The 10 Best Places I Traveled in 2023 (Part I)
10 countries. 40+ cities. 1 year. Whittling it down to a top 10? Not easy.
2023 was a pretty epic year of travel for me. I didn’t set out to see so much, but that’s just how it happened. I picked my starting points (San José (Costa Rica), Managua (Nicaragua), London) and then got a bit carried away with the movement that came after, sometimes more carried away than I was up for if I’m being totally honest.
Anyway, what I’m left with is quite the pile of memories and a piece of my heart in more places. Over the coming weeks, I’m going to share with you a few year-end roundups, starting with this one: The 10 Best Places I Traveled in 2023.
I’m breaking this one up into two parts to allow me to start getting this series out before the year is done. So, sit back, enjoy, and maybe even consider adding one of these spots to your 2024 travel plans. You know who to reach out to for recs ;)
Sámara, Costa Rica
I started the year with a three-week adventure through Costa Rica. It was my first time visiting Costa Rica and it was all inspired by the decision to make 2023 the year I finally learn how to surf. I found an affordable surf camp in Jacó called School of the World and then built a longer trip through Costa Rica around it, pretty much piecing it together as I went, per usual.
Like an unexpected object that’s somehow snuck into your suitcase without your notice, I landed in San José and discovered almost instantly that a sinus infection would be joining me for this particular journey. And oh did it knock me out for a good week, leaving me pretty much useless beyond long days on the beach with a book and hot spring soaks. I couldn’t hike, I certainly couldn’t surf, and my appetite wasn’t even really up for all the new flavors.
By the time I’d reached Sámara after a few days in San José and La Fortuna, I was feeling at my worst physically. But the beauty of Sámara was in its simplicity. It’s a small beach town in the Nicoya Peninsula with not much to do but spend your days on the beach and eat. Whereas San José and La Fortuna kept reminding me of all that I was missing out on in the adventure travel department, Sámara met me where I was and delivered me an always free spot under a particular palm tree on the beach to sleep, read, and listen to the gentle waves hitting the sand.
It was in Sámara that I felt my worst, but then also felt my best as the sinus infection started subsiding. As it did, I added in visits to the various cafes in town, a surprising number for so few streets, and started waking up early and doing yoga on the beach. The town just so perfectly suited the pace I needed to go, and I swear it brought to life the meaning of “pura vida" in a way that will stick with me forever.
Should you go, here’s a roundup of my favorite spots to eat, drink, and stay.
Popoyo, Nicaragua
This list is technically in chronological order, but between you and me, Popoyo’s pretty damn near a front-runner if there was one. It’s the only spot on this list that I went to twice in 2023 and already have plans to visit again in 2024. It’s really become one of my favorite spots on the planet.
While my surf journey began in Costa Rica the month prior, it continued in Popoyo. After a quick trip back home after Costa Rica to celebrate my birthday with family, I boarded a plane again in mid-February and traveled to Nicaragua with a whole lot of nerves swimming around in my stomach. Whereas Costa Rica had felt like a safe place to visit, I didn’t feel so sure or confident about Nicaragua. I’d heard good things, yes. But it still felt like such a wild card to me and one of the more off-the-beaten-track destinations I’ve ever visited.
Those fears quickly disappeared almost as soon as I landed in Managua. Nicaragua is home to some of the sweetest souls I have ever met in my travels and the travelers it attracts are…well…my kind of people. My entire month in Nicaragua was a literal dream. I think the last time I felt such flow on a trip was when I traveled to Guatemala in 2022 and somehow ended up back in Mexico with a stopover in the paradise of Caye Caulker in Belize. The trip, like that one, took on a life of its own. I was just the passenger.
One of the spots it brought me to was Popoyo, a bit of a bear to get to thanks to Nicaragua’s dusty, pot-holed, and river-traversing roads. The town is split between two beaches - Playa Guasacate (where I stayed) and Playa Popoyo - and to get between the two on foot is just 20 minutes but requires a sometimes shoulder-high river crossing, that or a 30-minute drive. But that’s Nicaragua for you. You earn your arrival anywhere, but it’s always worth whatever it takes.
In Popoyo, I was sucked into its allure instantly. I’d gotten there just before sunset and decided to walk the beach when a string light-lit beachfront restaurant pulled me to it (you bet it’s named in my Popoyo Travel Guide). It was a pizzeria and it was filling up fast. I snagged one of the last tables on the sand and, as I was solo, ended up sharing it with a group of three women from Argentina. As we chatted, they gave me the lay of the land and hooked me up with all of the best recommendations, surf instructor contacts, and even insight on how to restock on cash in this ATM-less and remote town.
This surf town has a thing or two to teach us all about community. One of my favorite aspects of Popoyo is the way those who stay and call it home, many of whom are in fact expats, take turns in bringing the community and visitors together. Restaurants open on a rotating schedule to vector everyone to the same spots, which means everyone knows everyone pretty quickly. On top of that, it was beautiful to see and hear about how many transplants and visitors alike turn out for Sirenitas de Popoyo, a non-profit empowering local girls through surfing, swim lessons, and education. I think people come to Popoyo, fall in love with it, and feel a desire to give back to it in some way when they inevitably choose to stay. And that’s a beautiful thing to witness and to experience, especially as a sometimes expat myself.
You can read some of my travelogue entries from my Nicaragua trip here.
Ometepe, Nicaragua
Ometepe taught me magic is real. This not-so-little island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, with its two volcanoes anchoring it on each end, still dances in my mind with its wild views, nature, and the experiences that unfolded there for me. I stayed at a spot that calls itself “chocolate paradise.” From the minute I arrived, the scent of cacao was strongly in the air, while the lapping lake, tropical birdsong, and immersive jungle vegetation certainly felt like paradise to me.
