What's up guys! In this video we're going to show you the top 10 moments from 2021.
We had a lot of amazing stuff happen, also some bad things happened to us.
So we're gonna break it down and hope you enjoy the video.
We are Zac and Ine, full-time digital nomads from the United States and Belgium.
We met while studying abroad in 2018 and have been traveling the world together ever since.
We're here to inspire your next adventure whether it's hiking in the Canadian Rockies,
a road trip through the US, or backpacking across Africa. On our channel you'll find
unfiltered videos of hiking guides and the best things to do in destinations around the world.
2021 was a very special year for us because this is actually the year that we became full-time
digital nomads. Prior to that we were actually living in Canada. We had like regular jobs.
And so in December 2020 we thought it was time for a change and we really wanted to live this
lifestyle and try it out. So we left our apartment and we first moved to the US
for a few months and ever since that we kind of moved around to new countries.
So at that time of course there were still some COVID restrictions and it wasn't always
easy to find a place that would both accept us. So to sustain this travel lifestyle we
both work remotely. So I build websites. I built my own company designing websites back in January
and then Ine also does remote work doing graphic design and marketing. And then also we're just
continuing to build World Wild Hearts as we go. We usually put out a YouTube video
once per week. Just informative videos that help other people travel to the places we've been.
So without further ado let's get into the top 10 moments of 2021.
Our most challenging moment of this year was by far this crazy day hike we did,
which is called "the enchantments". This hike was supposed to be like 32 kilometers long,
but actually when we tracked it it was about 40 kilometers. And we left as early as 6am
in the morning and I think we finished like right when it was dark, around like
9:45PM or something. So it took over like 15 hours. It was pretty crazy: it was mentally
but also physically extremely challenging. And especially the last 10 kilometers, they were just
a total grind as it was mostly in the forest. So that was definitely our most challenging moment.
So by far the craziest thing we did in 2021 was go paragliding and this was in Ölüdeniz, Turkey,
which is one of the best spots in the world to do paragliding from. Mainly because you drive
so high up to the top of this mountain and then jump from there and you see these amazing blue
lagoons below you, all these different colors. And for me, like paragliding was something that
I never thought I would do personally. But Ine had done skydiving before so I trusted
her opinion on how it was going to be. I thought it was going to be like, you know, 20 minutes of
getting prepped. But it really was just like okay two minutes and then you're going. So we went up,
and all of a sudden we were above the ground just flying like birds over this cool lagoon and you
just really felt this weightless feeling gliding through the sky so. It was pretty amazing stuff.
Our most surprising destination of 2021 was Bruges. Bruges is actually a city in Belgium,
and I'm from Belgium, so it's in my own country. I had been there before actually,
a few times, but I just really didn't remember it as like being such a beautiful
city. But so when we went back like we really did all the possible things you can do in the
area. We stayed there full weekends and yeah it was just we were really impressed by the history
and like just the medieval look of the city. It's actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a lot of
people they actually skip Bruges in Belgium. Um, they go to Paris or Amsterdam, London,
but they don't really think about visiting Belgium at all. And I think
it's definitely worth it. Like the vibe, the medieval looks of it, it's just really beautiful.
So our most exciting moment this year is when we got engaged, actually in Cappadocia, Turkey.
So I had been planning this for about three months right when we knew we were going to Turkey.
I had seen pictures of Cappadocia before and it just looked like this magical landscape with all
these balloons flying around. And I thought what better place to do it than there. And so kind of
how it went down is... found this really remote destination that was off on the side. No people
around, we just laid down our blanket, had some beautiful music playing. I told Ine to close
her eyes and then yeah the rest is history. She said YES! So that was our most exciting moment.
The most remote destination we visited in 2021 was Chiapas. Chiapas is actually a region in the south
of Mexico, near the border of Guatemala, and it is very jungly. There's a lot of wildlife and so we
stayed in these eco-camps there with the Lacandon people, which was a very unique experience.
And this region also actually has malaria. We didn't know that, so we just went there and
suddenly we were like seeing all these mosquitoes. So we looked something up
and like it said "oh Chiapas has malaria". So it was a little bit of a scare for us but then
we talked to the locals and they were saying it would be all fine like we didn't have to worry.
