Last year my sister helped me bring in 2015 in Naples Italy and I feel like the year has just flown by! I ended up in 16 countries this year!

Where to start, where to start? At the beginning I suppose.

TANZANIA: Diving right into the New Year I was headed on an Africian Safari and to summit Africa’s tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. It was awesome! Got to leave technology behind for over 10 days and not only set my first foot in Africa, but really challenge myself to climb a mountain to the tippy top. Talk about a rewarding adventure!
QATAR: On my way back from Tanzania I spent a full day in Qatar and was able to hire a driver to show me around the city. It was an eyeopening experience and one I was able to have because of the @qatarairways stopover service where they provide visa, hotel, and transport to and from hotel for long layovers.

FRANCE: A couple weeks later we were skiing the slopes in Chamonix France waiting for high winds to settle down so we could see the beauty of the alps from Aguille di Midi. And what a sight it was to see on a clear day with not many people around. With over 5 mountains to ski you won’t be bored for many days on these slopes.

The same day I was leaving for Chamonix, a British Airforce officer said, Hey, meet me at this airfield and we’ll go for a ride in my plane. I’ll show you your house from the sky and we’ll do a drive by of a couple of islands along the way. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! 

SWITZERLAND: Lucerne to be precise. A boy I met in Greece at the end of 2014 invited me to his home town for a visit and how could I refuse? With plenty of things to explore and everything within walking distance, Lucerne is definitely a place to set your sights on if you are just passing through Switerland and need an extra day trip.

SENEGAL: My first work trip, wasn’t the worst thing that ever happened to me, but it certainly wasn’t the best. With an African bacterial infection after the first 2 days I was definitely under the weather for the next week after that.

HOLLAND: When the ladies storm the city, you know it’s going to be a good time! Headed to Amsterdam to celebrate King’s Day we took in the sights, biked around the city, celebrated the King’s Birthday, and it was an awesome weekend. Special shoutout to Krista who flew all the way from ‘Merica for a weekend with us!

HUNGARY: Sherrie and I were out the door the next weekend to gallivant Budapest with a friend I know stationed in France. Learning the difference between Buda and Pest we toured around trying a Hungarian tasting menu, dancing the night away at ruin pubs, and enjoying our time in this city.

AMALFI COAST: When friends come to visit better do something extremely cool, like Path of the Gods. Or take them to your command’s Dining out, because everybody needs a small introduction to the military at some point right? haha

Next, dad came!  From WWII sites to old relics, we headed to Northern Italy, ending up at a city that’s falling apart. He even agreed to be my date at the Opera. 🙂

BIKING LAKE COMO: Pushing myself to the next level I decided to bike the entire way around Lake Como in only 2 days. I wish I would have had 3 but 160km in 2 days is doable and the beauty alone is worth the endeavor. Ending that weekend at the Milan expo we decided to see how many countries we could walk through before having to head home.

SAN MARINO: Lipstick stamps in the passport, OR a stamp from a country within Italy that is not the Vatican. Say what? Rivaling the Holy See and the Vatican for size this city on the hill still has full independence today and Sherrie and I stopped for a half a day trip on our way from Naples to Slovenia. I wouldn’t spend more than a half a day here but it is definitely worth a visit.

Source: @GoRafting Guide

SLOVENIA: Road trip for an adventure weekend camping way off the beaten path in Slovenia. White water rafting, zip lining, jumping off huge rocks, visiting Lake Bled via a scenic mountain overpass. If you are looking for some adventure and some time away from the world, Bovek is the place to go!

WASHINGTON STATE TO CANADA: Home to visit my family in early August, one of my friends from high school was getting married in Jasper Canada and we thought, why not make it a scenic road trip?! And so we were off, From Washington to Canada, glamping, and driving up the Icefield Parkway. IT WAS EPIC.

CROATIA: Back to the ship for a week, we were given a night out in Rejika for dinner and drinks. #Libertycall

UNITED KINGDOM: I couldn’t let the summer slip away with at least one music festival. Headed to Leed’s primarily because Mumford & Sons would be headlining, I spent 3 days listening to EDM, rock, heavy metal, and was 2 rows back from the stage for MUMFORD & SONS. It was an epic weekend, even when my camping equipment was lost luggage on the flight over.

SAILING CINQUE TERRE: One of my most scenic trips in Italy we headed North to Genova and sailed down the coastline all the way to Porto Venere and back up over 4 days. Battling rough seas was a bit hard for me but it was totally worth it.

MOROCCO: With round trip tickets for $80 we were off exploring the souq’s, learning how they make leather at a leather tannery, and taking a road trip into the desert to stay in berber tents at the doorway to the Saharan.

GERMANY: Attending the main event, Oktoberfest, in Munich, we weaseled our way inside tents, saw the keg tapping ceremony on the opening day, and drank liters of beer with people from all around the world.

TUSCAN CASTLE: Seems like another girls weekend was only fitting, we headed North to the Tuscan hills to stay at a Tuscan castle, drank fine wine, ate fine foods, and took in the beauty during the harvesting season. A dream come true.

SPAIN: For Megan’s Birthday weekend we headed to Madrid with a slight detour South, to the city of Toledo where it was beautiful and we could eat good tapas, drink good drinks, and listen to live music, before heading back to the city for All Hallow’s Eve as Disney princesses.

PORTUGAL: Sending me back to the ship for a week underway to sail from Lisbon to Italy we had a day off in Lisbon to go exploring with friends. #Libertycall

Steel Beach Picnic

LONDON:

Finally heading to London for the festive Christmas season there was Christmas cheer in the air, ice skating, HARRY POTTER touring, double decker buses, Winter Wonderland, Lion King on broadway, almost too many things to count.

Where do I plan on bringing in 2016? 

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

I found out a couple months ago that I got picked up for another Naval Officer Program and I’ll be headed to California for grad school in March. All around excited for the new year and to head back to America for a little while. Looks like my new job will put me back in Asia in a couple years. We’ll see how things turn out.

This article appeared first on The Cassey Excursion.