The year that was… 2015!

2015 has been a mixed year. Health-wise, not so good. I was diagnosed with arthritis in both knees and ankles – but I won’t let it stop me from doing anything. I managed to travel to 6 countries this year: India, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, Poland and U.A.E.

In Poland, I found myself scanning the corridors of faces in Auschwitz concentration camp, Oświęcim, Poland. My mum’s side of the family is Polish, and we don’t know what happened to most of them during the second world war. Even if I found someone with the same surname, it wouldn’t necessarily mean we were related – it was just something I felt I had to do.

Grim. The tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children were brought to Auschwitz. This was to be their last journey.

Read more about my trip to Auschwitz here

During my time in Turkey, I climbed a mountain in Kirkisrak, just reach the snow at the top. We’ve hardly had any snow in York the last couple of years, so to reach snow in Turkey in July was well worth the agonising 9-hour trek! As soon as I got back to my friend’s place (where I was staying) I went straight to my room and cried – my legs hurt that much!

Snow in July? Yes, please! It’s much higher and further away than it looks.

One of the things I’ve always wanted to do is to snorkel in Thailand. I can tick that off my imaginary list, although I was disappointed by the damage it’s causing the environment due to the sheer volume of tourists doing the same thing. Note to self: don’t believe all the photos you see online, they’re often edited to remove said tourists!

Railay Beach, Krabi, Thailand

Last year in India, I made a promise to the girls at the Ashanilaya orphanage in Bangalore, India to return and visit them and donate much-needed equipment. Happily, I was able to spend more time with them this year than last. I hope to be able to return again with another donation next year.

Ashanilaya Orphanage, Bangalore, India

In London, England, I walked across the zebra crossing on Abbey Road – made famous by the Beatles.

I’ve watched Arsenal win the FA cup, and then get knocked out of the League Cup by Sheffield Wednesday!

Sheffield Wednesday v. Arsenal 🙁

To some people stats are meaningless, but I like them! Here are some stats from my travels last year.

Flights taken: 16.

Distance travelled from one destination to another: (does not include any travel within England):

• 24928 miles or 40122 kilometres. That’s 103 more miles than last year!

Countries visited: (not including England).

• India – twice.
• The Netherlands.
• Poland.
• Thailand.
• Turkey.
• United Arab Emirates.

Thailand was the only new country I visited in 2015.

Capital cities visited: 3

• Amsterdam
• Bangkok
• London

Most Northern place visited:

• Whitby, England.

Most Southern place visited:

• Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand.

Furthest West:

• Liverpool, England.

Furthest East:

• Bangkok, Thailand.

Live football matches seen: 2

• York City v. Mansfield (League 2) 1 – 2
• Sheffield Wednesday v. Arsenal (Carling Cup) 3 – 0.

Football stadiums visited: 4

• Bootham Crescent – York City.
• Emirates Stadium – Arsenal, London.
• Hillsborough – Sheffield Wednesday.
• Anfield – Liverpool.

Live Bands seen: 0

Best food eaten:

• Perogi, Krakow, Poland. Poland is the country where I ate the worst and the best food of the year. If you haven’t tried Perogi, then you really should. They are dumplings, and you can choose from various sweet or savoury fillings. My favourite is the mince and onion!

Worst food eaten:

• Raw Herring. I ate this in whilst on a food tour in Krakow, Poland. I don’t really like fish, and I really wanted to spit it out! Although this year, I also ate a scorpion in Thailand, the raw herring was by far my worst food of the year.

Best place visited:

• Kirkisrak, Turkey.

I’ve wanted to go here for a long time. I’d heard so many good things about this remote Turkish village. I finally got there this year, and I wasn’t disappointed!

Worst place visited:

• Phi Phi Islands, Thailand. As beautiful as these Islands look in photos and as stunning as they are in reality, the number of other tourists there at the same time as I really spoiled the trip for me. There were literally hundreds of people taking selfies (one of my hates)! The sheer number of boats landing there is damaging the corals on the sea floor. Over-tourism, especially when it damages the environment gets a big thumbs down from me.

2015 was better than I expected in terms of social media.

As of today (20th December, 2015), there are more than 2160 of you on the Facebook page and more than 9200 of you following me on Twitter. Thank you to every one of you.

On Instagram, I have more than 4200 followers.

Happy New Year to all of our readers. Keep your eye on this blog and social media pages for more travels in 2016.