2022 Annual Travel Year In Review

Happy New Year! Since I traveled so much last year, this recap is a little lengthy! I spent 8 months abroad in total and was in at least one foreign country every month except for December.

Last year’s travel highlights included going to South America twice and then putting my belongings in storage to travel indefinitely as a full-time nomad without a home base.

Without further ado, let’s unpack 2022!

You can read previous annual review posts here:

2021: the year the world started opening back up
2020: the year the world shut down
2019: the year I hit my goal of stepping foot on all six inhabited continents in my 20s with Morocco in Northern Africa
2018: the year I made it to South America
2017: the year I made it to Southeast Asia, Australia, and got into personal growth and inspirational topics
2016: the year I quit my 8-5 office job and started my digital nomad lifestyle
2015: the year I made it to Asia and did my first blog collaboration (a tour in New York City)
2014: the year I started Go Seek Explore!

As usual, this year’s review is split up into these sections:

Where I Traveled/New Countries Visited
Full Travel Recap
Travel Plans For 2023
Business Update
Blog Update
What’s Next

Where I Traveled in 2022

New Countries Visited in 2022 (10): Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Total Countries Visited in 2022 (16): USA, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Singapore, Indonesia, Qatar, Greece, United Arab Emirates, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Mexico

Total Countries Visited (All-time): 44 countries/six continents

Cities Visited in 2022 (33): San Diego, California; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Foz do Iguacu, Brazil; Ciudad de Este, Paraguay; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Colonia, Uruguay; San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina; Newport Beach, California; Salta and Jujuy Region, Argentina; Mendoza, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Valparaiso, Chile; Vina del Mar, Chile; Singapore, Singapore; Bali, Indonesia (Canggu, Uluwatu, Ubud); Doha, Qatar; Athens, Greece; Mykonos, Greece; Santorini, Greece; Milos, Greece; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Dubai, UAE; Gili Islands, Indonesia; Nusa Penida; Indonesia; Corfu, Greece; Saranda, Albania; Budva and Kotor, Montenegro; Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina; Novalja, Croatia; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Sayulita, Mexico; Scottsdale, Arizona; Los Angeles, California.

Full Travel Recap

With 10 new countries visited in 2022 and six months total of being a full-time nomad without a home base, it’s no surprise I have a lot of highlights to share!

Here are my main travel highlights from 2022:

Going to South America (Twice)

My first visit to South America was in Cartagena, Colombia in 2018, during my pursuit of stepping foot on six continents in my 20s. I had been wanting to see more of the continent since, and when some friends had plans to travel through Brazil and Argentina, I hardly had to think twice to join them on part of the trip!

On January 9th, I booked a flight to Rio de Janeiro, and on January 17th, I was on the plane. During this trip, I took two day trips each to Paraguay and Uruguay.

Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, surprised me in the best way possible. I thought I’d like to see the city for a week and call it a day.

I ended up loving Buenos Aires - it is one of my favorite cities in the world, and Argentina is one of my favorite countries - and knew I needed to go back.

When my flight got canceled to go back to the US for weather reasons, I booked an extra five days and flew to San Carlos de Bariloche, where two of my friends were going.

They call Bariloche “The Gateway to Patagonia” and it is just stunning. Its mountainous landscapes and German influence felt a world away from Buenos Aires.

I was already planning a return trip to Argentina before I even got home!

A Return to Argentina

Maybe six weeks later, I found myself back at the airport in San Diego to spend another month in South America.

My friend Steph ended up staying in Argentina that whole time, so we decided to explore other parts of the country together (Salta and Mendoza) and hang out in Buenos Aires for a little longer.

When her apartment rental in Buenos Aires was up, we went to Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso, and Vina del Mar)!

After Chile, Steph went to Brazil and I went back to San Diego.

