2024 is out, here is 2025

2024 is here and this article is a look back at Sandalsand’s travels and articles. This year I reached several exciting destinations. Also read up on my wish list for the coming year.

Sandalsand  publishes views on two websites: Global and Norway. You can also find profiles on YouTube and Instagram.

The world in 2024

I have been missing trips to distant lands for several years. It happened around Easter, with a trip to Bahrain and across Saudi Arabia – a wonderful trip. The return trip was to Luxembourg with quick visits to Belgium and Germany. This autumn I first spent a week in Romania and a little later a week in Slovenia. All in all, I visited eight countries outside Norway in 2024, five of them new.

At the turn of the year last year, I wrote that 2023 was the year when both the world and I finally loosened up for more travel. 2024 in retrospect was the year when I also moved outside of Europe.

Middle East

Early this year I went to Bahrain and then on a journey across the Arabian Peninsula, through Saudi Arabia. It was a brilliant trip and actually surprisingly easy.

I had imagined that little Bahrain would be similar to Qatar and Dubai in terms of comfort, ease of getting around, and plenty of opportunities to experience both in terms of traditions and what a newly rich oil state had developed into. I found Bahrain to be a very hospitable and great destination. Although the country is small, a few days on your own or in a group will give you the opportunity to experience both old and new in a nice mix.

It was probably Saudi Arabia that I was sceptical about, and that was the reason why I had chosen to book a guided group tour from Bahrain and across the large and powerful country in the south. Along the way and in retrospect, I could see that I could have done this on my own.

Firstly, I have the determination that I want to manage on my own when travelling in foreign lands. Secondly, I have found that it is perfectly possible to do so, in most places I have visited. On the other hand, there is something reassuring about being part of a travel company, with a local guide, with a tailored offer based on the best of what the country has to offer. I was not dissatisfied with the trip, but I think that the guide in Saudi Arabia could have been more proactive and informative than he actually was. Because of course, there was a man.

Saudi Arabia is among the most conservative Muslim states in the Middle East, and my trip took place during Ramadan. The first element was not problematic for me, but I met people in Bahrain who complained about the conditions for non-Muslim expats, or foreign workers, in Saudi Arabia compared to Bahrain. The second element, Ramadan, was very noticeable, and it applied to both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Europe

I’m almost done visiting countries and places in my own continent, Europe. This year I actually got to see three new countries: Luxembourg, Romania and Slovenia.

I included Luxembourg as a stop on the way home from Saudi Arabia. This meant that I flew from Jeddah to Brussels, and then took the train to Luxembourg. The advantage of this type of travel is that you get impressions from several places. In this case, the train journey from Brussels to Luxembourg was a nice experience. And so was Luxembourg, both the country and the city. From here I took a day trip to the north of the country, and another day trip to Trier, the ancient Roman city in Germany.

In the autumn, I took two trips to countries in southeastern Europe. The first week-long trip was to Romania. Here, I spent most of my days in the capital, Bucharest, but also took an organised day trip to a castle, a fortress, and a former German town in northern Transylvania.

The second week of vacation was spent in Slovenia and the beautiful and charming capital Ljubljana. Here I chose to rent a car for a few days and went on excursions south to the border with Croatia, west to old mercury mines, and north to some beautiful lakes. This was a wonderful vacation.

Sandalsand Global, the website

Looking back at 2024, I published 24 new articles – almost double the number from the previous year. I have another 54 articles waiting to be written and published. On the other hand, there are as many as 965 posts to enjoy, along with 31 pages (accessible via the menu items). In addition, several posts and pages have been upgraded and improved throughout the year.

The number of views of the website was the highest since 2019. It ended up at over 19,000 hits.

As before, it is clear that Sandalsand Global , which has English text and a worldwide arena, faces stiff competition. It is obvious that with little new activity, Google is sending fewer visitors to Sandalsand .

The articles with the most hits in 2024

• Paintings about travelling
• The Helleren houses in Jøssingfjord
• The true size of countries
• International backpacker routes
• A road trip from Oslo to Stavanger

Bucket list for the world

For several years I have published my bucket list of places I want to travel. Find the previous years at the bottom. Here is the update for 2025 (and beyond):

Africa

• Morocco. All those amazing towns on the coast and in the mountains. (1-2 weeks)
• West Africa from Senegal to Nigeria. It would have been nice with a road trip through half a dozen countries, but quite difficult. (3-4 weeks plus).
• East Africa south of Sahara, with safari as part of the trip (2-3 weeks).
• Rwanda, the country with a terrible past is reinventing itself.

Americas

• Caribbean island hopping, in particular the southern part and the Antilles. Perhaps even on a cruise, one of my taboos. Visiting multiple islands is not easy to accomplish apart from with airplanes, and prices are not favourable (2-4 weeks).
• USA from New York to San Francisco. Flights between several places and perhaps a train journey across the plains just to sense the distances (2-4 weeks).
• Central America and more: So many wonderful locations, and I have to date missed them all. High on the list is Yucatan (Mexico), Costa Rica and Colombia.

