My palms have been itchy for quite some time. It is past time for a new adventure. Time to hit the road again and see the world. As we begin to hopefully make 2023 full of adventures the question becomes ‘where do we go?’ Ever since our fantabulous Mediterranean adventure in 2019 (a future post) we have been anxious to get on the road again. I would quantify the destination possibilities as either ‘Caribbean’ or ‘Mediterranean’.
Us with a friend, Buz, in Medellin.
If Caribbean, I am thinking of Cartagena and maybe more of Colombia. Also somewhere in Mexico, possibly Cozumel but other options certainly are there. Punta Cana, DR is also an open option. Why these? We loved Colombia when we went to Medellin a few years ago and have heard good things about Cartagena. It has lots of history as a walled city. If we go there we will probably hit a few other spots also. From what we have been told, south of Cartagena there is a wonderful tourist beach area called Santa Marta. Medellin and Bogata would also be worth the trip.
Punta Cana is supposedly a very nice modern beach vacation area in the Dominican Republic. We are curious to check it out.
Fun waterfront Tiki Bar near downtown Cozomel
Mexico is quite different as it has many different places an ex-pat can go and enjoy a great time. I have a friend in Cozumel and we spent time there so we have a comfort level with the place. Cozumel is a big island but over all not so crowded and somewhat relaxing and quiet. I also have a lottery dream of owning a water front Tiki Bar. I saw the place in Coz that I would like to buy and it would be nice to check up on the property.
Boarding in the Paciifc in Panama.
Tulum is another area in Mexico that has really come into its own as a destination as well as the west coast of Mexico like Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara . We also can always take a trip back to Panama and visit friends which is always something we would like to do.
If a ‘Mediterranean’ trip…Denise’s eyes are set on Italy. We also want to do a trip to explore Spain, France, Ireland/Scotland (again), etc…as well as wanting to go back to the Greek Isles especially Kamari,Santorini and Crete.
Decisions decisions…. So our initial target will probably be ‘Mediterranean’ to Italy. If we can swing it maybe we will do a stop in Paris to say hello to Victoire, Hugo, and Baby Paul (we will try but no promises).
It is a little stressful to go to new places when traveling. There is always an obligation to go to the ‘must see’ places like Roman Coliseum, Vatican…you know, the famous tourist traps. It is like checking off the boxes on your list. These tend to take up lots of time on a trip not to mention being more costly. Ah, stress…! Where we really like to go are the smaller out of the way towns where the real people live, eat, and work. I know Italy has many of these so we will try to intersperse them between the ‘obligation locations. For us, these places are where the real adventures are found and real memories are made.
It is challenging since there is so much to see and so little time. We would also like to spend some time in Southern France like in the Lyon and Annecy areas (yes more friends to maybe visit). We also want to go through Spain but that may have to be a separate trip since there is so much there to experience. We also may top off this next trip with a stop back in the Greek Isles. I really want to go back to Kamari, Santorini. We also want to spend more time on Crete. Chania was amazing. Another spot or two we are thinking about are the islands of Patmos and Paros. Who knows, maybe we will see these places as part of a future trip that might include some of Turkey.
Edinburgh Hostel
When we do go we will probably follow the same formula as before. We buy one-way tickets with no defined return date or schedule. We stay flexible and adjust our schedule and time table as we go. If we need a rest or really like a place we see about extending our time there. We stay mostly in AirBnBs. Together we have not tried hostels yet but maybe this next trip we will. I stayed a week in a real nice hostel in Scotland a few years back.
We usually take what we can carry (new backpacks are in order) and travel by train, bus, ferry, and air for the most part. Finally, when we see what we wanted to see and we hit that tired point where we just want to sleep in our own bed, we then look for a return ticket home. Last trip that happened after a month on the road. This traveling formula worked amazingly well for our Mediterranean trip. Relaxed, no rushing, no obligations, just comfortable. I plan to write about that adventure soon.
For now we are planning and researching and ruling out the places people have said are more hype than worth the time and expense. We will then start building our must see obligation list and then add in the smaller recommended desired spots. As the itinerary and plan builds we always keep in mind the adages that ‘the only good plan is one that can change’; “no battle plan, survives contact with the enemy”; “when your plan meets the real world, the real world wins”; and relying on plans leads to failure but failing to plan ensures failure. Finally the biggest adage ‘when man plans, God laughs’!
It takes a bit of work to make it all worth while. In the end the most precious resource is time…so many places/adventures and so little time! Chow!
