Teddy’s 2025 Travel Highlights – Europe, North Africa And The Middle East
Teddy’s 2025 Travel Highlights – Europe, North Africa And The Middle East
2025 – What a mad hectic year of travelling for me and Teddy. My 2025 Travel Highlights were honestly mental. I was only back for a day from Fuerteventura in December last year (2024) when I booked to go to Agadir, Morocco and this will be where I will start.
January – Morocco Agadir and Marrakech
To the annoyance of my two friends Gary and Jacqui – who had planned a holiday to Morocco several months before – on the 3rd of January I myself arrived in Agadir after finding an Incredibly cheap flight to get out here myself.
It was bad of me really –
I knew it wouldn’t go down to well when they found out but when I see that from Luton (my local airport) I could get here to Agadir for only £15 I just could not help myself.
It did feel a bit wrong really Invading their space like this but I think they must have had the last laugh when it turned out that I was staying in a village 2 hours away, and nowhere near their hotel.
It was certainly a lot of hassle – the place I booked to stay at was an apartment in a place called Awrir (Aourir). It isn’t exactly the sort of place you want to be stuck in for a whole week as someone looking to have a good time in a hot, sunny country.
Typical me (yet again). You really can’t make this stuff up.
I didn’t actually mind the apartment here itself but the area was – as Gary said after he see it pretty grim. It was at the time – one of the most run down, poor areas I ever stayed in but it got better over the week I kind of got used to it.
Thankfully, I was offered another place after asking to stay at my place in Awrir for a bit longer – this was in Adrar, a town much closer to Agadir, and much more developed with a nearby Supermarket and of course the Crocopark only 20 minutes walk away.
My mind was a lot more at ease staying here and better still my host Mohammed was kind enough in the end to take me to my coach stop to get to Marrakech.
This was my first time In Marrakech – I found it quite overwhelming – especially navigating through the medina for the first time but what really made my trip so memorable was my first time going to Ouzoud Waterfalls and meeting the Wild Barbary Macaques here.
It was a trip with its good and bad moments but ultimately I must have liked it here because before I even left the country I had booked myself another flight to come back out to Agadir and Marrakech for March.
Actually, for Ramadan but I didn’t realise this at the time.
February – A Month In England
It was fair to say that in February of this year I really needed a break from my travels. The Intensity of travelling Morocco was definitely weighing on my mind – and considering all the travelling I did at the end of 2024 – when I travelled to 9 countries in 11 days – plus my stay in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura it just felt long a long time since I spent any time at home.
So, I didn’t go away In February although one flight I did book was for my friend to come with me back out to Morocco in March.
It was a good choice I think and the same flight was still available for £15 each way – so I was pretty cool with paying this extra money.
March – Back To Agadir, and Marrakech
I wondered if this was why the flights were so cheap – Ramadan is probably not the best time to Visit Morocco for non-Muslims lol. But, It was good to come back here and especially this time I was a lot more ready for it.
First of all, me and my friend were able to rent an apartment in Agadir from the same host as last time. I didn’t even have to make a booking – it was great. I contacted Mohammed after I arrived and he was trusting enough to wait till my last morning before I paid him, and he again took me to the coach station for me to get to Marrakech.
Plus, me and my friend this time actually stayed at an apartment in Agadir – much nearer to the main strip. Still an hour away walking but it was actually fine.
We set off to Marrakech after Agadir and I was very happy to come back to the Sun Hostel again, and to bring my friend to Ouzoud.
Of course, we see the monkeys again here and the waterfall was right where I left it lol. I didn’t see the rainbow last time but this time around I did and for both of us we thought this was quite amazing.
I was so glad that I come back here again after January. Especially coming back to Ouzoud with my friend. Plus, it really made up for all the hassle I had coming in January. It might have been Ramadan but overall it definitely wasn’t a bad time to come here.
April – Malaga, Gibraltar and Back to Gibraltar, Tangier and Back to Marrakech
April was actually Insane. I had the idea on my last trip of heading to Spain from Morocco with a stopover in Gibraltar. I’d spoken to my friend about doing it with her but she just did not have the time so Instead we flew back together and with this trip still in mind I decided to fly back out to Malaga on my own a couple weeks later.
My logic was that I had wanted to get the ferry back and go to Malaga on my recent Morocco trip and this was kind of the next best thing. Not as cool as the ferry crossing but I was quite excited to come to Gibraltar again. I actually really wanted to explore Malaga too after having a somewhat OK couple of days here back in 2022 but this time I really didn’t like it.
My 3rd time this was in Gibraltar after visiting first in 2020 and again in 2022. It was very exciting for me to come back but to say it’s not a good place to come as an alcoholic is a bit of an understatement. It was sad for me because I never got to see the rock apes – even though I made my way up the rock at least twice on this trip.
