What were your favorite travel moments of 2016? Share with us!
Au Revoir 2016! You have been a really good year for us! We feel very blessed that we were able to finally do what we wanted to, from such a long time i.e. launching our travel blog – Wanderers Hub. Whilst we did try to strike a balance between our travels and Harsh’s full-time job, we still feel we could have travelled more. It’s almost 8 months since we posted the first blog and what an amazing journey it has been. When we started this blog, we didn’t know what to expect but went ahead with it anyway. But at the end, we are happy!
With a lot of cities and places explored during 2016, it is just the perfect time to reflect upon our travel year and look over accomplishments along the way.
Here are tidbits of interesting stuff that happened in 2016:
On the beginning of this blog, I tried to share some amazing ways to make your life more like a vacation, how travel gives a purpose to my life, and how couples who travel together stick together. With these posts, I also understood that to each one, travel has a new meaning. No two people have the same definition of travel – it is something that is extremely personal and unique.
To me and Harsh, travel has been about a lot of different things: an opportunity to explore places we wanted to see, getting a sense of accomplishment on reaching new places and discovering them, a chance to find out about a new culture, and a sense of immense pleasure of finding about new cities – some familiar and some unfamiliar. Through these experiences, we tried to open up ourselves to a world unknown and experience stuff we loved.
We marked the start of our travel journeys with a first trip to Maldives, which was also taken to celebrate our first anniversary.
Of all the breathtaking views we enjoyed in 2016, nothing came close to the unrivalled white-sand beaches of this tropical nation in the Indian Ocean. Everything around was scenic and utterly gorgeous. It was worth it!
We still dream about those sunny days in the stunning overwater villas. And the hospitality? Stupendous.
Though Four Seasons Resort Maldives may still remain #1 resort on our bucket list, but if that can’t fit in your budget, go for Olhuveli Beach Resort & Spa, which is also fantastic. I promise you will have the time of your life.
It sure wasn’t the most pleasurable journey we undertook in 2016 but it was one of the best things we did in India. We loved everything, right from trekking Himalayas to exploring cutesy markets of Kasol to chilling by the riverside. And trying our first Hello to the Queen dessert, of course.
We still miss those picturesque views of the rolling hills at Kheerganga, tender chirping of the birds, and dip in the hot, holywater spring that relaxed us in moments.
Experiences are way more better when you know people who know a lot. In our case, our tour guide in Bhutan, Thinley was a regular at these cafes in Paro. That got us some help – and a few delightful experiences as well. We were going for momos for our breakfast.
Momos are one of our favourites, especially ones from My Kind of Place. To me, it was a lovely momos experience.
We ate almost six momos each on three good days for our breakfast, and I thought to myself, God, we must get such tasty momos in every part of the world.
Other than momos, we kind of fell in love with the pace of life in Bhutan. People are so content with themselves that they need no materialistic stuff to be happy. They are happy for what they got in life. A visit to this gorgeous land of dragons, especially the Tiger’s Nest can be life-altering experience for some! That indeed was the high point of our travels 2016.
It was even better than we could have ever imagined – but at first when the dune bashing started we got really terrified. Minutes slipped away on the desert of Dubai and I frenzied, thinking what if i wouldn’t be able to take enough selfies while sand dune bashing.
But then our safari took at halt amidst the striking landscape of the unique sands of Arabia. We jumped onto the opportunity and clicked numerous selfies. That was one off-roading experience we’ll never forget. Once the evening passed by, we were taken to the gorgeous camping setup in the desert where we were elated by the amazing dose of traditional Arabic culture and wonderful Tanoura Dance.
Sand dune bashing in Dubai was thrilling and all that we had dreamed of!
Jaipur, Ajmer and Jodhpur are the three cities we covered in 2016 and the vibrancy of the state took us back to the era of grand palaces, striking architecture and beautiful forts.
Our first stop was Jaipur – a city bustling with royalty and passion. Visit to the Amber Fort and sampling the local delicacies of the city got to be the highlights from this tour.
As for Ajmer, we were blown over by the power of godliness. There was something so divine about the Dargah that it entices people from all around.
Our last stop was to the lovely Jodhpur – hot desert land of Rajasthan – where everyone dresses up like a rainbow! So beautiful!
From all these travel experiences, all I can say is, travel opens all senses in truest sense, fill your life with joy and makes your life a little more liveable. It gives us all a chance to trust a little more, love harder, and believe that beautiful things happen to those who choose to travel. 🙂
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What were your favorite travel moments of 2016? Share with us!
It looks like you had some amazing adventures last year! May you have many more in 2017!
Thanks Alice. Happy travels to you too! 🙂
I really enjoyed following your travels last year! Having lived in the Maldives it was interesting to read how a tourist experiences this country. And thanks to your blog Bhutan is now really high on my bucket list!
Wow, you really packed a lot in to last year 🙂 I’ve been to Rajasthan too, and agree that the forts are indeed simply majestic! Would love to check out the Maldives and Bhutan one day too. Glad to hear you are enjoying your first year of travel blogging too! May 2017 continue to bring you much travel happiness.
I do believe that travelling unites more and more a couple because it creates many memories together. I saw you had amazing time in Maldives, me I always got sunburned there don’t know why. I want to visit Bhutan it’s on my bucket list for long…good article:)
Thanks Andreea, we were lucky that we didn’t have to go through the horror of sunburns in Maldives. And Bhutan surely needs to be on the list as it is a hidden gem that needs to be explored more.
Looks like you had a epic year! All the best for the next year ahead. I hope your travels are full of adventure!
Thank you so much! We are so excited about 2017 and all the travels lined up!
Quite an eventful year. I did a similar trip to your Dubai desert outing, early morning dune bashing at the Khor Al Adaid in Qatar, near the border with Saudi Arabia. Well worth the 3:45am wake up all. Happy New Year!
What an year! Bhutan and Rajasthan seem so beautiful and interesting! Both are surely on my bucketlist. Now let’s see what 2017 will bring us. More adventures hopefully!
Nice Travels! I’m going to the Maldives myself in July and staying at the Conrad. So excited!!
Not sure if its because of the beautiful pictures or the way you write your travels, I feel that I am actually traveling to these places with you guys while reading this travel review. I have never been to any of this places but feel inspired! The sand safari in Dubai is something I always wanted to do, and camping in the desert, experience Arabic culture and Tanoura Dance, and sleeping under the wind and the stars sounds like a dream to me!
Awesome year you gat there! I love to visit Maldives someday I heard is a beautiful place to spend some quality vacation and more over your photos can tell a lot.
seems like you had quite a journey. Hopefully 2017 will be better for you
Wow guys! You had a wonderful year. What is for you in 2017? Can you beat last year? 😉
Looks like you had an amazing year!
Your recap show’s it all! Hope you have a blast in 2017 too! Best wishes 🙂 Keep sharing!
Maldives is heavenly as I can make out from pictures! It has been a great year for you with those ideal travel destinations! Have a more eventful year in 2017.
Maldives, Bhutan, Kasol and Dubai- Such amazing destinations all in a single year. 2016 seems to be quite an eventful year for you guys. These places have been on my list for quite some time and I hope I will be able to cover at least a couple of the this year..
Both of you looking awesome 🙂
hope we will seek more ideas of travel from you.
hope you will visit again dubai i think you missed the fire dance at desert safari camp