2024 is way in the past by now, and whew – what a year it was? It was definitely a year filled with ups and downs, both for me personally and for the world.
It was definitely a very different year for me, and it was also by far my worst year as a travel blogger since I started up back in 2018. That’s not to say that 2024 was entirely bad, nor that I did not travel at all, though. The year surely offered both exciting trips as well as many new, fond memories, but also some pretty rough periods.
I’m well aware that we’ve reached 2026 by the time I am posting this, but as I have posted a yearly summary of each and every year since I started this blog, I simply couldn’t stop myself from doing one for 2024 as well. Bear with me.
I guess one of my year’s resolution for this year should be: A comeback on this blog.
Winter
The winter of 2024 was a pretty intense (and long) one. We had the first snow of the year in October, and it continued to snow for many months. This resulted in skiing opportunities (yay), but also that it felt like the entire year was winter. Ew.
Here I was skiing on top of our apartment complex. Simply because I could.
Dog sledding in Rauland
During the endless winter(!) I visited Telemark with my job. One of the days in Telemark we went dog sledding – something I’ve wanted to do for years. I don’t know if the huskies or I were more excited to go out sledding, but there was definitely excitement involved!
Dog sledding was just as fun and memorable as I had imagined. We all got to steer the sled in turns, and the guide was both very friendly and knowledgeable, making us feel safe at all times. An absolute must!
Spring
Japan – my dream destination
I used to say I had always wanted to go to Japan. Now I’ve been – and I still really want to go to Japan.
Most of my days off from work and the travel budget for 2024 was spent in May, when I finally got to fulfill my childhood dream of visiting Japan. We had 3 weeks to explore this wonderful, weird and beautiful country (and I’m saying “weird” as a positive, it was so different, so magical – even more than I had dared dreaming of it being?!)
During our 3 weeks in Japan we visited these places:
- Tokyo
- Okinawa
- Osaka
- Nara
- Hiroshima
- Kyoto
If you’re looking into planning a trip to Japan, I’ve made a guide for you here. More entries from Japan will be up later on.
Visiting God morgen Norge (breakfast TV)
A few days after returning back to Norway from Japan I was contacted by God morgen Norge, the breakfast TV-show in Norway, asking me to talk about traveling solo.
I had already visited their studio just before the pandemic, and although speaking live on TV in front of a gazillion people scares me to death, I had to say yes to this opportunity. Unfortunately I have not been able to find my clip available online, so I cannot share it with you.
Summer
On a personal note
After our 3 fantastic weeks in Japan, and with the months of summer spread out in front of us, I was expecting summer (my favourite season) to be great. But that’s when everything started going downhill. During the months of summer of 2024 our family experienced a lot of sickness, a lot of hospital visits and the death of a loved one, as my dearly beloved grandmother passed away.
All of these health issues made me also question myself a lot. What did I want with my life? A whole lot of existential questions followed, and then I got another round of covid, causing me to have migraines constantly for a week. I was not in a good place in my head.
Returning to the amazing Albania
Luckily, I got better just in time for our next trip – an impromptu trip to Albania to get some sun and charge up our batteries.
Thomas and I had dreamed of returning to Albania after visiting back in 2019. After a few rough months, we decided we wanted to get away for a week to charge our batteries. When we looked up travel ideas for our available dates we were left with two alternatives, one in a Euro based country, and Albania.
With the Euro being expensive, we took this as our sign to finally return back to our beloved Albania (as it does not use Euros). This time we went to the South, to the Sarandë area.
I have some blog posts from our earlier visit to Albania, and for sure there’ll be more to come after this visit.
Haukeliseter – loads of accessible hiking options
During summer I was lucky enough to visit Haukeliseter for work. Haukeliseter is a staffed DNT cabin, and I went there with my friend Ingeborg to create some content. Haukeliseter is located just near the road, and the bus from both Oslo and Bergen stops here, making it super easy to get to for a lot of people.
Haukeliseter is a great spot just for chilling at, but more important, it’s a great base for a lot of hiking trips. It’s actually open all year round, meaning you can both hike from there during summer, or go skiing in winter time.
You can read my post for work from Haukeliseter here (external link)
Concerts, shopping and eating in Trondheim
Although we had “the covid years”, which “forced” us all to travel more locally, there’s still heaps of places in Norway I have never been to, or which I’ve never visited as an adult. I visited Trondheim once, when I was around 15 years old, and I have wanted to visit for many years now.
When one of my favourite bands finally were to play at a music festival in Norway (Bombay Bicycle Club at PStereo), I took this as my sign that a Trondheim trip was finally gonna happen. Thomas, our friend Carolien and I decided to book those tickets. And although the band later on cancelled their show at the festival, we still went.
