A year of travel is so many things. When we sat at the Británico Mirador on the W Trek in Patagonia, Jason started laughing this strange, awe-filled chuckle because he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. I thought he might start weeping with joy, a phrase that is primarily reserved for literature or hyperbole but not reality. A few months later, we took the most beautiful three day road trip of our lives through the Salt Flats of Bolivia. I spent much of my time curled in the fetal position with altitude sickness, my eyes squeezed closed, missing what I heard was the most amazing flamingo-filled red lake in the middle of nowhere.

We have, together, lived into our wildest dreams. It has been amazing for what it is: the waterfalls, salsa music, nights in the Sahara desert, etc. More than that, the mere experience of living into our wildest dreams is the thing that leaves me in awe the most. We did it. We saved money for 4 years, quit our stable jobs, left our cute house, paused the in-person nature of some of the most meaningful relationships we have ever participated in with friends and family, and decided to go for it.

When I reflect on this past year, I can’t see it without also seeing the deep anxiety I had before we left, the near panic I felt at making the decision, the choice we had in how we would write the story about our life. I hesitate to write this because of how posh and romantic travel can seem and how trivial the choice may seem to do it. Yet I want to share it, because amidst the glamour of the adventure we are such normal people, full of the insecurities about what jobs would await us when we returned, living without good healthcare or insurance, disconnected from people we love and wondering what this would be like as the months wore on, not to mention it was JUST US for two years. More to come on that later. Yet of course, sometimes the richness of life comes from stepping out on a limb and going for it.

This post is primarily a photo essay of the most magnificent experiences of the year—it is a reminiscing of the times we turned to each other and smiled, filled with wonder for the world and the people in it. Or put another way, the times we turned to each other and exclaimed “This is so fucking cool.”

1.  Sahara Desert, Morocco

This is hands down the most touristy thing we did all year. We are normally pretty averse to activities where tour companies smush a lot of strangers in a small van and drives them all around to little stops, where people are inevitably selling you stuff you don’t want, and you can’t get off the ride even if you want to. Yet without a tour guide there was no other way we would have ever made it into the Sahara Desert, riding camels at sunset. We sat behind the large hump, listening to the camel’s hooves swish through the thick sand like snow. We slept in tents under the stars, sweating through our t-shirts as the guides played traditional music under the star-filled desert sky.

2. Yoga at Bamboo Cottages, Vietnam

My dream life involves being fed breakfast, doing yoga twice a day, and taking a daily dip into water the temperature of a warm bath. Our short week at Bamboo Cottages on Phu Quoc was like a dream, filled with a lot of relaxing and walking short distances; room to yoga shala, yoga shala to breakfast, breakfast to ocean, repeat. We befriended Lola, our yoga teacher, and her partner Ondre, singing karaoke with them in the evenings and learning how to massage each other during our afternoon yoga classes. Each morning Lola took us through a vigorous flow class, leaving us entitled to a delicious Vietnamese breakfast with unlimited Vietnamese coffee. I imagine that when I am awake in the middle of the night, waiting for someone else’s stubborn baby to be born, that this is the place I will dream of most often.

3. Angkor Wat Temples by Tuk-tuk, Cambodia

Jason and Melissa loved the temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, the ancient buildings that filled the jungles and the history that accompanied them. I loved the banh mi for breakfast, the cold mango smoothies, and the breeze that flowed through my shirt when we rode around by tuk tuk with Thoo, the best tuk tuk driver ever, between each ancient site. So, there was something in it for everyone. While it wasn’t the hidden gem that revealed itself at the last minute like Machu Picchu, it was overwhelming in its breadth and size. We spent three days visiting the ruins and didn’t even see it all.

4. Our day in Kampot, Cambodia

Our one full day in Kampot we ate smoothie bowls with delicious coffee for breakfast, I drove a scooter for the first time, we went stand up paddle boarding, swam in the river, lounged in inner-tubes, practiced yoga above a vegetarian restaurant and drank cold beers on the water after the sun had set. I think we loved Kampot so much because we almost didn’t go there, had no idea what we would do when we arrived, and were greeted with surprise after surprise of sunshine and delight.

