Danielle Galmore

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2025 Touchpoint Tally Travel Awards - "The Unfiltered Year " Category

Travel Awards

The 2025 Touchpoint Tally: Part 3 – The Unfiltered Year: A celebration of the bloopers, snapshots, and raw moments behind the scenes.

The "Unfiltered Year" Catagory

Not every travel moment belongs in a guidebook, and often, those are the ones that become the best stories. This category celebrates the "Unfiltered Year"—the instances where the lens caught a fleeting, perfect light and the moments where the best-laid plans fell completely apart. These are the stories that remind us that travel is a messy, beautiful, and deeply human endeavor.

The Awards

Award: Biggest Travel Fail

**The Brussels Bus Scare**: A confusing ticket that sent us to the wrong station and almost led to a missed regional connection.

**Sunday Market Closure**: Planning a trip to Munich's Tollwood only to find it closed for the day.

**Netherlands’ Museum Miss**: Missing out on tickets for the Anne Frank House and Corrie ten Boom Museum.

**Baggage Fee Double-Pay**: A communication breakdown that led to paying for the same bags twice.

**Limassol Apartment Mix-up**: Trying to enter the wrong apartment because we didn't re-read the simple instructions.

Winner: Going into the wrong apartment in Limassol. Because of the poor lighting and travel fatigue, we missed the detail in the instructions about there being two separate units. After finding two sets of keys in the lockbox, we accidentally entered the upstairs apartment. We immediately contacted the host to complain about the lack of towels and the messy state of the rooms, but she insisted everything was ready. It wasn’t until the next day, when we met the host outside, that we realized our mistake: our unit was actually on the first floor. Looking back a tour WhatsApp instructions, they were perfectly clear. We simply messed up!

Award: Most Overhyped Experience

**Mastermind Movie (Bergen)**:A film festival selection that didn't quite hit the mark.

**The €70 Shipping Fee**: Realizing that sending a €20 mug back home would cost more than triple the item's value.

**Ghent Canal Cruise**: A repeat of a land-based city tour we had already taken, but with less information.

**Norway Planetarium**: A visit that felt like a kids' museum with shows we had already seen.

**Night Watchman Tour (Munich)**:A soft-spoken guide and a group of 30 that made for a very quiet and difficult walk.

**Bergen Hot Dog Stand**: Waiting in a long line for a reindeer dog that left us completely underwhelmed.

‍Winner: Waiting in line at the famous Hot dogs stand in Bergen. Maybe we should have tried the reindeer dog, but even after the wait, we were just underwhelmed by the whole experience. It’s a good reminder that "famous" doesn't always mean "favorite".

Award: Moment We Laugh About Now

**Brussels Hot Pot**: Forgetting how to order and needing the waiter to rescue us from our own confusion.

**Paris Lobby Nap**: Succumbing to jet lag in a grand hotel lobby while staff rushed to find us a room.

**The "Croc" Winemaker**: A tasting with a producer who spoke no English, wore Crocs, and had his fly down the whole time.

Winner: Winemaker who was in crocs and didn't speak English. This was the definition of an unpolished, authentic encounter. He kept leaving the tasting to check on his family, and he had his fly down for the duration of our visit. Despite the comedy of errors, the wine was great, and we laugh about it every time we open a bottle of Alsatian wine.

Award: Best Picture of the Year (the standout)

**Akamas Gorge (Cyprus)**: Dramatic rock formations caught in striking Mediterranean light.

**Swiss Forest**: A shot of the woods with sun shining through that looks like a fine art painting.

**Fairy Forest (Bergen)**: A photo that feeds the imagination with its mossy, mystical vibe.

**Urke Reflection (Norway)**: A cool shot of houses and boats reflecting off the perfectly still Norwegian water.

**Dancing Aurora (Norway)**: A bucket-list shot capturing the spectacular movement of the lights in Norway.

Winner: Dancing lights of the aurora. It’s a bucket list, it’s spectacular, it’s beautiful, and it’s dancing!! This photo serves as the perfect portal back to that magical night on the North Sea.

Award: The "National Geographic" Award (Nature & Wildlife)

**The Cats in Cyprus:** They were everywhere. We began referring to them as a Spy network.

**The Orca Breach (Norway)**: A rare and majestic sight of killer whales hunting in the Norwegian fjords.

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Winner: Orcas. These majestic creatures are made all the more special due to how rare they are to see and this was our first time seeing them. Witnessing them in their natural habitat was a raw, breathtaking look at nature’s power.

