Another year of travel has gone by, and while we traveled less this year than we did in 2023 (hello, inflation!), we managed to enjoy some richer travel experiences than the year before. I love doing these reflective posts to think about the past year and also plan for the travel year ahead. It also reminds me of what is possible, even when you have a weak Nigerian passport like we do.
My Favorite Travel Experiences of 2024
Here are my top five travel highlights from 2024:
Returning to the UK again after a decade
The UK was my first ever international vacation (I went with my parents and brother) in 2013, and I returned multiple times on my own, visiting Manchester, Wales, and London. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been back since 2014 — until this year!
I love London for its vibrant city life and shopping, and it doesn’t hurt that I have many friends in the city. It was fun to return with my husband this time and really take in the city as an adult.
Visiting Scotland for the first time
I’ve always wanted to go to Scotland, and while we didn’t fully explore as we were visiting family for just a weekend, I loved stepping foot on Scottish soil and hearing the melodious accent for a full weekend. Scots are just great people — so warm, so welcoming, so friendly. We hope to go back to explore Edinburgh on our own.
Traveling with friends
I can’t believe it took us so long to finally do this! At the same time, I get why it did. It can be challenging to find friends who like to travel the way you do or are flexible and open to compromise when you travel. Frankly, a poor co-traveling experience can harm the strongest of friendships, so it’s worth knowing how to travel with others.
We LOVED traveling with our friends Bukky and Josh to Llandudno, Wales, and exploring the area for a weekend. Fingers crossed, we get to go somewhere cool together in 2025. My next plan is to get to travel with my parents and siblings as adults. That would be a wonderful experience.
Finally going to South Africa
We don’t talk enough about travel disappointments, especially when they involve visa woes. We were all set to visit South Africa for our first wedding anniversary in 2023, but we received the visa too late and decided to return to Kenya and visit Lamu instead.
So, it felt extra rewarding to get our visa this year and finally see Johannesburg and Cape Town! I loved experiencing all of the things — even a trip to Franschhoek and attending a dear friend’s destination wedding. It felt like one of those moments when “everything happens for a reason.”
Seeing African penguins in the wild
Although our African safari in Kenya is still our top travel moment, this one in South Africa comes pretty close! I love penguins and probably won’t make it to Antarctica any time soon, so I was over the moon to hang out with African penguins at Boulder’s Beach in Cape Town and see them again at the Two Oceans Aquarium. Year made!
What about you? Did you travel at all in 2024? Yes, local travel counts! What were your favorite experiences?
Liked this post? See my 2023 travel highlights.
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