2025 Annual Travel Year in Review
Ibiza, Spain
I’ll be the first to admit that this travel year in review is…super late. My draft info says I started it on January 18th. I tried, okay?! You might be thinking, “Still - halfway through the year, Ally? Really?”
Yes - I’ve been busy (to put it lightly). I’m still traveling, I’m still a digital nomad, and I’m still doing a million things because I can’t help but be multi-passionate and strive to live life without regrets.
Over the past year, I’ve continued to work in marketing, which I’ve been doing for ages, as it allows me to be creative - and most importantly, live wherever and travel whenever.
Being able to work from anywhere in the world, as long as I have a wifi connection, was one of my major goals in the earlier days of this blog, and having done that for so long (and having written a book to help others do the same!) is pretty awesome.
I’ve also picked up my music work quite a bit. I have been DJing more frequently around Miami, as well as Tulum, New York City, and (soon!) Europe.
DJing in LA last year
So while it might be a little quieter on the new blog posts front, my joy for writing and sharing travel content has never faded. It’s still there, and I’m still longing to have more than 24 hours in a day so I can fit in every single thing I want to do.
And oh, yeah…I even started a Substack earlier this year for more in-depth travel guides and explorative essays, but I’ve had to back-burner new content over there until I free up more time. Though I genuinely love this essay I wrote on Substack here. I’m actually quite proud of it. Check it out and tell me if you relate!
That said, this year’s recap is going to be a bit more brief, especially because my “travel predictions” section will be a bit spoiled since I’ve already done or planned most of my trips this year haha.
Let’s get into it!
You can read previous annual review posts here:
2024: the year I moved to Miami
2023: the year I launched my book and went to India
2022: the year I went to South America twice and then traveled for six months straight
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!
This year’s review is split up into these sections:
Where I Traveled/New Countries Visited
Full Travel Recap
Travel Plans For 2026
Yearly Update
What’s Next
WHERE I TRAVELED IN 2025
New Countries Visited in 2025 (1): The Bahamas
Total Countries Visited in 2025 (4): USA, Mexico, Spain, The Bahamas
Total Countries Visited (All-time): 49 countries/6 continents
TRAVEL RECAP
Miami
Miami, FL
I think the most unusual thing about my 2025 was that I didn’t leave the state of Florida for the first half of the year. After traveling nomadically for nine months prior trying to figure out which city to move to after leaving San Diego, I was ready for a break. Moving to Miami felt right and I was excited to get to know the city, especially since I had only spent a few nights of my life there before moving.
What I love about Miami is that it is so international - it sometimes feels like you are traveling outside the US or in another country! It is a melting pot of American, Latin American, Caribbean, and European culture, with a dash of NYC (since so many New Yorkers snowbird or vacation here). I hear multiple languages spoken when I leave the house and walk around the city.
The tropical weather has the summer-lover in me quite happy most of the year, too. Plus, the DJ and house music scene is among the best in the world. There are always multiple big-name DJs in town and I’ve gotten to DJ myself quite a bit as well.
Outside of Miami, I did a few trips to the Tampa/St. Pete area to see a group of friends, many of whom I’ve traveled with to places like Greece or Costa Rica. And when it came time to fly to Europe for my birthday, it was unsurprisingly amazing to fly a single non-stop flight to Barcelona and not have any connections (a rarity from San Diego to Europe)!
Spain
Costa Brava, Spain
That brings me to Spain! Spain is one of my all-time favorite countries in Europe, and I’ve grown to enjoy visits to Spain more as time goes on. Barcelona is one of the few major European cities I could see myself living in if I were to ever live in Europe again, and there are so many cool towns, coastal areas, and big cities.
Last year, we went to Spain over my birthday, and visited Barcelona, Ibiza, and Costa Brava. Ibiza was over my birthday, which is a fantastic place to spend a birthday. We saw Dom Dolla, Anyma, Dmitri Vegas and Like Mike, and went to the Defected Records showcase at Pacha. It was so good. I was telling my friends that I would relive that Defected Records night again over a huge pop star concert haha. If you like house music, you’ll enjoy Ibiza.
After Ibiza, we did a short trip up the coast to the Costa Brava area, which (from what locals said) doesn’t see many American visitors. It was beautiful and had such a cute, quintessential European feel to it. Thick-striped umbrellas on a pebbly beach, grabbing dinner at 9pm when the sun hasn’t fully set yet, light lemon pastas with white wine or an Aperol Spritz, and boating around the gorgeous coastline.
Summer is my favorite season, and European Summer is my favorite mood. Because it’s quite definitely a mood.
Southern California
Malibu, CA
It was so nice visiting friends in family in Southern California last year! I started in LA and met up with my friend Michelle, where we went all over the city for music-related things - the Guitar Center Foundation gala, our new friend gave us a tour of his music studio, and dinners with good DJs.
Then I took the train down to Orange County to see my family, including my niece and nephew. After, I took the train again to San Diego and caught up with some of my closest friends, who I miss dearly after having moved to the opposite side of the country.
I’ll always love Southern California.