It was in Valparaiso where I had a lightbulb moment that gave me the most unexpected plot twist of 2022…

The Alchemist in Real Life

Chances are, you’ve read The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo. If not, I don’t want to spoil it, so skip to the next paragraph. Though if you have read it, you know the story: Santiago has this recurring dream about finding treasure buried near the Egyptian pyramids. He can’t let go of his desire to find the treasure in real life. He’s intuitively pulled to leave home in pursuit of it. So he goes on a journey through Southern Spain and Northern Africa to get to Egypt. Along the way, he falls in love, pauses his journey to work at a crystal shop, and learns alchemy. Eventually, he arrives at the pyramids - and the treasure is not to be found. Santiago returns home, full of lessons and memories, and without the treasure. In the end, he gets a nudge to dig a hole in the ground where he is sleeping, and finds a treasure box. It was there all along. Had he known it was right below him the whole time, though, he wouldn’t have experienced all the lessons and memories he made in pursuit of the Egyptian treasure.

The other day I was talking to a friend about how I felt like Santiago this year by putting my stuff in storage and traveling full-time with no end date. I spent six months in total “living out of a suitcase” (one large checked bag, a small carry-on, and a duffle).

To me, feeling very pulled to go to Bali felt like the strong desire Santiago had to go to Egypt. I wasn’t quite sure why, but I felt like going back to Bali and possibly even live there part-time. It was a nudge I couldn’t seem to let go of.

The “lightbulb moment” I had about Bali came to me when I was in Chile in March. I went home in April, made my plans, moved out of my apartment, and flew to Bali on May 31.

For those of you who like airport codes, my route from California to Bali looked like this: SAN > HND > SIN > DPS

Six Months of Nomadic Travel

During those six months, I went to Bali three times. I considered possibly buying a villa or doing a long-term rental so I could live in Bali half the year and live in San Diego half the year.

While I love Bali, I ended up deciding not to do this. Perhaps I’ll consider buying a villa in the future as an investment property and stay 1-3 months per year (it would be a part-time home base in Southeast Asia), but intuitively felt it was not right. At least not yet.

I bounced back and forth between Bali and Europe for 3.5 months.

It felt fun and freeing to have complete flexibility and no subtle “pressure” to go back to San Diego after 3-4 weeks because I’d feel mildly guilty about paying for an empty apartment for so long.

During my time in Bali, I took surf lessons in Canggu! Taking consistent surf lessons had been something I had wanted to do for a while and I saw significant improvement over the summer!

European Summer

Nothing beats European summer, so I did two separate trips to Europe over the summer in 2022.

The first Europe trip was a 2-week trip to Greece, where I co-hosted a group tour with Travr! It was a lot of fun and we also got to celebrate my friend Tara’s birthday. The group trip took us through Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini, and then I went to Milos solo for two days (loved Milos). After Milos, I flew back to Bali from Athens.

Airport Codes (Bali to Greece): DPS > CGK > DOH > ATH

First Time In The Middle East

Qatar and the UAE sandwiched my Europe trip on the way in and out. This was my first time visiting The Middle East!

On the way to Greece, I had an 8-hour layover in Doha, Qatar.

There are city tours you can take that pick you up and drop you off at the airport between your flight, so I took advantage of that.

It was so fun to do this and get a taste of the city during the layover!

On the way back from Greece, I ended up getting stuck in Abu Dhabi for two nights. We had a tight connection in Abu Dhabi en route to Singapore, so they rebooked all the Singapore flights two days out.

This was a very exhausting and frustrating experience with Etihad Airlines, especially since we would have been able to make our flights to Singapore. Another nightmare at the hotel happened, but you can get the whole story on my UAE Instagram Story highlight.

Outside of the mess of having to rebook travel plans in Bali, I tried to make the most of being in the UAE.

Through my haze of tiredness, I booked a day trip to Dubai and a desert safari tour outside of Abu Dhabi.

Truth is, mid-week in July, Dubai was a ghost town - it was well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the streets were pretty empty!

I’d love to return to Dubai and stay for a few days or longer, as I feel it is a nightlife city and I’d like to experience more of the extravagant hotels and lifestyle.

The next day, my crazy long travel day resumed, starting with a flight to Mumbai, India, and then Mumbai to Singapore.

From Singapore, I had to rebook one of the last seats available to Bali, which meant a connection in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Getting back to Bali from Greece took 3.5 days and five flights in total.