I also never got to go the zoo and I had the most horrific journey going back to England as I stupidly agreed to buying two full suitcases of clothes off my friend to try and sell on eBay.
I should have been put off coming back to Gibraltar. Just getting home the last time was the worst. Coming back late at night into Kings Cross St. Pancras International with all the drunks, drug addicts and nut cases alone was a living nightmare – especially as I had a bag of Cigarettes and Tobacco – I was very nervous.
But, still It can’t of put me of that much because within only about 10 days I was already back out on a plane to come back here. I don’t know what came over me – one minute I was looking at photos and then I was booking another flight for £51 to come back –
Unfinished business I guess you could say.
My 2nd Time Back In Gibraltar In Less Than 2 Weeks (Still April)
I come back to Gibraltar and I stayed this time around for I think 4-5 days. My drinking was a lot more under control during this stay and I made up for everything basically.
I had a proper hike up the rock and I visited the zoo – apologized for the trouble I caused in the Trafalgar the last time I was here before and had a much better time – not getting into so much trouble.
Also, this give me an opportunity to do something else that I really wanted to do – make the ferry crossing between Morocco and Spain. It was a bit of a headache figuring out how this all works but I got there in the end – even though I took the ferry to Tangier med Instead of Tangier Ville.
Not cool considering I had to then get a 2 hour taxi when I could have have just got the other ferry right outside where I was staying. Definitely a very Important lesson – it was almost as much as the ferry to actually get to Tangier Ville from Tangier med. Don’t do what I did lol
I stayed in Tangier for I think it was 2 or 3 days. From here I caught the train with a short stop in Casablanca before going back to Marrakech for the 3rd time in just over 3 months.
It was actually funny – staying back at the Sun Hostel again, going back to Ouzoud and just having a nice relaxing few days. I never seem to drink when I’m in Marrakech it is like the perfect place to detox and after all the last two months mayhem it was a good way to finish
My highlights were getting drunk with Crazy Steve (1st time in Gib), walking to the top of the rock after several failed attempts and ONCE AGAIN going back to Ouzoud to see the monkeys for the 3rd time in only 4 months!
I must have seen the same monkeys nearly every month since January – some of them I see as babies and when I came back they was actually crawling round on their own.
I probably should have had a break after this but no I just could not help myself.
May – Prague, Czech Republic
Actually, I booked to fly to Malta the day after I made the mad decision to go back to Gibraltar in April (for the 2nd time that month).
It was quite funny because I was told explicitly NOT to book the Malta flight because of the group from my town (Including Gary from January) the Gremlins – this was their holiday not mine (that’s what they said).
They definitely made their feeling quite clear when I did finally get here – not one of them wanted to meet up with me and I really thought as I had come all the way here they would have at least given me the time of day.
I did have a drink with them one night but still it did ruin things a bit for me – feeling left out like this but it was quite funny – mostly due to the journey I had to take to get here.
Originally, with the flights I booked I was supposed to fly out from England with a 4 hour stopover in Warsaw before getting to Malta but Instead I decided I would fly to Prague – get the coach to Poland from here and then catch my layover flight to Malta.
It felt like some weird kind of Intuitive thing to do this. I had a dream about flying somewhere else first and this was what convinced me to fly out to Prague on the 27th of this month.
I will elaborate on this further in the next block for June but it was a nice 5 days visiting the zoo, going on the boat and just being back here after a whole 6 months away.
It was kind of like my destiny to be back here and shortly I will tell you why.
June – Warsaw Poland and Malta
I think it must have been on the 2nd of June when I left Prague for Malta. It was a long trip on the coach and it took a lot of rushing around to get here.
Stupidly, I was drinking the night before in Prague and it was a rough morning having to drag myself out of bed to run out the door. I must have been out till maybe 2AM but I got myself up and to the coach station without too much trouble.
My short time in Poland was Interesting. I never realised how expensive some places are here to eat. Definitely don’t expect fine dining restaurants to be cheap just because there in Warsaw lol
Not too much of a problem though I will admit. My trouble was the day after – I booked an Uber to the airport. I got in a taxi and maybe it was the wrong car but I was none the wiser. He dropped me off at some place outside the City – it was not the airport and then he demanded I pay him.
I didn’t have any cash I had paid already on the Uber app but this driver I got in with took me to some random guest house out in the middle of nowhere and I was sure he was going to smash my head in because I didn’t have any cash to pay for my fayre.
Fortunately, he drove off after a while to my relief. But this was even more of a WTF moment – there was an email through on my phone saying the plane from England that I was supposed to get to Poland before Malta – the flight was delayed by 9 hours.
