Reykjavik and for me, it was about the right amount of time to spend in the city in the winter. I was really busy at work before my trip and didn't have time to do as much research as usual, so I thought I would put together a short guide with some of my tips and recommendations for things to do and places to eat, drink and shop. I plan to go back to Iceland in the summertime to see more of the country, but I loved my short winter city break.

Reykjavik Specialty Coffee Guide

With a population of just 120,000, Reykjavik is one of the smallest capital cities in Europe — it's roughly the same size as Cambridge, UK, to give you some idea. But this doesn't mean that the city lacks a healthy coffee scene — coffee is very much in order on those cold, dark winter days. Coffee and cakes, like most other things in Reykjavik, are expensive, which meant that I could generally only try one type of coffee in each café. Here are some of the coffee shops I visited during my short stay.

Reykjavik III: Something Old, Something Blue

Reykjavik is a destination that rewards the organised and one of the activities that you need to book in advance of your stay is a trip to the Blue Lagoon, the beautiful geothermal spa located in an outstanding area of natural beauty in the middle of a lava field. The Blue Lagoon is a) expensive, b) busy and c) very touristy and yet, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my trip. 

Reykjavik II: Golden Circle and Northern Lights

On my second full day in Reykjavik, I ticked off two of Iceland's most bucket-list-worthy experiences: touring the incredible natural landscapes of the Golden Circle and taking a jeep safari to hunt the Northern Lights. Not a bad day, in other words!

After a quick breakfast from Brauð & Co, an excellent bakery near my Reykjavik apartment, I returned to Laugavegar, Reykjavik's main shopping street, to join a full-day Golden Circle tour. The Golden Circle is a 200-mile loop that covers several of southern Iceland's most iconic historical and geological attractions and there are dozens of different tours to choose from. Ideally, you would hire a car and drive yourself (and go in the summer), but the tour was what I was doing.

Travelling in Central America and Asia has spoiled me with its inexpensive small-group tours; anything but the big coaches, right? But as even the big coach Golden Circle tour costs about £70, I booked in with Gray Line. Many other companies run similar tours covering mostly the same destinations for about the same price. Gray Line was fine but I would just pick the company whose schedule suits you best (or, if you can afford it, book a minibus tour instead).

We left the bus terminal at 9:30, at which point the sun was starting to think about rising. Leaving town in near-darkness does make all of these tours feel like more of an adventure, however. When I booked the tour the day before, I knew that the weather forecast wasn't great but as I'd had to pre-book a Blue Lagoon visit for Monday some months in advance and wouldn't have time to fit it in before my flight on Tuesday, Sunday was my only option.

The heavy rain was supposed to stop by about 10:00 am, but alas, it continued until after 2:00 pm, putting a damper on things both literally and metaphorically. I still had a good time but if you have any flexibility in your schedule, I'd recommend picking a clement day for the Golden Circle; you will enjoy it much more.

Our first stop was at Þingvellir (pronounced "thin-kvedli") National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site located about an hour outside Reykjavik and home to the world's first parliament (Alþingi), which convened in 930 AD. It wasn't exactly democratic — there was no voting and the 'MPs' were simply the richest, most powerful men from each district. But it was a start.

I spent 45 minutes walking around some of the key places in the driving rain — there is a lot more to see  and plenty of great hikes and even snorkelling sites if you have more time. I did see the Drekkingarhylur ('drowning pool'), which is where women were executed by drowning; hangings, beheadings and burnings took place at different places around Þingvellir. As such, it is a sad and eerie place to visit as well as a dramatic area of natural beauty.

We drove for another 45 minutes to Gullfloss ('golden waterfall'). The rain was supposed to have stopped by this point but the weather gods didn't get the memo and it was absolutely chucking it down. The waterfall didn't look very golden in the rain but its vast size and force was stunning. I walked along the clifftop viewing point and then climbed down the steps to get a closer look. 

I spent my remaining time in the gift shop desperately trying to dry off and warm up. To avoid paying for an expensive Gullfloss café lunch, I'd made a packed lunch (smoked salmon sandwiches!), but on a rainy day, there wasn't anywhere to eat it and I had to stand in the lobby instead.

It was only a ten-minute drive on to Geysir, a rarely spouting geyser in an area bubbling with hot springs. By the time we arrived, the weather had improved dramatically: the rain had stopped and the sun had even come out. It was still cold, but my mood improved dramatically and, finally able to take out my DSLR without fear of it getting soaked, I took dozens of photos.