Award: The "Wish You Were Here" Award (Atmosphere & Place)

**Urke Reflection (Norway)**: A serene Norwegian town reflection that you just want to share with others.

**Fairy Forest (Bergen)**: A fantasy-like setting that made me wish my boys were there with us.

**Dancing Aurora (Norway)**: A sight so special you just want to have everyone there to share it.

**Swiss Fog**: A quiet, perfect moment watching the fog rollover a mountain town on our hike from Steg to Brueniger Aelpeli.

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Winner: Fog rolling in over town in Switzerland. This was so perfect that we actually were pretty quiet while it was happening, but couldn't stop talking about it afterward. It captured the "vibe" of our Swiss adventure in a single shot.

Award: The "Human Element "Award (People & Us)

**Paris Bistro Waiter**: A quintessential "Paris" shot capturing the local bistro vibe.

**Swiss Hike Toast**: Toasting to friendship with a half-bottle of wine on a mountain with Nick, Petra, and Lana as we did our hike from Steg to Brueniger Aelpeli.

**Lovers Bridge Kiss (Trondheim)**: Giving in to the superstition of getting good luck on our adventure.

**Adventure Departure**: A shot capturing our pure excitement as we left on our big adventure.

**Colmar Bench Meeting**: Using Google Translate to meet new people in our favorite spot.

**Ayia Napa Rock Opening**: A picture representing this current chapter in our lives, found after a hidden climb.

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Winner: Tom and I in Aya Napia. Our guide showed us a hidden spot to climb down to get to that opening in the rock. We love this picture and its representation of this chapter in our lives—exploring the unknown together.

Award: Most Unexpectedly Beautiful Shot

**Moody Munich Towers (Germany)**: Architecture caught in mysterious, tower-shrouding fog.

**Swiss Peak Fog (Brueniger Aelpelit)**: Capturing a special, silent moment on a Swiss hilltop.

**Swiss Forest "Painting" (Steg Switzerland)**: Sun shining through the trees in a way that looks like a masterpiece.

**Aurora & Comet Lemmon (Norway)**: A detailed shot shared by a group member that captured more than we could see.

**Ålesund Reflection (Norway)**: A Norwegian reflection shot that beat all our expectations.

**Fairy Forest (Bergen)**: Capturing a fantasy landscape that we had previously only built up in our imagination.

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Winner: Fairy Forest. As lovers of fantasy books and movies, to be able to capture a shot that you have built up in your imagination is truly special. It felt like stepping directly into one of our favorite stories.

Award: Best Video

Orca Hunt, Norway: Capturing the intense moment of orcas hunting a humpback whale.

Akamas Gorge Beach, Cyprus: A great reminder of the intensity and beauty of that amazing day.

Ayia Napa Waves, Cyprus: A video capturing the intensity and quiet beauty of the Mediterranean.

Aurora Time-lapse, Norway: A video that allows us to relive the spectacular experience of that night.

Winner: Ava's time-lapse of northern lights. This captured what we experienced that night so well that it feels like we are reliving it every time we watch. It managed to catch the "dance" that still lives in our memories.

Award: The "David Attenborough" Award (Wildlife/Action)

Note: this award only has one entry. We are still learning when to sit back and just be part of the moment, and when to see it behind a device to ensure you capture it.

Orca Hunt: Raw footage of orcas hunting a humpback as it dives deep to escape.

Winner: Orcas video. We especially love the part where they are hunting the humpback and we see it dive deep to get away. It’s a rare look at nature's raw action that we were incredibly lucky to film.

Award: The "Behind the Scenes" Award (Candid/Humor)

Beaune France Bike Ride: A humorous attempt to use a camera stabilizer that turned out to be more trouble than it was worth.

Dina in Eguisheim France: Silly moments that perfectly captured the happy spirit of a fun day.

Winner: Dina being silly in Egusheim. We had such a fun day and everyone was happy; Dina being silly perfectly captured the lighthearted spirit of that entire experience.

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The "Unfiltered Year" reminds us that travel isn’t just about the glossy photos—it’s about the messy, hilarious, and unexpected moments that happen in between. While we’ll always treasure the bloopers and the snapshots, there are some experiences that go much deeper than a funny story. Join us for the final chapter of our 2025 Tally: The Grand Finale, where we reveal the people and memories that defined the soul of our year.

Continue the 2025 Touchpoint Tally:

Part 1: The Flavor Profile

Part 2: The Rhythm of Travel

Part 4: The Grand Finale

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