Since we’ve been back from our travels (waah!!), I would say that 100% of people ask “so what was your favorite place?” Valid question, but it’s sorta like asking a parent to pick their favorite child. You love them all for different reasons. And “favorite place” is so vague. Do you mean our favorite city? Our favorite experience? Our favorite place that had the best food?

We found ourselves struggling to pick our favorite child. Won’t the other countries feel bad? Oh, how can we pick just one? It seems impossible. During our year-long adventure, we touched down in 18 countries (20 if you count our brief layovers in Ethiopia and Dubai). All different. All worth a visit. But here it is, our list of the good, the not so good, the shitty and the gritty, and everything in between during the last year.

BEST FOOD

Let’s start with the most important category. Food. That top honor goes to India. Hands down. It’s sorta funny how our least favorite country brought us the best damn food. Being a vegetarian, it was nice visiting a country where 40% of the people follow my lifestyle. If I had to pick my last meal on Death Row (Debbie Downer moment courtesy of Susannah Murdock) it would be Paneer Butter Masala with Garlic Naan…and Masala Papadum. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. Craig’s last meal? I’m going to go out on a limb and say Lamb Vindaloo. Extra spicy.

BEST BIG CITY

We stopped in a lot of big cities over the past year: Paris, London, Boston, Barcelona, Athens, New Delhi, Singapore, Bangkok. But among all the big hitters, Oslo knocked it out of the park. Norway in general did. It’s a beautiful country with friendly people who just so happen to be fluent in a million languages. Oslo had tons to do and had that whole small-city feel with big-city vibes. Check out all the museums…and then all the bars.

WORST BIG CITY

Oh, Jodhpur, India. I wouldn’t wish you on my worst enemy. You are everything I hate. You are noisy, smelly, aggressive. Your streets are a pedestrian gridlock filled with cows, trash, and shit. We were only there for 3 days and that was 3 too many. And for a city that is known as the Blue City, you totally blew it in my mind. Plus, you aren’t that blue. Sorry, not sorry.

BEST DAY HIKE

Hiking is our jam and we did a lot of it (I even have missing toenails to prove it). After logging miles and miles (or kilometers and kilometers, if that’s how you roll), we found our fave in Utah. But by total accident. While we were in Moab, we were feeling a little tired of the crowds at Arches and decided to check out Canyonlands. But then on the way, we noticed a sign for Dead Horse Point State Park. The name alone had us intrigued. So we changed our plans and headed to this mysterious state park. Nestled in between its two popular siblings of Arches and Canyonlands, this state park is paradise. One, it hardly had ANY people. Probably because everyone was going to the overcrowded national parks. Suckers. We did the West and East Rim Trail Loop. It was like the Grand Canyon had a baby, but then left it and didn’t tell anyone. The hike had tons of gorgeous, yet terrifying, lookout points. Oh, baby.

BEST OVERNIGHT HIKE

While we did a ton of day hikes, overnight hikes were sorta new to us at the beginning. So when we applied for a backcountry permit to hike into the Grand Canyon and camp at Bright Angel Campground, we were super excited. Little did we know/remember is that the Grand Canyon is in the fucking desert. It’s hot. Like balls hot. But we are badasses. So down into the canyon we went (at 4am in the morning). By the time we got to the canyon floor 4 hours later, the thermometer was climbing. It would reach over 130 degrees. But thank god there’s a creek for us to just sit in all damn day. Even though it was hot, it was by far one of the coolest (experience wise, not temperature wise) and hardest hikes we had yet done.

BEST MULTI-DAY HIKE

This category is a bit hard. Because it should probably go to Kilimanjaro, but, it’s going to the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain. Which really wasn’t a hike, it was a walk. A long one. 32 days to be exact. 490 miles. You can read all the details here and here, but I must say it feels pretty cool to say “oh, we walked across Spain.”

BEST NATIONAL PARK

We spent a month visiting all the National and State Parks. Ok, not all. Let’s not be ridiculous. But we did our fair share of hitting all the big names: Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Grand Canyon, Arches, Bryce, Zion (briefly), Joshua Tree. We got down with nature, 100%. And fuck does the US know how to do parks. But who’s the fairest of them all? That’s you, Grand Tetons. You are so pretty and yet not overrun with people. You have all the things. A gorgeous lake and postcard-worthy mountains. And while we didn’t get to do our backcountry camping excursion because of damn snow, you still showed us a good time. Runner up? Yellowstone, baby. It’s so hot. Literally and figuratively. Except at night, when it gets down to freezing. You’ve been warned. If you are a nature lover, do yourself a favor and buy a National/State Park Pass. It was so worth it. It cost us $80 but saved us over $200 in park entrance fees. Holla.

