A VERY HONEST RATING OF EVERYWHERE WE TRAVELED IN 2022
32 Flights, 7,490 miles driven, 164 hours driving, 106 Hotels and Airbnbs later…2022 was a year FULL of travel, a goal Paulie and I set in 2021. We wanted to travel for 80% of 2022 and we saved up for the ENTIRE year in 2021 to make these trips happen! We practiced our photography and got in touch with brands and hotels to help make this epic year traveling the world come true. Well, WE DID IT and boy are we EXHAUSTED (in the best way!). We actually have tiktok to thank for this blog article idea…click here to see what we’re talking about!
We’re rating everywhere we traveled to in 2022 by 5 factors:
Vibe (Friendliness of locals, attitudes, problems etc.)
Fulfilling Entertainment and Adventure
Food
Safety
Would we go back & if so why not/what we would do differently?
Right in time: Paulie JUST finished our Recap Video on Youtube: Check it out here!
Starting where we began our year of travel in January:
HAWAII
Big Island Hawaii at Sunset
Kauai Tunnels Beach at Sunset
Haleakala, Maui View of Milky Way
Kauai 9/10
Our first stop in Hawaii was the most green, lush, and incredible place we have ever been. The vibes were amazing, it felt like a place we were meant to be and can't wait to return! Kauai quickly became our favorite Island. There are endless beautiful beaches, waterfalls and scenic drives! We felt safe the entire time we were there. Next time we would go back in the summer because during the winter the water was too rough to swim and we wished we could have surfed!
The Big Island 5/10
We loved the Black sand beaches and Volcanos National Park! We spent an entire day in the park and that was plenty of time. There aren’t as many things to do here as we were expecting and everything is a decently long drive away…the big island really IS big.
Maui 3/10
We thought Maui was a bit overrated compared to Kauai. We had the most fun on the road to Hana but felt like the locals did not want us there. On Maui we had the best airbnb walking distance from the town and enjoyed the Haleakala sunset so much!
Hawaii overall felt safe, had INCREDIBLE food (POKE!), felt fulfilling enough that we would go back in the summer because during the winter the water was too rough to swim and we wished we could have surfed! The only reason we can't rate it higher is because of a few negative experiences with the people. We just did not feel like we were respected as fellow Americans and we felt like the locals did not want us there! DON’T TRAVEL TO HAWAII UNTIL YOU WATCH THIS!
February we headed back to the west coast…
CALIFORNIA
Yosemite 9/10
W O W! Yosemite blew us away! We expected to love it but we did not expect to love it as much as we did. We extended our trip here and stayed in the most incredible airbnb in the park!
Pacific Coast Highway 8/10
We LOVE the PCH. It's actually our second time driving the entire thing! (we did it before travel vlogging back in 2020) Our absolute favorite spot: Santa Barbara! We will most certainly be back here again (we really want to bring our new puppy Koda next time)
Los Angeles 1/10
Soooo cities are not our thing. We have to be upfront and tell you we were going in expecting not to like LA because we have already been here and Paulie lived here and hated it. We tried to find some new spots we thought we would enjoy, like the Venice Canals which were nice but the homelessness epidemic really took away from the experience. And as stereotypes would conclude, unfortunately we weren’t met with an atmosphere that really felt like somewhere we wanted to spend our time and money.
Joshua Tree 5/10
This was Paulies second time in Joshua Tree and my first so we both had decently different expectations. We did 4 hikes here in one day and saw an amazing sunset! From a photographer's perspective it was an excellent spot and very motivating! I will say after the third hike we were ready to go because there was not as much to do here as I initially expected. Our favorite trail: Forty Nine Palms Oasis!
California has its good and bad parts and most definitely has something for everybody! We felt safe for the most part but in the cities we did not. Driving along the coast, watching the whales breach all the way down was extremely fulfilling and such an amazing experience. The adventure California offers is endless, from the mountains, to the beaches and the incredible sequoia trees, we have no doubt we’ll be back here again!
