Year Abroad: My Travel Highlights

For today's post, I'm looking back at my Year Abroad (which I can't believe was 8-9 years ago!), and specifically showcasing my travel highlights from those 15 months.

During that time, I travelled to eight countries across Europe and South America, and visited some of the world's most famous tourist destinations, like Paris, Vienna, Venice and Florence. I used my weekends to take various day trips and mini breaks to places in the countries I was staying in and in neighbouring countries.

Though I had a great time in every place I visited, these were the trips that left the biggest impression on me...

Travels Around the South of France

Following a difficult start to my Year Abroad, when an au pair placement I took on in the south of France turned out to be a nightmare, I returned to the UK after just 10 days. However, just a matter of days later, I was back in the same region, this time spending a few weeks at a language school in Montpellier. Fortunately, this experience was completely the opposite, and I had a wonderful time. I stayed with a really nice lady and her cat in a lovely flat and had the opportunity to travel to various places around the area on weekends and Wednesday afternoons. Those weeks were one of my favourite memories from the entire year, and gave me confidence after the initial setback to keep going with my Year Abroad plans.

Read more here!

Udine, Italy

The second part of my Year Abroad took me to the south of Austria, where I worked as an English teacher in two secondary schools for four and a half months. As I was living pretty much right in the centre of Europe and worked four-day weeks, I had amazing opportunities to travel all around the continent, without even getting on a plane. I visited four neighbouring countries, including Italy on three separate occasions. The first trip I took was to the small city of Udine, close to the borders with Austria and Slovenia. It was a city I'd never heard of before seeing it on a train map, but it turned out to be one of my favourites - it has so much beautiful architecture and none of the crowds you get in the better-known Italian cities.

Read more here!

Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia

The following month I, along with the other British Council English language assistants in Austria, was invited to an afternoon tea at the British Embassy in Vienna. The event was nowhere near as fancy as it sounds - it was literally just us passing round packets of Mr Kipling cakes and making tea from a hot water urn! However, it was interesting to visit the embassy and hear from the ambassador about what it's like to work in diplomacy. Of course, I used the event as an opportunity to stay in the city for a few days and see its many sights. I also took the train over to Bratislava in Slovakia (a journey of less than an hour), which was a great experience. The two cities are very different, but there's a lot to like about both, from Vienna's grand palaces and elegant streets, to Bratislava's fairytale castle and quaint streets.

Read more here!

A Weekend in Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Later on in the semester, I went on a trip that incorporated destinations in three different countries: Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. First, I took the train to Innsbruck for one night before travelling to the small town of Sargans in Switzerland, which I used as a base for exploring the tiny country of Liechtenstein, before stopping off in Innsbruck again on the way home. This was a long weekend filled with mountains, castles and a real feeling of adventure.

Read more here!

Valparaíso, Chile

In February 2018, I headed over to South America to start the third part of my Year Abroad: a semester studying at a university in Santiago, Chile. This was the most daunting but also the most exciting part of the year. During the first couple of months, I got to know my new city, but didn't travel much outside of it, other than a trip to a vineyard with the university and a weekend at the beach in a group. Before going to Chile, I'd been given a lot of warnings not to travel around Latin America on my own, but when my plans for one weekend fell through, I spontaneously took the bus to the coastal city of Valparaíso by myself and joined a group walking tour, taking in all the sights of the city. Valpo is full of steep hills, colourful buildings and street art, and has a Bohemian atmosphere that really draws you in. Almost five years later, I had the chance to go back, this time with Claudio, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around.

Read more here!

Huilo Huilo, Chile

The first three months of my time in Chile were filled with ups and downs. While I fell in love with the country, its landscapes and culture, I also invested myself in an unhealthy relationship, which ultimately ended in heartbreak. In the days that followed, I was strongly tempted to book the first flight back home, but forced myself to stay by booking a spot on a group tour to the south of the country towards the end of the semester. By the time the trip came round, I'd unexpectedly met Claudio (my now-husband!) and life in Santiago was better than ever. Though Claudio wasn't able to join me on the tour, he did turn up at the bus station to see me off, which was a lovely surprise! After an entire night on the coach, I emerged into a landscape that was much colder than Santiago, but also much more tranquil. The following two days were spent visiting lakes, volcanoes, waterfalls, forests and thermal springs. It was an incredible experience and one of my favourite memories from the year.

