Time flies when you’re having fun.
And in our case, we were so busy having fun we’ve been, shall we say, delinquent in writing about our travels.
2025 was one of our busiest travel years yet. From dream destination visits that left us enchanted to business trips that left us exhausted, we spent just as much time on the road as we did at home.
In many ways, 2025 was a return to bleisure travel, a topic we have written about before and a practice we lean into whenever we can. When I spent a few weeks traveling throughout the USA’s east coast speaking at conferences, I added a few days to my trips to visit friends and explore new destinations. As conference season ended, instead of rushing home, we paused in New York City for a few days so Adam could work from his company’s headquarters while I decompressed over late lunches and long dinners with friends and family in the area. On one hand, lengthening already long trips can seem like a bad idea; after a while, we missed our bed and all the clothing that didn’t make the cut when packing suitcases. On the other hand, those extra days offered a jolt of energy and many moments of joy and gratitude; we both appreciate how travel connected us to the people and places we love the most.
Usually, our annual Travel Year in Review post is a look back at all of the articles we have written. This year, it’s a preview of the articles we have yet to publish. As always, it’s a moment to reflect on the fun, the challenges, and all of the wonderful experiences that created a great year.
Countries/Cities Visited in 2025
- Slovenia (Bled, Ljubljana, Piran)
- Portugal (Lisbon)
- Norway (Oslo, Longyearbyen)
- Australia (Perth, Uluru, Sydney)
States/Cities Visited in 2025
- Nevada (Las Vegas)
- New York (NYC)
- Texas (Fort Worth)
- Kentucky (Louisville, Lexington)
- Tennessee (Nashville)
- Florida (Tampa, Orlando)
- Michigan (Detroit)
- Indiana (Indianapolis)
- Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia)
- Massachusetts (Boston, Salem, Sturbridge)
- New Jersey (Jersey Shore)
- Maine (Portland)
- Washington, DC
- Virginia (multiple locations)
- Maryland (multiple locations)
- North Carolina (Boone)
Best Places of 2025
There is almost nothing on the planet that could compare with the wild, pristine landscapes of Svalbard. We watched walruses splash from the icy Arctic Ocean and snuggle up next to friends to warm up. Two curious polar bears surveyed our ship as we silently observed them from just a few hundred yards away (and a few decks above!). We had a snowball fight on an ice shelf 500 miles from the North Pole with new friends from all corners of the globe. We loved Svalbard in the same way we loved our trip to Antarctica almost a decade ago; it’s an incredible place and one worth adding to your bucket list.
If Svalbard sounds colder than you prefer, our recent trip to Uluru connected us to incredible scenery in far warmer temperatures. We spent 24 hours at one of Australia’s most sacred sites. On our first night, we ate dinner under a cloudless sky and millions of stars in the shadow of the monolith. The next morning, we woke before the sun to spend three hours on a base walk that brought us so close to Uluru we could touch it. To say we were in awe would be an understatement.
Best Meals of 2025
There’s a lot that goes into a truly memorable meal, and the first one that comes to mind is the sea bass we had at a restaurant in Piran, Slovenia. Freshly caught and simply seasoned and grilled, it was the perfect dish to have while dining by the water. Just as good as the food was the company; we were in the middle of a small group tour, and by the time lunch was over it felt like we had been dining with old friends instead of new ones.
The incredible meal served at Feitoria in Lisbon also makes the short list this year. I traveled to Lisbon for my company retreat, and I celebrated my company’s anniversary with a dinner that truly earned its Michelin star. From fish dishes to a salad made entirely of fresh, edible flowers and plants, the experience was unique and delicious.
Best Tours of 2025
This year, we have a four-way tie for best tour with each of the guided experiences we enjoyed while we were in Australia. We took two tours at Uluru—one to see it at sunset and a second to hike around it at sunrise—and both connected us to the spiritual side of the enormous rock in the middle of the outback.
In Sydney, we took a terrific daytrip to the Blue Mountains with Feel Good! Nature Tours . Our guide, Craig, told us he grew up with the Blue Mountains in his backyard, and his deep knowledge of the best—and least crowded—spots helped us explore away from the huge groups of tourists. We also loved our Hunter Valley wine tour with Chris from Dave’s Tours. We visited three wineries, and each of them showcased some of the region’s best grapes and most talented winemakers. Although wine tours factor into many of our vacations, this tour felt relaxed and very, very local.
Worst Memories of 2025
I started the year with a 4-day stay in the hospital for pneumonia, and I wasn’t quite up to speed by the time we took off for Slovenia just a month later. Although the trip itself was wonderful, our tour to the Skojcan caves really tested my depleted lung function when we found out the elevators weren’t working and we would need to climb 900 steps from the caves back to the visitor’s center when we were done. Although we made it with a little bad language and a whole lot of deep breaths, the experience was a memorable reminder that our health plays a huge role in the kind of travel we typically undertake and the importance of knowing when limitations might be needed. Although I am fully healed now, I never did tell her doctor about that day…
Best Memories of 2025
For me, our trip to Australia’s Rottnest Island was a huge highlight of the year. Getting the chance to see the internet-famous quokkas in real life was incredible, and I loved getting to explore the island on foot and on bicycle. I also loved the time we spent in Svalbard and the genuine friendships I formed with some of our fellow passengers. We have made it out of the group chat to explore New York and Philadelphia together, and our group will tackle a few more trips together this year. Travel is so often motivated by the sights we see and experiences we have, but it’s the connections we form with fellow travelers that really makes it all worthwhile.
Best Lesson Learned in 2025
In a year especially full of business travel, my best lesson learned is all about building time into the schedule to protect the itinerary. I was fortunate to speak at three conferences in two weeks, which involved a carefully choreographed series of flights with limited wiggle room for things to go wrong. One intentional choice I made was to leave one conference early in order to catch the earliest flight possible to my next destination—a decision that really paid off when that flight aligned with the USA’s government shutdown, which impacted our air travel. As delays rippled through the airports, I was safely on my morning flight and, ultimately, at my destination with plenty of time for dinner (and some last-minute panic about my preparedness for my very first keynote address!).
When you travel, give yourself more time than you think you will need to get to your destination on time. Take the earlier flight, schedule a longer layover in case a flight is delayed, and aim to arrive a day (or even two) early so you don’t miss the events that are most important to you. The added space will almost certainly alleviate your stress, which means you can arrive at your destination relaxed and ready for whatever your itinerary has in store.
One bonus lesson ties into our 2024 Travel Year In Review, where we shared how excited we were to spend New Year’s Eve at Hogmanay in Edinburgh. When the festival was cancelled just 24 hours before it was supposed to start, we had to find a way to salvage our trip in mere minutes. Within a half hour, we found a way to pivot our trip to London, which was an incredible alternative and ensured we didn’t fly 6 hours away from home just to watch fireworks on a TV screen.
When your vacation goes offtrack, don’t panic. There are always alternatives to explore and new, unexpected adventures to have. We’ll get back to Hogmanay one day, but we don’t regret taking the opportunity to stand by the Thames watching fireworks explode over Big Ben and the London Eye.
Final Thoughts
After a bit of a hiatus, we’re excited to be back to writing and sharing our adventures with you as you think about how you’ll use your vacation time. Stay tuned for new articles, a few videos, and perhaps even a podcast that we’ll share more about in the coming months. And, of course, we have big travel plans for 2026: a return to one of our favorite countries, a week on one of the world’s most famous rivers, and a road trip to a few national parks are just the start of what we’re working on this year.
Thanks for being part of Road Unraveled—Happy New Year!
Related Posts
Take a look at some of our previous Year in Review articles.