And in April, we were off to EUROPE…First Stop:
GREECE
Milos 10/10
What a hidden gem! Milos is our FAVORITE greek island and became so very quickly after spending just a few days here. We once again, quickly extended our stay. One incredible meal after another, a burning sunset every night and crystal clear water at the outstanding beaches made this one of our favorite places in the world! We loved all the people we spoke to, felt safe at all times-even walking around at night and Milos offers SO much for adventure seekers!
Santorini 2/10
We have a very unpopular opinion but we wasted so much money here (and getting here) just because it was on both of our bucket lists. We HATED the crowds here and everything was overpriced. Your money will go much further on pretty much any other island, we were so thankful that we cut our trip shorter here and spent more time on Milos.
Paros 8/10
The beautiful walks through town and the relaxing time we had here gave us the best rejuvenation we desperately needed after the hectic time in Santorini. We thrive in environments like these so if you're anything like us, you will LOVE Paros!
Ios 9/10
Very underrated and plenty of things to see and do. Very laid back and relaxing and the main town of Chora is absolutely gorgeous, it was so much fun getting lost in the streets. We went to the three churches on the hill to watch the sunset and it was our favorite experience on the island. We also rented an ATV here instead of a car and we had SO MUCH FUN! Highly recommend this activity!
The vibe here was immaculate and we left feeling completely fulfilled and inspired to continue adventuring!
Click here to watch us travel all of the Greek Islands on YOUTUBE!
On to…
TURKEY
Istanbul 3/10
Again remember, we hate the city. So we did not really enjoy our time here as much as we had hoped we would. We also didn’t pick a good airbnb so our experience wasn’t ideal. On the other hand the food was amazing and super cheap so we really enjoyed that. The people were nice but we don't suggest going to the markets or grand bazaar if you don't like being touched or pestered. It was extremely intense. We cut our trip short here and headed to…
Cappadocia 10/10
A super last minute decision to come and it was our favorite place (after Milos of course) on our European summer trip. We got to check off a major bucket list adventure…flying in a HOT AIR BALLOON and made so many lifelong friends. If you come you MUST stay at Koza Caves Hotel, the family who owns the hotel took the best care of us and made sure we had a once in a lifetime experience!
Pamukkale 5/10
We came here entirely for the hot springs and were pretty disappointed that you can only go in about ¼ of them and about an hour after they opened it got SO crowded and the tour buses came pouring in. Other than that, this area of Turkey was beautiful and if we hadn’t booked a flight we probably would've extended our time here a few more days!
Turkey overall was one of our favorite places we unexpectedly fell in love with. We went in with a lot of fear about the area because of the unrest in the middle east extremely close by. Overall after leaving the cities we felt pretty safe and we were extremely impressed with the food there! The people were extremely hospitable and nice and we will definitely return to check out the southern part of Turkey!
our last stop in Europe…
ITALY
Lake Como 6/10
We accidentally booked an airbnb here that was non refundable not realizing how far it was from our first destination. And as it happens this was where we met one of our best friends and became one of our favorite places in Italy that we went to! Beautiful, but expensive and not a whole lot to do if you are on a budget so after about three days of relaxing in the mountains we hit the road!
Dolomites 10/10
Finally! A spot we intentionally went to that we KNEW we would love and we were right! We mentioned above that we are not city people, we love the mountains and the fresh air. The dolomites were everything and more that we had hoped for. The austrian and German mixed influence in the culture made this experience better than we ever could have imagined it would be! This spot was on our bucket list for YEARS!
Tuscany 6/10
We mainly went to Tuscany because of the hot springs we HAD to go to…they were beautiful hot springs but there were nasty worms everywhere. There was not a whole lot to do if you don't spend money on a winery tour or book some kind of experience, so for budget travelers not much to do but drive around and look at the insanely beautiful countryside.
Amalfi Coast 10/10
Easily one of the best spots we visited because we got to spend a week with my family and go sailing around the coast! We stopped in Capri and got to see the blue grotto (another big bucket list experience)
Sicily 4/10
Last but not least before we left back home for the states we stopped in Sicily! At this point we were getting a little homesick and missing our families…and we truly weren’t impressed with how much garbage there was. We did a big circular road trip around the whole island and we have to highlight Zingaro National Park. We drove by and thought “hey why not we’re already here” and we ended up going back the next day to visit all the little beaches you can hike to! It was so much fun! We would not recommend walking alone here at night, it has changed quite a bit since I was a kid visiting here.
