It was a pretty good year travel wise, but I can’t include my trip earlier this year to the US and Mexico in my highlights because I included it into my 2011 highlights (the trip crossed over from December into January). Mind you, the few overseas and local trips that I took after that were full of great highlights, including jumping out of a helicopter in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, hanging with some kooky tarsiers, big turtles and even bigger humpback whales and adding country number 78 to my list. So without further ado here is my Top Ten Travel Highlights from 2012 (in no particular order):

Balicasag Island, Phillipines
For under $20 I hired a boat (and boat driver!) to take me from Panglao Island in Bohol on a snorkelling trip to the tiny island of Balicasag. Below is a pic of our approach to the island. I spent the day snorkelling over (and in between) magnificent coral reefs surrounded by the usual suspects of colourful fish and surprisingly curious giant turtles. I finished off my day with a delicious meal of grilled chicken and fish and an ice cold San Miguel beer – which was very impressive seeing as the ‘restaurant’ was a really just a few tarps strung up in the trees. Read more →

It wasn’t a big travelling year for me compared to last year, but the few overseas and local trips that I took were full of great highlights. From staying at five-star resorts (with our own private butler) to skiing untracked powder (in Australia no less) to dining with locals in the mountains of Vietnam (oh, except the smoked pig’s intestines part) to snorkelling with a dole of turtles (that’s the correct collective noun I believe!). So, without further ado here is my Top Ten Travel Highlights from 2010 (in no particular order):

The Balé Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali
Fluffy slippers, private pool, cookie jars, breakfast in your own private garden and an on-call 24-hour butler. There’s nothing like a bit of indulgent opulence to make you feel indulgently opulent. I ‘won’ a bunch of nights at any one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World (it was part of my prize for ASTW Travel Book of the Year) and we also stayed at the The Viceroy in Ubud (which was just as terrible). Read more →