5 Dream Trips I Can’t Wait to Take

So 2020 was clearly NOT a big year of travel (though we did manage to do some travelling – check out what we got up to in 2020). And 2021 might not be a big travel year either. All this time of staying still and staying home has got me filled with wanderlust and planning some big dream trips. Since we can’t actually go anywhere, I’ve had so much time to dream of where I want to go!

During this still time, I’ve found that my travel bucket list has grown, but it has also shrunk. It’s grown in that I’m so desperate to travel, I’d go just about anywhere right now! (But I won’t, until it’s safe to do so.) And seeing people share past travels on social media has me adding more places to my must-visit list.

But at the same time, my travel bucket list has shrunk as I’m narrowing things down. With almost a year at home, I now feel like I need to prioritize. There are certain trips we want to take around certain milestones (e.g. honeymoon trip, trip before baby, first trip with baby) and those milestones are coming up sooner than I thought they would.

All that to say, dream trips are now front of mind! 

Below I’m sharing my top five dream trips. Of course, these aren’t the only trips I want to go on (like I said, I’m ready to go just about anywhere). But these are the trips I want to prioritize in the next 5-ish years. I expect I’ll go on many more trips in that time, but these ones are really special to me and I can’t wait to cross them off my travel bucket list!

Dream trip #1: Honeymoon in New Zealand

New Zealand has been at the top of my bucket list for a long time now. Both Colin and I really want to visit New Zealand, so where better to go for a truly epic honeymoon? (In case you missed it, we got engaged in October!) New Zealand is one of those places that I’m sure is going to blow me away with it’s natural beauty. It’s somewhere that I would want to spend at least 3 weeks exploring.

We haven’t been to New Zealand yet due to cost and location. New Zealand is an expensive and far away place to get to. But for our honeymoon, I think we could splurge a little! And we’d want to take a few weeks off anyway, so might as well travel across the world.

I think our honeymoon will be our next big trip once international travel is allowed, as we’re hoping to get married as soon as it’s safe. If New Zealand’s borders are open, I can definitely see us heading there in the fall or next spring.

Dream trip #2: Babymoon in South Korea, Japan and/or Taiwan

Before the pandemic, I was hoping Colin and I could return to Asia in the fall of 2020. I was so looking forward to revisiting Japan or South Korea and crossing a new country, Taiwan, off my list. I was mostly in it for all of the amazing food.

But of course, the pandemic changed those plans. So instead of going in 2020, I thought somewhere in East Asia would be perfect for us to visit on our eventual babymoon (the trip a couple takes before the baby is born). I’d love to go off on a really fun and tasty international adventure just us two before we welcome a little one. So as long as I’m feeling good and can enjoy all of the delicious food, I think a trip to any (or all!) of these countries would be the perfect babymoon.

2025 update: Check out how we planned our babymoon and where we ended up going! 

Dream trip #3: Slow travel in Colombia

Colombia has been near the top of my dream trips bucket list for a long time. Sadly, I haven’t spent too much time in South America, besides a month in Peru almost 10 years ago. Ever since I learned that Medellin was the City of Eternal Spring with the ideal temperature, I have been hooked on the idea of spending time in Colombia.

For this dream trip, I imagine us spending a few weeks, slow travelling through some Colombian cities. I know I’ll be tempted to add on more of South America (Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina are all calling my name!), but we’ll have to see how much time Colin can get off work. I love the idea of really getting to know spots in Colombia more deeply, rather than running around and spending two nights in a bunch of cities. I’m sure this won’t be our last trip to South America!

Dream trip #4: Parental leave trip through Europe

Colin and I have been dreaming about this eventual-trip for quite a long time. I promise, I’m not pregnant! I’m just a planner. Assuming our family is healthy and able, our plan is to use our parental leave time to travel the world.

I know a lot of people raise an eyebrow at the idea of travelling with a baby. And in fairness, I haven’t tried it before. But I have read enough accounts from travelling parents to know it’s possible and might even be easier than travelling with older children. We’re not planning to go straight from the labour room to the airport. And we’re not planning an ambitious trip around the world, jumping on flights every week.

Here’s what we have in mind for our parental leave dream trip:

• Give birth in Vancouver and spend the first few months figuring out life with a newborn, hanging with local friends and family, and getting vaccines
• Spend a month or so in Toronto visiting my family who lives there
• Fly to Portugal and spend one month in the Algarve
• Train/bus to Seville (one of our favourite places!) and spend a month there
• Fly to Italy and spend a month eating all the good stuff in the Emilia-Romagna region
• Ferry over to Croatia and spend 1-2 months there (Croatia, please don’t join Schengen yet as we’ll be nearing our max days in the Schengen Zone!)
• Spend another month in Montenegro or Albania (also both non-Schengen)
• Fly back to Vancouver around baby’s first birthday!

So basically: four months in Vancouver, one to two months in Toronto, and then about 6 months in Europe, a month in each location. While in Europe, we’d love if friends or family would come to visit us. And did I mention our dog, Ellie, will be with us too? The travel days will be difficult but I think the pay-off – spending so much time together, introducing our child to the world, and enjoying slow paced travel – will be worth it.

Dream trip #5: Taking on India

India is a place I’m both excited and nervous to visit. I’ve heard it’s a complete attack on the senses and you either love it or you hate it. Despite the challenges, India is still a dream trip for me and somewhere I do want to go one day. I don’t know that I’d want to take a child or a dog there, so I think I might have to leave some of the family at home for this one. I may even opt for a small group tour, even though I usually prefer to plan my own trips, just to make things easier. Perhaps this would be a good time to join a solo female travel group!

I’m not sure exactly when this India trip will happen but I know I want to make it there in the 2020s.

Bonus dream trip: Antarctica!

Okay, I’m sneaking in one more addition to the dream trips list, and that’s Antarctica! I can’t really imagine a list of dream trips that doesn’t include Antarctica. I would love to finally cross the seventh continent off my travel bucket list and see this magical place for myself. Two things are holding me back: cost and seasickness.

The price tag, around $10,000 per person, can be discounted but usually not by much. I know many of the tour operators have sales and I’ve heard it’s cheaper if you just show up and get on a sailing, but it is still an expensive trip. As for the seasickness issue, I do not do well on boats. And the Drake Passage is notorious for rough waters. I know there are less rocky routes to Antarctica, including the option to fly, but most traditional routes are through choppy waters.

So one day this dream trip will happen, but after lots of saving and with some heavy duty anti-nausea medication!

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What dream trips are on your travel bucket list? 

 

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