My 2023 Travel Year in Review: The Year Travel Changed Me

Editor’s note: I originally published this 2023 travel year in review shortly after the year ended. I have since expanded it with additional context, videos, and reflections on how these experiences influenced the direction of Atypical Vagabond.

Some years pass quietly. Others pick up your expectations, shake them around, and leave them scattered across several countries.

For me, 2023 belonged firmly in the second category. The year carried me from my developing life in Portugal to the intensity of Morocco, the festive streets of Germany, and one of the most extraordinary cultural celebrations I had experienced in Central Portugal.

At the time, I thought I was simply filming new destinations and collecting stories for Atypical Vagabond. Looking back, something deeper was happening.

I was beginning to understand that travel was no longer about seeing how many places I could reach. It was becoming a way to examine where I belonged, what I valued, and what kind of life I wanted to build.

This video brings together the destinations, cultural experiences, wrong turns, and behind-the-scenes moments that defined my travels in 2023.

2023 Was More Than a Collection of Trips

The easiest way to describe a travel year is to make a list. Portugal. Morocco. Germany. Historic buildings. Christmas markets. Festivals. Food. A few wrong turns. Probably more coffee than medical professionals would consider strategically wise.

But a list does not explain what those places meant.

By 2023, Portugal was becoming more than the country where I happened to live. Coimbra was beginning to feel familiar. I was learning the rhythms of daily life, attempting to understand European Portuguese, and discovering that moving abroad involves far more than changing your address.

It changes your relationship with time.

You begin measuring progress differently. Success might mean handling a conversation in Portuguese, understanding a local tradition, or navigating a frustrating administrative process without dramatically throwing your paperwork into the Mondego River.

Travel also started to feel different.

Instead of treating Portugal as a base I would constantly escape, I wanted to understand the country more deeply. I became increasingly interested in the smaller cities, festivals, regional traditions, and ordinary moments that rarely dominate travel advertising.

That growing curiosity eventually pushed me toward more Portugal hidden gems and regional stories beyond the usual Lisbon-and-Porto circuit.

Then Morocco challenged that growing sense of comfort.

Germany provided another sharp contrast.

Tomar reminded me why cultural traditions matter.

Together, these experiences transformed 2023 into a year of movement, discomfort, curiosity, and unexpected belonging.

Morocco Pushed Me Beyond the Familiar

Morocco was one of the year’s most powerful changes in atmosphere.

Traveling from Portugal to Marrakesh did not feel like moving a short distance on a map. It felt like someone had changed the volume, colors, pace, and operating system of the world.

The old medina demanded attention.

There were narrow streets, unfamiliar sounds, busy marketplaces, elaborate architecture, and the constant feeling that something was happening just beyond the next corner. Navigating it required more awareness than wandering through the familiar streets of Coimbra.

That discomfort was valuable.

Travel is often marketed as effortless liberation. Book the flight, arrive at the destination, and immediately become a more interesting version of yourself.

Reality tends to involve confusion, fatigue, uncertainty, and occasional moments when you are reasonably convinced you have walked past the same shop three times.

Marrakesh reminded me that travel does not need to feel easy to be meaningful.

Exploring the Bahia Palace

The Bahia Palace offered a different side of Marrakesh.

This video explores the elaborate courtyards, decorative details, and history of the Bahia Palace while capturing the quieter side of Marrakesh beyond the medina’s noise.

Away from the constant movement of the surrounding streets, the palace revealed intricate decoration, courtyards, craftsmanship, and a visual language unlike the architecture I had grown accustomed to seeing in Portugal.

It was one of those places where the camera struggled to capture the full experience.

A wide shot could show the scale. A close-up could reveal the details. Neither could fully communicate what it felt like to move between the rooms and courtyards.

The Medina After Dark

Marrakesh also changed after sunset.

The medina became louder, brighter, and even more alive. Food stalls, conversations, lights, performers, and crowds created a kind of organized chaos that made sitting quietly in a Portuguese café feel very far away.

I did not always understand what was happening around me, but that became part of the experience.