If I had not come to Prague and made my way to Poland from here then I would have missed my flight. Two things happened that could have stopped me from coming to Malta and as much as the Gremlins would have preferred that I didn’t come here – I actually made it here as planned.
Although, I was quite upset having booked to go to both the Hal Safeni Hypogeum and Gjigantia temples and not getting to go to either. One was cancelled before I could do anything and the other I booked for the wrong month (just typical).
Note: if going to Malta and wanting to visit these ancient sites. Make sure to book months in advance as they sell out tickets very fast.
My highlight of this trip was maybe sitting in the sun reading my Carlos Castaneda book and seeing all the lizards running around. That and maybe seeing the Parrots at the bird park – I think it was a Cockatoo that said “hello, how are you” – I never knew Parrots could say more than one word but I heard this with my own ears.
July – Another Whole Month I Spent In England
I should have just found somewhere to go. I was a bit disappointed with myself this month considering how much I’d been away already, but I suppose the break was much needed.
Travelling I find can be quite mentally challenging – I don’t know I ever manage to cope – especially being as absent minded and accident prone as I am. It was nice to have a break although I should have gone somewhere.
My highlight of July – even though I didn’t leave England was actually making it to all the local car boot sales to help stock up my eBay store.
I definitely missed a good few travelling, and I must have missed a few goodies because of this – but at least this month I was able to make up for it.
August – Estonia – Talinn and Tartu
I actually spoke to my friend about this earlier in the year. March I believe it was, when he first told me about this planned trip. He added me to a WhatsApp group not long after this but whilst I was in Gibraltar – I left some crazy voice note on this group and he deleted me. It was silly really but I did not take this very well.
After that I thought I might as well forget about coming here to Tallinn. I wasn’t happy with my friend about deleting me and I really tried to just give up on the whole idea.
I can’t afford this I thought, but ultimately, I couldn’t resist any longer – I decided to call our other friend who was also Invited to come. I asked him if he wanted me to arrange the flights for me and him to come here, and of course from here it was a go.
It wasn’t as cheap as I would have liked for flights but it was a nice country to visit. Very clean, nice people, many speak English and just some of the places here are just so beautiful. And the air quality you can definitely notice it.
My highlight was maybe Tallinn Zoo and the church in Tartu which I really couldn’t believe what I was looking at. Also, I had a very wet hike in the woods with a lovely girl from Taiwan – I didn’t see any wild bears as I would have liked but it was a great day out.
September – Rome, Milan, Across Italy
This was a trip that I was very iffy about because this was essentially me following my younger sister on her planned family holiday to Tunisia. Even my other sister and our mother was against the idea of me coming here but again I had a dream that persuaded me to pull the trigger.
I suppose it was always going to happen – I kept looking at hypothetical situations to come here. Like I wasn’t going to do it but then I would wonder how cheap it could be to get here and I would look up flights.
In one of these scenarios I see I could get a ferry across from Rome (actually Civitavecchia) and get to Tunisia this way for around £50.00.
This was the idea that was forming in my head and one night I just thought “I’m going to do it” and I booked my flight to Rome – Yes, the temptation got too much – BUT the only Ferry available was from Salerno.
This was a crazy trip, and the whole Rome to Tunis ferry part – what a nightmare that was. I got to Rome OK – had a nice day out at the Zoo and going to see the Colosseum – but the next day It was so hectic. I actually got to Salerno as planned but I still missed the ferry.
I got to the port and I didn’t know where I was going. I wasted so much time going backwards and forwards before I found the desk, but by this time they wasn’t letting anyone else on to board the ferry – I really could have cried. Coming all this way for what? It was annoying but I just paid the money and booked a flight instead.
However, this was another problem I had to fly from Milan meaning I had just 24 hours (maybe a bit more) to get from the South of Italy where I was right up to the North.
It was an Interesting trip actually. I pretty travelled through all of Italy Including San Marino, and it was no problem really I got to the airport fine. Even got to see a couple of the churches in Milan whilst I was here and by the end of the night I actually had made it to Tunisia.
Highlight of my few days in Italy. Definitely seeing the Colosseum but there was some other beautiful sights too such as the mountains and seascapes on the coach trip.
October – Tunisia and Turkey
It was so great to get to Tunisia after all the trouble I had in Italy with missing my ferry, and all the travelling. Getting into my room was the best feeling. I felt so tired from the past week and it was just so nice to relax. I was bitten alive in Italy too and I couldn’t believe how soothing the sea water was here.
I don’t usually do luxury but the Alhambra Thallasso Hotel was very nice to stay at. Even though after all this drama my sister and her family had their holiday changed by the tour company. So I was here and they were now staying in Turkey in Alanya a week later.
This was the crazy part though. I secured a business loan before getting to Tunisia so I had money and I actually couldn’t help myself – I see the flights were quite cheap to Antalya so I booked a flight for 2 days after I got back into the UK.
