chloedickensonLast Updated on 31st December 2020
This post about my year in travel photos 2020 edition contains affiliate links.
When I first thought about writing this post, I was a little apprehensive as I wasn’t sure if I would have enough content and photos to include in it to make it a full post.
However, when I think back to the start of this year and the fact that I visited Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in the first three months before the Coronavirus pandemic hit, it’s hard to believe that we visited all those incredible places this year. In some ways, it honestly feels like a lifetime ago that we were island hopping in Phi Phi, eating Banh Mi in Ho Chi Minh and celebrating the New Year at an epic firework display along Marina Bay in Singapore.
Writing this post has made me realise that even though our year wasn’t full of constant travel like we originally intended, we’ve still managed to visit some incredible places and that’s not even including the beautiful cities we visited in the UK as part of our AtoZ UK road trip.
I’m very hopeful that 2021 will hold more travel and trips for us, but for now, let’s take a look at the last 12 months in my year in travel photos – 2020 edition.
Singapore – travel photos 2020 edition
I actually included a roundup of our time in Singapore in my 2019 travel photos post, but as we rung in the New Year in Singapore and didn’t leave until the second of January, it only felt right to include it in my 2020 roundup too.
Singapore is one of the most incredible and fascinating countries I’ve ever been to; every single sight, scent and sound is a intense experience for your senses and ringing in the New Year with the spectacular firework display at Marina Bay was one of the most memorable parts of our travels.
It’s a very expensive city, but you can also do many things on a budget too, and even if you don’t do all the touristy, expensive things, just being immersed in such an incredible city/country is an experience in itself.
Thailand
Our second country of 2020 was Thailand and we visited numerous places across the vast Asian country during our one month there, most notably Bangkok, Koh Lanta, Chiang Mai, Phuket and more.
Thailand was yet another place that was a delight for the senses and I have to admit; it overwhelmed me very often, particularly in Bangkok. While the sights, sounds and scenery were incredible, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Thai cuisine and even though so many people I know rave about it, I just couldn’t get on board.
Our day trip around the Phi Phi islands was one of my favourite adventures that we enjoyed in Thailand; the islands really are as beautiful as you imagine and the water is so blue and clear and inviting that it’s hard to resist a snorkelling trip or two!
Cambodia
If you’ve read any of my previous posts about our time in Cambodia, you’ll know that it was my least favourite country of our entire trip, but that doesn’t mean to say that we didn’t enjoy some amazing experiences during our time there.
Seeing the sunrise at Angkor Wat was not only one of the best things we did in Cambodia, but it was also one of my top travel moments of all time and it was something that I felt so privileged to experience.
Sihanoukville in the south of Cambodia was very disappointing as was Phnom Penh really, but our time in Siem Reap at the fab Pool Party Hostel was a stay to remember and we met some awesome people while we were there.
Vietnam
The last country on our 11 month trip around Australasia and Southeast Asia (which was supposed to last indefinitely but thanks to Covid, we had to fly home from Hanoi. You can read more about that in my post about adjusting to life at home).
Vietnam was a country that I’d never really given too much thought about; Matt had always said he’d like to go one day, but it was never really massively on my radar.
However, the whole country absolutely blew me away; from the vastly diverse landscapes, to the delicious food to the wonderful people, Vietnam will always have a special place in my heart and as our trip ended so abruptly while we were there, I know we’ll definitely head back there one day.
Penrith
A very sudden crash back to reality and our lives in the UK; we headed straight up to my parents’ house in Penrith when we landed on March 17th and unbeknownst to us at the time, it would also be where we’d spend the next three months or so in the UK national lockdown.
I’ve always adored the Lake District and when my parents moved up to Penrith a few years ago, I was delighted at the chance to spend more time in the beautiful part of the country. While we didn’t really get too much of a chance to explore it when we first arrived back in the UK due to lockdown, it was still nice to be living somewhere so beautiful.
York – travel photos 2020 edition
After a few months in Penrith, we headed back to Matt’s parents’ house in York where we spent most of the last few months of the year living. Those of you who’ve been following me for a long while will know that Matt and I had our own studio apartment in the city centre before we went travelling and I’ve lived in York since I was eight years old so it always feels like coming home to me.
