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15 Countries visited in 2025📍🌎😎

by All you can flyAsiaAustriaBangkokBarcelonaCountriesEuropeFreedom 50Frontier - AYCF!GreeceHCMC / SaigonItalyKoh Phi PhiLondonMadridMexicoNorth AmericanPersonal HistoryPhilippinesRocky PointRomeSingaporeSlow travelSpainThailandTravel bucket listTravels StoriesUnited KingdomUnited StatesVietnamVolaris - AYCF!Wizz - AYCF!

2025: My first full year taking a run at retirement!

2025 turned out to be my most traveled year ever—and somehow, I feel that I’m just getting started.

January – Vietnam
(HCMC, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue, Phu Quoc)

February – Cambodia & Thailand
(Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Tao)

March – UK & Europe
(London, Greece, Iceland, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy)

April – October–US & Mexico

(Mesa and Rocky Point—two incredible home bases)

November & December – SE Asia
(Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Bali)

Every trip felt different. Every move resets my brain. And somehow, it all worked out absolutely perfect!

2026: Already Booked (Of Course It Is!)

January to mid-April
Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Philippines

May to October (Homebases in Mesa/Mexico)

Volaris + Frontier all-you-can-fly chaos—route TBD, cheap is guaranteed

Nov and Dec– Europe by Rail-pass

Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Southern Spain/Portugal

Eastern Europe is still being self-negotiated with my grade-three attention span.

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Three months looking out windows!

by AccommodationsAirBnbAsiaBarcelonaEuropeHCMC / SaigonItalyLondonMadridRomeSingaporeSpainThailandTravel bucket listTravels DealsTravels StoriesVietnamWizz - AYCF!

I left Arizona on January 12th and didn’t return until April 7th, 2025, heading first to Vietnam and then bouncing across the globe. In order, I visited:

Vietnam → Cambodia → Thailand → London (twice) → Singapore → Greece → Turkey → Egypt → Italy → Spain

Eight of those ten countries were brand-new pins on my map, which made the whole thing feel even more unreal. 📍🌍

I spent the first three months slowly moving through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. After that, I flipped the switch and went full chaos mode with my all-you-can-fly pass—whizzing (Wizz Air style) through London, Singapore, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, and Spain.

Here’s the actual chain of planes, trains, ferries, and buses that somehow all worked:

✈ Phoenix → Los Angeles
✈ Los Angeles → Singapore
✈ Singapore → Saigon (HCMC)

🚆 Saigon → Nha Trang
🚆 Nha Trang → Huáșż
🚆 Huáșż → Da Nang
🚆 Da Nang → Hoi An
🚆 Da Nang → Saigon
🚱 Saigon → PhĂș Quốc
🚱 PhĂș Quốc → Saigon

🚌 Saigon → Phnom Penh
🚌 Phnom Penh → Siem Reap
🚌 Siem Reap → Angkor Wat

🚌 Angkor Wat → Bangkok
🚱 Bangkok → Koh Tao
🚱 Koh Tao → Koh Phangan
🚱 Koh Phangan → Koh Samui

🚱🚌 Koh Samui → Bangkok
✈ Bangkok → Singapore
✈ Singapore → Athens

✈ Athens → Istanbul
🚱 Istanbul → Princess Islands (day trip)
✈ Istanbul → London
✈ London → Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
✈ Sharm El Sheikh → London
✈ London → Naples
🚆 Naples → Rome

✈ Rome → Madrid
🚆 Madrid → Barcelona
🚆 Barcelona → Madrid
✈ Madrid → Rome
✈ Rome → Los Angeles
✈ LAX → Phoenix

(That doesn’t even include all the local buses, metros, tuk-tuks, and 25+ ride share ((Grab/Uber/Bolt/InDrive)) rides along the way.)

Three months in Southeast Asia.
Then a rapid-fire lap through Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

It sounds insane written out like this—and honestly, it kind of was.

But that’s part of the fun.
And after traveling like this for three straight months


Sometimes all you can do is drop a blog and watch miserable people be jealous. 😄

This was, by far, the longest—and most expensive—trip of my life.

