The Best Trip I’ve Ever Taken (& It Made No Logistical Sense At All)
Some of the best trips make no sense on paper.
That’s the only way I can describe the 3-week trip I went on back in October 2023. After a 3 month trip to Asia that ended early (I’ll tell that story someday) & spending my summer working to improve myself, there was one thing I reallyyyy wanted to do again: travel. I didn’t quite have the budget for multiple months… but multiple weeks? That I could do.
How The Trip Came To Be
When you see my itinerary, you’ll likely think “how did she come up with this?” I wish I had a clear answer. It started with me finding a $300 one way to Barcelona & coming up with the rest from there. My original wishlist for this trip would have made it a 6-week trip, so I had to condense it quite a bit. Honestly, I wouldn’t change anything about this trip. It was incredible & while it’s a little scattered, it all worked beautifully. Plus, I didn’t end up spending much.
Here’s the itinerary:
Barcelona, Spain: 4 Nights
Morocco (I went to a few places): 6 Nights
Paris, France: 3 Nights
Dubrovnik, Croatia (with day trips to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro): 3 nights
Istanbul, Turkiye: 5 Nights
Yup. I went from Spain, to Africa, back to Western Europe, to the Balkans, to a city that’s in both Europe & Asia. Somehow, it worked. Somehow, it wasn’t totally weird or exhausting. In many ways, it was the best trip I’ve ever been on. I certainly hope I haven’t hit my personal peak yet & I will only find my way up, but those 3 weeks are the closest I’ve ever felt to my “peak”. Not only was the trip good, I was good. I was great, in fact.
This was THE trip, but enough of me telling you that over & over. Let me show you:
Barcelona
Arriving in Barcelona on a perfectly sunny October day felt unreal. It was my first time back since my very first international trip at 14 years old. It’s surprising how much I remembered.
I spent my days walking through Park Guell, enjoying the amazing shopping, and having way too much fun with people at my hostel. By the way, I stayed at Saint Jordi Rock Hostel and they have pub crawls every night! I don’t think I slept in Barcelona, but no regrets- I was having the time of my life. I remember giddily FaceTiming my parents and not being able to explain why, but I was just SO happy.
When I was booking my flight, I had a vision of spending my mornings at a coffee shop then walking to the beach. That’s exactly what I did!
My 3 days in Barcelona were exactly what I needed. After coming out of a rough break up and spending a few months dedicated to self-improvement, it felt incredible to just… be. It was the perfect start to a pretty perfect trip.
Morocco
I was most nervous to visit Morocco simply because it’s SO different from anywhere I had been before. It didn’t help that I had a few people in my life try to scare me out of visiting. “It’s really not safe to go alone”, I heard over and over. After some research & planning, I decided I felt fine with giving it a try. Especially since I was going to be in a tour group for nearly half my trip.
I have a more detailed itinerary of my trip to Morocco, but to summarize, I visited: Marrakech, the High Atlas Mountains, the Sahara Desert, Fes, & Chefchouen.
The first thing I noticed about Morocco was how welcomed I felt at immigration. I don’t always have a friendly officer, but the Moroccan officer was especially kind & made it known that I was welcomed there. Unfortunately, I did get scammed by my driver, as he dropped me off outside the Medina and convinced me that someone HAD to carry my luggage & guide me to my hostel (they don’t have to). It is what it is. I only had one other major annoyance while in Morocco, but I’ll save that for another post.
Marrakech is gorgeous. The Medina is truly unlike anywhere I’ve been. I also managed to find some really great food. Yes, the cat calling got old quick, but I never once felt unsafe. I always describe solo female travel in Morocco as “annoying, but not dangerously annoying”.
A real highlight of my trip was a 3-day tour through the High Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert. Truly nowhere is more beautiful than the Sahara during golden hour.
I remember tears streaming down my face as we were riding a camel to our campsite. “Wow, this is what it feels like to have dreams come true”, I thought. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.
Fes & Chefchouen are really beautiful. Fes seemed way more laid back than Marrakech, and Chefchouen is truly a place out of a painting. I found the locals to be VERY friendly. Some of the photos I got still blow me away:
Morocco was the reminder I needed that stepping out your comfort zone is always going to be rewarding. Did I experience some annoyances in Morocco? definitely. Is Morocco the safest place I’ve traveled? Not at all, but keep in mind, I’ve been to East Asia and it doesn’t get much safer than that. Still, Morocco is one of the coolest & most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. I would definitely go back one day.
Paris Part 3
Look, Fes airport is pretty small and there were only so many places I could fly to (and I was NOT about to haul all the way to Casablanca’s airport). Soooooo, Paris it is!