Travel is not supposed to make every place immediately understandable. Sometimes its value comes from reminding us how much we do not know.

Morocco forced me to observe before assuming. It made me more aware of my habits, expectations, and dependence on familiarity.

That lesson stayed with me long after I returned to Portugal.

Germany Revealed a Different Kind of Travel

Germany provided an almost comical contrast to Morocco.

Where Marrakesh had felt intense and unpredictable, Germany’s Christmas markets felt structured, festive, and carefully assembled around seasonal traditions.

The streets glowed with lights. Wooden stalls filled public squares. The smell of baked food, spices, and warm drinks drifted through the crowds.

As a non-drinker, I was not there to conduct a scientific investigation into every mug of glühwein. I was more interested in the atmosphere, food, architecture, and the way entire cities appeared to lean into the season.

Discovering the Nuremberg Christmas Markets

Nuremberg was one of the German experiences that stood out most.

The market was not simply a place to purchase decorations or snacks. It felt like a temporary city built inside the existing one—complete with its own movement, rituals, aromas, and soundtrack.

I wandered through the stalls, examined the displays, tried local food, and watched how residents and visitors interacted with the tradition.

The experience made me think about why certain celebrations survive.

A festival or market continues because people decide it still matters. They return, bring their families, repeat familiar rituals, and make space for the next generation to experience it.

Watch as I explore Nuremberg’s Christmas markets, festive streets, seasonal food, and one of Germany’s most recognizable holiday traditions.

Germany also reminded me that travel does not always need a grand philosophical struggle.

Sometimes it can involve walking through a cold city, eating something you cannot pronounce properly, and enjoying the fact that nearly every available surface has been decorated for Christmas.

Not every trip must become a spiritual awakening.

Some can simply be fun.

That realization mattered because I had begun placing pressure on myself to make every journey meaningful, productive, and worthy of a polished video.

Germany gave me permission to enjoy the spectacle.

Tomar Connected Me More Deeply to Portugal

One of the most memorable experiences of 2023 happened much closer to home.

The Festa dos Tabuleiros transformed Tomar into something almost impossible to describe without sounding as though I had accidentally wandered into a Portuguese fever dream.

The streets were decorated. Crowds filled the town. Women carried towering trays crowned with bread and flowers. The entire celebration combined faith, community, history, craftsmanship, and considerable physical balance.

This video captures the decorations, crowds, procession, and remarkable tabuleiros that transformed Tomar during the 2023 festival.

It was visually spectacular, but what stayed with me was the sense of collective participation.

This was not a performance designed solely for tourists.

The festival belonged to the community.

Residents had invested time and effort into decorations, clothing, processions, and the countless details required to bring the tradition to life. Watching it helped me understand Portugal in a way that another visit to a famous monument could not.

Monuments show what a society built.

Traditions show what people continue to value.

Seeing Portugal Beyond Its Famous Landmarks

The festival reinforced something that had been growing throughout the year.

Portugal’s greatest travel experiences were not limited to Lisbon viewpoints, Porto riverfronts, or the country’s most photographed beaches.

They could also be found in smaller cities and regional celebrations.

Tomar gave me history, architecture, religion, color, noise, and an entire town working together to preserve something larger than any individual visitor.

That changed the direction of Atypical Vagabond.

I wanted to spend less time repeating the same Portugal travel lists and more time seeking the places, communities, and traditions that revealed how the country actually lived.

The goal was no longer merely to tell travelers where to go.

I wanted to explain why a place mattered.

What the Videos Did Not Always Show

Travel videos are strange little time capsules.

They preserve buildings, streets, meals, and moments of excitement. They also remove much of the waiting, fatigue, uncertainty, and technical frustration that surrounds them. A finished video rarely shows how often I questioned whether the footage was good enough.

It does not always capture the pressure of filming while also trying to remain present. There is a tension in travel content creation. You want to document the experience, but you do not want the camera to become a wall between you and the place.

In 2023, I was still learning that balance.

Sometimes I filmed too much and experienced too little. At other times, I put the camera away and later wished I had captured more.

