Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Upcoming Travels!...

Inspired by a travel planning post on From There To Here, I've decided to get my s!@# together (for lack of better words) & set up at least some sort of schedule for my travels this upcoming year. This will  a) keep me stoked, b) keep me organized & c) keep me accountable. I imagine it could eliminate some stress as well, although I wouldn't know because I've never been much of a planner with regards to... Anything in life. I've always been the laid back, plan as I go type of traveller but I think I may actually find planning fun. Well at least that's what I'm told! So I'm giving it a try & I've also categorized my adventures (quite proud of that) so here goes... & of course plans are always changing, but wish me luck!

Side note: During most of my European travels I'll be staying with friends who I met during my year in Paris, otherwise I'm sure this list would be quite a bit smaller... & some of these destinations I will be re-visiting for the 2nd or 3rd time as well!


Weekenders
Scotland
Living in Ireland, weekend trips to Scotland will be quite convenient. I have family living here, as well as one of my best friends who I met in Paris, who will (hopefully) be here at some point during my two years! She's in Australia at the moment, so if I don't see her in Scotland I will be seeing her in Australia for sure.

England
Likewise, England will be easy for weekenders. I have plenty of family here too & so far Brighton & Oxford are top on my list of destinations. I imagine I will be taking many trips to London too, being one of my favourite cities!

Abbey Road, London, England

Week or Two Longs
Iceland
Next Autumn (of 2014) I'll be taking a trip back home (Canada) to visit friends & family, possibly even trekking out West to see my hometown girls. Anyway, on the way over I will taking advantage of Iceland Air's stopovers, spending a week here... Although I would love to make it into my plans to somehow stay longer. I have a slight obsession with Iceland, although I've never been. Iceland is probably the first country that actually made me want to start planning & that's saying something!
 
Finland, Sweden & Norway
Over the Christmas holidays I'll be going to see my friend Heidi who currently lives in Helsinki. During my trip I'll also be making my way to Oslo to visit another Scandinavian friend who I met in Paris... & of course, being a snowboarder I cannot pass up the back country riding in Sweden! Actually I'd like to snowboard in each of these countries during my stay, as the snowboarding in Ireland will be... Well, non-existant! But we will see if I actually get to. I haven't made an itinerary yet (like I said I'm terrible with planning), but have a few adventures that come to mind... Seeing the Northern lights, Lapland & Stockholm to name a few.

Snowboarding in The Alps

Holland
I have a friend who lives in The Hague who will be taking me to lesser known parts of Holland & of course one or two days will be spent in Amsterdam... I'm excited to see more of Holland though (or the Netherlands, whichever you prefer), as I have Dutch heritage. I also am a firm believer in the fact that there is much more to Holland than Amsterdam, so absolutely stoked to discover the other side!

Germany
I know I say I have family everywhere, but I genuinely do! I have family still living in Germany & will definitely be seeing them this 'round. I've only had the chance to take weekend trips over from France thus far, so am making it a priority to spend at least a week exploring Germany... & if I am in Europe at the time, I WILL be attending Oktoberfest, no doubt about that!

Pre-Oktoberfest in Canada, yes we have our own.

Spain, Italy & Greece
I've categorized these as one, but haven't decided yet whether I'll be making one two week trip or a couple of shorter trips, it'll all depend on timing! I'm trying to plan Greece with one of my Canadian friends who will either be coming over from Canada or Australia, depending where she will be at the time, so I'm hoping that will pull through! Other than that Florence is huge on my list of destinations & the rest will just be decided as I go.

Month Longs
Australia & New Zealand
I'm determined to make Australia & New Zealand happen, as I have a ridiculous amount of friends & family who have moved here yet I've still not made the trip! Also of course, I am a wino & will be eating up the vineyards (or should I say drinking?)... I'm hoping to do more diving here too because I'm making it a goal of mine to complete my Divemaster. This trip will be taken after my return from Iceland/Canada in Autumn 2014 & before my Southeast Asia trek. I haven't decided the time limits as of yet because I'm looking into actual visas so that I can possibly participate in WOOF. If I obtain a visa I'll be staying the full year.

Even Longer Longs

I want to say this is Limerick (Ireland), but honestly it could be anywhere. Yes I lost track during our road trip, my bad!

Ireland
I'll be living here come October for the next two years! In the heart of Dublin city to be exact. Of course I will be travelling all over Ireland during my time here, scattered about whenever possible. The family I will be working for has a Summer home in Wexford & I also have Irish family I will be seeing! (I know, I know, I have family everywhere it seems...) Belfast is technically Northern Ireland, but I will also definitely be making my way there at some point, though still unplanned. I've seen quite a bit of Ireland already, but I'd love to spend more time in each town this go, seeing as how I'll obviously have the time!

