This is the page where you’ll find all my blog posts about Spain. I’ve been to Spain an awful lot of times. My absolute first time was when I was a crotch goblin in L’Estartit (Catalunya) with my family, which I don’t remember. Another time right after being house-trained, I went to Tenerife with my grandma—which was tradition.
The first time I went to Spain with some kind of agency was when I was a shopaholic teen with my parents in Barcelona in 2006 or 2007 or something like that. The second time I was barely 18 and I joined one of those horrible teenage bus tours to L’Estartit to get drunk and ‘learn’ Spanish (it was useless) and make a day trip to Barcelona. The third and fourth times (2011 or 2012) I went to Madrid for a weekend to visit my back-then lover who did their Erasmus in Spain.
In 2015, I hitchhiked from France via the Spanish coast to Andalucía to hang out with family first and then hitchhike on to Tarifa. In Tarifa, I met Jonas for the first time. On our way to South America, Jonas and I rendezvoused in Gran Canaria. On our way back from South America (2017), Jonas and I flew from Bogotá to Madrid, where we stayed for a week to acclimatize to European winter before going to Germany and the Netherlands. In 2018, we drove a scooter around Mallorca during my ‘reflection week’ (i.e. vacation) while I was trying to graduate from university in the Netherlands.
Despite many experiences with many pieces of Spain, I think it’s never a bad idea to return to this European country. That’s why I have a whole list of things I want to do and places I want to see for future trips.
Things I’d Like to Do Next Time in Spain
- Hitchhike even more with locals. Mainland Spain is a notoriously shit place to hitchhike. The Absolute Worst, if you will. In the north, I almost exclusively hitchhiked with foreigners holidaying through there (Andalucía was better). Next time, I hope to have hacked this and gain the local’s trust
- Improve my Spanish lisp (my usual Spanish is a delightful mix of Central and South American vocab + pronunciation)
- On the mainland: visit Basque Country and Galicia (parts I haven’t been to)
- Plazas de soberanía: visit as many as possible, but at the very least Melilla and Ceuta
- Balearic Islands: visit Formentera, Mahón, preferably by (sailing) boat (click here to see my Crewbay profile and here’s my Find a Crew profile)
- Canary Islands: El Hierro, La Gomera, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote are on my radar. And yes, going up Pico del Teide on Tenerife is also something I crave. From there, I’d love to travel by yacht to Madeira, the Azores, the mainland of Spain/Portugal, Cabo Verde, or Morocco
- Visit some observatories, such as IRAM 30m in the Sierra Nevada, the Teide Observatory, and Roque de Los Muchachos on La Palma, and others
- Kayak on the Tejo River. I’d love to hike next to the source in Spain till it becomes deep enough to paddle.
- Go hiking more, perhaps in the area close to Andorra? (tips for good hiking areas are very welcome!)
- Visit remote areas, such as the autonomous entity Val d’Aran
- The exclave of Llívia and Pheasant Island
If you know cool places and things to do in Spain, comment at the bottom of this page so I can always find your suggestions again once I start plotting my return! Si eres español y conoces lugares hermosos o aventureros, por favor, compartelos en los comentarios.
Are you a travel blogger and do you have good posts about Spain? Drop them in a comment below and I’ll read them!
Accommodation in Spain: Stays in Sevilla, Tarifa, Málaga, and Melilla
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Yurt-Surfing in Andalucía, Spain
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A Little Tibet in Spain: Karma Guen Buddhist Center
Oh my, this mountain vista from the stupa of the Karma Guen Buddhist center in Vélez-Málaga is stunning! Yes, I didn’t spontaneously leave Spain for Nepal or Tibet, although I’m hoping to visit in the future. I visited this Buddhist retreat center in Andalucía with my sort of spontaneous Couchsurfing guest from Russia. Lots of the people at Karma Guen are actually Russian, so we received a tour of the place in Russian and English from one of the people that’s involved there. The whole demographics of this center was very international. We got our blessing at the main hallContinue reading
The Sierra Nevada from the Road (Spain)
Dramatic skies, flawless tarmac, and mountains everywhere: the Sierra Nevada in Spain! Just some shit-stains on the window, still it’s a pretty good photo taken through the windshield! Here’s the Google Streetview version, much cleaner: This day I finished my speed hitchhiking trip towards Málaga in the south of Spain. It was a pretty rough trip of continuous hitchhiking for four days because Spain is just not that easy to get around. The people at the HitchGathering that told me hitchhiking in Spain was difficult spoke truth to power. My lowest point was when I was stuck at a roundaboutContinue reading
Accommodation in Iceland: Reykjavík + Around the Ring Road
What to expect of accommodation in Iceland on an organized tour or as a digital nomad? These are the places we stayed at during a tour around Iceland’s ring road, and the places we booked ourselves. We were in Iceland between the 21st of September and the 9th of October, 2025. Iceland is an expensive destination, so I’m also giving advice on how to cut costs on a tour while staying healthy and well-fed. Reykjavík I: Old Town Reykjavík Duration: one night. Book this well-located guesthouse here After arriving in Iceland from Denmark with one of the last PLAY flights,Continue reading
How to Stay Online in Andorra: eSIM, Roaming, or Andorran SIM Card?