I actually wasn’t mad about returning to Paris for the 3rd time. It’s the first international city I ever visited, so I have a soft spot for the city. I consider each visit as a personal check in, especially after my emotional visit back in 2018.
My time in Paris was spent in the best way: strolling the streets, eating pastries & befriending the locals. I stayed at a hostel connected to a sports bar, so I got to watch rugby with a bunch of locals. Now THAT was a fun experience. I’ll never understand the “Parisians are so rude” take. They keep to themselves on the street, but if you get the chance to actually converse with one, they tend to be pretty cool.
I also did a few touristy things, like visit the Louvre for the first time in forever and going to see Sacre Couer. Oh, and obviously I had to see the Eiffel Tower twinkle at night. Come on, that’s so worth it!
Something I love about Paris is how easy it is to get around. If I don’t feel like walking, their metro is one of my favorites in the world.
I know not everyone loves Paris. I get it. The city is dirty, crowded, and isn’t always the safest in some areas. I think people romanticize Paris as this perfect snow globe city, and once they actually get there, they have that glass shattering moment… “oh sh*t.. Paris is a real city with real problems”. I definitely felt that way my first visit. Now, I can appreciate Paris for what it is. I actually do think it’s a magical city. I’m sure I’ll be back multiple times throughout my life. It’s not for everyone, but Paris will always be my first international city, and for a kid who dreamed of traveling the world, that’s a big deal.
3 Countries in 3 Days: My Balkan Day Trips
I’ll skip my rant about Charles de Gaulle airport. It’s awful and that’s not news to anyone. Anyways, I had visited Croatia back in 2018. I went to Zagreb & Rovinj, but I always wanted to spend some time in Dubrovnik. I decided this was the trip to finally return. Why? because direct flights from Paris to Dubrovnik were pretty cheap. That’s all it really takes sometimes.
I stayed in Old Town Hostel and spent a full day exploring Dubrovnik. What a STUNNING place. I remember treating myself to a nice dinner then grabbing some drinks with some people I met at my hostel.
Bay of Kotor, Montenegro
The next day, I took a tour from Dubrovnik to the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. I’ve had this place at the top of my list for years, so it was finally time to make it happen. That’s partially why I chose to go to Dubrovnik. Not only is it a great city to visit, it’s also a great place to base yourself if you want to take quick trips around the Balkans.
Kotor is about as gorgeous as I imaged. We had some time to explore the town of Kotor and then we took a boat tour around the bay. In my opinion, this is the real hidden gem of Europe. I’m gonna let the photos speak for themselves…
Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Similar to Kotor, I had my eye on Mostar for quite awhile. In photos, it looked so picturesque and obnoxiously charming. In real life, it was so picturesque and obnoxiously charming.
I enjoyed walking around & grabbed a great lunch at this spot with a beautiful view.
I found Mostar to be quiet, laid back, and I thought the people were friendly. Do I feel the need to return? No, not in the foreseeable future. But I’m glad I visited & would absolutely return to Bosnia one day.
Istanbul
My last stop was a fantastic example of saving the best for last.
My original plan was to stay an extra day in Dubrovnik, but while in Morocco, I had a gut feeling that I should eliminate a day in Croatia and add a day in Istanbul. I ended up losing some money in the process but I didn’t care. I had a feeling & I felt really strongly about it. Money. Well. Spent.
There’s so many fantastic things I can say about Istanbul, so to best organize my thoughts, I’ve put the experience into categories
Hostel Life
I hit the hostel lottery with Cheers Hostel. It’s the only hostel where I hugged the staff goodbye because they made the experience so amazing. The location is perfect, they have free breakfast, & they offer SO many activities. Couldn’t recommend Cheers enough.
The People I Met
I made some wonderful friends while in Istanbul, some I’m still in touch with!
The Amazing Experiences
Taking a boat to the Asian side of Istanbul
Going to the mosques.
The Turkish bath houses (now THAT was an experience)
The nightlife!
The FASCINATING history. Istanbul has it all!
The Food
Istnabul has some of the best food on earth. I don’t think I had tried Turkish food before… I WAS MISSING OUT. The kebabs, the baklava, the lahmacun, the tea… I ate VERY well.
I Did NOT Want To Go Home!!!!!!
But alas, I had things to do back home.
If there was ever a time I would have stayed behind and kept traveling, it was this trip.
I can’t think of a better 3 weeks of my life. I was happy. And at that time, I really needed that. Not every trip ends up being euphoric. I had food poisoning in New York. I got ditched in South Korea. Fortunately, most trips end up being amazing in their own way. This one just happened to be the best.
It was at a transitional time in my life where all I wanted to do was live my best, fullest life.
Mission accomplished.