Read more here!

The Year Abroad was a big project for me and something I felt really nervous about beforehand, as I'd never done anything like that before. Though I experienced some difficult moments, it also changed my life in the best ways.

In terms of travel, it helped me leave my comfort zone and become more confident about living in and travelling to different places around the world, often by myself. It inspired me to seek similar experiences in the future, starting with 10 days teaching English at a summer camp in Poland after graduating from university, and then moving back to Chile for 15 months after the pandemic, followed by a three-month internship in Malta. 

We're now settled in our life in the UK and plan on staying here for the foreseeable, but I have to admit that part of me still craves the prospect of spending a few months, or even longer, in a different part of the world. Maybe sometime in the future!

That's all for my Year Abroad Series for the moment. But please check out the other posts in the series right here:

Year Abroad: Dealing With Problems

Year Abroad: The Best Bits

Planning a Year Abroad

Year Abroad: The Most Popular Destinations

Five Things I Miss About Living in Chile

It's now been over two years since I left my life in Chile and came back to Europe. In the time since then, I've lived in Malta (a great experience, but not somewhere I'd live permanently), Bristol (my least favourite place I've ever lived) and back at my parents' house in Wiltshire (there are things I miss about this, but I'm glad to have moved on). Then in April this year, we moved out to our own flat in the town of Reading, near London. So far, it's been going well, but I have to admit there are some things that I miss about life in Chile from time to time...

The Food

Chile is not a country that is well known for its cuisine, but it actually has lots of really amazing dishes and drinks that we are missing out on here in the UK! Some of my favourites include Chilean empanadas (I like the ones with cheese and tomato or mushroom), sopaipillas (a fried pastry made with butternut squash) and of course, Chilean wine!

In my pictures above, we've got a vegan completo italiano (a big hot dog with avocado, mayonnaise and tomatoes - the colours make up the Italian flag, which is where the name comes from!), Chilean sushi (which is so much better than the sushi we get in the UK), mote con huesillos (a sweet drink with dried peaches and wheat, which is served in Santiago's parks in summer) and pisco sour - a few more of my favourites.

The Weather

Obviously the weather varies a lot depending on which part of Chile you live in, as it's such a long country, but I do think that Santiago is one of the best places in the world to live in terms of weather. 

I love the summer there, which lasts for several months. There are plenty of beaches only a couple of hours away that you can visit for a day trip or weekend, or you can stay in the city and hang out in the parks or swimming pools (the one pictured above is Piscina Tupahue in Parque Metropolitano).

The winters are also a lot less cold and icy compared to UK winters, though they can be a bit hard to get through, just because homes generally don't have heating. But outside at least, it's not so bitterly cold and you even get the occasional day with 20 or 25 degrees in the middle of winter (Chileans call it veranito de San Juan). And the city is surrounded by beautiful views of snowy mountains - if you can brave the cold, you can drive an hour or two up into the mountains and enjoy a day in a snowy winter wonderland!

The Mountains and Landscapes

Following on from my previous point, I also really miss the landscapes in and around Santiago, namely the incredible mountains surrounding the city. And within an hour or two by car or bus, you can be right up in those mountains, or standing on a stunning beach if you go in the other direction.

Furthermore, you're only a couple of hours by plane from places like the Atacama Desert or Patagonia. So if you want to get away from the city and into nature, you have a whole range of options. I've always really loved how Chile as a country has just about every type of landscape you can imagine!

South America Travel

Living in Chile also gives you great opportunities to travel around the rest of South America. It's cheap and easy to take a scenic bus ride over the border to Argentina, and you're only a short flight away from bucket list destinations like Brazil and Peru. 