I was so happy when I arrived back on that beautiful island!

Airport codes (Greece to Bali): ATH > AUH > BOM > SIN > KUL > DPS

A Month on the Mediterranean

My second Europe trip was spending the month of August on the Mediterranean coastline of the Balkans, a route I’ve wanted to do for quite some time.

I had booked tickets for a music festival over my birthday weekend in Croatia at the end of the month so I figured I’d start in Greece and make my way up the coast through Albania, Montenegro, and Bosnia & Herzegovina before ending the month in Croatia.

It was great to do this trip, though it was more challenging logistically to figure out transportation between the countries compared to Western or Central Europe, and since I wasn’t looping back to any one country, I couldn’t rent a car.

The bus systems between the countries were the only reliable option (trains don’t run between these countries) which was perfectly fine, but it also meant lots of delays and very long travel days.

After the 5-day music festival in Croatia, I made my journey back to Bali one last time.

The music festival shows would end around 6:00 am each night, and my friends and I had airport buses scheduled at 5:45 am. We literally left the festival at 5:15 am, haphazardly got our luggage, and somehow made it to the station right on time.

It was such a scramble to catch the buses on time that I was still in my festival clothes on the 4-hour bus from Pag Island to Zagreb, and had to change my clothes, brush my teeth, and freshen up in the bathroom before my flight to Dubai!

Airport codes (Croatia to Bali): ZAG > DXB > SIN > DPS

My flight from Dubai to Singapore was on Emirates, which was my first time flying the prestigious airline. I booked economy, though, and while it was nice, it was nothing extra special - I assume the first and business class international tickets are where the hype is at.

I’m glad I booked economy for this flight though because I slept the entire flight - I didn’t even get up to go to the bathroom - that’s how you know you’re tired! After five days of a festival where each night ends at 6:00 am or later, I was exhausted. I’d rather try Emirates first or business class when I am able to enjoy the experience more!

Back to Bali

Over the summer, my friends and family kept asking me when I was coming home. I kept saying I would wait to come home until it was clear.

Clarity came to me in Montenegro - I was ready to go back to San Diego and move back into my apartment.

….But first, I justified a quick 2-week trip to Bali on the way home. :)

Travel between Europe and North America was super messy in Summer 2022, with delays and lost luggage happening to most people I knew.

It felt less risky to take the long way home and stop in Bali along the way!

Cost-wise, it was more affordable to spend those two weeks in Bali, including the extra flight and all my favorite things (like massages and surf lessons) compared to being back in San Diego. After doing the math I saved around $1500 by going back to Bali versus getting an Airbnb and living my typical life back in San Diego.

During my final Bali trip I caught up with some friends who were still there, took my last surf lesson in Canggu for a while, and enjoyed being in my “home away from home” one last time.

During my other two trips to Bali in 2022, I knew I’d keep coming back. This time, it felt more “final,” as I knew it would probably be at least six months before I’d consider going back again.

Airport codes (Bali to Los Angeles): DPS > MNL > LAX

San Diego - Still Living Out Of a Suitcase

In September, I spent six weeks back in San Diego and decided I wanted to get 1-2 roommates (it’s more fun/social) and sign a new lease in my old apartment building that I loved.

The reason I chose December was that I found a roommate whose lease was ending in November.

It was refreshing to be home and to catch up with friends in San Diego, as well as family in Newport. I experienced some ups and downs during the summer for a few reasons, but one of them had to do with the lack of consistent friendships on the road.

Bali is incredibly transient, and on each trip, I’d make new friends and then leave again, and when I’d come back many of my friends would be gone already. (My Bali friendships felt stronger, though, because many people I met were very like-minded in terms of travel or having an online business!)

It felt more difficult in Eastern Europe to make consistent friends since both I and other travelers I met would be in and out of countries within 5-10 days or so. However, I am still in touch with a bunch of solid friends I met traveling this year, and have met up with some of them later on in Albania, the US, and Mexico!

In San Diego, I was getting excited to have a solid home base again.