Tulum, Mexico
Tulum, Mexico - the villa I stayed in
DJing in Tulum
Tulum was one of the coolest DJ experiences I’ve had yet. I was flown out to DJ at Rich Somers’s 3-day mastermind event, where I DJ’d during meals, between speaker events, and at the evening villa parties. Everyone who attended the weekend was incredibly cool, nice, and ambitious. I’m really grateful for the experience. It was so much fun.
The cherry on top from Tulum was getting invited to DJ on Rich’s boat in San Diego after the event. Casually, he invited me to fly back to San Diego with his team and a few others by private jet. Since I brought a small DJ controller with me in my carry-on bag, I ended up DJing part of the flight before touching down in San Diego. Add that to the list of one of the coolest experiences of my life so far.
Bimini, The Bahamas
Bimini, The Bahamas
Toward the end of 2025, I was incredibly busy with work. Working so much, basically working two jobs/businesses worth of work. I know, I know. I still struggle with overworking at times and taking on too many commitments at once - it comes in waves. Q4 of 2025 was a lot. It was truly a blur. I had to let go of one of my biggest freelance clients because I just didn’t have the capacity. But I finally think I’ve gotten past the overworking thing.
One Saturday in November, though, I lifted my head up from the fog and realized it was 2026. I realized that almost an entire year had gone by when I was living so close to the Caribbean islands, yet I hadn’t taken a single trip out to the Caribbean or even the Florida Keys.
My calendar was full: Thanksgiving was coming up, then Art Basel, then Christmas. If I wanted to take any sort of Caribbean trip, I’d need to do it in, like, a single day.
Ding! It was like a lightbulb switch above my head flicked on: The island of Bimini in The Bahamas is only a 2-hour ferry from Fort Lauderdale. I live just 30 minutes from Fort Lauderdale. Done. Booked. Spontaneous adventure awaits!
Read all about my day trip to Bimini from Miami here
The Bimini trip felt so refreshing. It had been a while since I had traveled to a casual, tropical, beachy place. Most of my travel these days is to big cities (think New York, LA, or Barcelona), high-end beach club style destinations (think Ibiza or Mykonos), or to see family.
Walking around Bimini felt a little like my early digital nomad days, when I’d often travel through small towns like Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica, Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic, Bocas del Toro islands in Panama, and Koh Phi Phi and the beaches of Thailand. Beautiful coastal beaches, hitting up a casual beach bar after an ocean swim, and a slower pace of life.
It felt like a whole different world from Miami. It was a nice reset.
What’s Next & Travel Predictions
Chapman’s Peak Drive - Cape Town, South Africa
One of my favorite things to recap each year is reviewing where I planned to go, where I thought I might go, and if I made any of my travel goals a reality.
Typically, I have some pretty big travel goals - I can’t tell you how many years I’ve included “finally get to South Africa” and “finally go on a Yacht Week” on my lists - but last year, I was more chill. I wanted to see more of Florida beyond Miami and take my annual European Summer trip. That all happened!
Since this annual review post is so late, this would be a bit unfair to predict my travel plans. However, at the start of this year, I had an inkling that I might finally make this year the one I go to South Africa. Spoiler alert...I did!
2026 Predictions/Trips:
In March 2026, I flew 14.5 hours from NYC to Cape Town, South Africa, my 50th country, a place that has been at the top of my travel bucket list for ages. Eeeeee!
See screenshots below of a few posts where I mentioned wanting to go to South Africa over the years:
Cape Town, South Africa
Cape Town was awesome, and I could see myself revisiting every year. It reminds me of Southern California in a lot of ways. It’s one of the most naturally stunning places I’ve ever been to. And I DJ’d twice while there!
My other prediction was my annual trip to somewhere in Mediterranean Europe in the summer, which is no surprise. I somehow booked not one, but three trips to Europe this summer! One is for a wedding in Italy, and the other two are….
drumroll please…
The Yacht Week!!! Greece and Croatia
Not only am I finally going on Yacht Week, I am booked as a resident DJ!
Find me at The Yacht Week this year in Greece from July 4-11 and Croatia from August 8-15.
Guys. I am so excited. I have literally been getting tears to my eyes when I think about how excited I am for this. Ahhhh!
One of the very first blog posts I ever wrote was about wanting to go on a Yacht Week. It’s from 2014, a lifetime ago! So this has been a long time coming. Back then, I had no clue I would ever get into music or DJing.
Since I will be DJing several hours-long sets all week, I’ve been really busy preparing my music, tracks, and filling enough sub-genres within house music. I tend to play different styles of house depending on the vibe and time of day, and am excited to share my “range” as a DJ and curate the perfect atmosphere for the guests.
If you’re doing The Yacht Week this summer, please let me know - and if you happen to be on it during one of my weeks, please say hi! I’ll be sharing all week on my Instagram as well, so follow along.
Eeeeee can you tell how happy I am?
This is going to be the BEST SUMMER EVER!
Cheers to the rest of 2026! Find updates throughout the year on my Instagram and TikTok.