There is no perfect solution.

The camera changes how you move through a destination. It makes you notice details, search for stories, and consider how an audience might experience the place. It can also turn a peaceful walk into a small production company with one employee who has forgotten where he packed the spare battery.

The mistakes were part of the transformation.

I was learning how to become a better storyteller rather than merely someone who pointed a camera at interesting buildings.

What 2023 Taught Me About Travel

Travel Does Not Automatically Transform You

Buying a plane ticket does not guarantee personal growth.

You can travel across several countries while refusing to question anything about yourself. Transformation begins when you allow unfamiliar places to challenge your assumptions.

Morocco challenged my comfort.

Germany reminded me to enjoy travel without overthinking it.

Tomar showed me how traditions create belonging.

Portugal continued teaching me that living abroad is not an extended holiday. It is a relationship built slowly through language, frustration, repetition, and participation.

Home Is More Than a Location

During 2023, I continued asking a question that sits at the center of Atypical Vagabond:

• What makes somewhere feel like home?
• It was becoming clear that home was not simply where I owned property, received mail, or understood every social rule.
• Home was an emotional state.

Portugal was beginning to provide that feeling—not because everything was easy, but because I had started investing in the country rather than merely passing through it.

Slow Travel Creates Better Stories

The moments that stayed with me were not necessarily the biggest attractions.

They were the moments when I had enough time to observe.

A conversation. A crowded street after dark. A Christmas market stall. A town preparing for a festival. A familiar café after returning from somewhere completely different.

Slow travel gave those details room to matter.

It became less about completing destinations and more about developing a relationship with them.

How 2023 Changed Atypical Vagabond

At the beginning, Atypical Vagabond was largely about documenting travel. By the end of 2023, it was becoming something more specific. I wanted to create honest stories about Portugal, life abroad, slow travel, and the strange process of searching for home while continuing to move.

That meant showing more than beautiful scenery.

It meant discussing wrong turns, uncertainty, cultural misunderstandings, personal change, and the gap between the fantasy of travel and its daily reality. The videos from Morocco, Germany, and Tomar each captured a different part of that evolution.

Morocco represented curiosity and discomfort.

Germany represented joy and contrast.

Tomar represented connection.

Portugal remained the thread holding everything together.

Looking Back from 2026

Reading my original thoughts about 2023 now feels a little like opening a message from a previous version of myself. I had plans for 2024. Some happened. Others wandered off, ignored the itinerary, and became completely different stories.

Since then, I have continued building a life in Portugal, expanded Atypical Vagabond, walked long sections of the Camino de Santiago, and spent far more time thinking about what meaningful travel actually looks like.

The biggest lesson from 2023 still holds:

The journey rarely transforms us in the way we expect.

It works more slowly.

A place unsettles you. A tradition surprises you. A conversation stays in your mind. An ordinary street begins to feel familiar.

Eventually, you look back and realize you are not the same traveler who started the year.

Watch More of My 2023 Travels

The videos embedded throughout this article show only part of the journey.

For more, explore my videos covering:

• Morocco and Marrakesh
• German Christmas markets
• Tomar and the Festa dos Tabuleiros
• Portugal’s smaller cities and regional traditions
• The complete 2023 travel retrospective

Subscribe to Atypical Vagabond on YouTube for more honest Portugal travel stories, hidden destinations, slow-travel reflections, and adventures beyond the predictable itinerary.

Atypical Last Thoughts

My 2023 travel year carried me through very different worlds.

Marrakesh pushed me beyond the familiar. Germany reminded me that travel could be joyful without becoming a personal-development seminar. Tomar showed me how strongly traditions can connect people to a place.

Portugal was where those lessons began coming together.

By the end of the year, I was no longer traveling simply to see what was out there.

I was traveling to understand what I was searching for.

The answer was not another stamp, monument, or perfectly framed video.

It was connection.

Connection to places. Connection to communities. Connection to the people traveling beside me. And, somewhere along the way, a stronger connection to the person I was becoming.

That was the real journey of 2023.

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Meet Carter

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