5. Phong Nha Caves by Motorbike, Vietnam

I thought I didn’t like caves but I actually had just never visited any interesting ones, like those in Ke Bang National Park that stretched on for miles and probably inspired the Indiana Jones movies. While the caves themselves were fascinating, just as wonderful was riding around on motorbikes between them on the near empty but well-paved roads of the national park. We have a million blurry photos of the limestone rocks, the rivers, and the countryside. Sometimes you know the photos won’t turn out well at all but you can’t help taking them because you want to capture the beauty of the landscape and the way you felt taking it all in.

6. Bai Tu Long Bay, Vietnam

Ha Long Bay was beautiful and crowded, fulfilling both well known claims. Bai Tu Long Bay was the gem that makes travelers who want to not be ‘that traveler’ feel so special. The bay is nearly void of tourists and the limestone rocks that jut out of the water are just as gorgeous as those in Ha Long Bay, just a bit shorter. We spent the night in a homestay arranged by our tour company, walked through the small town to sit in those small plastic chairs that are now synonymous with Vietnam, and drank the local fresh lager beer out of small kegs in a schoolyard turned bar in the evenings. We spent the adventure with Jason’s brother Jon and our new pals Chrissie and Tom, adding to the magic of shared experience.

7. Hiking the W in Patagonia, Chile

They said Patagonia’s the W hike would be amazing and it was. It was almost too much to take in, the constant physical beauty that we lacked the depth of language to complement. In some ways it was after we finished, overcoming the physical feat of five straight days hiking, that it finally settled into our bones that we had just finished the most beautiful trek we had ever done. Ok, ok, it was the only trek of this length we’ve ever done. But seriously, stunning view after stunning view rolled in, providing a consistent high-reward system every two hours of our journey.

8. Hiking outside El Bolsón, Argentina

While we endlessly heard about the amazingness of the W, we heard hardly a peep about the refugios outside of El Bolsón in the northern part of Argentina’s Patagonia. We almost didn’t go. Yet we did go, spending two nights in refugios up in the mountains that were how I imagined the W must have been before it was popular. We hiked with our friend Jess, taking turns exclaiming at the beauty of the scenery as we ascended deeper into the mountains. The refugios were remote and without connection to the outer world, save a radio pole that brought in the day’s forecast. We spent the evenings sitting around the chimney stove, staying warm while drinking mate and then red wine, struggling to understand Argentinian Spanish, and chatting with our new pal Ruben as he taught us some Spanish poetry. In between each refugio the hikes were filled with dense forests, meadows cradling trickling streams, snow-capped mountains in the distance, and a magical small brewery overflowing with planters hung between hipster Edison bulbs, alongside the river.

9. Salt Flat Tour, Bolivia

I credit Jason’s miles hobby with our seeing the other-worldly salt flats. We were able to fly to Colombia for free with points, but only from La Paz, Bolivia. And the best way to get to La Paz is via the Bolivian salt flats. So there we were. The trip reminded me of the W but the road trip version, where every few hours we saw something breathtaking that itself would have justified the trip. Hot springs, black lakes, green lakes, large rock formations reminiscent of Utah, flamingoes turning a lake pink, and all that before we arrived at the actual salt flats. We also made some good buddies on the trip, one of whom we later reunited with in Medellín, Colombia.

10. Tango at La Catedral, Argentina

For my birthday the first year we were dating, Jason bought us salsa lessons and my mom bought me salsa shoes and I thought that this guy was really great. Eleven years later, we sat in the warehouse of La Catedral in Buenos  Aires, mesmerized by the sensual tango and aware from our own limited dance experience that it was not a easy as it looked. Our friend Tess joined us, convincing us that we could not turn in early on a Saturday night in Buenos Aires. Around midnight people slowly started showing up and setting up what looked like instruments, surprising and delighting us to no end when 30 minutes later we were treated to a live show of a 14 piece band. We were some of the only tourists in this local milonga club, where Argentinians come to dance and listen to music.

