I first came across the #take12trips challenge a couple of years ago and thought it sounded like a great concept. Taking 12 trips in 12 months? Yes please! If you love travelling it’s great, but as a student my immediate concern was funding it. It’s all well and good when you are earning a lot, or if someone is paying you to take those trips, but otherwise it just isn’t possible. Or so I thought…
It’s easy with travelling to assume that a trip has to be a big journey, or a few weeks in a far flung destination, but that wasn’t the point of the #take12trips challenge. Started by Clare from Need Another Holiday, the whole point of the challenge was that it was meant to be flexible. Big trip, small trip, it didn’t matter as long as you were taking 12 trips in 12 months. I realised the other day that actually, it hadn’t been much a challenge in 2016. I had completed it by accident! And there was me thinking there would be years before I would achieve it.
So how did I manage? Well it is a lot easier when your friends live all over the place. Suddenly catching up with your friends involves a trip and a visit. Living the opposite end of the country from James has also helped. When we see each other we want to make the most of our time together, which usually involves day trips at least. Working full time, I do have more money to spare but I also want to make the most of my weekends. Here were my 12 trips for 2016:
January – London for New Year
February – Dance competition season meant heading to Blackpool for the national university competition
March – Off to France to see a friend in Abbeville and explore Amiens
April – Off to Germany to visit Chloe in Heidelberg
May – Lancaster (for more dancing) and London
June – Making the most of my time left in York with a day at the races and a trip to the Minster
July – Northumberland with James and his family
August – Trip to Bristol Balloon Fiesta
September – A long weekend in Bradford
October – Liverpool to see my brother
November – Returning to Bristol and a trip to Edinburgh
December – Cologne Christmas Markets
It’s not until you see it all written out that you realise quite how much you’ve done, especially as that’s only a sample of the places I have been and things I have done this year. Having accidentally completed the challenge in 2016, I now fully intend to complete the #take12trips challenge in 2017. Do you think you could manage it?
