My 2026 Travel Calendar
It's that time of year when you're looking back and forward all at once. I spent the better part of January scrolling through my 2025 photos—thousands of them, just sitting there in my cloud, occasionally making an appearance as my phone's lock screen. And I thought: why leave your best views in your camera roll when they can be on your wall?
So I did something I haven't done in years. I made a physical calendar.
I know. It's 2026. We have digital everything. But there's something about turning a page on the first of each month and seeing a memory you actually lived—not just scrolled past—that feels worth holding onto.
2025: The Year in Numbers
Here's my version of a travel "Wrapped" (because who doesn't love a good stats section):
- Countries Visited: 9
- Total Steps: 3,339,412
- Photos Captured: 1576 (the ones I kept)
- Photos that made the "Final Cut": 12
The Monthly Highlights
The whole point of this calendar was to pick one image per month that actually captured what that time felt like. Not the "Instagram highlight," but the moment I keep coming back to when I think about where I was.
January: Śnieżka, Poland
Technically in 2024 but part of my Christmas and New Year's Eve trip. On top of the Śnieżka, the highest peak of the Karkonosze mountains.
February: Tirano, Italy
This was the month of the Bernina Express, which I'd been wanting to ride for years. The shot I chose is from Tirano, right at the Italian end of the line.
March: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
I've always had a soft spot for Rotterdam's unapologetic modernity. While everyone else flocks to Amsterdam's canals, I was photographing the Erasmusbrug.
April: Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
The famous rock. Let me be honest: climbing it was "type 2 fun"—the kind that's miserable while you're doing it but makes for a great story after. It's a 200-meter vertical climb in intense heat, squeezing past tourists on narrow staircases carved into the rock face.
May: London, United Kingdom
Back home, but that doesn't mean I stopped exploring. The photo is from a gig at Signature Brew while checking out the Blackhorse Beer Mile in Walthamstow—a stretch of microbreweries and taprooms that's become a proper destination for craft beer lovers.
June: Würzburg, Germany
Family gathering season. Würzburg sits on the Main river in Bavaria, very picturesque, a meeting point in the middle of Germany.
July: Siġġiewi, Malta
It was hot. Properly, relentlessly hot. Siġġiewi is a small village in the southern part of Malta, and I was there during a heatwave that made even the locals complain. This was technically in 2024 but I had to include it for the view!
August: Willich, Germany
Triathlon with my sister in Germany. A view of the pool in which we did 500 m, followed by 20,0 km cycling and 5,0 km running.
September: Porto, Portugal
Half-marathon with a view. I ran the Porto Half Marathon along the Douro river. The calendar photo is from close to the start/finish line in Foz do Douro, where also the historic tram route terminates.
October: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Soaking up those last sunny and warm days in Southeast Asia before heading back to European autumn. Kaohsiung is Taiwan's second-largest city, and it doesn't get nearly the attention that Taipei does—which means fewer crowds and a more relaxed pace. Also from 2024 but I had to include it before it gets forgotten in the archive.
November: Nice, France
Nice in November is quieter, cooler, more relaxed without the summer crowds.
December: Karlovy Vary, Czechia
Karlovy Vary in December is straight out of a winter postcard—colonnades, steam rising from thermal springs, Christmas markets, the smell of Becherovka in the air.
Here's to Making 2026 Just as Frame-Worthy
Twelve months, twelve memories, one year that I'm not quite ready to let live only in my cloud.
Here's to 2026 being just as full of moments worth printing.