Getting all my eBay orders (from 2 weeks away) done in a day was quite a mission but basically the day after I was on a flight out to Turkey. It was mad – I came here in a thunderstorm as well. I couldn’t believe I was doing it but here I was.
My highlights were going to the beach in Tunisia, and eating the nice food at the hotel. Visiting the zoo here (a big reason for me coming to visit) and when I got to Turkey – really I was just so excited to see my baby niece here. Of course the rest of my family too but I think actually this was why I came to Tunisia and why I came here. Just for the memories.
November – Georgia and Armenia
I booked to come to Georgia just after I got back from Estonia. This was before I went to Italy, Tunisia and Turkey as well, and it was my friend that arranged the Estonia trip – he had such a good time out there he was chatting to me on Facebook about going away again.
I was thinking about Georgia after hearing a waiter in Estonia talk about how nice it is here. Prior to this it wasn’t somewhere I was too Interested in but I suppose this was the seed planted in my head.
My friend I don’t think was really that serious about coming here with me but myself on the other hand searched for flights and I found what looked like quite a good deal to fly here via Milan Italy. There was no cheap flights back until 10 days later but I think £50 I found a flight back for to my local airport (Luton).
It was an Incredible 10 days. Going up the mountain on the cable car to Mtatsminda Park, going on the big wheel, visiting Tbilisi Zoo, the Bear Sanctuary and of course Armenia.
I actually, really liked Yerevan – it’s a lot like Tbilisi but with it’s own charms. I had maybe just over 2 days here and I booked a tour going all round the country visiting some Incredible places such as Dilijan Armenia’s answer to Switzerland, the Sevan Monastery and it’s nearby Lake.
My highlights from the 10 days were Tbilisi Zoo, Matitoma Park and the day tour of Armenia. I would say this was my best trip of the year and I would love to come back. (Bring on February 2026).
December – Lanzarote and Fuerteventura
This was my 3rd year in a row coming to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. It’s kind of something I think I could just do every year. I’m sure December 2026 will be no different, but we shall see.
It’s just nice here – good weather for winter, cheap flights if you can be smart about it and generally no trouble talking to the locals. Although, it’s a bit naughty here – I found this out the first time I come here back in December 2023. There is kind of a bit of a seedy underbelly of this place and you really have to be quite careful if you are drinking here.
It was a funny time to come here actually – I was on a tour that day where they said how it never rains here in Lanzarote to being stuck outside at night when it started raining. This was crazy because it actually just got worse and worse with the rain.
My last day in Fuerteventura thankfully was good weather but when I got here even still the streets were completely flooded. It was quite unbelievable really like the rain must have followed me all the way back from England.
My highlights were I think the 12 Euro steak dinners and the 1.50 euro pints of beer. I did pretty much the same things as before really but it was cool – it was a nice end to the year.
So, just to summarise I went to a lot of places in 2025 – here is the full list;
- Morocco – Agadir (x2), Marrakech (x3), Tangier and Casablanca (briefly)
- Gibraltar (x2), and Spain (x2) – Malaga and La Linea
- Italy (x3) and San Marino – Rome, Milan, Napoli, Salerno
- Czech Republic, Poland and Malta – Prague and Warsaw
- Estonia – Tallinn and Tartu
- Tunis, Tunisia and Alanya Turkey
- Georgia and Armenia – Tbilisi and Yerevan
- The Canary Islands – Lanzarote and Fuerteventura
14 countries if you count Canary Islands as separate from Spain. I think it was less countries I visited than the year before. I don’t have a round up post for 2024 (starting these from this year 2025) but still pretty impressive really. Going away 10 out of 12 months of the year – how many people you know who have done that? Sure there is some people out there but anyway…
Where Am I Off To Next?
Actually, just before booking my flight to Lanzarote I also booked a return flight to Amman Jordan. So, I am off to Jordan next. Israel is pretty easy to get to from here as well but whether I will go there as well – I am still undecided but anyway look out for my blog post about Jordan coming soon…
Agadir Armenia Bosnia and Herzegovina Budva Czech Republic Dead Sea Jordan Estonia Europe Fuerteventura Georgia Gibraltar Italy Jordan Pass Jordan Travel Experience Jordan Travel Tips Kotor Bay La Linea Lanzarote Malaga Malta Marrakech milan Morocco Mostar North Africa Oasis Wildlife Park Ouzoud Poland Prague Rome Salerno Solo Travel Jordan Spain Tallinn Tangier Tartu Tbilisi The Balkans The Canary Islands Tivat Travelling to Jordan Tunisia Visoko Yugoslavia Zagreb
Keen traveler and digital nomad looking to share my stories from my international trips.