Of course, living near London, we're very close to mainland Europe, but it can be expensive to travel there and most of the famous places get so crowded. Generally, travel in South America is cheaper and less crowded, and I miss it a lot.

Family and Friends

I couldn't finish this post without writing about what I miss most - our Chilean family! Of course I really miss my parents-in-law, brothers-in-law and Jackito the beagle, as well as the rest of the family and our friends. I also miss taking Jackito for walks in Claudio's parents' neighbourhood and seeing our animal friends (we call the three kitties pictured above Pickla, El Loco and Pepi).

Obviously, when we lived in Chile, we missed UK family and friends, so this is always going to be something we have to deal with, no matter where in the world we live!

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, and there are other things I miss, such as the architecture, the museums and other cultural attractions, and the fact that people are a lot more conscious of their personal hygiene than they are in Europe!

Of course, there are things I don't miss; namely the bureaucracy, higher crime rates and poorer working conditions. But I would definitely not rule out living there again in the future, though Claudio is less enthusiastic about going back! We will have to wait and see what the future brings...

Three Weeks of Chilean Summer

We spent exactly three weeks in total in South America, and I thought that would feel like a nice long time out there, but it really went by in a flash! The first week was filled with last-minute preparations for our wedding, followed by the wedding itself. In the second week, we had more free time, but also needed to spend some time getting Christmas presents. Then we went on our minimoon in Argentina for a couple of days, came back in time for Christmas, after which we only had a few days left. We both felt that another week there would have been nice!

During our time there, we rented an Airbnb in Providencia, which is one of our favourite areas of Santiago. The apartment was located right next to Parque Balmaceda and had great views straight across to Cerro San Cristóbal. We went out running a couple of times in Parque Balmaceda and then along the Mapocho River towards the Costanera Center and back, which was a really picturesque way to get a workout in. The building also had a rooftop terrace and pool, which we used nearly every day after getting back from our wedding, including on Christmas Day itself!

Of course, we also spent lots of time with Claudio's family in Maipú. This included going for walks with Jack the beagle and seeing all our old animal friends again!

And here are some of the other things we got up to around Santiago and beyond...

Viña del Mar/Reñaca

We actually went to Viña twice during our time in Chile. The first time was when I went for my hair and makeup trial a few days before the wedding. We took this opportunity to have a delicious and healthy lunch from Daily Dish (a vegan restaurant) and a walk along the beach.

The second time we went to Viña was on Boxing Day. (Definitely one of the most different and fun Boxing Days I've ever had!) There are other beaches we could have gone to, but we decided to go back to Viña, because last time we went, we wanted to visit Palacio Vergara and weren't able to, so promised ourselves that we'd visit next time we were in Chile. I love palaces and castles, and so I was really happy to finally see this beautiful and elaborate palace. You can actually go inside for free if you fill out a survey, which we did. We were hoping that the interior would be a kind of representation of what the palace would have looked like when people were living in it, but it was actually an art gallery with mostly modern art. It was still nice to be able to enter for free though.

The palace is located in Quinta Vergara, a very scenic park to walk around.

Afterwards we went to Reñaca Beach, one of my favourite beaches in the entire country. We were really lucky with the weather, as generally it's quite windy on the beach in Chile, which makes it feel much less warm than Santiago in summer, but this time it wasn't windy or cloudy at all, and the weather felt absolutely perfect. 

We wanted to have at least one swim in the sea during our time in Chile, but as Reñaca is more of a surfing beach than a swimming beach, and has really big waves, this was a bit difficult. But we were able to splash around in the waves, which was fun! After that, we had a really nice time just lying in the sun.