And so yeah nothing happened so it was all good after all.
So this year we visited 10 National Parks in the US and we're actually in the US for
about five months of the year total. So we had lots of time to visit everything
from Mount Rainier National Park to Yosemite in California. And out of those 10 parks we visited,
our favorite one by far was Zion National Park in Utah. And the main reason for this was simply
because of the feeling it gave us. You just get this feeling of like immense beauty when you go
through and you have these beautiful rivers on the side and all these red colors. And also in Zion we
did Angel's Landing, which is a really scary hike. One of the scariest hikes in the world,
because at the top you're on this ridge which is probably like that wide at some point. And you
have like 1000 foot cliffs on each side of you. So it's really scary hike, but really rewarding at
the end. You have some amazing views of the valley and it's a cool one to check off the bucket list.
Our strangest moments of 2021 actually happened about a month ago. We were driving from Olimpos
to Kaş and suddenly we saw all these camels. So of course we pulled over and we wanted to
check it out because we thought it was some like camel fair or something. But then we actually
found out it was a camel wrestling event. And this is actually a traditional Turkish sport,
so we watched it. And it goes like this: like they bring a female in the arena
and they guide her around, and then they bring in two male camels and they fight over her.
but of course like it was weird because camels are not really aggressive animals.
They're very relaxed and so while we normally don't really support these kind of activities,
it was still interesting, because it was really a truly traditional event.
This year we traveled to a lot of different hidden gem destinations, mainly because we were just slow
traveling throughout the year, like we would stay a couple weeks or a couple months in a place.
So we had the opportunity to see some really unique spots that most tourists don't see.
And our favorite one of these was Milos which is this really remote island in Greece.
Like you can only get there by boat, and there's a really small airport as well.
But yeah once you get there you have the option to do like a 4x4 rental, which you can ride all
around the entire island. Which is cool because you can get to some really remote beaches there.
And it's also just really relaxed. And yeah we believe that in the next few years this place is
going to become really popular because it's kind of like the ultimate adventure and relaxation
destination all in one. So if that's your style of travel, definitely a place you should check out.
This year we visited tons of beautiful beaches in Greece, in Mexico, in the US. But one that really
sticks out in our minds was on Holbox Island in Mexico. Holbox Island doesn't have any cars that
drive around. It's very relaxed, the only way to get around is by golf cart, by bike, or walking.
And it also has this really beautiful sandbars. So at a certain time of the day,
when the tide is low, they just like show up and it's just amazing. You can walk for kilometers
on these sandbars and just watch the beautiful calm waters around you and also the white sandy
beaches. So for these aspects, this was our favorite beach destination in 2021.
So the worst moment in 2021 was, happened to me actually, and it's when i lost my wallet in
Tucson, Arizona. So one day we were visiting my aunt and uncle
and we were hiking amongst the saguaro cactuses, which are these giant cactuses around us. Just
taking pictures, walking around, going for a nice hike. Then we got back to my aunt and uncle's
house and I was supposed to pay for something online. Like I was looking for my wallet,
couldn't find it. Went to the car, still couldn't find it. So it was just gone. It
was really bad timing because we had to go to Mexico three weeks later. And we learned through
this whole fiasco that bad luck never comes alone either. So we had the wallet and then the next day
uh my car got a flat tire also in Tucson. So I don't know if it's like Tucson, I'm cursed there,
or it's just like this is how bad luck goes. But had a flat tire, luckily it got fixed,
so we could continue our US road trip. But yeah that was the worst moment of 2021.
All right guys, that's it for our best moments of 2021. Hope you enjoyed the
video. We enjoyed telling our stories and kind of remembering those moments ourselves.
And yeah, we have basically a video of each of these spots we've talked about too. So if you want
to check out our channel, you can go to a playlist and sort it by country, find it there. And yeah
we're looking forward to making more videos in 2022. We're aiming for every Saturday releasing a
new one. So make sure you check out our channel, and we'll catch you on the next adventure