PHOTOGRAPHY | TRAVEL ESSAY

From Lions Roaring in Africa to Tropical Beaches, Ancient European Cities, and the Foreign Land Down Under

My year in review — 2023

What a year it has been. From road-tripping for weeks in Africa and walking in the rains of central Europe to the snow-capped Southern Alps of New Zealand, we’ve done and seen it all in 2023.

As it had been the last few years already, we continued living on three different continents this past year again. While we skipped Asia this time, we put a new continent with the exotic name of Oceania onto our radar.

New Zealand becoming a real version of a dream come true, I now write these words in our new home down under while overlooking the vineyards and seeing the mountains rise behind our home to almost 2,000 meters (6,500ft).

Now, if you hear and read about all the places I have been to and know as well about photography being a passion of mine, you should know, that there is no way I will be able to pick one favorite photo each month. It’s simply impossible for me to pick favorites from all the thousands of shots I took.

However, I tried to select a unique one each month, which represents the month in one way or the other.

January

We celebrated the arrival of the new year in Namibia, my husband’s home country, the place where we met and where I not only lived for several years but also lost my heart in.

While I was overly excited about being back in the country and meeting friends, the first two weeks of the year kept us rather busy in preparation for the big trip ahead.

Sure, my husband and I have been on many road trips and adventures in the past seven years, but a two-month-long journey crossing southern Africa from West to East was going to top them all.

The day neared and off we went. Starting easy, we stayed the first few nights in the North of Namibia and got used to our setup and living out of a vehicle.

Then, crossing the border into Botswana, we entered the famous Chobe National Park where wildlife was abundant despite the wet season we traveled in. And just as we wanted to leave the park, two male lions were sitting just meters off the trail staring at giraffes, antelopes and elephants down by the water.

Yes, we did save the best for last.

February

A new month had rolled in when we mastered another African border crossing while watching warthogs run between the frontiers. While we initially planned on visiting Zambia, we changed plans just as we arrived at the river and decided to head East instead of North.

Zimbabwe. A country we only intended on passing through won our hearts rather quickly and we ended up staying four weeks exploring all corners of it.

My highlight was the end of our stay in the country when friends of ours recommended us to visit the Eastern Highlands, a mountain range I hadn’t even heard of by that time. Locating the forested hills on the map, we were off and soon stopped at the edge of a cliff.

Yes, this was the home we lived out of for two months in total and this was possibly my favorite camping site. A wild one, for sure. But a beautiful one as well. And down those mountains, we looked into the next country.

Mozambique

March

Yes, Mozambique would have been our destination if this round trip had one. We both had never been and I dreamt of visiting its tropical beaches since my very first excursion to southern Africa.

The beaches were prettier, the sand softer, the water clearer and the campsites emptier than expected. All seemed to go according to plan until that cyclone was aiming for the coast. Unfortunately, we only got a handful of dives in before the big storm hit the coast and we fled the coastline.

April

Fast forward a month, we had returned from the big trip, sold our car in Namibia, packed the bags once again and flew across to our new job in Germany.

Settling ourselves in a caravan wasn’t as difficult as expected after living out of a rooftop tent for two months straight. Either way, we couldn’t stay put for long and when we got the first chance, we packed our backpacks and stepped onto another plane.

Malta was just a quick holiday but a stunning one. We visited many ancient cities in the island nation and hiked along its rugged coastlines. Certainly the highlight of the month.

May

As globetrotters as we are, we have friends all around the world and were excited when we noticed friends of ours who also move around a lot were near us in southern Germany.

We only had two weekdays off but didn’t need more to drive down, visit them and go for a lovely walk in the Austrian Alps while catching up with life stories and future plans.

June

In June, a big NATO event shut down most of Germany’s airspace for two weeks only giving us a small window on the weekend in between to operate and jump out of planes as we do for a living.

Knowing about the off time we would have, we loaded the car and drove East. Czechia was a new country to explore and we did so while staying cheaply on campsites, sleeping in the back of the car and venturing out on hikes in different mountain ranges.

July

The next month should have been the beginning of the high season for our work but then the month was a lot wetter than expected and kept us grounded for ten days straight. This didn’t do well with our moods as our income depends on those busy months.

After a few depressing days, I decided to move on and do the best of it. Heading out on several walks through the rain, I even wrote an article that made it into the Medium newsletter.

Mastering the art of rain photography wasn’t just something I wrote about but I experimented a lot with the settings of my camera and expanded my skill set in the wet weather.

August

The weather remained unpredictable, wet, and windy throughout the European summer and we did the best of it. Sitting inside the trailer, I watched deer walk by outside, large hares grazing on the meadow and countless birds flying by.

This yellowhammer was hunting underneath or next to our trailer and had gotten himself a feast when he sat down on the fir branch in front of me. I couldn’t hesitate but snap this picture of the hunter.

September

While the official high season was done, we did more jumps in September than in July or August. So at least the end of the summer was a golden one.

On another random day or two, we had no work, drove to my parents' place and then spontaneously decided together with my dad to head into the mountains for a lovely day hike in the Alps.

October

October wasn’t as golden as we hoped it would be but we didn’t mind jumping less as we knew we had a new job lined up that required us to stay fit and focused for another season.

While the month was mostly rainy and cold, I did manage to watch a few spectacular sunsets in the countryside. Some golden ones as well.

November

Talking about the journey ahead. We were almost as far as booking a flight ticket to Thailand and heading back to a company we had worked for twice before when the job offer in New Zealand came through.

Against all odds and financial reasonings, I got my will through and we booked those expensive flight tickets to the land down under.

A dream come true it was for me as I had been dreaming of living and traveling the country for years already. While there was a lot less of a work volume for us than expected, it left us with more free time to explore the country and its spectacular mountains.

December

Since all other travel is expensive, we decided to keep it cheap and go with a tent and some camping gear. Sleeping in the backcountry far from civilization was maybe not the paradise we experienced earlier in the year on the tropical beaches of Mozambique but a different kind of beauty was surrounding us.

With two days off per week, we hit the road each Tuesday after work and explore as much as possible of what we can while here. And yet, I can’t believe it but we’re almost halfway into our stay.

This was my year in review. While we still hit three continents, we visited one country less than in 2022 bringing it to ten. Visiting, exploring and living in foreign lands is what I would say described possibly the best year yet. See below, a short recap in video format:

This has been 2023 but if you’re interested in how 2022 went, you can read about it in my previous yearly review.

This was my prompt response to JoAnn’s monthly challenge. Please check out other participants and their versions of 2023:

JoAnn Ryan with “How NOT to Have a Big Baby Crying Fit While Looking Back at 2023”

Barb Dalton with “2023 In a Nutshell With One Photo Each Month”

Krasi Shapkarova with “My 2023 in 12 Photos”

Matthew David with “The Road is Life” | 2023: A Year in Photos”

Melissa Rach with “2023: A Photolog”

Carol Labuzzetta, MS Natural Resources, MS Nursing with “A Photo Journal of My Year in Trips”

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