How Many Countries Did We Travel In The Last 574 Days?

So we are back in Australia. Where it all started. And perhaps you are curious where family travel took us in the last 574 days or 1 year, 6 months and 25 days. Here is a list of countries we visited. In total I have now been to 41 countries in my 33 years of life. Mia has just turned 5 and has been to 35 countries, her 3 year old brother has also been to 35, and Josh has been to 39. 

May to November South East Asia

Indonesia

Bali is where we flew to first. It was close to home and seemed easy to retreat from if things went haywire. We spent 2 months living here, being our 8^th time to Bali and still adored it.

Singapore

Our 3^rd visit to Singapore and we love it each time. It’s a beautiful part of South East Asia, which should be on everyone’s list of places to visit. Sentosa Island is also a great family destination.

Malaysia

This time around we visited Kuala Lumpur for a month. It’s a great city, filled with opportunities for a potential home base. It’s Western enough to have malls and great conveniences, but Asian enough to be affordable and cultural. 
We also did a brief visit to Kota Kinabulu on the Borneo side of Malaysia for plenty of beaches and fun in the sun.

Philippines

The month we spent in Manila was not my favourite part of travel; however the weekend we spent in Boracay was dreamy. I look forward to heading back in discovering more of the tropical islands instead of the city.

Hong Kong

A busy city with so much potential. We love Hong Kong the city even if the majority of people we encountered were unfriendly. I can’t recommend Disneyland, but I did enjoy the famous Victoria Peak.

Thailand

Our first stop in Thailand was a month in Bangkok. A city filled with taste, aroma and culture. We loved our stay in Bangkok and definitely could consider living there.

Malaysia

Headed back to Malaysia and based ourselves in Penang while we visited several cities including Ipoh and Johor. We absolutely loved our stay here and met several travelling families during our time.

Thailand

Before we were to head to the US our friends told us we couldn’t leave without hitting the Yi Peng festival in Chiang Mai. So we flew in for the week and were so glad we did, it was amazing.

China

We flew into Shanghai on our way to the US and spent the night there. The language barrier was almost visible.

November to January USA

USA

Wow, what didn’t we see in the US? The first two months in the US we spent in Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Diego, Las Vegas and then road tripped the east coast from New York to Florida.

The Bahamas

From Florida we took a very cheap $800 cruise (for 4 people over 4 nights) and headed to the Bahamas. It was a great time of sun and surf after the cold winter in the US.

January to April Central America

Mexico

To escape the cold and for visa reasons we flew from Florida to Cancun, Mexico. We spent one night there before moving into Playa Del Carmen. We loved that place; we made great friends, loved the food and enjoyed our first Mayan pyramids.

Belize

There is an island not far from Belize City called Ambergris Caye and after our friends raved about it we decided to visit for 2 weeks. It was my husband’s ultimate dream since primary mode of transport is golf cart and we swam with sharks.

Guatemala

We wanted to visit Antigua for Semana Santa and ended up staying 6 weeks. Our kids learnt basic Spanish and we caught up on all our writing.

April to June USA

USA

We flew from Guatemala to Puerto Rico and while it is part of the US it didn’t feel like it. We enjoyed touring the island and visiting the neighbouring Vieques for the bioluminescent bay.

The Caribbean

From San Juan we took a 7 night Caribbean cruise. This is a great way to cross off some countries on your list – St Kitts, St Lucia, Barbados, St Thomas, St Marteen. It was our first time zip lining and eating fresh coconuts near a waterfall.

USA

Back to Puerto Rico for our flight into mainland USA where we visited New Orleans and then road tripped from San Francisco to Seattle and back again. Crater Lake remains one of our favourite natural sights ever. We flew from San Francisco to Boston to visit friends we made in Belize and then drove to New York to say goodbye to family.

Russia

Transit in Moscow on our way to Israel. One of the worst airports anywhere. In a hunt for a powerpoint to recharge our depleted laptops we resorted to unplugging a public massage chair and sat on the floor for several hours waiting for our flight. Not fun.

June to September Middle East

Israel

Josh’s parents live in Israel so we spent two months here. For such a tiny country it has a lot to do and we spent the first two weeks touring the whole place. Before settling down into a more rhythmic routine.

Palestinian Territories

A quick stop in here to see Bethlehem… oh, and buy cheap ice creams!

Jordan

We headed to the south of Israel in Eilat and took a 2-day trip to Jordan to see the famous Petra. It was worth every penny and I wish we had stayed longer. Jordan was surprisingly affordable compared to Israel.

Israel

Back into Israel to spend time with the relatives and catch up on all our writing, since we knew we had some super fast-paced travel ahead of us.

Turkey

One month in Turkey wasn’t enough. We loved vibrant Istanbul and then hot air-balloon riding in Cappadocia will never be forgotten, not to mention the unique underground cities. The beachside in Alacati & Oludeniz were also highlights.

September to November Europe

Italy

We flew into Rome at the same time as my parents and it was a joyous reunion. We did a food tour in Rome before heading on a cruise with them around the Mediterranean.

Mediterranean

Siciliy, Greece, Turkey, Crete – we got to visit a few countries on this cruise too and it was incredible.

Italy

Back to Italy we road-tripped with my parents through the Amalfi Coast, up the east cost through Matera and Puglia into Florence and then out via Pisa to Nice, France. Mumma Mia!

France

We spent a few days in Nice, Arles and Toulouse and the French countryside was beautiful. We never managed to find any real French food. Apparently French people don’t like eating out in French restaurants.

Monaco

We spent a tiny bit of time driving around seeing the flash hotels and flash cars and flash boats, walking the beaches and then drove on.

Spain

In Pamplona we witnessed a family-friendly “running of the bulls”, it was adorable and then we headed to Barcelona. We didn’t have long there before we needed to be in Ireland and it was there we said goodbye to my parents and finished our European road trip.

Ireland

I had always wanted to come to Ireland and it was every bit as beautiful as I imagined. Our one-week stay turned into a month as we toured top to bottom and east to west and then settled in the countryside writing and resting.

United Kingdom

From Northern Ireland to London, we managed to fall back in love with the UK. Our 2 weeks in London breezed by and while we enjoyed city life we were happy to be just “vacationing”.

Czech Republic

Prague had never been on my bucket-list, but boy were we surprised. It’ s a beautiful city and at every turn it just gets more beautiful. The food was also a favourite of ours. We even celebrated an early Christmas.

November Middle East

United Arab Emirates

Both of us had wanted to visit Dubai for a long time so this was a dream come true. A week in Dubai was not long enough with everything we wanted to do and we will go back.

December to ? Australia

Australia

After 19 months we headed back to our starting point in Perth, Western Australia. It was a long way to travel and the journey was filled with anticipation and regret.

December to ? Middle East

Israel / Palestinian Territories

1/4 of our travelling family headed back to Israel in December for an family emergency. Josh will be celebrating Christmas in Behtlehem in the cold, while Erin, Mia & Caius will be bringing in the new year in swweltering heat. We got all bases covered here! 

Phew! And there we have it. Our nomadic 19 months abroad. Is this the end? Unquestionably not. We can’t wait to continue our travels with the family, but for now are happy to be somewhat stationary, visiting family and perhaps even see some of our own country that we never knew existed. We hope you stay tuned!

Want to visualise it? 

This map covers more then what we just did this year, this is my whole travel life - all 15 years. This highlights the countries, not the cities. So many areas still to conquer!