It’s time for my favorite post on this blog – a recap of the past twelve months. I can’t complain; 2024 was a fine year for me. There were no major hiccups, traveling was good, I attended some great events, and overall, I had a good time. Here’s a little look back at the past year for me.

Travel

I spent 85 days traveling in 2024, which is a few more than a year before. Not bad, considering I still work full time; however, the glory time of traveling over a hundred years per year is over. But I don’t mind that at all, especially since I visited four new countries this year: Sri Lanka, Mexico, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia.

After the canceled trip to Mexico in January (I still wasn’t feeling well after COVID at the end of 2023), I had to wait until March for my first trip of the year. But what an epic trip this was! I went for 3 days to New York City, which might sound crazy, but it was actually perfect. My main reason for going was to see the New York Rangers playing (I’m a big winter sports fan, and that includes hockey), but I also managed to squeeze a few great museums and the NBA game into my itinerary.

Still in March, I went in the opposite direction to visit the first new country of the year – Sri Lanka. It was such a lovely and easy place to explore. I enjoyed it so much, and I can definitely recommend it to anyone who would like to visit an exotic country but doesn’t want to deal with too much hassle when planning a trip and getting around. On the way to Sri Lanka, I also had a whole day in Istanbul, which was a nice addition to the trip. It’s been over ten years since I visited Istanbul, and I can see that I’m definitely overdue for a proper trip there.

May was a busy travel month for me. First, I spent four days in the Czech Republic, exploring the central part of the country. I used Pardubice as a base and visited a few new places (Hradec Kralove, Nymburk, Podebrady) and returned to some well-known ones, too (Kutna Hora, Olomouc). The Czech Republic (or Central Europe in general) is always a good idea, and even if this was only a short trip to a neighboring country, I still enjoyed it a lot.

Then it was time for another crazy trip, to Belgrade (Serbia) for the Rammstein concert. Together with a friend, we bought tickets a few months before, as I was sure there would be a good deal on flights from Warsaw to Belgrade. Well, there wasn’t, so I had to get creative, and what was supposed to be a simple trip to another country for a concert turned out to be a journey through four countries where the concert was only one of the few attractions along the way.

Instead of flying directly, we flew from Warsaw to Vienna (Austria), then Vienna to Nis (Serbia). The next part of the trip was overland by bus or train, with stops in Belgrade, Subotica (Serbia), Szeged, and Budapest (Hungary) along the way. From Budapest, we eventually flew back to Warsaw.

Of course, we spent at least a few hours in each of these places for sightseeing – even if I’ve been to all of them before, I didn’t mind a little revisit. And the concert itself was great! This itinerary was really crazy; a lot of things could have gone wrong, but fortunately, the whole trip was really smooth and went according to plan.

At the end of May, I finally went to Mexico, a country no 80 for me. While everyone goes to the coastal destinations in Mexico, I really wanted to see the capital and its surroundings. I flew to Mexico City but also visited Puebla, Cholula, Morelia, and Guanajuato. I can easily say Mexico was my favorite destination of the year. It was so much better than I expected, and I enjoyed everything about it. I really would love to return there and see more of the country; it’s such a fascinating place!

Summer was spent mostly traveling around Poland, discovering new places, and revisiting well-known ones. Finally, I can say that this year, I really saw a lot in my home country, and I can’t wait to share more about it with you here on the blog. Some of the places I visited were Zielona Gora, Legnica, Katowice, Zabrze, Lodz, Plock, Zelazowa Wola, Poznan, and Gniezno – some of them are among the most underrated destinations in Poland, but I loved every single place!

In August, I also went for a short 4-day trip to Romania (with a stop in Budapest along the way) to revisit some of my favorite cities there (which are also the most overlooked places in Romania, I believe). I was in Oradea, Arad, and Timisoara, and each of them was amazing! Even if it was in the middle of the summer, there were hardly any tourists around, even if all these cities have a lot to offer!

At the end of August, I turned 40 (and I still feel pretty weird about that, as I don’t feel my age at all). To celebrate, I went on another epic trip to Cuba. Considering its economic situation, this might have been one of the last decent moments to visit this beautiful country. It was a challenging trip, to be honest. The everyday life and struggle in Cuba is heartbreaking. I tried to contribute to locals as much as possible, but I know it’s still nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Cuba was also a challenge weather-wise, as the humidity was sometimes too much for me. But overall, I liked all the places I visited: Havana, Vinales, Cienfuegos, and Trinidad – it’s a stunning and fascinating country, and I keep my fingers crossed for their better future; the people there don’t deserve the reality they need to deal with.

