After traveling A LOT in 2023 and 2024, I wasn’t fully sure what 2025 would bring. How did it go? Check it out in my yearly travel review.
2025 Travel Year Review
Every year I start writing these posts thinking it will be short. And every year I’m wrong.
After the insane amount of traveling I did in 2023 and 2024 (I was too busy traveling that I didn’t even think about writing any yearly travel review, haha), and interesting 2021, and 2022, I wasn’t quite sure what 2025 would look like. After a seven-month solo trip around the world, part of me was ready for slower days, fewer flights, and more time at my wooden cottage in Norway. I imagined a quieter year – more hikes close to home, fewer continents, more stillness.
So… how did that go?
Let’s take a look.
Want to read my other yearly travel reviews? Check the year in review here, with the latest reviews:
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Starting the year in Tunisia
New Year’s Eve in the Tunisian Desert
We started the year in the middle of the Tunisian desert. Not exactly the home-based beginning I talked about earlier, but New Year’s travel has become our tradition over the years, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. We’ve welcomed the new year in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Jordan, the Canary Islands, mainland Spain, the UK, Norway, and now Tunisia.
The trip itself was fairly spontaneous, as these New Year adventures often are. While researching Tunisia, I saw photos of the desert and immediately knew what I wanted: camels, sand, and a night under the stars. And that’s exactly what we did. It was a bit similar to what happened when we planned our Jordan trip, the photos of Jordan Wadi Rum desert made me immediately want to go there! After all in that Jordan trip, we started New Year in Petra, which was also very magical.
On New Year’s Eve, just the two of us, two camels, and a friendly local Bedouin guide, we rode out into the desert toward the setting sun. After some dusty, wobbly, and very fun kilometers, we stopped to set up camp in the middle of nowhere.
Cooking From Scratch Under the Stars
Once the tents were ready, our guide casually pulled out ingredients for a full meal. When I saw him peeling potatoes and carrots in the sand, I knew we were in for something special. Dinner started with a traditional Tunisian soup made from meat and vegetables, followed by a hearty couscous dish. For dessert, we had fresh dates and tea.
Everything was cooked from scratch over a fire he built himself, using sticks found nearby.
After dinner, we gathered around the fire, chatting, singing, playing drums, and watching the stars until midnight arrived. The wind was strong, but the atmosphere was pure magic. Being alone in the desert, under an endless sky, felt like the perfect way to step into a new year. It reminded me of the camping trip in Wadi Rum we did one year in Jordan, where we also ate food, sitting on the sand.
In the morning, we woke up to fresh coffee and freshly baked bread, made from just flour and water, cooked directly on the fire. It was soo good!
Road Tripping Through Tunisia
The rest of our time in Tunisia was just as good. We traveled across the country, visiting historic sites, driving winding mountain roads, and staying in traditional hotels, some of which were used as filming locations for Star Wars. We explored other movie sites too, ate incredibly good food, and met some of the kindest people along the way.
What surprised me most was how non-touristy Tunisia felt. Apart from the seaside resort areas, we barely met other travelers. It felt authentic, relaxed, and welcoming, like one of those places that quietly stays with you. Like Nakhchivan, less known part of Azerbejan that we visited a year before for New Year’s Eve, it was also a surprisingly amazing trip.
Keeping it real: When we got back to town after the desert trip, everything was closed. We found one shop that was open, but it barely had any food. So we had New Years dinner consisting of plain pasta and rock hard frozen burgers (they were inedible). We laughed so much from it though ;)
Back to Winter in Norway (and a Family Visit to Poland)
From warm North Africa, we returned straight to snowy winter in Norway. Winter was in full swing, and we embraced it properly with skiing, ice skating, chasing northern lights, and even ice bathing. We also took a trip to Poland to visit family, adding a slower, grounding rhythm to the start of the year.
Above the Arctic Circle: Kirkenes & the Far North
In March, we traveled to Kirkenes, far in the northeast of Norway. Apart from Svalbard, this was the furthest north I’ve ever been in the country. Kirkenes sits high above the Arctic Circle, but by March the sun had already returned and the polar night had ended.
Winter was still in full force, and the landscapes felt straight out of a fairytale. We didn’t see the northern lights this time, but we visited the famous ice hotel, met (and petted) husky dogs, and rented a car to explore the surrounding peninsula. We spotted king crabs, though we didn’t eat any, and crossed into Finland for a few days, where reindeer seemed to be everywhere.
This region is also home to the Sámi people, and we enjoyed learning more about their culture and trying local food, though I have to admit, pickled cod tongue wasn’t my favorite. Kirkenes also borders Russia, and you can feel the mix of influences in the town itself.
Sunny Escape in April
A Delayed Honeymoon in the Caribbean
Spring brought a trip to London, followed by a longer journey to the Caribbean, which was our delayed honeymoon after last year’s four weddings (yes, four), including one on top of Trolltunga.
It was my first time in the Caribbean, and we visited St. Lucia and Dominica (not the Dominican Republic). The lush greenery, colorful flowers, beautiful beaches, relaxed pace of life, and incredible food were exactly what we needed.
