Yahoo Travel Editors Look Back on Their Favorite Trips of 2015

Now that 2015 is coming to a close we’re all getting a little teary-eyed thinking about all of our incredible travel memories. In the past 12 months our Yahoo Travel editors have circumnavigated the globe, visiting six continents, 34 countries and telling thousands of stories. Brittany Jones Cooper ran a marathon in the Australian outback, Leah Ginsberg swam with pigs in the Bahamas, Greg Keraghosian braved Death Valley, Laura Begley Bloom learned that her toddler Lucy loves glamping and Jo Piazza met her husband on a boat in the Galapagos.

What a year!

As we get ready to head into 2016 we want to take a minute to look back at our very favorite trips of this year.

The Galapagos with Ecoventura, Managing Editor Jo Piazza

When I first found out that my eight-day eco cruise to the Galapagos would have no cell service or wifi I tried to get back on a plane to the mainland. But I’m damn glad I ended up staying.

Related: How to Do the Galapagos if You Hate Boats

These are the kinds of things you do on a Tuesday morning in the Galapagos. (Photo: Nick Aster)

Not only did the Galapagos islands completely exceed all expectations — we swam with sea lions, dove with sharks, hung with equatorial penguins, and loped around with giant tortoises — but because I was completely cut-off from the rest of the world I had no choice but to focus on what was happening in the moment. And then I met my husband on the boat. He was a fellow journalist. We got to talking. We went on a date back in Ecuador and then we got married eight months later. Talk about fate….and a memorable trip.

Disney Cruise, Editor-in-Chief Laura Begley Bloom

My daughter Lucy proved she is the luckiest 3-year-old on the planet by going on not one, but two Disney cruises this year. In the summer, my father-in-law took the whole family on a very special trip on the Disney Dream.

Lucy and her cousins Alex and Matthew with Captain Mickey on our July trip. (Photo: Jonathan Bloom)

Then, a few months later, we went back on the same ship for a Halloween cruise with my parents and my brother’s family. The Dream had just been overhauled, so this time around, Lucy was able to sit behind the controls of a Millenium Falcon in the new Star Wars area and get glammed up at the new Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Now one of her favorite bedtime stories — I kid you not — is a book on the making of the ship called Welcome Aboard! The Creation of the Disney Dream.

Lucy dressed up as a pirate and her cousin Virginia as Princess Leia on our Halloween cruise. (Photo: Disney Dream)

Yellowstone in the Winter, Editor Greg Keraghosian

I’m not sure I would have loved seeing Old Faithful in the spring — it’s the kind of famous landmark that could make a tourist say, “That’s it?” But try seeing it as I did, alone on a frosty landscape with none of the spectator seats taken — it’s like having Madison Square Garden all to yourself. Yellowstone in winter draws just a fraction of the summer crowd even though the wildlife is plentiful and the mountains and sunsets are gorgeous.

Related: The 50 Best State Parks in America

We promise you that Yellowstone is even better in the winter. (Photo: Greg Keraghosian)

You’ll need a snowcat or snow mobile to see Old Faithful, which can be arranged by staying at Old Faithful Snow Lodge as I did as part of a National Geographic Expeditions tour. The icing on the cake was learning photo tips from a Pulitzer Prize-winning NatGeo photographer.

Cuzco, Peru, Brittany Jones Cooper

There is something really special about being in a place with so much history and natural beauty. Once I got over my altitude sickness, I really enjoyed walking around the downtown and visiting some of the ornate churches and ruins that the city has to offer. Another highlight was going to the market with a local woman, and then going back to her home where she prepared lunch for us — it was amazing! Of course, the pièce de résistance was Machu Picchu, which was far more impressive and spiritual than I could have ever imagined.

There are few things more memorable than a trip to Peru. (Photo: Brittany Jones Cooper)

Watching Sea Turtles Nest on the Beaches of Nevis, Lead Editor Leah Ginsberg

The most memorable trips for me revolved around once-in-a-lifetime experiences with animals. Watching the sea turtles nest on the beaches of Nevis in the Caribbean was a bucket-list moment.

This is something very few people will ever get to see. (Photo: Leah Ginsberg)

Cape Town, Brittany Jones Cooper

The city is absolutely breathtaking with Table Mountain, clear skies, and stunning beaches. The food was fresh and delicious, and the wine was beyond tasty. I also jumped in a cage and dove with Great White sharks, hung out with penguins at boulder beach, and felt like I was on the edge of the world at the Cape of Good Hope. Cape Town is definitely a place I’d like to visit again.

A picture perfect view of Cape Town. (Photo: Brittany Jones Cooper)

Exumas in the Bahamas, Lead Editor Leah Ginsberg

Just last month I was lucky enough to go to the Exumas in the Bahamas. Not only did they have literally the most beautiful turquoise water I have ever seen, but I was able to swim with wild pigs and sharks, too. It will be hard to top in 2016, but I’m excited to get started!

Paris After the Attacks, Managing Editor Jo Piazza

“Thank you for coming,” our waiter in the small bistro along the Rue du Temple said to me as he brought us the check. “Thank you for not being scared.”

That was one of the first things we heard when we went to Paris right after Thanksgiving, just weeks after the devastating terrorist attacks on the country.

My favorite spot in Paris. (Photo: Goncalo Silva/Flytographer)

Paris is one of my very favorite cities in the world and I was heartbroken by what happened there. But visiting them so soon afterwards was something I will never forget.

Related: Why I’m Taking the Most Important People in My Life to Paris

Life was continuing all over Paris. The spirit and the joie de vivre of the country were the same, even though many things will be forever different.

Spain in a Porsche, Editor-in-Chief Laura Begley Bloom

While we love traveling as a family, my husband Jonathan and I got to go on the ultimate couple’s getaway to Andalucia, Spain. We spent a day racing Porsches at Ascari, a renowned racetrack near the fortified city of Ronda.

Related: WATCH: Trip of a Lifetime — Racing Porsches in Spain

Navigating a Porsche through one of Andalucia’s famed Pueblos Blancos, or White Towns. (Photo: Laura Begley Bloom)

And as if it couldn’t get any better, we took a Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet out for a few days’ spin around the countryside. I think the best part was pulling into small towns and watching people’s jaw drop when they saw our hot drive.

Volunteer Teaching in Armenia, Editor Greg Keraghosian

I knew my month as a volunteer travel-blogging teacher in Armenia would be memorable, but I didn’t know how much I’d be remembering: the 100-year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the incredibly scenic cliffside monastery, the 75-year-old barbershop, and especially the kids I got to work with at the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies.

Sometimes you find gems where you least expect them. (Photo: Greg Keraghosian)

Armenia has a troubled past, but I’d recommend its historic sites to anyone and the capital of Yerevan has come a long way toward modernizing itself. I hope this will soon become the kind of up-and-coming destination travelers crow about, but you can get a head start by going now.

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