Travel Tuesday

I’ve been talking about travel so much lately with friends, family, my readers and even people that I meet for the first time. It’s quickly become one of my favorite topics and I’m so happy that I chose to expand on this content to share here on the blog with all of you.  I think one of the most frequent questions that I get asked is, “Where are you off to next?” I never really know how to answer this because the list I’ve got of dream destinations is extremely long.  Whenever someone recommends a new country or city for me to visit, I literally always say, “That’s on my list too!” I still consider myself to be a newbie traveler, especially when it comes to international travel.  Ireland really opened up a completely new chapter in my life and started this chain reaction within me that I don’t see stopping any time soon. I mentioned several months ago that one of my goals was to make this a big travel year.  I’ve been to three different places so far in 2016 and plan to add on several more by December. In fact, I am in the very beginning stages of trying to plan out my next big trip which I hope will be 3 countries all at once!  I would absolutely love to be away for my birthday this year in November too.  As I mentioned above my bucket list of places to visit in my lifetime is extremely long, so for this post I decided to share some of my top picks and most realistic ones that I plan to travel to within the next 3 years.

 

London & Paris 

I put these two together because I’ve always dreamed of visiting both places in one trip.  In fact, England & France are two of the countries that I am planning to do before the end of the year and I would probably try to visit Rome or Venice as well since Italy is also a top contender for me.  My dreams of visiting London and Paris go back years and years.  My desire to go has grown even more so over the last several years after following so many people on Instagram who have visited both places.  The photos just inspire me so much and I know that seeing them in person and experiencing it all for myself would be absolutely amazing.  I mean I NEED to see the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, The London Eye, The Louvre and so much more. I swear that London has been speaking to me lately and calling out my name.  Everywhere I turn I see someone else is there or I randomly hear someone talking about it. Fingers crossed that I can make this trip happen in the next few months!

 

Peru: Inca Trail Trek To Machu Picchu 

Going to Peru and seeing Machu Picchu has been on my list for awhile now, but it wasn’t until a couple of days ago that I got set on doing a 4 day trek up the Inca Trail.  I know someone who just did it and it was the most challenging experience of her life. She got really sick, but somehow managed to make it to the Sun Gate and in the end it was all so worth it.  Reading her recap of each day of the hike inspired me so much.  The details were not pretty though!  I’ve read so many reviews and blog posts about it over the weekend and I know it’s not something that I am physically ready for at this moment. I’ve got a lot of work to do. It is an extremely challenging hike with insane altitude changes that can make you sick. It’s literally the most intense thing that I would probably ever do in my life and for some crazy reason I can’t stop thinking about doing it.  I even had a dream about it last night!  It scares the HELL out of me, but because of that I want to do it and face my fears.  I want to prove to myself that I can do it.  When I get an idea in my head it’s very difficult for me to let it go.  I text my cousin, James, just yesterday asking if he wanted to do it with me. I plan on doing this trek in the near future.  Want to join me? lol

 

Spain: Barcelona & Madrid

Spain has been in my top 5 ever since I went through a phase of wanting to be an Au Pair in Madrid several years ago. I also know this girl who lived there for about a year and I just fell even more in love with it through her photos and descriptions.  It’s so easy for me to get inspired by places I’ve never been to. I was initially planning to go this summer, but the airfare was super expensive. I’m not too sure how Spain is in November, but maybe if I could make it work then I would go there for my birthday this year.  If not then definitely next year I plan to visit. I’ve had my heart set on seeing Casa Batlló in person among so many other incredible places in Spain.  Something about it has just always drawn me in.  My mom said I even have some family members living there now and I’ve never met them before!  It would be so cool to meet them while I am there.

 

Greece 

Oh Greece, you have my heart and I’ve never met you yet. I think I fell in love with Greece after watching movies like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Mamma Mia and My Life in Ruins. [don’t judge]  I always thought I would go here on my honeymoon and who knows, maybe one day in the future I will.  I don’t plan on waiting around for that to happen though because I could bring that dream to life all on my own. I’ve envisioned myself staying in a Oia cave house in Santorini and walking around Mykonos. I know a few people who just recently went to Greece and I swear I was living vicariously through their snaps and photos.  By the way, that’s probably the coolest part about snapchat.  When someone is traveling, it makes you feel like you are right there with them. I wouldn’t want to go to Greece by myself, so I need to see who I can recruit to join me. lol Too bad my mom has a fear of flying!

South Africa 

It’s so crazy, but a huge portion of my readers on my Facebook page are from South Africa.  I’m not even sure how it happened, but over the last several years I have had many of them ask me when I would come and visit.  After my best friend went there on her own last year, I became even more drawn in and it quickly became a top contender on my list.  She did so many amazing things over there and saw such incredible sights.  I definitely want to make my way over there, but I truthfully don’t see it happening until at least another 2 years.  It’s such a big trip that I feel like I need a few more under my belt first. Whenever I do make my way over there though, I think it would be incredible to meet some of the people who follow my Facebook page!  The beauty of blogging is that you can connect with people from all across the globe.  Seriously, how amazing is that?!

As mentioned above my list goes way beyond this with other places like Australia, Iceland, Thailand, Dubai, Japan and Bali to name a few.  There’s just an entire world to choose from and if I could travel for an entire year non-stop then I would!  Obviously I have no idea what the future holds, but I look forward to seeing how many of these places I can cross off within the next few years.  Who knows, I might end up in destinations that weren’t even on this list.   I would love to know if anyone has traveled to any of these places and if so please do share your experiences with me!  What are some of your dream destinations? This post just reminded me that I need renew my passport. Ha! Thanks so much for reading. <3