In October, I only went for a short weekend trip to France, where I visited Lyon, Annecy, and Grenoble. I have a difficult relationship with this country, thanks to my French teacher from high school, but I think I’m finally over my issues. I liked everything so much more than I expected, this corner of France is truly beautiful and I’m already thinking about a longer trip to France soon, to see more of what the country has to offer.

In November, it was time for another epic trip, and this one exceeded my expectations on every level. Together with a friend, we went to Saudi Arabia, and what a great surprise this was. I thought that after visiting most of the countries in the region, this one would be nothing special, and I was proven wrong right away.

Not only did I feel very comfortable in Saudi Arabia (something I cannot really say about other countries in the Middle East), but the sightseeing part was pretty spectacular, too! We visited Riyadh, the Edge of the World, Jeddah, and Al-Ula and each of these places was unique and special in its own way.

The only downside was the trip back – due to some issues with the paperwork, our flight got canceled, but how they dealt with it at the airport was a big joke. Eventually, we got back home 32 hours later. I’m still waiting for the compensation from the airline.

The last two trips of the year were short getaways with my mother, first to Malta, then to Italy. I’ve been to all the places we visited before, but it was still nice to return there, catch some sun, eat good food, and spend some quality time together.

Blogging

2024 was a challenging time for independent content creators. With the rise of AI and the changes in Google, we see a huge decline in the visits to our sites. I honestly don’t know one single blogger who is doing better this year, and I’m afraid things will only get worse in the future. I can’t complain much as currently, I’m “only” 40% down with the number of visits in comparison to last year (at some point this year, it was 70%), and I still managed to attract over a million people who visited my website in 2024. If you are one of these people – I can’t thank you enough for your support; it means more than ever in these difficult times!

With all these changes, my motivation to publish new articles also took a hit. There are so many places I want to share with you and so many articles I want to publish (that are currently in the drafts), yet somewhere in the back of my head, I keep thinking that my hard work will be stolen by AI, and I’m somehow blocked. That’s why you might have seen fewer new articles than usual here.

In 2024 I published only 38 new articles on the blog, from Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Croatia, Austria, and Guatemala. I still enjoy writing, sharing my knowledge and experience, editing pictures, and tweaking articles, and I promise I will do better next year despite all the odds!

Personal life

Another decent year is behind me. There was no unnecessary drama, no hiccups, no major issues. Things have been stable, and I’m more than grateful for that. I still work for the same company, I still value all my friendships, and I try to spend as much time as possible with people dear to me; I still relax the best with a book or a TV show. When someone asks me what’s new, I can’t really give a proper answer as things are steady here, without any ups or downs. But that’s how I like them.

Plans for 2025

I already have some travel plans for 2025; some of them are a bit crazy, but since I only have 26 days off per year from work, and there are so many places I would like to see and events I would like to attend, I need to go creative.

Shortly after the New Year, I’m going to India for three days. Later in January, I planned a weekend trip to Norway to see one of my favorite artists – Mark Tremonti – playing a gig in Oslo. A few days later, I’m flying for a week to Colombia, one of the destinations that are very high on my bucket list!

In March, I’ll be taking my mother to New York City for four days. We will go to the NHL game, see the Broadway show, and visit some museums. I’m really excited as I’m one of those people who are under the NYC spell.

Two days after I’m back from the US, I need to go to Bulgaria, where another favorite band of mine, Godsmack, is playing a concert in Sofia. They will be in Poland a few days later, too, but that would not be as fun as traveling to another country to see them live.

In April, I have tickets to Africa. I’m planning to visit Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana, but I still need to figure out the logistics for that trip.

For my birthday at the end of August, I booked three days of tickets to Chicago. But the real reason to go there is to see my all-time favorite band, System of a Down, playing there. They hardly do live shows anymore, so I couldn’t really miss that chance. I only wanted to see the ticket prices, but somehow, half an hour later, I had everything booked: flights and a hotel included.

This year, I haven’t visited the Balkans or the Caucasus, and I miss those places. I really hope I can go there again in 2025! As for the rest, we will see what happens. I’m open to any possibilities and opportunities that come my way.

Thank you again for being here with me another year! Your support and kind words mean so much to me!

I wish you all the best in this upcoming year! Make it a memorable one!

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