I didn’t travel as much in 2019 as I did in 2018. Mainly because I finished my Masters and I got a job, so I was restricted with my annual leave. I did however travel enough to write a whole post on my 2019 travel highlights. In 2019 I visited five countries, three of them were new to me. I would have liked to have visited more of the UK than I did but I’m hoping that will be different in 2020.

2019 travel highlights – UK and abroad

January

I kicked the year off with a trip to Berlin with BuyAGift. We stayed in the Abba Hotel Berlin for two nights before moving next door to the Art’Otel Berlin Kudamm. This was my second trip to Berlin, but the first time I’d got to properly explore. We visited the East Side Gallery, went up the TV tower and learnt more about the German government at the Reichstag. Berlin is one of my favourite cities and I would love to visit again and again.

At the end of January I took a spontaneous trip up to Liverpool for the day. My dad and brother were doing a tour of Anfield, so I went along and wandered around the city centre while they were at the stadium. I visited the Tate and spent a couple of hours at Albert Docks.

February

My dissertation was due in at the beginning of February and I needed to be down south to use the library. It was also my best friend’s birthday party, so I ended up travelling down to Southampton with National Express and stayed at the Hilton Ageas Bowl. I loved my night in the King guest room – it had the biggest bed I’ve ever slept in! The following morning was spent relaxing in the hotel’s spa.

A couple of weeks later, I headed down to Brighton with Haydy. Again, I worked with National Express and we took the coach down from London. We stayed at the gorgeous Colson House in Kemptown and explored everything Brighton has to offer. Colson House was definitely a highlight of my year and I’m hoping to go back there in 2020.

March

At the beginning of March, we travelled down to London to drive a boat. The experience was gifted from Go Boat London and was so much fun! Despite the awful weather, we spent an hour along Regents Canal taking it in turns to drive the boat.

For Christmas, Leigh bought me a Binturong Experience at Hoo Farm, so we decided to do it on a Friday in March. Hoo Farm is located in Telford, Shropshire which is only around 45 minutes from where I live. We decided to make a weekend of it though and after visiting Hoo Farm went on to Shrewsbury. I’d found out that I’d passed my Masters that day, so in the evening we went for a celebratory meal at Zizzi and a few cocktails. Neither of us had been to Shrewsbury before so we spent the following day exploring the castle and the town. We also went to Paws Cat Café which we both loved.

Towards the end of March I took a spontaneous trip to Stratford Upon Avon to visit Shakespaw Cat Café. I’d never been to Stratford Upon Avon before, so I had a quick look around before my cat café booking. I definitely want to go back again to visit Shakespaw and have a proper look around.

April

In April I went down to London to see my favourite band The National at the Royal Festival Hall. While I was down south, I decided to cross another cat café off my list so got a train down to Tonbridge. Tonbridge in Kent is a town I’d never actually heard of before, but it has a lovely castle which I went to visit before I headed to Paws Cat Café.

Towards the end of April I was invited to The Club and Spa in Birmingham to review their facilities. I spent the morning reading by the pool, sitting in the saunas and swimming. I was also treated to the best full body massage. The facilities were so impressive and I’m hoping to go back again this year.

May

I started my job in May, so the lack of free time meant I couldn’t really plan much travel. This was also the month that Kitty Café Birmingham opened and I went along in their opening week.

At the end of May, we flew to Budapest to see Muse. This was my second time in the city (I visited solo in 2018) but again, it was the first time I’d properly explored. As well as seeing Muse, we did a free walking tour, visited the thermal baths and had a lot of great food and drink. Budapest is one of those cities that I’d recommend to everyone – it’s cheap and there’s plenty to see and do. If you were to go anywhere from my 2019 travel highlights, then I’d recommend Budapest.

June

In June I visited Liverpool twice. The first time was to see Bon Jovi at Anfield. I travelled up that afternoon and stayed in a hostel which got very rowdy in the early hours of the morning. The next day I headed to Moose Coffee for breakfast before I got the train back to work.

The second visit was for the weekend for Leigh’s birthday. As my dad and brother had enjoyed the Anfield tour so much, I decided to book us both on one. We stayed in a hotel near the docks, visited the Liverpool Cat Café for the first time and ate Taco Bell. The Anfield tour was booked for the Sunday. Considering I’m not a football fan at all, I quite enjoyed the tour. It was interesting to find out about the club. We also visited the Cavern Club before heading back home.

