2025 Annual Recap

2025 Year-in-Review Recap In 2025, we were the reigning “Biggest Traveler of the Year” Award Winner by Nomadmania having won the popular vote in previous November! Yeah! 41 unique countries and territories, 2 new territory/non-UN country. 74 flights on 30 different airlines, 11 train rides, 7 ships and boats, 29 car rentals (14 self-driven and 15 with a driver) for a total of 36,000+ kilometers on the road! 711 FB albums posted with 37,000+ pictures and videos! Many already are (and the rest will soon be) available on travel2unlimited.com. And now – on to the recap! Starting in Soith Africa, we explored the northeast, went through Swaziland, drove through Kwazulu Natal to the Drakensberg Mountains and then through the Golden Gate National park and into Lesotho. Several days in this amazing landlocked high altitude country and then – go west!- thought entire South Africa to the remote and stunning Khalagadi Transfromtier Park. A fly hop into neighboring Botswana, and then drive through entire Namibia and into southern Angola – a stunning country with surreal landscapes and flora. Next came Tunisia and Libya with their desert Kasr fortresses, and then the tiny island of Lampedusa, plus a bit of Malta and Sicily. Some exploration of springtime Andorra and Catalonia as well as Germany, before a long two week adventure in Turkmenistan – we explored every possible site and nook and cranny of this mysterious and closed country – from flaming Derwaaza to the Caspian Sea to the Karakum Dedert and the white city of Ashgabat. The central Asian adventure continued with Nepal, then Bhutan (including the remote south with its rare primate species), Bangladesh, northern Sri Lanka, and a jaunt east-west across India from Chennai to Kochi, exploring the surreal temples and the wildlife of the western ghats mountains and landscapes. Pakistan was next – from steamy Karachi to Islamabad to Peshawar to a long drive all the way north, exploring the stunning Hindu Kush mountain panoramas. A side trip into Azad Kashmir followed, before we flew to Kabul and then explore Afghanistan in depth – Bamian, Mazar-i-Sharif, Gazni – all by road! Late summer brought about a massive 18k km multi-loop European exploration – Austria, Slovenia, Italy, San Marino, more and in-depth Italy, hop to Spain and all around there, before going north and really getting down and dirty exploring France – Nouvelle Aquitanne, Loire Valley, Brittany, Normandy, Burgundy, French-Compte, Rhône-Alos, and Occitanie (almost everything!), and some more Germany. Next an annual pilgrimage to Ibiza in August, before changing climate and flying to Denmark and then to Greenland for an epic 2-week exploration of Southern Greenland – just truly epic! – with Viking ruins, whales, icebergs, tundra-hiking, fjord-cruising, getting onto the Greenlandic ice shelf, swimming in the Arctic Ocean and witnessing the insane northern lights shows at night (benefit of a late season adventure). Quick stops in Iceland and Northern Island followed, and a Southern American adventure started with Suriname, Belem in Brasil, and the archipelago of Fernando de Noronja. A side trip to Ethiopia for the MTP conference, and then back to South America – in depth Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. And finally the new year in Catalonia with a bit of skiing in Andorra! 2025 here we come!