I've been around, part 2

I've been thinking a lot about travelling for the past few months. I miss it. A lot. Not travelling because you're not financially able versus not travelling because the world is closed, are two very different things. And before the pandemic hit I was finally getting to a place to be able to afford travelling on a more regular basis. The state of the world put a firm stop on that idea...

At the end of 2012 I made a post about all my previous travels, and I figured that now it's been nine years (and I'm unlikely to travel anywhere this year too so it will be ten years since that post) it's time to update it and add to it, because I have been to a few more places since I made that post.

2013: London. I returned with Toni. First time for him. Third time for me and this time with the purpose to visit the Harry Potter Studio Tour, which was a magical experience. We did a whole bunch of other things as well. 

2015: Murcia/Archena/Cartagena. For my mum's 50th my dad brought the whole family to Spain for a week. It's an area of Spain that he visits frequently due to having business contacts in the region, but for the rest of us it was the first time there. My favourite memory is probably the Roman remains in Cartagena. 

2016: Köln. My first time in this beautiful, brilliant city in Germany. My dad goes every year to one of the big fairs organized in the city and this year his business contact brought me along as a kind of interpreter to help with English and French. I even got to use some Japanese when I got some time to myself and headed off to explore the Asian sector of the fair. Seeing the cathedral in Köln never gets old.

2018 + 2019: Köln. Back again, but these two times as a guest of my dad's. I spent most of my time during these two visits to follow him around and offer some input here and there. An idea or two. Mostly I just enjoy tagging along to the fair because it's a lot of fun. After every successful day at the fair we and the other Swedes usually went out having beers (Kölsch!) and dinner and always at the same handful of places. 

2019: Edinburgh. Went back to Edinburgh with Toni. First time for him. Second time for me. It had been 11 years since my last visit and there was so much nostalgia involved for me. This time I did all the tourist-y stuff properly.

2020: Edinburgh. Went back as a sort of mini-getaway for myself after a stressful period at work. I had some paid vacation left over and figured why not. Met up with a friend and also followed in Rowling's footsteps and did some writing at the Elephant Café.

I also did go to Copenhagen with Toni back in 2012 on a day-trip, but I can't count that as travelling since I lived 30 minutes away from Copenhagen at the time. 

I miss travelling. I miss airplanes. Before covid hit we talked about Ireland as our next destination. Let's hope it won't be too long now until we get to travel around again :3