I blew through my budget. And once that happened, I made the call to keep going anyway, because I was already there. I ended up canceling my Eurail pass and coming home three weeks early to stop the financial bleeding.

At the time, I didn’t think I’d ever use my all-you-can-fly pass again, so I went into “see everything now” mode and stacked as many countries as I could. I still missed a few, which means there’s a pretty good chance I’ll give it one more run someday—especially since I’m not renewing the pass.

And here’s the truth:

I have zero regrets about spending money on travel.
Not at the end of this trip.
Not at the end of any trip.

What I do have is better awareness.

Travel is worth it.
The memories are worth it.
The experiences are worth it.

I just need to be smarter next time in Europe and use train travel—pace it better, plan a little tighter, and learn from the mistakes without losing the magic.

That’s not regret.
That’s learning and sharing.

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Real Madrid & Barcelona FC stadiums!

by BarcelonaMadridSpainTravel bucket listTravel memories

The first week of April 2025 was my last week on this adventure. I left on January 12th, and it was time to return home to Arizona. My Airbnb tenants were checking out, and I had a home to go back to, finally.

The plan was to hang around Italy since my flight left from Rome on April 7th. 

My first day, I toured the Colosseum, and the second day was the Vatican. I did not want to spend five more days in Rome, and the train to Venice was over $200 return.

I checked out my Wizz Pass to see if there was availability to depart and return within a 72-hour window. My choices were Gdansk, Poland, or Madrid, Spain. I honestly did consider Poland before I found the Madrid flight.  

Ultimately, I chose Madrid so I could also visit Barcelona with a quick train ride.

There is no better feeling than booking a last-minute flight for $10 on an all-you-can-fly pass!

One minute, I am in Italy and the next day flying to Spain, watching football locals in a Madrid pub!  It sure beats working for a living!!

I also like to think that I am responsible when traveling, but not this time. Once I arrived in Madrid, I was very hungry, so I went to find food. I thought there was food in the Irish pub, but only beer. 

I was going to find a hostel after the game as I stayed for the whole game, plus, whoopsie! 

GOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!! âšœđŸ„…

After the game, slight panic started as it was after midnight, dark, rainy, and in a City I had never been to in my life.  How is that for an adrenaline rush!  I reset and looked for food and nailed it!

I have honestly never had Tapa’s before, as it reminds me of the foos-fos that go for Dim Sum or Sushi.  Well, holy shit – I am foo fucking foo for this Tapa’s gig!!  Check this out!

Pushing 2 AM, still no hostel, but new friends!  We pigged out on so many items!

Since it was past midnight and check-in time, I set out on foot, in the rain and half in the bag, looking for a place to sleep.

** I have a string chain around my neck with two charms, a cross and a foot for adventure.  I was rubbing the cross this time, and it always works out!  ***

After knocking on door after door, I came to find out that the entire City center was sold out. 

Well SHIT!!  This is where I do my best thinking, WTF now dumbass?  Why not head to the train station, catch a high-speed train to Barcelona for $40?  Perfect recovery plan!!

I was able to get a couple of hours’ sleep on the train, even though it was going 300K/H.  I woke up in Barcelona (huge bucket list,) and I was able to find a great hostel in the city center for $30 a night.  After touring the city for a couple of days, I was off to find the biggest attraction, the Barcelona FC iconic Stadium, on my last day.

Ironically, the football stadium was closed for renovations.  I visited the amazing team store and do not think I have seen anything else like it in the world. It was massive:

I cannot wait to reference this memory when the new ultra-modern stadium opens. I can say, I sat in this pub pre-gaming months/years earlier, preparing for the grand opening. LOL

I had better luck when I got back to Madrid.  I was able to take the metro with fans to a Real Madrid game and experience gameday.  I was flying back to Rome that night, so I could not go to the game, but this was amazing enough without paying hundreds of dollars for tickets.

It was a match between Barcelona FC and Valencia, and here is a little pre-game action:

After waiting an hour walking around as fans entered the stadium, I needed to leave.  I was one of the few who headed the other direction on the metro as more fans arrived for the game.

It looks like I missed a great game which an exciting ending with the visiting team winning!

