2025 Summary

Another decent year is almost over, so it’s time for my favorite article to write – a summary of the past 12 months. 2025 treated me well, and I can’t really complain. While it wasn’t a spectacular year and running this blog was a rollercoaster (more about it later), 2025 didn’t bring any major issues, which I’m more than grateful for. I enjoyed some great trips, discovered new places, attended amazing events, and had quality time with family and friends. Here’s a little recap of 2025.

Traveling

I spent 89 days traveling, which is four more than the year before. It’s not as crazy as a few years ago, when I managed to travel over 100 days per year. However, it’s still pretty good, considering I work full-time and have only 26 days off per year (and I used every single one of them).

In 2025, I visited five new countries: India, Colombia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Singapore, which put me at 88 visited countries mark. I’m one of those people who count the countries they’ve visited, because it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I work really hard for that, with no one’s help, and I’m really proud of what I achieved.

As I get older, I also choose places that are further away as I know that with the passing time, my body will find it harder to travel for long hours, especially since my trips are relatively short (I prefer to go more often but for shorter trips, this way I feel like I travel more). Unfortunately, that means fewer chances to return to my favorite places in Europe, but I’m hoping to find a good balance soon.

My 2025 travels took me to following places: India (New Delhi and Agra), Norway (Oslo and Larvik), Colombia (Bogota, Medellin, Guatape, Cartagena, Valle de Cocora, Salento), the US (New York City), Bulgaria (Sofia, Plovdiv), Thailand (Bangkok, Ayutthaya), Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap), the Czech Republic (Zlin, Opava, Ostrava, Stramberk), the US again (Chicago), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, George Town, Ipoh, Cameron Highlands, Malacca), Singapore, Morocco (Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, Ait Ben Haddou, Essaouria), and Sweden (Stockholm). There were also a few places in Poland, some of them new to me, but overall, my plans for sightseeing in my own country were more ambitious, and I wish I had spent more time traveling around.

Some of those trips abroad were for music or sports events, but they were good excuses to travel. If it weren’t for a System of a Down (my favorite band) concert, I wouldn’t have visited Chicago, and I loved it there! The same goes for the NHL hockey game in Stockholm – it was so good to return there after over fifteen years. I will definitely continue combining events and travel in the future, as it’s so much fun.

Here are a few pictures from my 2025 travels.

Blogging

With the rise of AI, running a travel blog (or any website, really) is a struggle. There were months this past year when my traffic was barely there, 80% lower than the previous year. Fortunately, it’s a bit better now, but you never know when another drop might come.

That was always the reality of running a website, but with the rapid growth of AI, it’s even more challenging. We spend hours researching, writing, editing pictures, etc., only for our content to be stolen by AI and for our articles to be buried deep so no one can read them.

That’s also why I didn’t publish as many articles as in previous years – it was really hard to stay motivated. But I still enjoy taking and editing pictures, researching and writing, and sharing the world with you. I hope that’s not going to change anytime soon.

In 2025, I published 19 new guides from Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Sweden, with many more places waiting in the drafts. I also tried something that has been in my mind for a long time – I opened my online shop (on Etsy) where you can get the PDF version of my guides, with the offline maps included. So far, there are only 11 guides there, but I want to focus more on it in the upcoming year, especially since the feedback I got was nothing but good. You can purchase some of my guides here.

I will do my best to do better in 2026, both for my joy of creating new content and for you, to help you plan your trips. As always, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here with me, reading my articles, supporting me, and motivating me with your kind words. Thank you!

Personal life

It was a decent year, with some ups and downs, but that’s life. Overall, I can’t complain really. I still work in the same company and still enjoy my job. I still have some fantastic people in my life and value each and every one of them tremendously (even if they are far away and we don’t manage to meet in person often).

I’ve been to some amazing music and sports events in 2025 (including seeing some of my favorite artists live and two NHL hockey games). And I had time to slow down a bit and catch up on reading or watching movies and TV shows. I can’t complain really, and I truly hope the next year will be equally decent, too.

2025 in a nutshell

Since I like numbers and candid overviews, here’s a look at my 2025 in a nutshell:

• Days spent on traveling: 89
• New countries visited: 5 (India, Colombia, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore); 88 countries in total
• Number of trips: 21
• Blog pageviews: 1,110,000 +
• New articles published: 20
• Books read: 155
• Movies watched: 45 online, 28 in the cinema
• TV shows watched: 126
• Concerts attended: 9 (Tremonti in Oslo, Godsmack + P.O.D. + Drowning Pool in Sofia, Linkin Park in Gdynia, Drowning Pool in Warsaw, System of a Down + Avenged Sevenfold in Chicago, Disturbed + Megadeth in Krakow, Volbeat + Bush in Warsaw, Halestorm + Bloodywood in Warsaw, Lindemann in Krakow)
• Sport events attended: 3 (New York Rangers vs. Edmonton Oilers NHL game in New York, New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat NBA game in New York, Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Nashville Predators NHL game in Stockholm)
• Kilograms lost: 10
• Average number of steps per day: 7300 (not great, not terrible)

Plans for 2026

I already have two bigger trips planned, as well as some shorter ones. On January 1st (new year, new quota of days off from work), I’m flying to Australia to visit Melbourne and Sydney. In April, I’m going to the US to visit the West Coast (Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco) and hopefully go to at least one NHL hockey game.

I also have a few weekend trips planned, to places I enjoy and haven’t visited in a while: Budapest, Tbilisi, Montenegro, and Prague. I have a few ideas for where to go in the second half of the year, but nothing is set in stone yet.

Concert-wise, 2026 looks very promising, but most of the events will be in Warsaw, which is a win for me. I will also take a quick trip to Norway to see one of my favorite bands, Alter Bridge, play in Oslo.

Thank you again for following my travels and for being here with me another year. Your support is hugely appreciated!

Here’s to a wonderful new year! Let’s make it a great one!

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