Although Geysir itself doesn't erupt for years at a time, the smaller geyser Strokkur ('butter churn') is much more reliable, spurting boiling water 20 metres into the air every five minutes or so; it's quite the spectacle! I stood to watch (and photograph) about four eruptions before walking on to explore the rest of the site, which had an ethereal beauty with the steam rising as the sun set.

On the way back to Reykjavik, we stopped briefly at an Icelandic horse centre, before driving back to the city. I stopped to take a few photos of the Harpa centre and its Northern Lights-inspired lighting by night, before having a quick dinner at Hamborgarabúllan. Their 'offer of the century' — a burger, fries and soda for 1,899 krona (about £14) — is only a bargain by Reykjavik standards but the burger was great, although the fries somewhat disappointing. The décor is very similar to the London spin-off, Tommi's Burger Joint.

By this point, I had received a message that the Northern Lights tour would be running that night. There are dozens of companies running tours but I decided to book with Superjeep, which runs small-group tours in souped-up Land Rovers. This was very expensive — around £140 — but I figured that if there was a chance of a Northern Lights sighting, being in a small, nimble, off-road vehicle would give me the best odds.

Most companies tell you to book the tour for your first night in Reykjavik because if the weather is bad or conditions poor, the tour will be cancelled but they will try to rebook you for another night. If my flight had arrived an hour earlier on Friday, I could have joined the tour that night, which apparently had a great Northern Lights display, but I missed out. Then, the tour was cancelled on Saturday because of a) cloud cover and b) rain. Finally, though, on Sunday, we got the all-clear.

I was picked up from my hotel at around 8:00 pm and joined a group of four in our Superjeep. Our funny and knowledgeable guide Krissi was also the group leader — because we were joining a convoy of seven or so other Superjeeps on our hunt. This made it feel a bit like some kind of spy or military operation, particularly as I got to sit in the front seat of the front vehicle. We sped off to our first location, sticking around for about 30 minutes until several tour buses came to join us, at which point we left ("you didn't pay to stand here with big bus groups," one of the guides noted. Quite so).

We drove on further, eventually settling on a woody area in the middle of nowhere north of Reykjavik and near the Hvalfjörðu ('whale fjord'). And then we waited. Although I was wearing pretty much all of the clothes I'd brought with me, it was still very cold, and yet exciting. The stars were out in full force and then...the lights began to charge up. Yes, I got to see them!

Aurora activity is measured on a scale of one to seven and on Sunday night, it was only about a three, which meant that although we could see the ethereal greenish shimmers, taking various forms from slivers to streaks, it wasn't a full-on 'wow' viewing. 

The human eye isn't very good at detecting colour in low visibility anyway and some of the lights came out better on camera. I don't have a very good lens for this kind of photography and didn't have a tripod with me, but I got some OK shots resting my camera on the roof of the Land Rover. Our guides also took some photos of each of us using their cameras with the lights in the background, which was very nice. They even captured one couple's proposal (she said yes)!

We stood for an hour or so watching the aurora charge up and then dim down, changing shape and moving. Our guides provided some hot chocolate (with a shot of Icelandic vodka) to keep spirits high ("it's filtered through mushrooms, which will *definitely* help you to see the lights better"). The display seemed to be ending so we started to head back home, but then our guide veered off road into a small field. It turned out that there was a brief — but even more impressive — sequel. Then we drove back to Reykjavik through the darkness, returning to the city centre around 00:30.

If you want to maximise your chances of seeing the lights — and have a huge amount of fun — I would definitely recommend Superjeep's tours. Yes, they are expensive, but we were in the hands of experts and I had a very memorable night. If you don't spot the lights, by the way, they will let you rebook on another tour for free, so you do at least get another chance. 

I would also suggest not making other evening plans in Reykjavik until after you've seen the lights; imagine how you would feel if you had the option to go on a tour one night but you'd booked a dinner or other night-time activity and then missed a great show.

Reykjavik I: Exploring Downtown Reykjavik

Iceland has been on my bucket list for a number of years but I've always been paralysed by indecision: should I go in the summer for long days, road trips and puffin-spotting, or in the winter for potential Northern Lights activity but likely bad weather? I ended up opting for the latter for my first trip to the country; I've been enjoying it so much so far that I'm sure a return in the summer will be on the cards.