Trondheim
Trondheim was founded by the vikings, and is a rather old city. It’s climate is rather mild, and it’s a very popular city, especially for students. Some of the best universities in Norway lies here. It’s also a rather charming and beautiful city, with the old area of Bakklandet being my favourite part.
One of the most famous sights here is the cathedral Nidarosdomen. As you might know, I do love a good cathedral, so of course I had to visit during our stay.
Scandic Nidelven – the best hotel breakfast in Norway?
During our stay in Trondheim, we stayed at the hotel Scandic Nidelven. This hotel has been awarded for the best hotel breakfast for several years in Norway. The breakfast buffet was indeed huge (maybe even a tid bit too huge? Like how do you even decide what to eat when there’s so many options, and you have not yet had your first cup of coffee?!)
The gluten free selection was great! Bread, müsli, cookies – and even freshly made pancakes. I was in heaven, and of course I had to go back for a second round.
Summer in Oslo
Summer is by far my favourite season in Oslo. The best days are those warm sunny days, where you have to go to bed before the sun sets. I try to spend as much time in Oslo, or Norway, during summer, as that’s the best time here for me.
Summer in Fredrikstad
As always, we also spent time visiting family in Fredrikstad. I love Fredrikstad, and if you have yet to visit you definitely should. For ideas of what to do in Fredrikstad, you can read my guide here.
Autumn
Quality time in Norway
We spent most of autumn at home, trying to financially recover from Japan and our other trips, as well as focusing on some quality time with family and friends, including sleeping in a hammock in the forest, hiking and cabin trips.
We also went for a lot of runs, and I participated in several organized races.
Winter
Christmas markets and unwinding
The main “downer” about doing a huge trip such as our Japan trip, is that a lot of your days off, as well as your money, go into it.
This meant we spent quite a lot of time at home. But being at home is not a bad thing, when you can relax, visit family or spend time with friends. We also visited Jul i Vinterland, the Christmas market, and a few other Christmas markets in the area. And as winter arrived, so did our new plans for the next year.
Taking up running – me, a runner?!
I never liked running. I actually used to say “If you see me running, you probably should too, as we’re either being chased or we’re late for something”. But, something has changed. During these last few couple of years I have started running. And now I guess I have to consider myself a runner – and I quite enjoy it.
During 2024 I participated in 6 official runs. I did 5 km and 10 kms. I ran on asphalt, in the forest, on the trackfield and on the treadmill. I got motivated, and I still am in 2025.
In 2024 I participated in these races:
- 5 km: Lørenløpet, KK-mila
- 10 km: Sentrumsløpet, Oslo maraton, Jessheim, Hytteplanmila
My personal best (PB) on 5 km was 29.16 minutes (in Jessheim), and my PB on 10 km was 1:00.12 (1 hour and 12 seconds). My goal for 2025 is to beat these results, as well as participating in even more runs, and finish at least one half marathon.
2024 in numbers
- Countries visited: 2 (Japan and Albania)
- New countries visited: 1 (Japan)
- Blog posts: 4
- Books read: 92
What is yet to come? 2025
- In 2025, Thomas and I finally bought our own apartment. After being together for more than 7 years, it feels great to finally own a place together. Most of 2025 so far have been spent planning, renovating and moving into said place. We’re now living close to the forest, meaning loads of options for running, hiking and camping. Oh, and waking up to the sound of birds singing. <3
- In June we went to the Faroe Islands with my mum and step dad, to celebrate their birthdays.
- In July we went to London, to see Oasis play. We also jumped on the train to Paris and spent a few days in “the city of love”.
- In September, Thomas and I had signed up for our first half marathon: the Copenhagen half marathon.
- This of course meant a lot of running, a lot of hiking, a lot of preparations. If you know of a cool run, or even just want to share some running tips with me, please feel free.
- We’ve also booked our next “companion ticket” adventure, but this will be in 2026. This should give is some time to financially recover a bit from buying an apartment.
- Other than this, I am not sure what’s yet to come. I’ve kind of given up on promising more blog posts, more activity in social media etc, as I’ve done this before, and failed at it. However, Desirée travels have existed for 7 years now, and I am not done. I am toying with the idea of posting more regularly, of doing another solo travel and maybe testing out some new blog content idea. I guess we’ll see.
- A dedicated 2025 summary will be posted shortly.
On an end note
As always, I thank you all for following, for commenting, sharing my blog posts and sharing my passion for travels. If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail: desireeskalle@gmail.com
Thank you 🙂
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