Travel Dreams

I’m pretty lucky to have travelled fairly extensively and to be in the financial position to be able to take several holidays a year. This is one of the main reasons why I won’t be giving up my day job any time soon to focus on The Bellwether – I like being able to take off on trips, near and far, whenever I like and not have to worry about saving for years to pay for it. I work very hard and I suppose where other people might sacrifice purchases, I instead sacrifice time. I think it makes holidays all the sweeter knowing I’ve knocked my pan in for hours and then get to relax and really enjoy my time away.

This year already I’ve been to Poland and the States (both of which I haven’t written about yet!) and after we move house, I hope we can squeeze in another holiday before our cousins come to visit in November. We usually like to go away to a beach-y type place once a year for a week of lying in the sunshine doing nothing but swimming, reading and eating good food. We don’t care much where we go – usually we set a budget, choose a week we can both get off work (this is the very hardest part with my job!) and then go to the travel agents and ask them to find us something. The Canary Islands are always a winner – guaranteed sunshine all year round – and we’ve been to Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, as well as Kos, Zakynthos and Rhodes. I have always been reticent to visit Turkey and Cyprus for some strange reason, but this year could be the year!

My travel dream though, well, I have a long list. Here’s my top 5 10, in no particular order:

1. Hawaii

This was actually our first-choice honeymoon destination but we couldn’t afford to go at the time. Lee’s always wanted to go and I am definitely on board with it – the beaches, the food, the music, the people. Oh, yeah. One day.

2. Japan

For someone with a massive love of kawaii, it’s fairly criminal that I’ve never been to Japan. I even did a year-long evening class in Japanese a few years ago. One day.

2. Sri Lanka

I am not entirely sure what draws me to Sri Lanka, but I have always had a hankering to go there. Maybe it was when I heard you could visit the elephant orphanage and feed the babies. One day.

4. Cuba

This is a fairly easily-attainable goal, as it’s now really accessible to us on a package deal. An ex-colleague of mine recently went there and cycled round for a few weeks. The olde city stuff and the beaches appeals to me. One day.

5. Morocco

Another place in fairly easy reach, I am pretty sure even Ryanair go there now. Or Easyjet. One of them. I have never been to Africa before, but this would be the top of my list for that continent. One day.

6. Russia

I find Russia fascinating – the history, the culture, the buildings – I mean, who wouldn’t be enthralled by those oniony turrets?! My brother is moving to Siberia later this year so this may actually happen sooner than later. One day!

7. India

Another long-held desire is to visit India. It’s our favourite cuisine and I’d love to go and spend some time learning more about that as well as soaking up the culture. One day.

8. Peru

Anywhere you can get photobombed by a llama is high on my list of destinations! Again, it’s a fascinating country that I don’t know enough about. One day.

9. Fiji

I think this is about as far away from here as to feel like you were travelling to another dimension and that’s OK with me. It looks like such a beautiful idyll. One day.

10. Costa Rica

I don’t know a great deal about Costa Rica, but I specifically want to go to the Funky Monkey Lodge. Way back in my working for a web hosting company days, my best friend Jo and I were putting together a package for this place and vowed we’d go one day. It’s looking increasingly unlikely now she has a tiny baby on the way, but maybe when we’re really grown up we can all go. One day!

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