I don’t even know how to begin to tell you how magical this place is. It’s a spot you really just need to experience for yourself. Out in the middle of the lake, it sort of beats to its own drum and that drum still beats in another time altogether. Locals do their washing in the lake water, transportation is by horse or scooter, rarely a car, and life is mostly lived in the outdoors. There are waterfalls to hike to, volcanoes to climb, mangroves to kayak, stunning swimming holes to dive into, and rustic restaurants that dish up incredible food. The lights can and do go out, the creatures can and do emerge (still horrified by the horned spiders I’ve seen there), and the rain can leave you soaked and exposed, but it’s all just part of it. It’s what makes it magic.
It’s spiritual, too. You can’t miss that. But stay open, if that’s not your thing. You might learn something and at the very least, you might feel peace in the partaking of that cacao ceremony, temazcal, yoga class, or kirtan. While Popoyo lures the surfers, and mostly just the surfers, Ometepe lures an interesting and colorful bunch. It’s where people from different worlds meet and mingle and leave just a little bit changed, and often with a pep in their step from the immersive experience of just being in a place where nature and the nurturing of nature have a way of bringing you back to yourself.
Bookmark my Ometepe travel guide for when you inevitably make the trip.
Ajijic, Mexico
I almost left Ajijic off this list. I was going back and forth in including it, but then I kept returning to the feeling I got while I was there. On paper, it seems like the last place on earth you’d want to travel: a town that’s supposed to be part of Mexico but is overrun with American and European retirees to the point where it doesn’t feel like Mexico at all. But it’s beautiful and it’s on Lake Chapala and it’s one of Mexico’s pueblos mágicos. While it’s certainly not a spot you would travel all the way to Mexico to see, if you find yourself in the vicinity of Guadalajara, it is worth the day trip or overnight.
I think the reason Ajijic stands out so strongly in my memory is because it was my first taste of smalltown Mexico, in all its color, creativity, and beauty in about a year. For those who don’t know, I called Oaxaca home for a year and a half from early 2021 through mid-2022. Besides the typical year-round fountain of color that is Mexico, it was March when I was in Ajijic and the jacaranda trees were in full bloom, making for gorgeous purple-petaled scenes everywhere I turned. Pair that with the lakefront setting and fresh air and I felt at peace deeeeep in my bones while there. I was also still processing my epic trip through Nicaragua that had just finished and Ajijic’s air of calm was in perfect alignment with where I was at mentally and emotionally, much like Sámara had been earlier in the year.
While Ajijic’s authenticity may have become a bit diluted with the over-concentration of elder expats, the expats in Ajijic are actually really friendly in a contagious sort of way. They’re living a stage of life that’s all about leisure, fun, and being in good company in a pretty place they’ve picked for themselves. So, while Ajijic may look like Mexico aesthetically, it doesn’t quite feel like it. But I’d actually argue that’s not a bad thing here.
I still remember sitting at a restaurant full of expats in Ajijic and overhearing a woman at the neighboring table pause the conversation she was in to appreciate the sunset unfolding over the lake in front of us. She was even describing it, giving the colors descriptions that added to the experience I was having watching the same thing. It was just a beautiful little moment that’s stuck with me and served as a reminder ever since to suspend my judgments and remember that people are people and they just might make your moment even more beautiful by being there.
San Pancho, Mexico
San Pancho was my remedy to the chaos of Sayulita next door. After Ajijic, I made my way to the Puerto Vallarta area of Mexico in the hopes of getting more time in the water and on a surfboard. I visited Sayulita first because that’s the spot on this coastline that I’d always heard about. Unfortunately, I realized too late that I’d pretty much timed my visit for the worst moment I possibly could have: right at the intersection of college spring break and Semana Santa (Holy Week when Mexicans have off and travel to places like Sayulita).
Though small, Sayulita is an overwhelming spot to be anyway. That town packs so much within its tiny territory. But swollen with spring breakers and domestic travelers on vacation, it was too much. Keep in mind, I had just come from the near empty beach towns of Nicaragua. This was absolute overload. I rode out my pre-booked few nights stay in Sayulita and then relocated to the nearby town of San Pancho. Straightaway, I knew I’d made the right decision.
San Pancho is also a small town centered on surf, but with a far less overwhelming and lively atmosphere and some great breakfast spots to keep it interesting each morning. I stayed at one of the only hostels in town (Shaka Surf House) and near instantly was welcomed into what felt like a family of other travelers. Before I knew it, they were handing me a margarita, inviting me for tacos that night, and offering to coach me out in the water whenever I wanted to surf.
So yes, San Pancho was a remedy to Sayulita’s madness, but it was that remedy in large part because of the people that just happened to be in San Pancho when I was. Through them, I experienced a sense of belonging that touched me deeply. I just felt so welcomed by complete strangers, even while I was battling my own inner demons of social burnout at this point in the trip (I’d had a lot of nights in hostels by this time).
With a comforting crew to experience San Pancho, its surf breaks, and dining scene with, I felt at home there. Including it on this list was a no-brainer. I guess the places I like best aren’t so much about what they look like, it’s about the way they make me feel, and oftentimes the people who happen to be there at the time are largely to thank for that. Though I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same experience in San Pancho as I did if you go, I would bet money that you will. Good places attract good people. I’ve seen it, and felt it, again and again.
What To Read Next
Read part 2 for the final five destinations on my list of the best places I visited in 2023.
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