As 2011 is almost at an end we took a look back at which posts have been most popular on Never Ending Voyage this year. Our most popular posts from 2010 are still going strong and worth a look as early on we shared useful tips on getting started as long term travellers or digital nomads including advice on selling everything you own, saving for travel and packing light.
While 2010 was the start of our journey as digital nomads and spent entirely in South America, 2011 has been more diverse taking us from Colombia to Panama, Costa Rica, the USA, Canada, a visit back to England and on to Asia: Hong Kong, Japan and now Thailand. You’ll hear more about our highs and lows of the year on our second nomadiversary on 1st March.
Of the 141 posts we published in 2011 here are those that have been most popular.
Destinations
In an effort to encourage travellers in Laos to go beyond the usual Luang Prabang -Vang Vieng -Vientiane route we share our tips for where to visit in northern Laos including the unique Gibbon Experience where you sleep in treehouses and explore the jungle by zipline.
Our random observations from travelling around Japan about the people, etiquette, food, temples and just plain weirdness.
Japan was our favourite country this year and this was one of the highlights – stumbling across an incredible display of what I describe as paper lantern sculptures in our local temple.
We actually didn’t get templed out in Kyoto and managed to visit many of the city’s 2000 temples and shrines which we loved for their diversity and beauty. But Kyoto does have many other unique attractions and we describe the ones we enjoyed in this post.
Chiang Mai, Thailand is our current base and is an increasingly popular destination for digital nomads and expats (find out why in my guest post on Thrilling Heroics). Here’s the story of our difficult search for an apartment with a kitchen and some advice and listings on how to find your own apartment.
Our friend Amy gave us many fantastic tips to prepare for our trip to Japan in this guest post.
The fruit in Colombia is delicious and diverse with many exotic fruits that aren’t found anywhere else in the world. I made it my mission to try as many as possible.
Our first year as digital nomads was spent travelling slowly through South America. These are our favourite places and experiences.
Japan is expensive but for us it was completely worth it. Find out exactly how much we spent there and read our money saving tips.
One of our favourite things about Medellin in Colombia was Plaza Botero which features many of the artist’s fun and unique sculptures.
One of our most magical moments this year was taking part in the release of thousands of glowing paper lanterns for the Yee Peng Festival in Chiang Mai.
Travel Tips
We travel permanently with a carry-on size backpack each and are big advocates of packing light – you save airline luggage fees, don’t have to worry about lost baggage and it’s much less hassle to carry around. Here we share our tips on how you can do it too.
How We Were Robbed And How To Avoid ItIn nearly two years of permanent travel this is the first time we had anything stolen, when we were pickpocketed on a Costa Rican bus. We learnt a lot from the experience and wrote up our advice on how to keep your belongings safe on the road.
We love our Kindle! Since we bought it a year ago we have made our backpacks lighter, have access to a diverse range of books and have been reading much more. In our review we explain the Kindle’s features and why it’s perfect for a bookworm traveller.
One of the language learning tips we learnt from the Language Hacking Guide was to immerse yourself in the language as much as possible and find ways to make learning fun. Music is perfect for this. Here you’ll learn how to use music to learn a language and our favourite Spanish language musicians.
Digital Nomadism
This year we have saved thousands of dollars in the US and Japan by looking after people’s houses and pets while they are away. Housesitting is perfect for a digital nomad lifestyle and here we share the benefits and how to find your own house sit.
As well as our highlights we also wrote about the challenges we faced in our first year as digital nomads, and the things we didn’t like about South America.
Technology makes it possible for us to work and travel wherever we want to, as long as there is internet most of the time. These are the resources we use and love and that make our nomadic lifestyle possible.
In our Nomadic Interviews series we show that a life of perpetual travel is possible for anyone – families, single mums, couples and solo travellers of all ages. Our interview with the lovely ex-lawyer Jodi Ettenberg has been our most popular interview of the year.
More useful resources for aspiring or current digital nomads – this time it’s blog posts written by other permanent travellers about their experiences making money and finding accommodation and WiFi around the world. We’ve also written about recommended books for digital nomads.
Thank you for your support in 2011 – we appreciate every comment, email and tweet we receive as well as our silent readers. After analysing the results of our reader survey we have big plans for the next year and are excited to see where 2012 takes us.
Happy New Year to you all!
What were your favourite posts of the year? Don’t forget to leave a comment!
What a fantastic year! I look forward to reading about your travels in 2012.
Thanks Andrea!
As a fellow Brit preparing to embark on RTW travel next year I have found your blog a huge source of inspiration. I always enjoy reading your posts and am really looking forward to following along in 2012
Thanks very much Hannah – we appreciate that. Good luck with your travel preparations.
I feel like 2011 went by so quickly, but reading posts like this remind me of what a full year it’s really been! Sometimes it takes reflection at the end of the year to realize all that has happened.
We’re hoping to make it to Japan later this year, so I’ve really been enjoying your Japan posts. Thanks again for sharing and inspiring!
It did go by quickly didn’t it? I really hope you make it to Japan – it had a big effect on us. Happy New Year Audrey!
I don’t know if others are experiencing this problem but I thought I’d let you know just in case. Whenever I try to click thru to your blog posts via your email newsletter, it states “No URL found for this tracker ID.” Maybe its a freak thing with my email.
I love the year wrap up post. Very helpful.
Sorry about that Tricia. Mailchimp (who send out our newsletters) had a problem one week and our links didn’t work. The other newsletters should be fine though.