July

In July I went to Godiva Festival with my friends Alice and Scarlett. This is an annual festival in Coventry which used to be free of charge. They have started ticketing the event but it’s only £2 each. We went on the Sunday just to see Busted. I’m not a Busted fan, but I had a really good time. I even managed to get one of James’ picks at the end which I gave to Alice.

The following week I went up to Manchester to see The National for the second time in 2019 at the Castlefield Bowl. I stayed in the YHA Potato Wharf Hostel which overlooked the venue. This was probably my favourite gig of the year, I had such a great time and I managed to get a good night’s sleep afterwards!

I then travelled to London to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for the third time with Lizi. Even though I’d already seen it, I loved every minute of the play. It was just as magical as the first and second time. It’s something that I could see again and again.

A few days later I was down in London again. This time it was to see Garbage at Kew Gardens. This was such a great experience in a beautiful setting. I’d never been to Kew Gardens before but I would love to go back and have a proper look around in the summer. The next day I caught the train down to Winchester for my best friend’s baby shower.

August

August was fairly quiet compared to the rest of the year. I bought a car at the beginning of the month, so most of my money went on that. I did however, get some bargain flights to Oslo. As I’d always wanted to visit Norway and Scandinavia and it was £42 return, I snapped them up.

I went to Oslo at the end of August/beginning of September for a long weekend. I very nearly missed my flight out of Stansted because the Stansted Express stopped in the middle of nowhere and then cancelled all of the trains. Luckily, I got a bus and then got from the bus stop, through security and to my gate in 15 minutes. I’ve never ran so fast in my life!

September

In September I had a press pass to The Legitimate Peaky Blinders Festival in Digbeth, Birmingham. I went along on both days and took my friend Alice on the Sunday. Over the weekend, I saw Liam Gallagher, Primal Scream and Slaves. It was a really good festival and I’m hoping they bring it back to Birmingham in 2020!

October

I wanted to go away for my 30th birthday which was on October 5th. Originally, I planned to go to Paris for the weekend and spend the day of my birthday at Disneyland. However, a month before I changed my mind and decided to go somewhere new. We ended up going to Copenhagen Friday – Monday nights and spent the day in Malmö on the Sunday.

It was great to cross another two countries off my list, but Denmark is so expensive! It was more expensive than Norway but I found that Sweden was ever so slightly cheaper.

The following week I headed down to London to visit the Warner Bros Studio Tour with Kariss. We were lucky enough to be invited by Golden Tours and we got to meet the Weasley twins as well! It was one of the highlights of my year and I couldn’t stop grinning all night. This is definitely top of my travel highlights for 2019! The following day, we got the train up to Birmingham to celebrate my 30th with some friends. We went to Kitty Café and then went for cocktails and food.

The next week was just as busy with my Masters graduation in Winchester Cathedral and a stay at the Marwell Hotel.

November

In November I started a new job, so I didn’t spend any time travelling across the UK or abroad. However, I did spend a night in the City Nites apartments in Birmingham city centre. This was a short walk from my office and I got to spend the evening at the German market with Alice which was great.

December

In December, I went down to Southampton for a friend’s birthday. I wanted to spend a bit of time in Winchester looking at the Christmas market but when I arrived it was just so busy I got straight on the bus to Southampton. The next day I travelled home via London and took myself to the Body World’s exhibition which I loved.

The following weekend, I went down to London again and then to Essex for Haydy’s 30th birthday party. We stayed at the Premier Inn in Romford and the party was in Hornchurch.

I also spent a night in Nottingham seeing The National for the third time in 2019.

I ended 2019 in Sugarcubes in Lincoln with Kariss and Leigh. This is the first time I have actually gone out for New Year’s Eve and I was quite disappointed.

2020

Those were my 2019 travel highlights and now I look back, I managed to fit a lot in! I have quite a few things already planned for 2020, including trips to Amsterdam, Belfast and Dublin. I’m hoping to visit at least 4 new countries this year and a few new cities across the UK. Do you have any suggestions for me? Hopefully my 2020 travel highlights will be just as good!