We’re Saying Goodbye to a Very Adventurous 2023 – and Hello to a New Chapter
Our happy new year wishes are coming to you today from chilly, grey Toronto. The sub-zero temperatures that we’re currently facing are quite a contrast to our last January, which was spent in lively Medellin, Colombia.
In fact, the city was so lively that we raced to Plaza Botero at 8am on January 1st, knowing it was our one and only opportunity to get photos of the famous Botero sculptures without the crowds of vendors and other tourists.
We had three exciting months in Colombia, spending time in some places that made it into our videos — the coffee region; busy, beautiful Cartagena — and a couple others that didn’t. That included Palomino, an easy-going beach town, and Minca, an off-the-beaten-path mountain town. Both are a little challenging to get to but highly recommended.
Stranded in Colombia
Our exit from Colombia was messier than usual. Avianca made a mistake with our dog reservation resulting in us being denied boarding, scrambling to find lodging, overstaying our tourist visa, and spending three days and 12+ hours on the phone with customer service to get new flights.
We were vindicated in November — a mere eight months later — when Avianca finally refunded the extra dollars that we shelled out for this fiasco.
We had a delightful summer romp across Europe. We covered five countries in four months – Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania – including all the charming inns and hiking we could want. While we cherish every travel experience, there’s something extra special about setting out for a day on the trail with just our backpacks and our little dogs.
Fighting the crowds in Portugal
The autumn kicked off with our much-awaited trip to Portugal after covid derailed our earlier plans. We started off with a very rainy week in Porto. While our umbrellas were essentially useless in the deluge, we were always able to find shelter in a port tasting house.
Then we spent a month enjoying the architecture and a few too many pastel de natas in over-touristed Lisbon. Finally, we had another month soaking in the balmy temperatures and glorious views in Madeira. If you’re wondering whether Madeira is a good spot to enjoy winter sun and holiday cheer, we can confirm that it absolutely is.
Our apartment was steps from Funchal’s Christmas market and we enjoyed an almost non-stop parade of folk costumes, dancing and music for the entire month of December (although I could have done without the local renditions of 1990s ballads at 10pm). Be warned, however, that the cost of an Airbnb soars over the holiday season and many are booked out months in advance.
That brings us to 2024…
And the beginning of a whole new chapter. We’ve got so much exciting news to share, it seems like the perfect time for a livestream on YouTube.
Mark your calendars for next Sunday, January 14th at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK time. We’ll be tackling all your tough questions about travel mishaps, favourite destinations, finances, and what happens next after four years of full-time nomading.
In fact, feel free to get the conversation started by leaving your questions for us below.
See you soon!
Stephanie & Gillian
0 Comments
Moorea Maguire
Such beautiful photos! My only question is where you’re going next, but I know you’re going to cover that in the live stream. 😉
Our Freedom Years
Yup! We will most definitely cover that one. 😉
Paul Strizhevsky
Happy New Year, ladies!
My question is this: of all the places you’ve been, what would be your top three places that you would like to return to for short stays (a week or less) and the top three for longer stays?
Thanks in advance, safe travels!
Our Freedom Years
Great question! I like the short stay vs long stay angle. We’re going to have to give this one some thought…
Tamara
Hi there! What do you do when you’ve financially committed to staying in a new destination for an extended amount of time, but soon realize you don’t love it? Any advice you have for avoiding slow travel pitfalls would be much appreciated!
Our Freedom Years
This is a really good questions and one of the reasons that we’re now careful to ensure everything we book (flights, Airbnbs, hotels, tours) have a decent cancellation policy — even if that means paying a premium price.
I think the most challenging one is Airbnb. We’re finding pre-arrival cancellation policies to be more generous these days. But once you’ve arrived for a long stay, you’re typically on the hook for the first 30 days. For example, we would have liked to shorten our time in Medellin but had to stick out the duration of our Airbnb rental. This is one of the reasons that we spend so much time studying Google maps and debating the pros and cons of each city. Hope that gives you some food for thought!