Watch our Italian road trip on Youtube here!
In August we Flew back to the states…
USA
Cherry Springs 10/10
Every year since we started dating, around August 10th the Perseid meteor shower lights up the sky and every year we return for our favorite camping trip in Cherry Springs PA! This year we took friends and enjoyed the best trip yet!
Alabama 10/10
And in September we dug up all of our old college energy and visited my sister at the University of Alabama! Her school is a super high energy, cute little college town with lots of shops and great places to eat and amazing football games (of course!)
New Hampshire (fall) 9/10
I got really sick in September so unfortunately I spent a majority of peak fall season in bed. New England where we grew up is unmatched to anywhere else we’ve ever been to experience fall! We will always come home to spend time around here!
Disney 10/10
The first trip we took to be together and didn't take our cameras!!! We both agreed to have a full 4 days not creating any content and I'm sure a lot of our followers had no idea we even went to Disney! We haven’t been there since we were kids and absolutely loved being back! We have to say our new favorite ride is the Avatar 4-D experience…technology has sure brought disney quite a long and impressive way!
In October for Paulie’s Birthday he requested we try out somewhere with some blue warm water…
CARIBBEAN
Aruba 8/10
We were lucky enough to experience the week in Aruba at one of the nicest hotels on the island, Amsterdam Manor. AMBR had rooms that made you feel like you were at home and just steps away from Eagle beach! Aruba is one of the most magnificent Caribbean islands we have ever visited, we felt super safe here and would walk around off of the resort anywhere anytime!
Aerial View of AMBR (DJI Air2)
Sailing Cruise in Aruba (iPhone)
Floating on Eagle Beach (GoPro)
Hurricane season: we canceled our trip to Saint Thomas due to hurricane Ian :(
Next Trip: NCL Getaway 10 Day Cruise to Caribbean!…
We crashed my parents 30th anniversary cruise!
Curacao 7/10
The island of Sea turtles and Flamingos!!! Two of my favorite animals to observe! (remember when observing these gorgeous creatures to do so at a distance and keep in mind we have zoom lenses!) We loved it here and we want to come back as soon as possible since it was a quick day stop on our cruise!
Jamaica 0/10
We got off the ship in port Ochos Rios and immediately we did not feel safe. My mom and I did a cooking class where we were rudely and aggressively approached more than twice and decided after our cooking class we were not waiting for the car and walked back to the ship. There was garbage everywhere and to be honest we would not go back unless we were staying at a nice resort and we probably would not leave the resort!
Bahamas 7/10
Our FAVORITE stop on the trip! We got to experience a day at the BahaMar and wow it felt like we were kids again! There were literally NO lines at any of the slides in the water parks and they even had a pool where you can go cliff jumping! It was awesome!! We spent the whole day here and did not want to leave!
We stopped in Aruba again on the cruise but you already read our opinion on that ;) Unfortunately due to severe weather the rest of our ports got canceled so we had a lot of days at sea..so if you're interested in hearing our opinion on traveling via cruise ship: WATCH HERE!
After bouncing around all over the Caribbean we headed north… WAYYY north…
ICELAND
Iceland 10/10
It’s our second time here and we will be back! Iceland is unlike any other place we’ve ever been and we L O V E IT! If you’re looking for any recommendations on where to spend your money and travel it’s Iceland, we will recommend it every single time! We rented a van through indie campers and drove around the entire Island (about 1200 miles)!
And for our last destination of the year…
CANADA
Quebec City 8/10
We wanted to take a quick weekend trip up to Quebec City for the Christmas market and do some shopping before the holidays! WOW does Canada know how to do christmas decorating right! We got right into the Christmas spirit! The only negative thing we will say is at nighttime there are some seriously sketchy neighborhoods around here!
In conclusion
…this year was A LOT of traveling. After finally giving ourselves a break and writing this article AND making a YouTube video Paulie and I looked at each other in disbelief how much we accomplished this year alone. We are SO proud of how far we have come and can’t want to see where we decide to go next! Leave a comment below what you’d like to see from us!