Year of travel 2023 - where we have travelled and how it was.

Another year of travelling is coming to an end. At least we're not planning any more trips before the New Year. So, how has this year of travelling been? It has been both intense and exciting. Let's summarise.

Travel year 2023 for FREEDOMtravel in brief

If we summarise the travel year 2023 for us, Peter and Helena at FREEDOMtravel, we have travelled a lot. We've done several long journeys, for example spending two months in Finland and three months in the Philippines.

• Number of continents: 3 (Europe, Africa, Asia)
• Number of countries: 7 (Finland, Poland, Austria, Turkey, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Philippines)
• Number of new countries: 1 (Uzbekistan)
• Time spent travelling: 8.5 months
• Ways of travelling: Motorhome (4 months), backpacking (3 months), flight/hotel (1 month) and car/ferry/cruise (2 weeks).

So, how can we travel so much? Well, running the digital travel magazine FREEDOMtravel is our job, so we work while we travel. The campervan is a perfect office, and we work from airports, hotel rooms, tents, beaches... well, just about anywhere.

January: Austria

In January this year we travelled to Vorarlberg in Austria on a kind of frozen press trip. We were actually invited on a completely different occasion, but that time we got covid and couldn't travel. The flight tickets could be brought forward and, suddenly, we had a trip to Austria. Austria 2023: How nice it is in the Austrian Alps! Fantastic views, wonderful winter experiences and good food. Take me back please!

February - April: Philippines

The longest and most unusual trip of the year took place over three months in Philippinesbetween February and April. It was both well planned and at the same time too unplanned. We travelled together with relatively new friends. We had lots of fun plans together, and we also had many great experiences together, but at the same time we were different in many ways, and after some time we decided to split up.

We got to know many parts of the Philippines: local families, small islands, the sea with its wildlife, and beautiful places such as Malapascua, Bohol and El Nido in Palawan. Memories for life!

May: Three wooden cities

When we returned to Sweden, we took the motorhome out of winter storage and set off on the road. Our first main focus was Three wooden cities. We had a nice cooperation with them and went to visit the three cities. Eksjö, Hjo and Nora. It is recommended by the way, very nice!

June: High Coast, Åland and Tunisia

In June, we had more trips coming up, and the first one was High coast. We travelled here by motorhome and discovered lots of fantastic places such as Skuleberget, Slåttdalsskrevan and Mannaminne.

In June we also travelled with the motorhome to Åland, in collaboration with Visit Åland. Wow how beautiful Åland is! We were impressed by the nature and the historical sights, but also by all the locally produced food.

We also had time for a press trip to Tunisia, where we visited, among other things Sousse and Hammamet. Really, Tunisia is an underrated country. This historically interesting Mediterranean country has so a lot to offer!

July: Finland

We had taken the motorhome from Åland to Finlandso when we came back from Tunisia, we just had to continue our journey. No collaborations now, just a quiet self-drive motorhome trip along the Finnish coast. Oh how much we appreciated this!

During the high season in Sweden it is often crowded, but in Finland it was quiet and pleasant. We travelled at our own pace and were able to discover beautiful places such as Turku, UNESCO cities Rauma and Vaasa in Ostrobothnia. We can highly recommend Finland as a motorhome country!

August: Norrland

We had not travelled so much in Norrland in our lives, and that was a shortcoming of course. Now it would finally happen! Well, Norrland is very large, and we only managed a small part, but it is much more than nothing. We managed to see a lot in Norrbotten and Västerbotten and Ångermanland. Many nice places, lovely nature and nice people. And for some reason we all avoided mosquitoes. We simply must come back to the northern parts of Sweden!

September: Elmia exhibition in Jönköping

The month of September was all in for the fair Scandinavian Caravan Show for our part. For the first time we were involved in organising Destination Square, which is a kind of fair within a fair. Here the focus is one hundred per cent on where you're travelling, with exhibitors from different destinations, lots of speakers and prizes for Destination Sweden of the Year and European Destination of the Year.

We were partners with Elmia in organising this hall - a lot of work and a lot of fun. And yes, there will be a repeat (improved of course) in 2024!

October: Uzbekistan

I (Helena) have always dreamed of travelling to Uzbekistan and Samarkand, at least for as long as I can remember. We met the Embassy of Uzbekistan at Senior Fair in Stockholm 2023and they told us that the conference was coming up soon. UNWTO in Samarkand.

Did we want to go to Madrid, where they had a chartered plane, to cover the conference? Yes, we did! It was a very interesting and exciting week in the beautiful and historically interesting city of Madrid. Samarkand. A dream come true!

November: Poland and Istanbul

In November we made two trips abroad. The first was a car journey to Poland and southern Sweden, together with Peter's brother Micke, for meetings with a variety of partners. We then travelled on a press trip to the intense and exciting city of St. Petersburg. Istanbul, which includes fascinating history, boat trips and good food.

December: Cruise to Turku

In December we made the last trip of the year, a winter cruise to Finland with Finnline's fine ship Finnsirius. A really nice Winter weekend in Turku with Peter's brother Micke and his wife Nilla.

Travel year 2023 - that's it

When we summarise the 2023 travel year, we have to say that it was fantastic. We can also conclude that we both appreciate long-haul exotic destinations (such as the Philippines and Uzbekistan) and more intimate experiences (such as the North and Finland).

Do you have an exciting or enjoyable trip in 2023 that you would like to tell us about?