Southeast Asia
This has been on my list for far too long... & every other traveller's list if they haven't already been! I've always spent my time travelling while still working, but would like to do Southeast Asia with no commitments. I'll be taking this trip after Australia, so the Winter of 2014 & plan on travelling for 3-4 months. Of course, if I obtain an Australian visa, Southeast Asia will be postponed! I'd really like to take my time here though & am looking into doing my Divemaster during these travels. On my list of destinations (quite obvious choices)... Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia & The Phillipines.

Fingers crossed my diving photography improves during these travels...

So there's my list, which will occupy most of my time for the next 1-2, even 3 years. Needless to say it's not looking like there will time for school anytime soon (if ever haha... Sorry Mum!). There are of course other places in Europe I will be seeing during my time living here, but these were just the ones I know for sure will be happening. Writing this list has actually made me realize just how unorganized I actually am... Haha, which will probably never change, let's be honest. I love not having set destinations, times, or activities planned, whether that's to my advantage I'm not quite sure.


Also on my list but yet to be planned:
❤ South Africa
❤ India
❤ China, South Korea & Japan (ESL opportunity here?!)
❤ More American States (namely Alaska, Texas & New Mexico to visit friends)
❤ South America (Peru & Brazil at the top)
❤ Egypt, Israel & Jordan
❤ The Eastern Coast of Canada!
❤ A trip back to the Alps, French or Swiss for more boarding
❤  Weekend trips to Paris & the South of France to see all of my loves! (Loves being both places & people)...
 
So what about you guys?! Do you have any travels planned, even just weekender trips near your hometown? Vacations, move abroads, backpacking treks, I'd love to hear! & as usual, thank you for reading. Bisous!
xxx

13 comments:

  1. Holy crap. That is an EPIC list. I am SOOO jealous!! I don't make enough money here to go anywhere, and being stuck on a little island working 6 days a week makes even weekend trips a little tough. Good thing I already live in paradise :) I'm super excited to follow along with you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Um being stuck on a little island sounds just incredible to me hahaha, I'm quite jealous of you! Maybe after my travels I'll get lucky enough to do that ;) Have you done your Divemaster? I'm sure you've answered this somewhere so may be a silly question my bad! x

      Delete
  2. this list is perfection. i'm so happy for you! nothing better than looking forward to travel plans!!

    i always love finding a kindred travel lover! can't wait to follow along on bloglovin.
    xo

    the well-traveled wife

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you!! :) Can't wait to follow you as well, so glad I found your blog thanks for commenting. x

      Delete
  3. This is epic. Takes me back to when I first lived overseas with an endless list of awesomeness to look forward to...
    You are going to have a blast.
    I wanted to say that you will love Iceland when I started reading this, but as I kept going, there is really no part of this list that is subpar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw yes! I'm basically getting the chance to do my year abroad over again, I didn't travel to nearly as many places as I'm going to this time so definitely stoked! :)
      Amazing to hear, although Iceland probably is what excites me the most about this! x

      Delete
  4. What a great list! I like how you've written it out. In the past I've blogged about places I've been; I like how you've blogged about the places you're going :) Perhaps I'll do the same. It'll include Central Asia, India, and Morocco!
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! :) I figured it'd keep me excited during my last month in canada! & oooh Morocco's a good one :) x

      Delete
  5. Wow! Sounds absolutely amazing! Glad to see Brighton (near enough my home town) on the list too, it's a great place. My own travels will be starting in Japan next year, CANNOT WAIT! :) Looking forward to following along on your travels!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh I would've loved to grow up near Brighton :) & sounds awesome you should definitely start a blog :) x

      Delete
    2. Actually I have a blog (mainly on my never-ending wait to travel!): www.worldexplora.com. Drop by sometime :)

      Delete
  6. Wow lady, you've pretty much got an entire life's worth of travels planned out there! You should DEFINITELY come to Germany... ahem - Frankfurt :P It's awesome! And as for South East Asia, yeah we are all about this!

    Kate | Diaries of an Essex Girl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha what can I say once I got started I couldn't stop! ;) I will most definitely be coming to Germany this year, it's high on my list :) I've never been to Frankfurt so it's of course on my list, is that where you're currently living?!
      I do admit I felt quite out of place starting my travel blog knowing that I wouldn't be doing Southeast Asia for at least a year! Haha, thanks for stopping by. x

      Delete