Biblioteca Nacional de Chile

We ended up spending quite a lot of time in the historic centre of Santiago during our trip. I lived there in 2018 and still have a fondness for the area, because there are so many beautiful and interesting buildings, streets and monuments there. However, it is not as well looked after as other historic centres around the world, and does have a reputation for criminal activity, particularly after dark. But I don't think you should let that put you off visiting, as there are so many things to discover there. One place neither of us had visited before was the National Library, and we had a lovely time exploring it. Not only is it free to enter, but it's a beautiful building and has all the literary vibes I love! When living in Chile, I did occasionally miss the cosy bookshops of the UK - I don't know why I never thought to come to this library before.

It also has a cute gift shop and a tranquil garden with orange and lime trees.

Santiago Centro

Some other highlights from the city centre included visiting various galerías, which are like shopping arcades. Each one has different kinds of shops, and there's even a wedding one, which was super useful for us! I loved finding this little French bookshop inside one of them.

When wedding shopping, we also discovered this café in one of the galerías called London Coffee, and knew we had to come back after the wedding! This was a really cute place and pretty good value for money too.

Other places we explored around the centre included this interesting street with bridges near Plaza de Armas, and the city's cathedral.

Museo Histórico Nacional

Another free place to visit in Santiago Centro is the Museum of National History of Chile. This has some really interesting artefacts, such as the flag that was used to declare independence, and outfits from throughout history. The building is also very beautiful.

MUT (Mercado Urbano Tobalaba)

Over on the other side of the city in Las Condes, one of the most affluent areas of Santiago, we went to visit a new mall that recently opened, called MUT (Mercado Urbano Tobalaba). Apparently its design is based on New York's Grand Central Station, and it's got some nice independent shops and restaurants, and a stunning rooftop garden to check out.

Casa Juliet

We saw this café in Providencia on YouTube, and it looked so nice that we had to visit. To be honest, it's definitely designed to be shown off on social media, and while the food was good, the coffee we had wasn't great. But it's so pretty!

It's also right next to a very tranquil park, Parque Augusto Errázuriz. We had a walk around it and then went and sat in the shade for a while at Plaza Rio de Janeiro.

Christmas in Santiago

The Southern Hemisphere Christmas is still something I can't quite get used to! Although I hate cold weather, I feel like Christmas has to be wintry and cosy. Besides, in December in Chile, everyone's already enjoying the summer, and Christmas seems a lot more in the background than it does in Europe. Having said that, it is nice to have a different experience of Christmas - our Christmases in the UK don't vary that much, and we'll probably appreciate our next one more because of the extra year's gap.

One of the things I enjoyed most was seeing the Christmas lights at Palacio Falabella on Christmas Eve before going round to Claudio's parents for dinner and present opening. It was quite magical!

It was also nice to see Paseo La Villa looking Christmassy.

Other Highlights

Among the other highlights of the trip of course included eating lots of tasty food, including Chilean sushi (I much prefer it to the kind we get in Europe!)...

...mote con huesillos in Parque Araucano (drinking/eating mote con huesillos in a sunny park is one of the definitive experiences of a Chilean summer to me)...

...and curry at Himalaya Indian Restaurant. This is a restaurant down the road from our old apartment in Ñuñoa, where we used to go on special occasions. We went there on the last weekend of our trip, and I felt a bit sad that we weren't going back to our little flat afterwards like we used to.

But instead we went to one of our favourite parks, Parque Bicenenario, to walk off the food, followed by a ride on an e-scooter, which was a lot of fun!

Those three weeks went by far too fast, mainly because they were filled with so many fun and happy moments. We celebrated one of the best days of our lives with our wedding, and then had a great time travelling, spending time with family and friends, and just enjoying life. At times, it felt like we were back in the life we had in 2022-2023, and I have to say, I do miss those days, and I felt really sad to leave, especially as we don't know when we'll next be back.

Coming home to freezing England, returning to my parents' house in the countryside, going back to work, and commuting to Bristol every week, has been a big contrast, and not necessarily in a positive way. But we've entered the new year as a married couple for the first time, and I know that this is going to be an exciting new chapter for us. I'm sure 2025 will bring its challenges, but hopefully there'll be plenty of adventures along the way!