Jonas and I visited Andorra for 12 days in June 2025. To stay online and work remotely, we needed mobile data for our phones. Andorra is NOT in the EU roaming agreement, so there’s a real chance of getting hit with a high bill at the end of your trip. Jonas went the eSIM route and I bought an Andorran SIM card Andorra: European, But No ‘Roam Like At Home’ The Principality of Andorra is a bit of a special case with regards to the European Union, Schengen, and the Eurozone. Short version: Andorra is not an EU member, notContinue reading
How to Get a SIM Card in Guinea-Bissau
We traveled in Guinea-Bissau for 12 days in March/April 2025. This is how we got a SIM card in Guinea-Bissau to stay connected and work online from Cacheu, Bissau, and Bubaque Which SIM Card in Guinea-Bissau is Best? Orange. In Guinea-Bissau, the telecom infrastructure is still in its infancy. Orange has the best coverage in the country, but it’s still not reliably great, even in towns. However, when it’s good, it’s great, with 4G or 4G+. However, SIM card shops might not be open when you arrive on a weekend or a holiday, so it’s more important that you takeContinue reading
Mpak – São Domingos Border Crossing by Taxi, Motorbike and Canoa
This article is about the land border between Mpak (Mpack) in Senegal and São Domingos in Guinea-Bissau. On the 22nd of March, 2025, we traveled from Ziguinchor in Senegal to Cacheu in one day. We took a taxi, crossed the border on foot, tried to hitchhike, and eventually took two mototaxis to the port, where we boarded a pirogue/canoa. Read on to find out how we did it. Zichuinchor to Cacheu instead of Bissau While writing a page about Guinea-Bissau to aid our travels in West Africa, I stumbled upon the small village of Cacheu by the river of theContinue reading
How to Get a SIM Card in Mauritania
We traveled a bit around the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in February 2025. To work remotely and stay online while traveling, we got local SIMs. Here’s the process to get your own SIM card in Mauritania. Which SIM Card in Mauritania is the Best? First things first: you might not get a choice in SIM card, even if you try really hard. Mauritania is a country where one might have to lower one’s expectations a few times a day. Also, the rules for everything in Mauritania change very quickly for some reason. If you can, buy Moov by Mauritel. EvenContinue reading
How to Get a Moroccan SIM Card
We entered Morocco in December 2024 to stay a few months to travel around. Here you’ll find which Moroccan SIM card to buy, how to get one at a shop, and how to set up an eSIM before you arrive so you’re never offline or lost. All prices in this article are in Moroccan Dirham (MAD), abbreviated to Dh. Which SIM Card in Morocco Should I Choose? Inwi. If you’re one person traveling to Morocco, want to get a Moroccan SIM card quickly, and don’t want to deal with too much hassle topping it up, Inwi is the best SIMContinue reading
Hello, I have no experience with hitchhiking. I would like to take my first trip with a friend. The plan is to fly to Malaga and hitchhike back home (Antwerp). I thought I would need about 10 days for this if I want to travel at a leisurely pace. What do you think is the best route to take in terms of views and time management? Do you think this is a good idea in general? Thanks in advance! Rémy
Hey Rémy! Yes, 10 days is plenty for you and your friend to hitchhike back to Antwerp. You can stop in some very cool places on the way back. If it’s both your first time, you’ll probably make some mistakes (such as where to stand and where to get out of the car) in the beginning. Also, Spain is fairly difficult for hitchhiking, as many people somehow believe it’s illegal (it’s not). The last times I’ve hitchhiked in mainland Spain, I mostly rode with fellow tourists. Spain also has a dual highway system on the east coast, where one highway is free of charge and the other costs about €80 to travel between Almería and Barcelona. The free-of-charge one is easier to hitchhike. Download offline maps (OSMand+, maps me, or mapy cz) of the areas you’ll be hitchhiking in so you always know where you are and where the nearest gas station is. I think the most interesting hitchhiking route from Málaga to Antwerp would be: Málaga, Sevilla, Cáceres, Salamanca, Bilbao/San Sebastian, Bordeaux, and then one or two other stops in France. France is much easier for hitchhiking.
Enjoy your trip and happy hitchhiking!