Click here for my year in 50 photos…
Well peeps…we made it. Tonight is New Year’s Eve, tomorrow will be the first day of 2015, and in just 8 days The Hostel Girl will be one year old.
Honestly, 2014 has been a mad roller-coaster. I began the blog sitting in my “room”, a top bunk in a hostel in Budapest. I laughed, loved, and lived in Budapest until May when I decided living wasn’t enough. I wanted more travel.
I also wanted to breathe proper life in to The Hostel Girl blog, something you have all helped me do with your kind messages, tweets, facebook likes, newsletter subscriptions, and youtube subscriptions. I still love hostels, and to share the hostel life with so many of you out there all over the world is really special to me, and I hope to you too! Because I’ve been so focused on creating a great online resource for all you hostel travellers, the site has undergone a few changes… for now I’m happy but let me know if there’s anything I could improve on!
Where I’ve Been…
Budapest – Bratislava – UK (London – Exeter – Birmingham) – Athens – Paris – Rotterdam – Amsterdam – The Hague – Brussels – Bruges
Your Favourite Posts
3. Tuesday Travel Inspiration: Ryan Sweeney
4. LAUNCH: YHA Brighton Hostel
5. Tuesday Travel Inspiration: Sally Grimes
Your Favourite Youtube Video
Your Favourite Instagram Photo
2014 Treasures
Living in Budapest… Staying in one city full time wasn’t for me. But the family we had there and the memories of growing a life in such a vibrant city is definitely one of the biggest highlights of the last year. Even if it feels like a lifetime ago now.
Spending a week in Paris… It had been three years since I last visited Paris and it had failed to blow me away. This year though I got to spend my time there slowly wandering the streets, exploring the local spots with friends and visiting the Notre Dame as many times as I saw fit. My old impressions were swept away by brooms of street cafés, laughter, and good food.
Being published in Company magazine… thanks to a tip off from my beauty-writer friend Hayley, I not only managed to get a short pieced on Essaouira published in print in Company Magazine, but I also wrote a piece about the pros & cons of hostel living for their website.
Attending conferences… this might seem pretty boring to you guys, but having the chance to throw myself completely into events such as TBEX and the Hostel & Budget Traveller opened me up to a world where I wasn’t the only one raving about the exciting future of hostels & travel blogging. I also got to meet some great new friends, such as Mark & Merit from ‘Go Around Europe’, and spend my 23rd birthday with the fab duo Nathan & Sarah from LiveDreamDiscover.
My Favourite Hostel
I think it’s pretty obvious to those who read my reviews regularly that my favourite hostel this year had to be Clink78 in London. The whole crew are absolutely fabulous so make sure to check it out if you’re heading to London!
My Favourite Destination
Even though I only had the chance to spend 24 hours in Bruges, the city glowed with christmas lights and shimmery reflections of the beautiful architecture in the rivers below. I would have loved to stay longer, and can’t imagine future European christmases without regular trips to the enchanting Belgium town…
What Now for 2015?
Truthfully, I still have a lot of planning to get down to for 2015. Ultimately, I still want this blog to be the main focus. I can’t express how much I have enjoyed creating content for you incredible readers, and how exploring as a solo traveller to find gems not just for myself but also for you guys has opened my eyes to so many more beautiful locations and people in Europe.
My concrete plans last only as far as the end of January, and will all take place in the UK, which will allow me more time to plan and produce content I still have left over from last year. The possibilities after that are endless. Part of me is wondering whether to get a ‘proper’ job, whilst another part is dragging me towards another hostel job somewhere. Either way, I am first and foremost The Hostel Girl and I’m sure whatever road that leads me down will hopefully inspire the rest of you to hit the road too!
Happy New Year & all the best for 2015!
Lots of love, as always…
4 comments
It was great to meet you in 2014 and I see many ways to work out our collaborations in 2015! Can’t wait for our trip to Dublin and Ireland in January!
YES! Actually I need to Skype you about that haha! But fabulous to meet you both can’t wait for Ireland!!
Looks like you had an incredible year! I’m also a big fan of Bruges, those pretty buildings all lit up at night is something spectacular.
I agree – I was so surprised, especially as I hadn’t intended to even go! Hopefully next year I’ll make it for a few more days 🙂
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