Nice to See an Old Friend Again

Hello again, our dear old friend. It’s been a while.

The last few times I wrote here, we were somewhere between hot springs in New Zealand, turquoise water in Samoa and stone alleys in Rhodes. It was 2018, and we had just come back from a big round-the-world(ish) trip. People often call that kind of thing a “once in a lifetime” journey, but to me it’s really more about mindset. With the right priorities, there can be plenty of big trips in one life – and every single one is a once in a lifetime experience in its own unique way.

Opening this blog again feels a bit like finding an old travel notebook at the back of a bookshelf – a bit dusty, but the moment you flip it open, you’re right back there. Sulfur in Rotorua. Sticky heat in Apia. Feta and gyros in Athens. That soft, tropical haze over Koh Mook’s beaches. Delayed flights, random kindness from strangers, and that lovely feeling of being very far from home and exactly where you’re supposed to be.

A lot has happened since then.

So, What Have We Been Up To?

Short version:

• We went home.

• We went back to work.

• We did normal life things.

• We kept talking about “the next big trip” in that “someday, maybe” way.

• And somewhere along the way, we went from two travellers to three.

Back in 2018 it was just the two of us. Now we travel as a trio: two adults and one 5-year-old who has strong opinions about playground quality, pizza, and which seat on the airplane is objectively the best.

He’s only heard stories about those earlier adventures – but this time, he’s very much part of the story.

The Blog Was Quiet. We Weren’t.

This blog has been quiet, but we haven’t been completely still.

There haven’t been any multi-month, round-the-world style trips since 2018, but there have been plenty of smaller adventures that kept the travel bug very much alive. Here's a short list of highlights:

• Staying with our Dutch friends in the Netherlands – 2019 for King’s Day and flower fields, 2023 for cosy pre-Christmas vibes including Sea World, lots of train watching with the kids and a very important meeting with Sinterklaas.

• A trip to Vienna in early 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic when masks started appearing in the streets – though the first moment we really noticed the shift was actually at Helsinki Airport, where almost every Asian traveller was already wearing one. It felt like a quiet sign that something much bigger was about to unfold. Vienna was also special because we got engaged on the Giant Ferris Wheel.

• Budapest in November 2021 – Our son’s first trip abroad, joined also by his grandma (my mum). We ended up in a huge suite we got with just a small extra fee, which felt almost comically spacious with a toddler running laps across the room. We spent a day at the Budapest Zoo, which was a big hit for the smallest member of the crew. The food was also seriously good.

• Lake Bled – Piran – Pula – Medulin road trip, April 2022.
  I flew to Venice with a couple of friends, we rented a car and planned to drive to Ljubljana and Lake Bled… until we checked the rain radar. In true flexible-traveller fashion, we turned the steering wheel south instead and headed to sunny Piran, continued down the coast to Pula and Medulin, and visited the Postojna cave system on the way back. Pure, beautiful spontaneity...and honestly, the sort of trip that quietly whispers “we should do this again” (Miikka and Vesku, you’ve been warned)

• A handful of work trips to Rotterdam 2022, -23, with enough free time to explore the city’s food halls and street food spots, and to get a feel for the city beyond meeting rooms. 

• A six-week workation in Fuengirola spring 2023, with the first and last week off from work – a soft test of combining everyday life, laptops and beach walks. We only had a rental car for a couple of day trips, which did wonders for the step count: Fuengirola’s hills plus everyday errands meant roughly 200 km of walking in a month. Thanks to Renfe being free at the time, hopping on a local train felt almost too easy, and we used it a lot. We also did simple day trips to Málaga and Nerja caves, Mijas, Gibraltar and Caminito del Rey. Altogether it felt like a nice blend of “living there for a bit” and still seeing a lot.

• My first-ever package holiday to the Canary Islands in April last year 2024 – which, I must admit, challenged my inner backpacker identity a little. The classic “all-inclusive, don’t leave the hotel for two weeks” crowd has never really been our tribe. But honestly? It was easier, sunnier and far more enjoyable than I expected. We went with a friend family, so the kid had a buddy his own age to run around with, which made the whole trip even better. And yes — Lollo & Bernie kept the kids entertained, and the boy still sleeps with his little Lollo plush toy to this day.

• A 40th birthday trip to Croatia among friends (I won't list you all, you know who you are) also last year 2024, and from there a solo continuation to Sarajevo – a city that wasn’t on my wish list for long, but ended up being one of the most memorable surprises. The red-painted “rose” markings from mortar impacts, the beautiful hills surrounding the city, the areas still marked with yellow tape and landmine warnings… The traces of the war are unmistakable, yet the city is warm, fascinating and full of life.

• And most recently this year 2025, a spring trip to Croatia and Montenegro with a friend (shoutout to Ville). Montenegro is one of those places we definitely need to return to someday – stunning landscapes, great seafood, slightly less touristy than Croatia, though you can see tourism slowly growing there too.

• A couple of Sini’s solo escapes as well – a 2023 getaway to Nice and Antibes with long seaside walks, unapologetic day drinks and that rare, unhurried time with friends we don’t get to see nearly often enough. And a trip to the Italian countryside in September 2025 for a friend’s wedding (great people, a beautiful villa, tiny villages and a lot of happy tears and laughter).

None of these felt big enough on their own to start a “new season” of the blog at the time (although I did consider it during our workation) – but together they’ve been important stepping stones. They reminded us that travel doesn’t have to be all or nothing, and that good things happen when we keep making space for them.

The world is different. So are we... Kind Of.

Since we last wrote here, the world has been through… a lot.
And while we haven’t exactly reinvented ourselves as travellers, a few things have changed — mostly because travelling with a 5-year-old requires a slightly different approach than wandering around Asia with a $5 guesthouse and questionable electric wiring right next to the shower (not that I wouldn’t happily sleep in that tiny village guesthouse in Laos again – or in similar places elsewhere in the world, with a hard, slightly questionable mattress and no frills at all; there’s a strange kind of rough-around-the-edges charm to all of it).

These days we do a bit more planning.
Not colour-coded spreadsheets, but enough to make sure the place we stay actually functions, the neighbourhood is safe, and there’s at least a theoretical chance of a playground somewhere nearby.

We think more about daily rhythm and safety, too.
Not in an anxious way — just the basic “maybe let’s not take the midnight bus through the mountains this time” kind of wisdom.

But the essence is the same:
we still like to wander, follow instincts, change plans on the fly and keep space for the unexpected. Even with a bit more preparation, we’re not doing minute-by-minute itineraries. (We’re not that grown-up.)

Why are we bringing this blog back from the dead right now?

Because the big wheels have been turning for a while, and something bigger is quietly bubbling under the surface.

I just had my last day at work  before taking some time off (thank you Jukka for making this possible), and let’s just say the next chapters of this blog won’t be written from our living room. We’ve got flights booked, places to stay sorted, and enough planning done to feel prepared — but also enough gaps to keep things interesting.

The next update should come from somewhere on the road, hopefully with a coffee in hand, a slightly confused sleep schedule and that familiar “okay, this just got real” feeling.

So yes, it’s nice to see an old friend again. Let’s see where we end up this time. Stay tuned! 🌍✈️