During this part of the year, I finished the draft of my manuscript for my next book, which I am so excited about!

A Month in Mexico

Since my new roommate and I got an apartment in December, I was still fully nomadic between the end of October and mid-December. I decided to meet up with my friend Steph again and spend a month in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!

The intention for this trip was different than many other ones I had as I wanted to stick to one city the whole time instead of bouncing around from place to place.

Slow travel was necessary as I had some business projects that required more focused attention.

So outside of a few days in Sayulita, Steph and I grounded ourselves in Puerto Vallarta for a month.

Puerto Vallarta isn’t my favorite nomad destination, but I enjoyed spending a month there and could maybe do two months at a time.

They do have a fun nomad community, and Steph and I met some cool people by going to various meetups on boats, at wine bars, or yoga classes - these are my kind of people!

I also loved the warm weather in November - since I was still living out of my suitcase, my wardrobe was mostly suited for summer days and tropical islands, and it worked well for PVR!

Airport codes: TIJ > PVR (Tijuana to Puerto Vallarta - I used the cross-border express bridge from the border between San Diego and Mexico!)

Back to California

After Mexico, I bounced around California and Arizona since our move-in date ended up getting pushed out a little farther than planned.

I had two events in Los Angeles in December so I decided to spend a week staying at a house in the Hollywood Hills and saw friends in Santa Monica, Venice, and WeHo.

Then I went to Arizona to see family for Thanksgiving and moved into my apartment in December.

Now that I’m just about settled in, I’m ready for another trip, haha. We’ll see where I end up going this year!

TRAVEL PLANS FOR 2023

Like last year, I am starting 2023 with another blank slate!

At this time last year, I was considering the trip to Brazil and Argentina but hadn’t booked anything yet. European Summer was on my wishlist, and my “stretch” trips were Southeast Asia (I didn’t know how “open” they would be in 2022 with COVID restrictions), plus a bucket list trip of going to Egypt and/or an African safari.

South America, Europe, and Southeast Asia all happened! Egypt and an African safari still remain on my bucket list.

I really have no plans yet for 2023, though Europe in the summer is a very high possibility. Ideally, I’d love to return to the Greek Islands and Italy and also visit Ibiza for the first time. I have a group of friends who want to do Yacht Week, an experience I’ve had on my list for literally years. Hoping that finally works out!

A tropical or warm-weather destination sounds perfect right now, as we’ve had a very rainy January in California and I could use a solid beach getaway!

With friends, we are considering short trips around the US to Joshua Tree, Aspen, Austin, and Miami, though these are just in the idea phase for now.

I have a friend getting married in the US this spring, and another friend getting married in Cancun in May.

I might extend the Cancun trip and spend a little time on the Yucatan Peninsula/Maya Riviera region - I love Mexico and that part of Mexico is beautiful! It would be fun to check out Isla Mujeres and Holbox.

As I said, we’ll see! Last year was nothing like I expected, especially with the six-month nomadic stint, so I’m leaving my travel plans pretty open.

Business Updates!

Koola Creative

My fully location-independent (online) marketing agency, Koola Creative, continues to support my travels!

I started my marketing business in 2016 as a freelancer, offering social media services for businesses.

This helped support me as I moved to Southern California and started my digital nomad lifestyle: I could live wherever and travel whenever, while making money at home or from my laptop as I traveled the world.

[There are many ways to start a freelance business based on your natural skills, talents, and experience. Here’s a free masterclass!]

Over the years I shifted from a freelance model to an agency model as I grew quickly between 2020-2021. I continued to grow in early 2022, and then I pulled things back a bit in the spring for some personal reasons and only worked with a few clients. I also wanted to focus on finishing my manuscript for my next book. After my summer trip, I felt revived and ready to pick things back up!

Being able to call my own shots is a gift I do not take for granted being a business owner. I get to choose how many clients I work with and who I work with. Scaling things back for a few months was needed, and I was able to do that.

This year, I am working with fewer clients, but on a deeper scale with a larger impact. This means I can charge higher monthly rates for the level of work I am doing and the value I am providing. Restructuring this a bit has allowed me to put more focus and energy into each client while still earning the same amount. There’s no right or wrong way to run an agency, but right now, I am liking how this is going so far!