Asia

• India is a long-time favourite (2-4 weeks) and I have just began to savour it. 
• Sri Lanka in the south is a rapidly rising star, recommended by many.
• Iran is opening up to foreign visitors, but is still very much off the beaten track for a number of causes. Iran is one of the oldest civilisations on Earth, holding on to their history with pride. Tourism is rapidly on the rise, so I’ll better get there soon. (1-2 weeks)
• Israel: Been here before, long time ago, but I spent too little time. Round trip in the country for a week, perhaps also a beach holiday with the family by the Mediterranean or Red Sea. (1 week)
• The Arabian Peninsula: Oman and more of the Emirates
• Vietnam. I have visited most of SE Asia, but not Vietnam yet. There is a lot to discover both in terms of nature and culturally significant places. (1-2 weeks) I actually booked this destination in 2023, but had to let go for private reasons.

Europe

• Georgia (country): Their food and wine is good, the Black Sea coast is fine for sun bathing and inland there are some nice cities and villages in the Caucasus. It would be wise to combine Georgia with neighbouring Armenia and perhaps even Azerbaijan. (1-2 weeks)
• Saint Petersburg: Extreme treasures and immense museums, as well as a fascinating history in every respect. Other European cities are also beckoning for weekend trips, particularly Ljubljana.
• Old Norse settlements in the West: Shetland, Orkney and Greenland. (1-2 weeks)

Oceania

• Pacific island hopping on a round the world ticket to make the journey cheaper (3-4 weeks).
• Australia and New Zealand: For some reason I have never really fancied Australia, on the other hand I really should go there. Perhaps next year.

Norway in 2024

Travel and experiences in Norway

As in previous years, I continued my exploration of Northern Norway. This year it was mostly about filling in the gaps, or rather the places I hadn’t visited in previous years.

In the spring I flew to Bodø, rented a car, and drove north to Narvik. Here in the Salten area, Norway is at its narrowest and you are never far from a fjord or island. Here we get experiences from Bodø to Fauske and further through Sørfold. Not least, we get to enjoy detours in the municipalities of Steigen and Hamarøy. When we then take the ferry across Tysfjorden, we leave Salten and enter the Ofoten region and Narvik municipality. Then we can make a U-turn on other roads, or not. I drove back to Bodø.

The summer of 2024 was dedicated to adventures on the country roads through Trøndelag, in Central Norway. I had been here on a round trip over thirty years ago, but was determined to visit both new and old places. It was a delightful summer, divided into two trips. The northern part of Trøndelag was visited quite thoroughly, while the southern part concentrated on the west coast and central areas around Trondheim. Some places in Nordmøre were also visited on this holiday, places that I did not manage to visit during my last visit to this part of the country, in 2022.

With that, I have visited almost all the municipalities north of Dovre. This means that next year I will focus my attention on places in the south of the country.

Sandalsand Norway, website

The website is used to share experiences from my own country, in Norwegian. Looking back at 2024, readers of Sandalsand Norway had 16 new articles to read. The number is the lowest ever on this website.

As always, I’m lagging behind in describing this year’s travels, and I have some exciting topics up my sleeve that go beyond pure travel descriptions. In total, I have a to-do list of 91 articles, up from 44 articles the year before. This of course gives a significant backlog. For the first time, I didn’t manage to finish all my road trips (as overview articles) by the end of the year, a goal I’ve had in recent years. Otherwise, I’ve aimed to publish articles from individual places before the new destinations of the spring and summer enter the portfolio. I’ll see what I can do in the first months of 2025.

At the turn of the year, the website consists of 933 published articles plus 47 permanent pages. The number of images is approx. 19,370. They are from 270 municipalities, that is, 75% of all municipalities in the country. You readers clicked on the pages approx. 116,000 times. That is clearly fewer than in recent years.

The articles with the most hits in 2024

• Lyrics to Christmas carols – the well-known and beloved
• Advent, Advent songs and Advent verses
• Stor-Elgen in Stor-Elvdal
• The day train on the Bergen Railway
• Art around Oslo City Hall

Other social media

For my YouTube account Sandalfilm, visits are quite low, and are clearly related to zero growth in the number of videos.

I uploaded 13 new photos to Sandalgram, which is my Instagram account. The number of followers is 435, about the same as last year.

Midway through the year, I chose to delete my account on X. The reason was partly that I had very little value from it, contributed even less, and not least that the new majority owner of the platform did not appear trustworthy in my opinion.

Looking back at 2024, Sandalsand was modest in its use of social media.

Bucket list for Norway

For several years I have published my “bucket list” of places I want to travel. At the bottom of the county overviews in the Destinations menu you will find more comprehensive lists. Here is the update for 2025 and beyond:

• A road trip all the way south in Trøndelag. I imagine seeing more of the county in the middle of Norway than I have managed so far. The experiences must be in line.
• Unsettled places in Innlandet county. There are still many more to pick here, so I’ll see what tempts me the most. It’s natural to see these places together with some of the places in Trøndelag to the north.
• Vestfold, Telemark and inner Agder  – because here too I have big gaping holes on my  travel and experience map .
• Train travel – consider even more train routes in the country, especially the vintage trains that only run in the summer. 
• Hiking in the mountains – Hardangervidda and Rondane perhaps stand out the most.

Read more

This was 2024 in retrospect. Find all annual summaries and wish lists for the coming years on the Publications page.