It’s really hard to come up with a top 5 of favorite countries I’ve traveled to. Because there are a lot of beautiful countries and each are unique in their own way and gave me different kind of memories. Overall, I’m just a big Asia fan. But to not make my top 5 all Asian countries, I’ll give you my top 5 of countries that have impressed me the most and/or were unique travel destinations for me.
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Top 5 countries I’ve traveled to
- Thailand
- Bali (Indonesia)
- Maledives
- Egypt
- Finland
1. Thailand
Thailand is my absolutely favorite country to travel to. I’ve been there 5 times now and if it were possible I’d go there every year! I have been to most parts of the country. So I travelled from Bangkok to the North (for example to River Kwai, Ayutthaya, Khao Yai, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Golden Triangle (river crossing between Thailand, Laos, Myanmar). And to the south I’ve visited several places and islands, like Koh Phi Phi, Krabi, Koh Samui, Koh Samed, Koh Tao, Koh Phangan, Pattaya etc.
To say what it is I love the most about Thailand is really difficult to pinpoint. It’s more than one thing, just the overall feeling I get when I’m there. The atmosphere, the food (we really love Thai food!), the people, the cheap foot massages, the weather, the islands and all the beautiful snorkel trips we can make there.
We’re just really happy when we are in Thailand. There is so much to see there. Beautiful temples and ruins (like Ayutthaya), beautiful nature (National Parks, River Kwai, all the beautiful islands you can discover and the underwater world). Also, Thailand is a really cheap (or ‘low budget’) travel destination. Besides from you airplane ticket (which obviously depends on where you’re flying from), Thailand itself is really inexpensive. And you can opt for a couple of more expensive (day)tours or book a diving tour, but that’s all up to you. You can make your vacation as expensive or low budget as you want.
Check out hotels in:
– Bangkok
– Chiang Mai
– Koh Samui (Chaweng)
– Koh Tao
– Krabi
– Phuket
2. Bali (Indonesia)
I would go back to Bali in a heartbeat. This was definitely one of my favorite travel destinations. We have seen so many beautiful things on the island, and there are a lot of more things we can discover there, so a second trip to Bali is just a matter of time. I made a whole list of all the things I liked to see on the island and made up an itinerary and then booked a personal driver and guide. He was absolutely great! Really nice guy, who told us a lot about the island and every place we went to.
We alternated sightseeing days with a day at the swimming pool or beach. And because it was an individual tour, we had all the time to ourselves and were flexible as to how long we wanted to stay at certain places. Like Tanah Lot and Pura Besakih. And we love Asian food, so again, as in Thailand, we loved the food in Bali. If you like seafood, you’re in the right place. But if you don’t like seafood, there are enough options to eat delicious Balinese food. Like chicken satay, yum!
Check out hotels in:
– Kuta
– Sanur
– Ubud
– Seminyak
– Jimbaran
– Lovina
3. Maldives
Of course the Maldives have to be in my top 5. Solely because of the beauty of the islands and the rich underwater world. We absolutely love to snorkel and you totally lose track of time when you’re in the water. Looking at all the fish, coral and animals. Like sea turtles, manta rays and sometimes sharks. We’ve also snorkeled at Borneo, and we up until then, that was the best snorkeling we did, when it comes down to fish and coral. But now we’ve been to the Maldives, that is definitely up there for the best snorkeling and diving experience.
Check out hotels in:
– Maafushi
– Malé
– Thoddoo
– Thulusdhoo
– Fulidhoo
– Fulhadhoo
4. Egypt
Egypt is an amazing country. There is just so much to see. I’ve been to Egypt 3 times now, and the first time I traveled to Egypt I went for 4 weeks. I traveled from Cairo to the west, to the black and to the white desert. Went all the way down to Abu Simbel, which was amazing!! And of course Luxor and Aswan. I enjoyed the Egyptian culture. I loved the hieroglyphs, the old temples and ruins, the Valley of the Kings, with all the tombs. It’s just all so impressive!
It was also the first time I went diving, in Dahab. Diving in the Red Sea is great, beautiful reefs and fish to be seen. After that we took a trip to Mount Sinai, to climb the mountain in the middle of the night, so we could watch the sun come up at 5a.m. and gave a magnificent view over the mountains. This is the mountain at which The Commandments were given to Moses by God, according to the bible. And it doesn’t matter if your religious or not, it’s really pretty special to see in real life.
There is so much history to be found in Egypt, so many impressive things to see. From the Pyramids of Gizeh to the Nubian villages near Aswan. If there wasn’t a negative travel advice with regards to terrorist attacks, I would definitely go back for a fourth time. If only for a relaxing sun vacation, to relax and go diving, because that’s really beautiful and cheap there.
Check out hotels in:
– Cairo
– Hurghada
– Sharm El Sheikh
– Dahab
– Luxor
– Abu Simbel
5. Finland
I was lucky enough that the first job I got after I graduated, was with a company that took all it’s employees on a trip to Finland (Lapland). It was the trip of a lifetime! We all got thermo suites, because it was -20 Celcius (-4 F), which felt like -40 Celcius (-40 F), no joke!
First we went on an icebreaker boat in the Gulf of Bothnia, were we got into these ridiculous suites (which made us look like Teletubbies, especially me because I was way too small for that big suit haha) and then went floating in the sea. I also got my reindeer driving license, which also isn’t a joke. But it was only valid for 5 years, so I have to go back again to Lapland to renew it 😉 And we went on a husky sleigh trip through the woods.
The nature is so beautiful there, all those trees, the snow, the views. And if you’re lucky, you can see the Northern Light.
Also something unique to see is the Santa Clause village! Santa Claus has his own post office here, at the Arctic Circle. And it’s really true that if you sent a letter with ‘to Santa Clause’ on the envelop, it will end up in Lapland at the Santa Clause village. Every year, Santa Claus receives around half a million letters from children all over the world!
