The year 2017 will come to an end in a few days. I am grateful for the opportunity to look back and reflect on all the events it brought with it. I wrote my first post in this series in 2016 (2016: The Year in Review). And knowing I had to do this again this year motivated me to โcreateโ a year worth writing about. So, without further ado, hereโs the best of 2017 from Travel with a Pen.
Highlights!
This year was a particularly good one travel and career-wise for me. After many sleepless nights, working weekends and stalled travel plans, I got โmy penโ โ which symbolizes a major milestone in my career progression. If this was the only thing I achieved in the year, I would still deem it a very successful one. I had a lot of people rooting for me on this one and Iโm grateful to each and every one of you, for the push and encouragement to get through with it. Muchos gracias!
As for Travel with a Pen, I think we got a little bit more recognition this year.ย First, was the chance to be part of Social Prefectโs panel for the Social Media Week in February. Then, I got to travel to Abuja for Travelstart Nigeria. I made the trip with the best girls โ Mofe of Naija Nomads, Lola of Unravelling Nigeria and Fola of Folaswaka. (They all have super inspiring blogs and IG pages, you should totally check them outโฆ). The girls and I also worked on a couple of videos for our travel channel โ Through Our Eyes. Please, subscribe if you havenโt done so already.
And then I got invited out to lunch at Thai Thai restaurant by a lovely friend of mine, Yvette. The food was so good, it had to make it to the highlights! This year was also great for connecting with readers and new friends from all around the globe. I got featured on KacheeTee, iModelAfrica, TMid, Naidrenalin and DiusorOdiakosa andย received numerous emails from readers just checking in to say hello, or to ask questions about travel or to let me know how this blog has inspired them to travel more and differently too!
Iโm always so elated to see your emails. Thank you for writing to me and for all the comments you leave here. Looking forward to hearing more from you in the coming yearโฆ
Lowlightโฆ
I began the year by transitioning from my old blog (Chapter One) into this one. It was a long, hard transition due to constraints at work and I employed the services of a company to help with the move. Needless to say, that was probably the worst decision I made all year. The company failed to deliver as per the plan, remained unbothered when things turned sour, I received no refunds or any official apology, lost my old comments, stats, time and of course money.ย In the end, I just had to be patient enough to work on the new blog myself. I have taken away many lessons from that experience, so itโs all good.
Month-by-Month Adventures on Travel with a Pen
January: I began the year with a trip to Omu Resort in Lagos. It was a fun โlil trip I made with my friend and a good way to kick off in 2017. Later the same month, I visited the neighbouring countries of Benin Republic and Togo on a budget. This was my second visit to Benin R and first to Togo and I absolutely enjoyed the trip.
In February, I went hiking, forest camping and searching for wild African elephants in Ogun State with Unravelling Nigeria. I absolutely loved the thrill of camping in Nigeria and our mini safari โ which ended in a cold trail. The entire trip was so much fun and Iโm hoping for more trips like this in 2018.
Inย April, my sister and I took a road trip from Nigeria to Ghana. We had a stop at Grand Popo (Benin Republic) before visiting Accra and Cape Coast. If you havenโt checked out the posts, make sure you do :). I also have a review of all the services we usedย and a detailed cost breakdown too.
July was for spectacular views in Obudu and Agbokim waterfalls. My sister and I also visited Calabar, where we had a wonderful time connecting with family and new friends. I also have a detailed breakdown of the trip and a review of the services we used.
In August, we teamed up with Travelstart Nigeria for a trip to Abuja. While we were there, we took a detour to the very beautiful Kajuru Castle in Kaduna. We also used the train service from Abuja to Kaduna in order to get there. We packed in many new experiences on this short trip and Iโm just happy I got to spend some quality time with the best travel buddies!
I ended September and began October with a trip to Kwara State by Unravelling Nigeriaย and Jansport Nigeria. This trip had us chasing the highest waterfall in West Africa and visiting the first museum in Nigeria. We also got to visit Dada Pottery and got a first-hand tutorial of the making of clay pots.
November and December were work-intensive months. I spent my weekends at work and it paid off when I finally got my pen. I am also doing an excerpt reading for my book โBeyond the Beautiful Seaโ which got shortlisted for the Saraba Manuscript Prize. The event is on Saturday 23rd December, 3-5 pm at 16 by 16โFlat 16, 16 Kofo Abayomi St., Victoria Island, Lagos. Feel free to stop by ๐
This year was certainly filled with lots of exciting adventures. I am happy to have been able to share this journey with every one of you and I am grateful for all your support, emails, comments and feedback.
PS: The articles below explain how I am able to travel with respect to time and money.
5 ways to balance your work travel life | How I afford to travel
PPS: My number 1 goal for this blog is to encourage [Nigerians] to travel more (and differently) and to help dispel certain travel myths โ one of which is the myth that โonly rich people can travelโ. Like Iโve said a few times, you donโt always need a large budget to travel (if that is your passion). Donโt be afraid to start small and scale up laterโฆ
I hope 2018 would be a wonderful year for us all!
I would love to hear about your year. Did you try anything new or exciting? What are your (travel) plans for 2018?