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Spain – Madrid and Barcelona!

by BarcelonaMadrid

Spain and Portugal have always sat high on my European bucket list—mostly because they’re supposed to be two of the cheapest countries in Western Europe.
And yeah
 cheap is relative. Because from what I saw, they weren’t dramatically cheaper overall—just different flavors of expensive.

Still, when a deal shows up, you don’t argue with it.

I grabbed a last-minute return flight to Madrid using my all-you-can-fly pass on Wizz Air. No overthinking. No spreadsheets. Just click.

The schedule was aggressive:

Land in Madrid late Wednesday night

Fly back to Rome on Saturday night

Then turn around and fly home to Phoenix Monday morning

Was it enough time?
Absolutely not.

Was it still worth it?
Also yes.

That’s kind of the tradeoff when you chase cheap flights and flexibility—you don’t always get enough time, but you get access. A taste. A reason to come back. And sometimes that’s all a city owes you on the first visit.

Madrid wasn’t done with me.
I just ran out of runway.

As I blogged about in my Spain football blog, 

I managed to squeeze in both Madrid and Barcelona—along with their legendary football stadiums—by bouncing back and forth on Spain’s high-speed rail.

The train itself was unreal. I’ve taken the Channel Tunnel between London and Paris, but somehow this felt even faster. Smooth, quiet, no drama—and at times we were pushing nearly 300 km/h.

Blink and you’re in another city.
No airport security.
No wasted hours.
Just sit down, watch the countryside blur, and suddenly you’re somewhere else entirely.

Being able to visit Santiago BernabĂ©u Stadium and Camp Nou on the same short trip felt borderline unfair—in the best way.

Spain’s rail system alone is reason enough to come back and do it properly next time.

Fast trains, football temples, and not enough time—
a recurring theme of this trip.

One of the best parts was having real competition on the route. There were multiple high-speed rail companies to choose from—Renfe, iryo, and Ouigo—which kept prices refreshingly reasonable.

I paid $40 to go from Madrid to Barcelona, and $63 to head back on a Saturday night. For speeds pushing 300 km/h, that’s borderline absurd value.

Barcelona itself was instantly likable—especially the city center. Narrow, cobblestoned streets, tight corners, and that old-world layout that forces you to slow down and wander. It felt lived-in, textured, and human-scale in a way that makes getting lost part of the experience.

Fast trains, fair prices, and streets meant for wandering—
Spain quietly does this part very well.

I spent two days in Barcelona, which barely scratched the surface. If there’s one obvious advantage Barcelona has, it’s the location—you get the best of both worlds: a major city and the sea.

Being right on the Mediterranean Sea changes the whole feel of the place. I took a bus tour that covered roughly 30 miles of coastline, and even in the off-season it was impressive. Beaches, waterfront neighborhoods, long promenades—it just keeps going.

I couldn’t help but imagine how unreal it must be in the summertime, when the city fully leans into that coastal lifestyle. Barcelona feels like a place where you could slow down, stay longer, and let the city and the sea split your attention evenly.

Two days wasn’t enough.
But it was enough to know I’ll be back.

I spent most of the day just riding the metro around the city.

I only spent a few hours in Madrid before bolting to Barcelona, so I made sure I came back to Spain for a proper wrap-up.

I arrived back in Madrid on 04/04/25, checked into an excellent hostel, and booked just one night. One of the underrated perks of hostel life is flexibility—you can store your bags, grab a towel, and even shower later in the day. That worked perfectly since my flight didn’t leave Madrid until 9:00 PM on 04/05/25.

With limited time, I kept the list tight. There were only a few things I needed to see:

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium

Royal Palace of Madrid

Puerta de Alcalá (Madrid’s Arc de Triomphe)

No rushing.
No overplanning.

Just enough time to close the Spain chapter properly—exactly the way it deserved.

Real Madrid — pre-game vibes!

I caught the buzz outside Santiago Bernabéu Stadium as fans poured in and the energy started to build. Scarves out, chants warming up, that unmistakable match-day electricity in the air.

Unfortunately, I had to catch a flight back to Rome later that day, so I couldn’t stay for the match itself.

Still—soaking in the atmosphere was more than enough to remind me why football culture in Madrid hits differently.