Inspired’s best travel moments of 2015

It’s the small moments amongst the chaos of travel that we remember most. 2015 was a big year for Inspired in so many ways. We conquered mountains, we hiked incredible trails, we cycled across countries, we ran marathons, we renovated apartments, we bought houses and some of us got married and had babies! And of course, we travelled our little hearts out and boy did we create some incredible memories!

Here’s a few of our most special travel moments from 2015.

I had an incredible year of travel and was lucky enough to go on 2 Inspired Adventures!! My favourite memory is from the Hike the Homelands with Amnesty International. We saw the sunrise over Mount Sonder in the Larapinta region from our campsite–it was truly breathtaking.

An incredible moment of 2015 was visiting the Treasury in Petra. It’s everything you’ve imagined. There has been such little excavation that you can’t help but want to reinvent your life and become Indiana Jones searching for mystery. The heat was intense but certainly worth it.

My travel highlight of 2016 was heading home to Minnesota and seeing the Northern Lights!

At end of our 7th day in China we said goodbye to Jo, Marion and Megan after a long day on the wall at the cable car station, a few of us grabbed a quick ice cream and took on the challenge of trekking about an hour further to toboggan off the wall. I’m not exactly sure what happened next or if a challenge was ever propositioned but next minute the two Davids, Demi, Heidi, Hero and Laura are sprinting across the Great Wall, up and down flights of stairs, through watchtowers and almost knocking over tourists (Amazing Race style) in order to make record time to the our final destination.

There is some debate about what time we actually began but what Hero thought should take at least 60 minutes we finished in between 15 and 20 minutes. When we arrived at the toboggan entrance, they had just shut. Luckily, Hero convinced the ticket seller to remain open for our group to take the ride down from the top of the wall to the car park. We all jumped on our toboggans like little kids and raced on from our hardest day so far trekking. At the bottom we found the ladies enjoying an ice cold beer. We then took a shuttle back to our bus to meet out driver and our number one cheerleader, Margaret.

This year for the very first time I visited Australia’s Southern gem – Tasmania! 7 days of bliss road tripping around the island – relaxing by the Hazards in Coles Bay, eating Oysters & cheese on Bruny Island & enjoying a spectacular view from the top of a snow-capped Mt Wellington! But the highlight of this trip for me was definitely hiking the legendary Cradle Mountain NP, wombats, chilly weather and all. This experience has added another adventure to my bucket list – to hike the iconic Overland Track! Sometimes the most beautiful experiences, are right on your doorstep.

This year I decided to turn my travel attentions to Australia and made it to every state and territory! I trekked the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, cruised the wild rivers of western Tasmania, and snorkelled with turtles on the Great Barrier Reef.

But the highlight was finally making it to the Red Centre and Uluru. The rich colours, stillness and vastness of this ancient land is breathtaking! I watched the sun rise and set over Uluru and Kata Tjuta and learned about the rich Indigenous heritage of the region. It’s a truly special and spiritual place.

This was my second trip to the Northern Territory and it’s firmly cemented it’s status as once of my favourite places in the world. My first visit in 2013 was to trek in Kakadu National Park, an unforgettable experience. In 2016 I will return to the Red Centre to trek the iconic Larapinta Trek and I can’t wait!

There’s nothing truly as mesmerising as snorkelling in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It’s honestly one of the most breath-taking places in the world, made even more special now that this beautiful reef is under threat. The best part of my snorkel? Swimming with not one, not two, but three turtles. It was an experience I will never forget.

It’s so hard to choose just one moment. I had an amazing trip to Hawaii earlier in the year. But I’d have to say the Trek Towards a Cure in Peru with National Breast Cancer Foundation seriously life-changing. One of the best memories from the adventure was when 3 other trekkers and myself conquered Huayna Picchu (the mountain perched above Machu Picchu). It was a slog up there (it’s vertical in parts AND it had been raining so it was mud central!) but we persisted and made it to the top. The birds-eye view over Machu Picchu was breath-taking, and I really enjoyed the fact that there were so few people!! We had a little picnic, a few tears and breathed in the mountain air. It was a very special moment.

2015 has been full of incredible adventures both here and abroad. My highlight has to be this moment on a deserted Sri Lankan beach, with some of my best friends who had flown halfway around the world.