Elisha
The best of both worlds: vanlife and backpacking. That’s what 2025 was all about. I spent the first half of the year in my van (mostly on the coast), and the second half of the year travelling in Central Asia and Sri Lanka.
It was a year of exploring new places both in Australia and overseas, while returning to some of my favourites. Starting off with a very last-minute trip to Japan in January and ending with a last-minute flight home from Sri Lanka for Christmas. As usual, it was an adventure.
And even at the ripe old age of 32, I’m not ready to stop anytime soon. My time overseas this year only fuelled my passion for backpacking through all the corners of Asia, and I’m hopefully going to make it back over there again this year.
This will be my sixth “year in review” post on my blog, which is wild to think about. I’m so grateful to live a life filled with so many new adventures, and as I get older, I think it makes me even more nostalgic looking back at the year I had.
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Overview of 2025
I didn’t really make any set plans at the start of 2025 and let things just materialise along the way. While it means no real structure and some indecisiveness in my life, it also meant I was able to say yes to random opportunities or ideas, which all worked out pretty well in 2025.
I did have a sneaky suspicion that I would head overseas though and I certainly did that, spending five months across Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka. But home is still my van, and I’m excited to get back on the road for at least the start of 2026.
Let’s take a look at where I went last year and how everything unfolded.
January: Japan Press Trip
January always starts with spending time with family and friends around home. Although, this was cut short when I was asked to go on a last minute press trip to Japan for We Are Explorers, a publication I’ve contributed to for a few years now.
So, on 22 January I was at the airport and headed to Japan for two weeks. This was a new country for me, and admittedly, not one that I had at the top of my bucket list. However, the trip was planned specifically around the nature and outdoors of the Kii Peninsula, south of Osaka, which was a perfect introduction to the country for me.
It was by far the most unique experience I had in 2025, mostly because this kind of press trip is not how I usually travel. I was driven around with a bunch of other journalists in a private car with a guide and fully formed itinerary, staying in very expensive 5-star hotels.
It was an interesting challenge for me, to not only travel in a very different way, but come up with two nature-based stories based on this trip for publication. I’m still proud of the work I did for We Are Explorers, and feel as though I captured what I learnt well. If you want to give them a read, they’re here:
- I Spent a Week on Japan’s Kii Peninsula – The Nature Blew Me Away
- This Japanese Region’s National Park Was Made to Conserve Both Nature and Culture
February: High Country
I got back from Japan in February, and had some usual van things to deal with before I finally headed up to the High Country. It felt good to be back under the trees by the river in the King Valley, one of my favourite places in summer.
Then, it was time for the annual family High Country trip (mum, dad and I do a yearly High Country trip that involves hiking and camping somewhere different in the alpine region). We started on the Murray River and then went to Corryong, before crossing the border to NSW headed for the Jagungal Wilderness Area.
Over three days, we tackled the three day Jagungal Circuit, mum and I on foot and dad on a bike. We camped out for two nights, mum and I summited Mt Jagungal, and we all made it back to the vans after three days (and after a long brutal hike-a-bike for dad). As usual, dad said never again, but we’re already planning another adventure for summer 2026.
March-April: Content jobs and Wilsons Prom
I stayed up in the High Country, until I scored a content job for my local tourism board, the Yarra Ranges and Dandenong Ranges, which brought me back home again. For a couple of weeks, I gathered content on various walking trails around the area, and created two videos for them, plus several photos.
I had more content work for Amble Outdoors, showcasing their hiking pants which took me up to the Cathedral Ranges to create some videos and photos. By April, I was itching to head off in my van further afield.
With the free camping period in Victoria ending in June 2025, I decided to take advantage of it and headed to Wilsons Prom for a week. I finally hiked the Southern Circuit, something that had been on my list for a very long time. It was even more beautiful that I expected, and definitely a must do in Victoria.
I headed to Cape Conran after that for more free camping, and shot some content for Icebreaker merino there. After hiding out from the traffic and crowds over Easter at a free camp, I finally crossed the border to NSW and back to my favourite place, the South Coast.
May-June: Vanlife on the NSW Coast
As usual, I stayed way too long on the NSW South Coast, despite having been there several times before in my van. I did manage to spend three days hiking the Murramarang South Coast Walk, which was well worth it.
I battled some pretty bad weather after that, and was effectively stuck in Ulladulla in my van for two weeks, while persistent rain hit the coast. It’s still one of my favourite towns, so it really wasn’t the worst place to be. But, I was certainly happy to finally see the sun again after many days of grey skies.
A mini-breakdown meant that I had to drive quickly to Wollongong to get my van looked at, which luckily turned out not to be anything too bad for now. And by June, I finally made my way through Sydney and to the Mid-Coast, an area I hadn’t really explored before.
I had a wonderful time around the Port Stephens area and further up through several national parks, including Myall Lakes and Crowdy Bay. Arriving in Crescent Head, I didn’t see what the hype was about with this small surf town at first. However, I stayed over a week there and met some fellow vanlifers, and I will definitely be back again sometime.