Dominica, known as “the nature island,” completely stole my heart. It felt wild, raw, and refreshingly untouched. My favorite experiences were long hikes, especially the trek to the Boiling Lake, which crossed volcanic landscapes, as well as swimming where volcanic bubbles rise from the ocean floor, exploring waterfalls, and soaking in hot springs. We stayed in small towns, camped, and met locals along the way, which was my favuorite way of travel at its best.
Keeping it real: On St. Lucia I hit my head that it started bleeding. It was a bit scary and forced me to rest instead of exploring. Luckily, it was a small cut and healed quickly.
Spring and Early Summer Back Home in Norway
We spent May and June back in Norway, celebrating the 17th of May and enjoying the return of longer days in Oslo. Summer is my favorite season in Norway, especially for hiking and camping, so I made the most of it.
Our first wild camping trip at the end of May still came with sub-zero temperatures, but it felt like the official start of the season. We watched apple trees bloom and baby goats roam around Hardanger, stayed by the incredibly calm Lustrafjorden (which looked like a mirror on some days), hiked Molden, explored an abandoned sanatorium, swam, kayaked, and SUP-ed on the fjords.
The weather at the end of May and start of June was truly summery, and we soaked up every minute of it.
Summer in Oslo, Paris, and the Norwegian Mountains
Summer in Oslo was lively and fun, but we also took a last-minute trip to Paris to visit family and eat very good food. It was my third time in the city, but visiting it with my husband, years after my previous trips, made it feel completely different, and very special.
Back in Norway, summer meant more hiking, camping, and also starting something new: acro yoga, which I picked up in the spring.
We took several trips around the country, including Jotunheimen, Hjelle, and Segestad farm, where we camped on a mountaintop with an unreal sunset lighting up the mountains across the fjord. We also did a lot of hiking around Oslo, and day trips from Oslo, while I was updating my Oslo maps.
We also returned to my favorite region of Norway: the Sunnmøre Alps and Loen. That summer turned out to be truly hot, sometimes even too hot for long hikes, so we opted for shorter ones, like Saksa, and spent our days swimming, sunbathing, and enjoying life by the water.
Another summer trip to Poland followed, with Kraków and Wrocław on the itinerary, filled with seasonal fruits and amazing Polish food.
Keeping it real: It was so hot when we were in Paris, that we only walked around outside in the evenings. The days were too hot to do anything.
Late Summer Magic in Lofoten
At the end of summer, we returned to northern Norway, to Lofoten for a few weeks, and it turned into one of those trips that gives you more than you expect. Camping by the white sand beaches, returning to Kvalvika after seven years, warm sunny days, deep blue skies, turquoise water, orcas (!), fewer people, and stunning hikes.
We even had northern lights displays that felt unreal for that time of year. We stayed at the wonderful Stamsund Hotel – perfect for a budget-friendly Lofoten stay. It was my fourth time in the archipelago, and somehow, it still felt new.
Autumn Mountains and Quiet Months
I love autumn in Norway, so Lofoten was the perfect early-autumn escape. Closer to home, we also headed into the mountains to soak up peak autumn colors and crisp air.
November is usually my least favorite month in Norway, but this year it passed surprisingly quickly. I enjoyed quieter days in Oslo and started preparing for one last big adventure of the year.
Patagonia: A Longtime Dream Come True
That adventure was Patagonia – in Chile and Argentina in South America, a part of the world I really love. It was different from Ecuador, and Peru, that we visited before. Patagonia was a remote and far away place I had dreamed about for years, and one that somehow exceeded even my highest expectations.
The landscapes were unreal: jagged mountains, vast open spaces, wild animals everywhere, condors flying overhead, crystal-clear rivers, and unforgettable sunrises and sunsets. We hiked, camped, road-tripped, and ate incredibly well. It felt like a perfect mix of adventure and awe, and a beautiful way to explore two new countries.
Keeping it real: I got sick during the trip, so instead of doing all the hikes I had planned, I had to take it easy. It meant that I had to see the sunrise over Fitz Roy from next to our tent rather than hike up in the middle of the night to the lake – I was too weak and had to hike 20 km the next day.
Ending the Year & Looking Ahead
We’re finishing the year in Poland and Slovakia – the second country being so close to where I grew up, yet a place I hadn’t properly explored before.
As always, writing these yearly reflections helps me slow down and see the bigger picture, to see how travel weaves itself into everyday life, rather than standing apart from it. Like when I traveled to 60 countries before turning 30. Some trips were long, some were spontaneous, some stayed close to home, but all of them shaped the year in their own way.
If you’ve been following along for a while, thank you for being here. And if this is your first time reading Worldering Around, I hope this post gives you a small glimpse into the kind of travel I love, the curious, imperfect, adventurous and deeply connected to place.
And with that, I want to wish you an amazing 2026 – full of adventures, quiet moments, and your own way of spending time that feels right to you.
Here’s to new paths, familiar trails, and whatever adventures the next year brings!
Read more:
Norway on a budget – locals’ tips for cheap travel in Norway
Copenhagen in winter travel guide