BEST SPOT TO PITCH A TENT

Our trip was pitch perfect. We spent a total of 29 nights camping during our US road trip. Number one rule, book in advance. Or you may be sleeping in someone’s front yard or asking a stranger if you can join them on their tiny camping site. Our top two favorite camping spots were Two Jack Lakeside Campground just outside of Banff, Canada and Indian Cove Campground in Joshua Tree. It was intense. Get it?

BEST MOUNTAINS

I never saw that many mountains growing up in Minnesota. Shocker. So when we ventured up to the Canadian Rockies, my mind was blown. Banff and Jasper are like otherworldly beautiful. And if you live in the states, you’re just a short plane ride away. So fucking go or I’ll judge you. The drive between Banff and Jasper will rock your world. Just beware of all the wildlife. Because it’s no joke. We saw 4 black bears, 1 grizzly, and endless elk (that loved to trample our tent) in the short week we were there.

BEST OVERALL BEACH

You know by now, we hated India. And that may sound bad, but I don’t care. But there was one spot that if I could, I would cut it off from India and just put it in my pocket as a little reminder of paradise. Agonda Beach in Goa. You are one sexy beach. And we went to a lot of beaches during our travels. Goa is massive area and a huge tourist destination (especially around December and January). You can have the rave-y beach experience or the chill beach experience. Guess which we chose? Agonda is the perfect spot for beach bums. We should know, we stayed there for 14 days. It’s lined with cheap bungalows and amazing restaurants. The beach itself has that perfectly soft sand and refreshing water – sans rocks to stub your toes on. Take me back there, please! Second place goes to Saracen Bay, Koh Rong Sanloem in Cambodia. Google that shit.

WORST BEACH

Pingwe Beach on the Southeast coast of Zanzibar. Yes, the water was gorgeous shades of turquoise, which was nice (at first), and that famous The Rock Restaurant is there, but the trash, sea urchins, and drastic tide made that disappear. If you want to visit Zanzibar, head north. It’s a million times better (but don’t bother, there are way better options in other countries)

MOST OVERRATED COUNTRY

This category “winner” may come as a shock to a bunch of people, but the most overrated country on our travels was Iceland. Maybe it was the weather (which was crap the entire time) or maybe it was the fact that this tiny country is getting gang-banged by tourists and you can see the strain on the small towns. Iceland is small. Like crazy small. And it’s being overrun by people like us, that come because we heard it was gorgeous or saw Chris Burkard’s photo on Instagram and thought “fuck, that looks cool.” All the photos you see don’t show all the tourists behind it. The gorgeous waterfalls are just rammed with giant tour buses and selfie sticks. Not to mention it was the most expensive place we visited. No thanks, Iceland. See you later when it all dies down.

MOST UNDERRATED COUNTRY

 

This will also come as a surprise, especially to those that call this country home. But the most underrated country is the US. I mean yes, the US thinks it is pretty damn awesome, but I have found in our travels that most people leave it when taking a trip. They feel the need to go international when they haven’t even explored their own country yet. The US has so much variation in beauty. You have scorching deserts, soaring mountains, lush rainforests, tropical islands…all in one country. And also the best beer. So Americans, the next time you are planning a trip, don’t be an international snob. Explore home a bit.

BEST AIRBNB

Ok, I shit you not, this was the best Airbnb we’ve stayed. Imerovigli, Santorini. The views: breathtaking. The cost: a bit pricey, but we went during shoulder season so it was basically half price (and no crowds). It was one of our few splurges on the trip. If you go to Santorini, don’t stay in the clusterfuck of Oia. You can walk there on a beautiful hike from Imerovigli and don’t have to deal with all the people posing for their Instagram shots.

A close second would have to be our Airbnb just outside of Bergen, Norway in the quaint town of Askoy. It was located at a yoga retreat, right on the water, with beautiful views of the fjord. You also get free access to the sauna, which is inside a pyramid.

WORST AIRBNB

The worst Airbnb just so happened to be on the worst beach on our travels, Pingwe Beach in Zanzibar. They always say you get what you pay for, so when we spent $22 a night for our beachfront bungalow, we should’ve seen it coming. It was crap. We rarely had power or running water (which was neat when battling stomach issues), the beach just out front of our bungalow was filled with trash, and local men would always come and hang in our kitchen all day.

MOST OVERRATED TOURIST ATTRACTION

Dear Lord, is everyone in India at the Taj Mahal? This photo shows the line that wraps around the Taj (on two levels). Is it worth the visit? Sure. Maybe. Just don’t bother waiting in this line to get inside (which if you are a foreigner, you don’t even have to). It’s dark and crowded. Just sit outside on a bench and stare at the Taj from afar. Or look at Google Images and save yourself the stress.