July: Heading overseas
I finally made the decision to head overseas. My friend Elodie (who I met in Sri Lanka in 2023) was heading to Kyrgyzstan, a place that had been at the top of my bucket list for years and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet her there. So, I turned the van around, drove back to Victoria into a very cold and wet winter, stored the van at home and took a long flight to Bishkek.
After over 30 hours of travelling and an overly long stopover, I was in a new part of the world that I hadn’t explored before. Elodie had caught up with another solo female traveller, Margaux, and together the three of us planned the next month of adventures in Kyrgyzstan.
August-September: Kyrgyzstan
The most unexpected but incredible girls trip unfolded, as we hitchhiked and trekked our way around the east of the country. Karakol, the most popular adventure hub in Kyrgyzstan, became our home for two weeks as we used it as a base for exploring the mountains. We did the four day Ala Kul Trek together with rented gear, and then stayed in a small village at a homestay in Jyrgalan.
We moved on to explore the canyons and villages along the south shore of Issyk Kul lake, before finally reaching Kochkor. From there, we stayed two nights in a yurt camp at Kol Ukok lake in the mountains, before sadly saying goodbye to Margaux who was moving onto Uzbekistan.
Elodie and I fulfilled our dream of riding horses in Kyrgyzstan with a three day horse trek to Song Kul lake. While it’s become the most popular activity in the country, we still had an amazing experience and wished we were able to explore more by horseback.
We somehow managed to hitchhike in a truck for two days across the country to Osh. From there, we headed south to the Alay Mountains and spent a few days in the village of Sary Mogul, hiking around Tulpar Lake and up to Travellers Pass to get a close up view of Lenin Peak.
We split for a brief time, as I explored Arslanbob village and the famous walnut forest, before I too crossed the border to Uzbekistan.
October: Uzbekistan
All our adventures in Kyrgyzstan started to catch up with us, so we intended to slow right down in Uzbekistan. We explored the cities of Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara together, taking lots of time to sit down and catch up on work in between exploring the fantastically tiled Silk Road buildings.
It was time to finally say our goodbye in Bukhara though. After three months travelling together, it was a major adjustment to be back on my own again. It had been the ultimate girls trip and one I won’t forget anytime soon. But, while Elodie returned to France, and I continued travelling, it definitely won’t be the last of our adventures together.
October-December: Sri Lanka
After staying until the end of my visa in Uzbekistan, I booked a ticket to Sri Lanka. I knew it wasn’t going to be long before I was drawn back there. I had plans to explore some new places while I was there and return to my favourites, but the weather certainly had other plans.
After heavy rains affected the central part of the country, I decided to head up to Trincomalee. I visited my friend Rangan, a dive instructor who runs the White House Hostel, and stayed a wonderful week in the quietness of the off season on the east coast.
From there, it was a long and sweaty bus ride down to Arugam Bay, and I wasn’t sure it was going to be worth my time and effort. But I was wrong. Despite being the off season, the waves were still perfectly rolling in, so I was able to get back into surfing after a two year hiatus, with no one else around.
Finally, I made it down to the south coast, and returned to Hiriketiya, Weligama, and ended up staying in a new place, Midigama. The whole six weeks there consisted of catching up with friends and surfing. I attended another week-long surf camp at Layback, where I’d stayed two years before.
I made some wonderful new friends there, and we continued to spend another week after the surf camp, staying in Midigama and surfing every day. But with my visa expiring in January and Christmas fast approaching, I decided it was time to head home. I landed on 23 December, just in time.
How Did This Blog Do in 2025
Blogging is being constantly challenged with the rise of AI and yet, somehow this website of mine is still growing better than ever. Although, the threat of it all crashing down is always there, I’m holding onto hope that people are still searching for firsthand travel experience.
I finally got into Mediavine Ad Network at the end of 2024, which has meant I’ve been consistently earning a monthly income for the entire year. After talking to another blogger on the Japan press trip, I also switched to Stay22 for my hotel affiliate program, and it has more than doubled my income from hotel bookings. It has certainly been my best year as a travel blogger.
Some stats from the year:
- Total views: 793,000 (39% increase from previous year)
- New blog posts: 25
- Best month for traffic: October (88,900 views)
Top 5 Most Read Blog Posts from 2025
- The Great Ocean Road: A Guide to the Ultimate Road Trip
- Hiriketiya Beach: A Guide to the Sri Lanka’s Coastal Paradise
- Ultimate Guide to Sigiriya: Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle
- 2 Days in Galle Fort: Best Things to Do in Galle
- 20 Best Things to Do in Albany, WA
Looking Ahead to 2026
If I have another year as good as 2025 then I’ll be pretty stoked. For now, I’ll probably spend the next few months in my van around Victoria (and maybe interstate?) and then the plan is to head overseas again at some point.
Still, as usual, I have many plans and places I want to go and at the rate I travel at, I definitely won’t get to all of them this year. But, I’ll see how things unfold in the next few months and I’m sure the year will be nothing short of an adventure.
I hope to keep pushing my blog to the next level and even start selling some digital products too (ebooks and guides?). Plus, extra content work and sponsored posts on social media and continuing to write for other publications, especially We Are Explorers, all keeps my work varied, fun, and interesting.
I’m excited where my work and travels will take me thing year!
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you out there x
