Travel Achievements

The reason we travel is to experience new things. Some people, if they travel, might hit the same place time after time; the same beach, the same hotel resort, the same theme park. Each to their own, but that’s not us. We like to look back on where we’ve been and what we’ve seen and say “Look! We did that. We saw that.”

This post will serve as an occasionally updated list of highlights of our travel achievements.

• We’ve driven down the Lærdal Tunnel, the longest road tunnel in the world when we were in Norway.
• We’ve walked on the Great Wall of China.
• We’ve visited the northernmost capital city in the world, Reykjavik.
• We’ve seen an albatross at sea.
• We’ve visited the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia.
• We’ve seen the northern lights in Iceland.
• We’ve visited the southern hemisphere.
• We’ve had a Singapore Sling in Raffles Hotel.
• We’ve cruised around Cape Horn.
• We’ve seen penguins in the wild.
• We’ve seen whales migrating.
• We’ve had a boat ride accompanied by a dolphin.
• We’ve been to the Falkland Islands.
• We’ve visited all the Nordic countries (not including the associated territories (yet)) which naturally means we’ve visited all the Scandinavian countries too.
• We’ve visited the capital cities of all the Nordic and Scandinavian countries, too.
• We’ve eaten caviar and drank vodka in Russia.
• We’ve crawled down the Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam.
• We’ve walked on Hadrian’s Wall.
• I’ve danced with a tango dancer.
• We’ve seen the tomb of Eva Peron.
• We’ve seen glaciers in Norway, Chile, Iceland, and Alaska, and seen a glacier calving in the lattermost of those.
• We’ve hiked up a mountain behind a waterfall.
• We’ve drank local beer in the USA, Norway, Iceland, Montenegro, China, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Poland, France, Greece, Spain, Chile, Peru, Nicaragua, Mexico, Colombia, and Jordan.
• We’ve drank local wine in the USA, China, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, France, and Italy.
• We’ve drunk tequila in Mexico.
• We’ve had Peking Duck in Beijing.
• We’ve visited Portmeirion.
• We’ve been up a volcano on a chairlift in Chile.
• We’ve watched the harbour light show in Hong Kong harbour at night.
• We’ve been on boat rides in Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Norway, China, Thailand, Argentina, and Italy.
• We’ve seen a Space Shuttle up close.
• We’ve ridden on a steam train in Uruguay and a narrow gauge train from Canada to Alaska.
• We’ve walked around the Neolithic stone circles at Stonehenge and Avebury.
• We’ve walked the decks of the warship HMS Belfast and the nuclear submarine Le Redoutable.
• We’ve cruised on the oldest cruise ship in the world.
• We’ve crossed the equator on a cruise ship.
• We’ve crossed the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and crossed the Arctic Circle too.
• In Lima we’ve watched a light, music, and projection show on the largest fountain complex in the world.
• We’ve visited a working observatory on a mountain in Chile.
• We’ve explored the ancient sites of Herculaneum, Knossos, Delos, and the Acropolis around the Mediterranean.
• We’ve been to an administrative complex of the Incas in Peru.
• We’ve seen dolphins, sea snakes, rays, and turtles in the Pacific Ocean, and flying fish chased and caught by birds.
• We’ve seen seals, sea lions, iguanas, white-faced capuchins, and a viper in the wild.
• We’ve hiked around a volcano in Nicaragua.
• We’ve been to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar and seen Europe to the north and Africa to the south.
• We’ve been to the Vatican City and visited the largest church in the world, St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
• We’ve cruised through the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.
• We’ve visited the ancient city of Petra in Jordan and taken a trek to visit the Monastery.
• We’ve cruised into our home port of Portsmouth, past the historic dockyard, and we’ve cruised out of our home port of Portsmouth, past the historic dockyard.
• We’ve visited the Giant’s Causeway.
• We’ve seen Scotland from Northern Ireland, and France from England, and both Spain and Morocco from Gibraltar.
• We’ve driven through tunnels under fjords.
• We’ve cruised on a steamship and we’ve cruised on the only sea-going paddle steamer in the world.
• We’ve seen bald eagles, a porcupine up a tree, and dozens of humpback whales bubble net feeding in Alaska.