2019 was epic in terms of travel adventures for me – which is pretty impressive considering I’ve been on the road continuously since 2009!

2019 was certainly a year dominated by the surf – with all my adventures firmly focused on chasing swell and exploring heaps of surf spots all over the world.

And if you haven’t been following all the chaos over on Instagram (come follow me on @stokedfortravel) here’s a quick roundup of what I’ve been up to – including my full video roundup edit…which I’m sure will have you packing your boards and booking a flight ASAP!

What Does A Year On The Road Look Like? My 2019 Video Roundup

Where Did I Visit?

This year I hit up 8 countries across 4 continents. Admittedly I could’ve easily smashed in more locations, but I prefer to travel a bit slower these days and really enjoy the places I’m visiting – rather than ticking them off for the sake of a numbers game.

So where did I explore this year?

• South Africa (road tripping Cape Town to Durban with Ticket To Ride) – 3 months
• Mozambique (another epic trip with Ticket To Ride) – 3 weeks
• Indonesia (including an epic one to the Mentawais and surfing in Bali) – just under 5 months
• Australia (again a couple of trips as my bro lives there) – just under 2 months
• Malaysia (just a quick visa run from Indo!) – 3 days
• Thailand (again another visa run, but more extended) – 7 days
• Solomon Islands (easily the best trip of the year!) – 7 days
• …and finally back to the UK (for xmas with my family and to surf The Wave) – 3 weeks

What Were The Highlights?

Honestly when it came to adventures and waves 2019 was just ram packed with highlights – but here are some of my favourites;

• Facing my fear of heights at the world largest bridge bungy in South Africa
• Ticking Supertubes in J’Bay off my list of surf spots to catch a wave at
• Finally learning to smash my backhand with the help of some epic surf coaches
• Swimming with whale sharks in Mozambique
• Diving with oceanic black tip sharks in Durban
• Surfing in the Mentawais (always a good move!)
• Scoring an absolutely perfect swell at Medewi, Indonesia and my longest ever wave
• Staying at some incredible surf resorts
• Being best man for my buddy Weatherly at his wedding in Bali
• Showing my parents around Asia for the first time (priceless!)
• All my surf sessions with my girlfriend and good friends all over the world

Overall though my trip to the Solomon Islands has to take the biscuit – a week without phone signal or wifi, surrounded by lush tropical islands, pumping surf and empty lineups…absolute perfection!

The Stats

Love a good bit of travel stat geekery? Well here are some of the most notable numbers from this year on the road

• 4 continents
• 8 countries
• 24 flight legs flown
• 7 different airlines
• 14.5 hours was the longest single flight (Melbourne to Doha)
• 3 surfboards purchased
• Emirates still remains my favourite airline (30kg of luggage including a board bag) although Qatar are now a close second
• Citilink in Indonesia now tops my worst airlines – their surfboard policy is confusing and shady as f*ck!
• 352m longest wave (according to my Apple Watch) at Medewi, Indonesia
• 26.8mph was my fastest wave speed – Coffee Bay, South Africa
• 216m – the height of my bungy jump in South Africa!
• 4 fins – my favourite setup for the year
• 2 leashes snapped (avoid the FCS freedom leashes, they suck!)
• 3 major ding repairs (surfing in Byron Bay is a minefield!)

My Video Roundup

So yeah, not a bad year on the road! Hit play on the edit below and get ready for heaps of inspiration for your next set of travel plans – and head to this post for my top 20 surf destinations for 2020!

What was your favourite trip of 2019?

Heading anywhere epic in 2020?