Mid-year highlights: What you loved on Travel While Nerdy in 2025 (So far!)

We here at TWN love a bit of reflection. Taking a moment to look back on what’s happened is such a rich and valuable practice. These days, we’re all encouraged to go, go, go—but sometimes it’s worth pausing to take stock.

What worked? What didn’t? What do we want to do differently next time? Like Ferris said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Top posts of the year 

This year has been a whirlwind. We made a conscious decision to focus more on writing about our travels—and to do it regularly. Not just once in a while, but in a way that stretches us creatively, finding new and unique ways to tell our stories. We’ve been looking for those deep-dive moments… and yes, the nerdy ways to really connect with our experiences. And it turns out there are people out there who connect with what we’re sharing. This year has been our best yet.

Below are our top posts so far. What we love most is the variety: trivia, Australia, craft beer, TV, DCL. It all shows up here, and it reflects exactly what we enjoy.

• Trivia on the DIsney Wonder (including sample questions and Answers) 

• The Road from Launceston to Cradle Mountain

• Disney Cruises 2026/2027 – Australia & New Zealand Season Preview

• Marrickville Brewery Map (updated for 2025)

• Taskmaster House Australia/New Zealand 

Personal favourites

We’re so thankful to be able to connect the world with travel stories, tips, and experiences. Of course, some posts haven’t taken off quite as much as the others—yet. But we love them just as much and are proud of what we’ve shared here.

Here are a few that we think deserve a little more love.

• The secret trapdoor beneath Rembrandt’s The Night Watch

• The Road to Gibbs Farm

• How to Visit the DMZ from Seoul: What to Expect on a Half-Day Tour to the Korean Border

• The Seoul Beer Trail: Taprooms, Baseball Brews & Craft Beer Near the DMZ

Instagram 

While we are still very small on Instagram now. We have had a couple of posts that have connected. The BIG one this year was a short video of my magic band going OFF at Animator's Palate. That reel has had over 2,900 views to date. I hate to use the word ‘magic’, but it was a very magical moment. Both when I filmed that at Animator’s Palate, and seeing that the experience connected with others. Here are our tops posts so far for 2025:

• Watch my magic band of off at Animators Palate

• Is Jetstar business class worth the cost? 

• Celebrating May the 4th 

• This tip could sage you thousands on a Disney cruise even after you have booked 

• Cats of South Korea 

Pinterest

Pinterest has quietly become one of the most powerful tools in the Travel While Nerdy toolkit this year. What started as a way to collect visual inspiration has grown into a key way readers are finding TWN—especially for Disney guides, custom Google Maps, and, yes, even kitty photos.

It turns out Pinterest isn’t just for planning events or vegetarian recipes—it’s where curious, thoughtful travellers are bookmarking future adventures. This year, we’ve leaned into designing more eye-catching Pins, experimenting with formats, and tracking which posts really resonate. The results have been fun to play with.

And in case you’re wondering, we’ve been using Canva to create and publish our Pins. Here are some of our top performers:

• Disney Cruises beyond the US: where to find the magic at sea

• 18 things I wish I knew before my first Disney cruise

• Taking the train over the Øresund Bridge from Copenhagen to Malmö

Maps

This year, our custom Google Maps have become some of the most clicked, saved, and re-used parts of the blog—and we’re delighted. These maps aren’t just helpful for trip planning—they're little digital breadcrumbs we’re leaving across the globe. It’s been so rewarding to see them being used as readers plan their travels, share them with friends, and used in the wild. Expect more of them in the second half of the year!

Our top most used maps so far this year are the Marrickville Brewery Map which has had over 3,000 views on Google Maps alone since it was posted in February. Next biggest one is a new one, The Seoul Beer trail. We will look to create and share more of these in the coming years.

“‘I don’t think kangaroos are very interesting animals, I prefer lions’”

— Search term entered on the site

Search

We look at search terms partly for SEO and partly for laughs—and 2025 has delivered. The weirdest search that led someone to Travel While Nerdy so far? ‘I don’t think kangaroos are very interesting animals, I prefer lions’ . (We’re… flattered? Concerned? Intrigued?) Others that made us smile include “Who owns Taskmaster house”, “Alex Horne net worth” and “Nerd Cruises 2026”. We see you, we salute you, and we’ve probably written a blog post just for you.

What’s next?

We’re definitely slowing down a little for the back half of 2025. There’s still some beer tourism on the cards, a couple of Disney cruises, and another trip to New Zealand planned (so far).

Looking ahead to 2026, there’s a bigger trip on the horizon—we’ve already started planning and even booking parts of it. (And yes, there will be cruises!)

We’ll also keep exploring more tools like Google Maps, Canva, and Pinterest to grow our toolkit. Now that we’ve built some momentum and content, we’re thinking about how to package it all in ways that are genuinely useful and helpful.

And lastly… we’re experimenting with nerdy, travel-related merch. It might take a little longer to bring to life, but the design process has been pretty fun so far.