As we hadn’t been back to York since we left for travelling in April 2019, we spent a lot of the summer of 2020 re-exploring our beloved city and acting like tourists on many occasions, eating all the food and seeing all the sights as if for the first time.
Windermere, Lake District
I mentioned above just how much I love the Lake District and one of my favourite places there is undoubtedly Windermere, particularly Bowness-on-Windermere.
As part of our AtoZ UK road trip (which we didn’t fully complete this year, so hopefully 2021 will allow us to…), we spent an afternoon in Bowness which was an absolutely beautiful day and our first proper excursion after lockdown.
Scarborough
Scarborough is only about an hour’s drive from where we live in York so in the summer, I headed on a little excursion there with one of my oldest friends from school.
We were blessed with a truly stunning, blue-sky day when we went, which is actually quite a rarity for the British seaside. We ate fish and chips, walked along the beach and took some yummy souvenirs home with us. It was an absolute breath of fresh air just to be somewhere different again.
Ripon – travel photos 2020 edition
Despite Ripon being practically down the road from York, I had never been so when we were writing up our AtoZ UK road trip city list, I knew that I had to add Ripon to our itinerary.
I’m so glad we did because I absolutely loved it! It’s only a relatively small town, so there’s not loads to see there, but our little adventure to Fountains Abbey as part of our trip there was terrific and I couldn’t believe that I’d never been before; I’d highly recommend visiting sometime next year when you can.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is another one of my favourite UK cities so I was delighted that we got the chance to revisit it in the summer as part of a collaboration with Safestay Hostels.
We spent two days in the Scottish capital, eating scrumptious food, touring the city and getting piss wet-through thanks to the Scottish summer rain! We didn’t let the rain dampen our spirits however, and we had a brilliant time exploring both new things that we’d never visited before as well as some of our beloved favourites.
Glasgow – 2020 travel photos
For the letter ‘G’ on our UK road trip, we visited Glasgow and while I’m glad we ticked off that particular letter, I definitely wouldn’t be in a rush to head back to Glasgow as I wasn’t the biggest fan of it.
We did however, spend a good few hours exploring the city and I did really enjoy seeing all the beautiful street art.
Knaresborough
Knaresborough is another place that’s not too far from York at all, but yet somehow I’d never been there until August when we tied it in with a day trip to Harrogate.
It’s a relatively small place so you probably don’t need to spend a full day there, but a leisurely morning or afternoon stroll around makes for a wonderful time. We also went on the river boats while we were there and saw the famous viaduct which is certainly an impressive feat to behold.
Harrogate
After our morning in Knaresborough, we headed to Harrogate for a couple of hours which I actually had been to before, but it was still nice to revisit it nonetheless.
Similarly to Knaresborough, there’s not a tonne of things to do in Harrogate so a nice mooch around the town centre for a couple of hours should give you a taste of what it has to offer.
Porto
After many months being “stuck” in the UK, we managed to sneak a quick trip in to Porto in October once the lockdown restrictions had eased somewhat. However, we didn’t just go to Porto with a holiday in mind; we actually went there with the intention of applying for Portuguese visas as we really wanted to move there. Thanks to Brexit however, as well as Covid, we were unable to fulfil our dream of moving there due to various reasons and complications beyond our control which was pretty devastating at first, but we still made the most of our time there.
It was my first time in Portugal and indeed Porto, and we had such a wonderful time exploring the beautiful city, eating the most divine food and soaking up the last bit of autumnal sunshine before heading back to the UK into yet another inevitable lockdown…
While 2020 wasn’t exactly the year of nonstop travel that we’d originally anticipated, writing this post has made me so grateful for the places that we did manage to visit and starting the year with four countries in Southeast Asia was absolutely remarkable.
I’m very hopeful for 2021 in terms of travel and life in general resuming some kind of normality, but I think I’m also more prepared after facing the challenges of 2020 and I know that we just need to make the most of our time, whatever it holds.
Related posts:
- My Year In Travel Photos 2018
- My Year In Travel Photos 2019
- AtoZ UK Road Trip Challenge – The Perfect Itinerary
Pin for later – my year in travel photos 2020 edition
Did you manage to squeeze any trips in this year before the pandemic hit? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram @imjustagirl_16.