Go Seek Explore

In 2022, I:

Published 17 new blog posts on Go Seek Explore
Created two new free masterclasses
Started posting on YouTube Shorts
Participated in Pinterest Creator Rewards
Launched The Limitless Nomads Podcast

While the Go Seek Explore brand (essentially my personal brand) extends beyond this website, I’d like to increase the frequency of blogs I publish in 2023 and be more consistent with it. I’m hoping to publish 30+ blog posts in 2023.

Masterclasses

In 2022, I created two free masterclasses that teach how to start a digital business! One is still available, you can watch it for free here.

YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts have been picking up steam! I like watching Shorts, and right now, I have been uploading Shorts to my channel (mainly my TikToks and Reels, but I might start creating exclusive content on there too).

I have a vlog I filmed last fall that still needs editing, so hopefully I’ll get that up soon!

In Bali, I met quite a few people who were surprised I don’t vlog on YouTube since they said I seem like the type who would LOL.

Video filming and editing require a LOT of work and planning, so I’d love to make a goal to do weekly or monthly vlogs, but don’t want to commit to that right now.

Find me on YouTube here!

Pinterest

I was invited to join Pinterest’s Creator Rewards beta program in March 2022, which was amazing! The Creator Rewards program awarded participants for hitting various content or engagement goals with Idea Pins.

In total, I made over $13,000 between March and November through this program alone. However, Pinterest decided to end the program on November 30.

It’s a bummer it ended, but I am grateful to have been part of it last year!

Pinterest has been one of my favorite platforms to create content and find inspiration over the years, and I still pin frequently even though the Creator Rewards program has ended.

Follow me on Pinterest here!

The Limitless Nomads Podcast

In May 2022, I released Season 1 of The Limitless Nomads Podcast!

I had been wanting to do a podcast for a while, but I wasn’t clear if I wanted to make it super niche or not. Last spring, I decided to theme the episodes around starting an online business for people who want to become digital nomads.

You can listen to all seven episodes of Season 1 on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

In Fall 2022, I started recording episodes for Season 2, and it is on my list to get these out soon!

For Season 2, I’m including more lifestyle content around being a digital nomad (instead of it just being about business). Expect some fun travel stories and episodes on what it’s like to travel or live in other countries as a digital nomad in addition to the business-related content!

Wrapping Up & What’s Next

Wow! What a year. Other than the year I worked for the travel company in Italy (where I lived in Italy and traveled for my job for six months straight), this is the year I’ve traveled the most.

Years ago, I dreamt of being able to have a business that would support me from anywhere in the world. If I wanted to go somewhere, I wanted to be able to pick up and go there.

And that’s what 2022 was all about - being able to go back to South America because I wanted to. Then bouncing back and forth between Europe, The Middle East, and Bali, and spending a month in Mexico just because.

I am super grateful for my business and do not take it for granted! If a location-independent lifestyle is something you desire, check out my blog posts on making it happen. I’ve written a lot of content about it over the years!

Cheers to 2023! Thank you so much for reading and being here.

It means the world to me to have such a supportive community on this corner of the internet!

2022 Annual Travel Year In Review

2022 Annual Travel Year In Review

You can read previous annual review posts here:

As usual, this year’s review is split up into these sections:

Where I Traveled in 2022

Full Travel Recap

Here are my main travel highlights from 2022:

Going to South America (Twice)

A Return to Argentina

The Alchemist in Real Life

Six Months of Nomadic Travel

European Summer

First Time In The Middle East

A Month on the Mediterranean

Back to Bali

San Diego - Still Living Out Of a Suitcase

A Month in Mexico

Back to California

TRAVEL PLANS FOR 2023

Business Updates!

Koola Creative

Go Seek Explore

Masterclasses

YouTube Shorts

Pinterest

The Limitless Nomads Podcast

Wrapping Up & What’s Next

Hello & welcome to go seek explore!

Hi! I'm Ally.

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