Post-pandemic travel ideas

[schneefink]

scintilla10 asked about the top places I'd like to visit (in non-pandemic times.)

I always have two sets of answers to this kind of question: the places that I think I might actually travel to in the not-too-distant future, and the places that sound cool but would be more effort/time-intensive/expensive to get to so I'm pretty sure I won't, at least not anytime soon.

In category 1:
- Paris! I've never been, and DD and I have been planning to go for years now but always postponed it and, well, this spring it was impossible for obvious reasons. But maybe next year, or more likely the year after.

- This might be cheating a little, but either Croatia or Greece. Probably Croatia because it's easier to get to (though since I don't have a car it might not make that much of a difference.) My family went on vacation in Croatia a few times when I was a child, and in Greece once, and I always loved the beaches and the clear water and the food. We used to go so often but by now it's been a long time since I've swum in the Mediterranean.

- A skiing + wellness vacation. Usually we have a skiing vacation every year at my grandparents', but twice, many years ago, our family had a skiing vacation elsewhere, in a hotel with a sauna and wellness area nearby. That was a wonderful treat, and it might be nice to do it again.

Not included: visits to family (including both Tours and Brussels, probably), and I'm definitely going to the next European Worldcon. And maybe other conventions? We'll see. And maybe weekend trips to Krakow and/or Prague and/or Bratislava.


In category 2:
- North American national parks. So many of them are gorgeous. My parents traveled across the US a few years ago and visited several of them, and I'd love to do the same.

- Not very specific, but: Russia. I think it'd be nice to visit again one day, but I don't really have any concrete places/things I want to see or do. It'd be nice to see Moscow and/or St. Petersburg again, but otoh it'd also be interesting to see other places (Kazan, maybe? Or more of the Golden Circle, or something completely different) and I think I might rather wait a few more years.

- Hmm. Maybe Japan? From what I've heard and seen it's beautiful and interesting and I think it'd be nice to visit one day.

Comments

[alessandriana]

Japan was great, and I highly recommend it! Loved Greece as well. (I was a bit more meh on Paris, though admittedly I was a very tired teenager at that point [it was at the end of a long trip], and I probably wasn't giving it a fair shake.)

Ironically, considering how close they are, I've never been to any of the US National Parks OK I guess both Mammoth Cave and Hot Springs, AK are national parks? But I've never been to any of the really famous ones.

[schneefink]

Well, afaik "close" is relative in the US ^^

I've been meaning to visit Paris for a while now, it's one of those cities I want to have seen, like London and Berlin and Rome (which I have.) One day.

[alessandriana]

Haha, true! It took me the same amount of time to get to Iceland as it does to get to California. But I've lived all over the country, so it's really more a failure on my part than anything else. :)

Someday indeed ;__;

[naye]

These all sound lovely. Ah, swimming in the Mediterranean...!

[schneefink]

I can't believe it's been so long since I've done that! More than ten years for sure, maybe even more.

[scintilla10]

I love hearing about travel plans and desires! Thanks for answering this question so thoroughly - these are all excellent choices. I totally get the division you made between "possible travel in the near-future" and "aspirational travel locations," and yay for answering both of the categories. :D

Also, I love that some of your answers involve specific people you want to travel with. :)

[schneefink]

Every once in a while traveling on my own can be fun (especially when I meet people - though then I'm not really on my own anymore either), but usually I prefer to go on vacation with other people :)

[dr_zook]

WELLNESS VACATION IN THE MOUNTAINS, gimme!!! Hands down one of the first things I'd like to do once it's safe again to travel (and spend time with naked, sweating strangers-- now, that sounds kind of wrong). XD

If Symbolism and/or art of the fin de siècle is kind of up your alley, you might want to visit the Musée Gustave Moreau in Paris. It's a good thing there were handrails, because I almost fainted. ;)

[schneefink]

(and spend time with naked, sweating strangers-- now, that sounds kind of wrong)
No idea what you mean, sounds great to me ^^

I'll keep it in mind, thanks for the tip!