If I am honest, 2023 was a pretty challenging year. We were sick a lot, as my daughter Gaja brought all kinds of viruses home from kindergarten. And my husband Klemen and I were usually sicker than she was. It was also my first full year of juggling having a child and going to work. On top of some personal challenges. However, it was also a year full of love. Klemen and I got married and had the most perfect wedding day. We enjoyed seeing Gaja grow and had some amazing travel adventures. I am really grateful for my lovely little family. Let me share what we were up to in 2023.
1. Travelling done in 7 countries
Croatia
At the end of April, we escaped the outside rain and enjoyed the Saint Martin Thermal Spa for a few days, which is located in Sveti Martin na Muri. Besides bathing in relaxing pools and doing some nice walks, we also visited the nearby city Varaždin which has a beautiful old city center and a castle.
Estonia
This Christmas we decided to go North and we loved it! We visited Tallinn – a fairytale-like old town with colorful houses and a picturesque Christmas market. There were no crowds, we had luck with the mild winter and some fresh snow, and we loved how family-friendly the city is. I am sharing all about our trip here.
Finland
From Tallinn, it took us a short ferry ride to the capital of Finland – Helsinki. We enjoyed the uniqueness of the experiences in the city and also their cute Christmas market situated below the Helsinki Cathedral. You can read more about our Christmas trip here.
Greece
After our June wedding, we embarked on an amazing 10-day-long cruise in the Mediterranean (I am sharing all about it here). In Greece, we stopped at Athens, Corfu island (we visited Corfu city and Dassia beach), Katakolon, and Piraeus.
Italy
The cruise started and ended in beautiful Trieste, but also stopped at Bari. We took advantage of this stop to visit the famous Arbelobello. We also went to Treviso in December to hop on a plane to Estonia.
Slovenia
We also did a few short trips around our home country Slovenia. Besides spending many weekends with our families in Dobrna and Celje, we had a weekend stay at Bohinj & Bohinjska Bistrica, we visited deer farm Domačija Lamperček, Izola, Maribor, Portorož, and Rašica Lake. We also enjoyed our home city Ljubljana, went to the ZOO, swam at Vodno mesto Atlantis, attended a classical music concert in Cankarjev dom and visited many playgrounds.
Turkey
The highlight of our cruise was a 2-day stop in gorgeous Istanbul. We loved exploring the city and all its wonders. I am sharing more here.
3 new countries visited
Finally, I visited the magical 50th country, which was Turkey, and now have visited 52 countries in total. The last two new ones this year were Estonia and Finland.
2. Most popular on the blog
In all honesty, I don’t know which blog post was the most popular in 2023. I have some troubles with the site’s analytics and will hopefully add this information later.
3. Life lately
Happy ever after
As I mentioned, this year, on 17th of June, I got married and it was one of the happiest days of my life. I am sharing all the details and exclusive photos here. Before the wedding, my dear friends prepared an amazing Bachelorette party in Ljubljana’s Tivoli Park with bubbles and delicious food.
Prizma Award
Many of you probably don’t know this, but I work as a corporate communications consultant in a big Slovenian agency. This year I was proud that my team received the Prizma Award for excellence in communication for the project certificate Socially Responsible Employer. The award is given by the Public Relations Society of Slovenia. This is not really travel-related, except that I went to the popular Slovenian seaside resort Portorož to receive the award, but it was an important achievement for me and I think we have to share good news.
Gaja’s year of travelling
I am the happiest, as my darling daughter is such a happy little traveller. She enjoys every time we go on an adventure, curiously looks at the world, and adapts to new environments very quickly. And she loves flying. So far she has visited 9 different countries.
4. Plans for 2024
We have no travel plans set in stone for 2024 yet. There are some we are strongly considering, but I will not tell you yet where we are thinking of going, to not jinx it. However, for 2024 I wish for each of you (and my family) a lot of health. Because if we are healthy, there will be also many opportunities for new adventures. To unforgettable 2024!
