As I’ve mentioned, DH and I both work full-time, and we both have some other commitments throughout the year (including our canine). I’m also a planner-type (cough…understatement), so we really like to try to plan ahead as much as possible, at least for the trips that are over about 5 days.So we started talking about 2015. It’s only six months away, you know. I’ve planned trips a year in advance, so six months is making me antsy.But this time, we are having a unusually hard time figuring out where we want to go. It seems the more you travel and the more you know, the more places start to creep higher and higher on your “next destination” list. In many cases, another blogger, friend, or photo has sparked a new interest in places that weren’t on my radar for the immediate future.
This year, we are also weighing the pros and cons and spending nearly all of our travel budget on one big trip, versus spreading it around. I say “budget” quite loosely–it’s really more of an idea of how much we would like to spend on travel in a year than a strict limit, but nonetheless, funds aren’t unlimited and we need to take that into consideration.Note: We realize how lucky we are to have these opportunities, so please don’t read into this as a whine. It is very much not intended to be that.We aren’t exactly budget travelers, and I know that people will say–why don’t you just travel for less/more cheaply and see them all? Well, when I take vacation, I like to enjoy it, a lot. More than I would enjoy being at home, because I could certainly take a staycation and be quite happy. I want good food, air-conditioning where needed, and nice hotels.
I’m not talking flying business class (unless it’s with miles) and staying at every Four Seasons or Aman (unless they are very on sale). But it means nicer accommodations and local transportation options can add up quickly. I know this isn’t everyone’s travel style–and I’m willing to make concessions to this in order to see sites and wildlife that are way off the beaten path–but in general, that’s just our preference.
Actually it’s more my preference, I should be honest, I’m definitely the picky one. (I prefer to use the word particular…).
So, most importantly, here’s our international short-list for 2015 (not in order of preference)! Depending on which trips we choose, we are looking at probably 3 of the 7.
The Gambia & Senegal
Galapagos
Madrid, Spain
Costa Rica or Mexico (Tulum)
Kenya
Iceland
Brussels, Belgium
When seeing the world is important to you, but you work full-time, how do you decide where to go next? How far do you plan ahead?