11. Raw fish breakfast in Tokyo, Japan

For our entire year of travel, our time in Japan has remained at the top of our list as one of our favorite countries. Jason’s friend Taka took us, along with our friends Kyle and Rheanne, out to breakfast at a raw-fish bar inside a local fish market in his neighborhood. Were it not for Taka, we never would have found the place, ordered such delicious food and washed it all down with a cold beer for breakfast. Japan remains one of the most fascinating places we’ve ever been and enjoying it alongside such great new and old friends was amazing.

12. Street food tour in George Town, Malaysia

The food in George Town was out of this world. We went on a whim, which we fancy as so cool because we are many things but whimsical is not one of them. We were fascinated by the cultural melting pot of George Town, which includes Malay, Chinese, British, and Indian influences. And this is all reflected most obviously in its cuisine and thriving street food scene. The street art is pretty incredible too. We hope to return to explore more of Malaysia in the future, because the city of George Town, on the island of Penang, was a rich experience.

13. Victoria Falls, Zambia

Before we visited Victoria Falls I thought waterfalls were nice, the kind of thing you visit at the end of a summer hike in the PNW to take a dip. Not something worthy of its own tourist industry, a train-ride throughout Tanzania and Zambia, and steep entrance fees and visas to see both sides. Nope. Wrong. Very wrong. The falls took my breath away, the enormity of them, the power, the fear of walking across a suspended bridge to connect two different sides. It was also the culmination of the adventure with our newfound friends from the Tazara Train: Alice, Geraldine, Dom and Harry. The rainbow across the falls at sunrise, the cocktails along the Zambezi River at sunset, the dancing in a small bar for Alice’s birthday—those things all helped too.

14. Valle de la Luna, Chile

“Wow, I can’t believe this place isn’t on all the lists of things to do here,” Jason remarked as we biked through the valle outside of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. “It is,” I told him. I was just the only one who had read all about it. The Valle de la Luna was advertised as an other-wordly experience, resembling landscapes of the moon and mars. It was overwhelmingly strange and eerily beautiful. We biked through the heat of the desert, climbing dry and sandy mountains to gaze out over the fields of dry and undulating terrain. At times it reminded us of the Sahara, the closest reference point I can offer, but really it was a world, or other-world, all of its own.

15. Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

We took a break from our rhythmic life in Xela to spend the weekend on Lake Atitlan, arriving by speedboat to our final destination as we bounced along the water, golden hour twinkling behind the majestic volcanoes that rose up out of the bowl of the lake. The lake is home to a plethora of yoga spaces, hiking, healthy vegetarian food and temezcals—saunas that burn with the scent of sage. We rose early in the mornings to sit on the dock and watch the sun rise, illuminating the volcanoes and welcoming another day of life.

16. Colombia

I saved a spot at the end of this post for Colombia, just in case it deserved one. And deserve one it does. We spent the final month of our ten months here and fell in love. Ok, ok, all travelers annoyingly discuss falling in love with a place. But what can I say? We are deeply endeared, enamored, infatuated and committed to returning to this diverse and gorgeous country, yet I can’t find just one thing to capture it. Colombia was so many things. Studying Spanish in Medellín with Daniel, who is lovely and mild-mannered, except when accompanying us to a local fútbol match and teaching us how to swear in Spanish. The lush interior of the country, full of palm tree forests and hot springs and coffee farms. The hot North Coast, where we sweated our hearts our one final time while laying on the beach and spending a few nights in a treehouse in the jungle. The pulsing background of salsa music. The warmest, most open, most helpful strangers we’ve ever encountered. Maybe that captures it best—we loved Colombia, and the people of Colombia loved us right back.