WORTH THE HYPE

Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. Everyone is doing it. And with good reason. It’s gorgeous. But there are buttloads of tour boat companies and the main bay gets super crowded. Which is why we went with Indochina Junk for a 2-day cruise (1 day is way too short in my opinion).  They take you off the main bay into a quieter one called Bai Tu Long. It’s like you have the entire place to yourself. Ahhh.

NICEST PEOPLE

I’m calling a three-way tie for the country with the nicest people. The honor goes to you, Cambodia, Greece, and Tanzania. Like could you guys be any more welcoming? Our tour guide for three days in Siem Reap is the champion. Minnesota Nice, eat your heart out.

RUDEST PEOPLE

I get it, India. You have 1.3 billion people in your country (that’s 1 BILLION more than the US) and you have to be pushy and persistent to get shit done. But don’t push me and get up in my shit. Everywhere we walked, we were constantly asked/told to “come with me to my friend’s xyz thing” which is code for “please let me rip you off, stupid tourist.”

BEST MOJITO

We are drinkers. Obvi. And damn proud. Every place we stopped we made a point to try out and critique their mojitos. Which is funny, because we rarely drink mojitos in the states. During our 30-ish day hike across Spain, we found the winner at Que Trabaje Rita in León. Yes they were the size of our heads and yes they were 12 euros (which is a shit ton for a drink in Northern Spain), but they were fucking delicious and we just got done walking 22 miles. So suck it.

BEST OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Kilimanjaro. I don’t even know how to put it all into words. Which is rare for me. Our climb was super last-minute. We thought “Why not? We’re in good shape.” And then, just like that, we were standing on top of the tallest mountain in Africa (20,000 feet) freezing our asses off. I go into more detail here. But it was rad. A once-in-a-lifetime experience I’ll never forget. And as douchy as I feel saying “that reminds me of that one time I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro..” I also want to scream it from the rooftops. A close tie for second and third place would be our 5-day safari (using the same company that did our Kili climb, they rock) and our week-long volunteering experience at Elephant Nature Park.

BEST TRAVEL CARDS

If you are going to travel internationally, you are a damn fool if you don’t open up a Charles Schwab account. Not to be confused with Charles Shaw of the 2-buck Chuck fame, Charles Schwab is a money man that reimburses all your ATM fees – at least $400, in our case. We love you, Charles.

For a credit card, it’s hard to do better than the Chase Sapphire Premium. No international fees, very few hassles with blocked transactions, free rental car insurance, and bonus points (with a cash back option) for travel and restaurant spending…which is pretty much all the spending.

BEST TRAVEL PURCHASE

We nerded the F out on all our travel gear. Like we’re talking obsessive, stage-five clinger alert. Hey, a year is a long time to be stuck with shitty gear. So it’s worth the research. Our best travel purchase had to be our backpacks. These REI Trail 40 Packs held everything we needed. Newsflash, you don’t need a massive pack. Unless you love lugging something that’s half your size around the world? You do you. Our second and third best travel purchases? Roam Mode’s resident photographer, Craig Glennie, researched the shit out of cameras. Because hey, we wanted to remember everything with awesome photos. Enter Sony RX10ii. And finally, our most practical purchase, the Scrubba Wash Bag. Which allowed us to do laundry on-the-go. Because we’ll be damned if we’ll pay money to have our laundry done.

WORST TRAVEL PURCHASE

For the most part, we used everything we brought. We did ditch some clothes along the way because we didn’t need thermals during summer in Asia. Our worst travel purchase though was one of those things that sounded cool and useful and turned out to be lame and difficult. Like a camera tripod that forms out of three hiking poles. Craig didn’t notice or care when he lost it.

BEST AIRPORT

Maybe it was because we had dealt with some pretty shitty airports prior, but Kuala Lumpur’s airport was amazing. All the things. It had all the things. It’s like someone built an airport inside a mall. Yes, Kim Jong-un totally had his brother murdered there two days after we landed, but still, it was nice to experience a new-looking airport. With a bar.

WORST AIRPORT

Shocker, our least favorite airport was in Jodhpur. Like WTF? Why does everything in Jodhpur suck? Not only was every flight delayed, but they crammed everyone into one tiny room while we waited. A close second would have to be Ethiopia’s International Airport. Shit. So tiny, and filled with people smoking and toilets that don’t work. Having a 4-hour layover here didn’t help.

PRICELESS…

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In the last year, we managed to meet up with 43 old family/friends (grab drinks, crash in their spare bedrooms) and meet countless new friends that share the same love of travel as we do. Friends really do make the world go round.

So there you have it. The good, the bad, the fugly. And you know what? I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. Well, except for most of India. But what can you do?

Next up, we take you around the world in 18 countries without having to go to the damn airport for 42 flights. Get excited.