ideal now is a pretty tough time in the world. If you’re like us, you’ve been sitting in self-isolation for a month by this point and besides trying to fill your time with online work, Netflix, working out and Skyping with pals and family, you’re probably dreaming of travel.
I know we are.
That’s why in this post our goal is to get those travel juices flowing and keep your spirits up during these hard times!
Not only is this post a list of places we really want to check out after this is all over, but it’s also a tribute to some extraordinary countries that are going through so much ideal now.
Of course, we’re only going to travel to these places when it is safe and responsible to do so, but by keeping them at the forefront of our thoughts, it helps to keep us going during this tough time and I hope it does the same for you.
Here it goes, our list of 10 dream destinations to travel after lockdown.
1. Slovenia
From sensational vistas and stunning lakes to snowcapped peaks and spectacular hiking, Slovenia is one place that Dariece and I have always wanted to go.
In fact, it was on our travel travel plan for 2020 before we had to cancel everything due to the current global situation.
However, when this is all over, Slovenia will be one of the first places we want to visit. Not only does it have one of the most captivating cities, a place we’ve always wanted to live (Llubjiana), but it also has some of Europe’s best fly fishing and it’s one of the most budget-friendly countries in Europe as well.
If you people have been following us for a while, you’ll know that I’m a fly fishing fanatic. Not only did I grow up fly fishing with my brother and dad, but considering that travelling with Dariece, I’ve fished in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Argentina, and Nova Scotia!
Click here to see one of our videos about us hiking in Mongolia for 8 days and fly fishing the entire way.
Aside from being close to pals and family, there’s nothing a lot more that we’re craving ideal now than being in nature, and Slovenia has it in spades. This is absolutely one of the top places we want to check out after lockdown.
2. Ireland
Ireland was the place we were indicated to go to next, after Portugal.
In fact, we would’ve been travelling there ideal now if everything didn’t change a few weeks ago. So it’s absolutely on our travel bucket list for when things are opened up again.
We were actually meant to be there for St. Paddy’s day but of course, that was cancelled. I can think of that in itself would’ve been pretty hard for a lot of Irish people to deal with.
Ireland has some spectacular old villages, dramatic coastlines, and game of Thrones style castles. Not to mention, friendly people, and an epic pub and music culture!
It’s a place that we’ve always wanted to check out and we can’t wait to go there.
Our plan was to rent a automobile and drive around the country for 5 weeks. We had the automobile rented, accommodations booked and flights paid for too. but things change and that’s okay.
We just put Ireland on the back burner and we can’t wait to go there, meet up with our Irish pals over a beer and talk about this pandemic in the past tense.
3. Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a place we’ve been to before and we absolutely loved it. The people there are so friendly and “aylyak” — which is untranslatable, but generally indicates doing everything at a kicked back pace and not worrying at all.
Also, it’s another one of the least expensive countries in the world and one of the best places for fly fishing, so that could be part of the reason I want to return.
But, while Dariece loves being out in nature, she isn’t ready to just follow me around the world so I can fish. Luckily, Bulgaria also has terrific white wine — which is something that’ll always motivate her (and me).
But Bulgaria is a lot more than fly fishing and vineyards, there’s also fantastic hiking, great beaches, sensational old towns, and fascinating historical sights.
This is a place where we could meet up with old pals and get out into nature. two things we miss the most ideal now.
4. Grenada
Grenada is our home. This is the island where we’ve been living on and off for the past 5 years. It’s where our pals are, it’s where we have our ownerships stored and it’s a place we love a lot more than anywhere.
When the virus started kicking off, Grenada actually handled it quite well. With just a few confirmed cases they’ve locked down to keep their citizens safe.
We’ve been in Grenada during another outbreak of sorts, Chikungunya, a severe but rarely fatal mosquito-borne virus.Dariece and I both caught it, as did a lot of of the island. I really hope that their drastic procedures in shutting down the island will help secure the terrific people of the Isle of Spice.
Grenadians and our expat pals who live on the island are our family. We think of them as brothers and sisters and we really hope that they will get through this and come out stronger on the other side.
When this is all over, Dariece and I will be heading back there to be with our pals and to help the island as much as we can.
5. Canada
As Canadians, we strongly considered heading back to Canada when our Prime minister called back all their citizens. but that call was for those who are residents with health insurance in the country.
We are non-residents and therefore, don’t have any Canadian health insurance. plus we’re “young” so we would worry a lot more about being asymptomatic on a plane and passing the virus to someone a lot more prone than us.
This is why we made a decision to stay in Portugal during the pandemic, but when it’s safe to do so, we plan to head back to Canada to be with our pals and family there.
On top of that, when it pertains to nature and the outdoors, nowhere in the world is better than Canada. Oh and the fly fishing is so good, but I won’t get into that.
All I can say is that while Canada may not be our home anymore, it’ll always be our homeland and we can’t wait to go back for a check out and give our family a enormous hug when this is all over.
6. Argentina
Are you starting to see a pattern here?!
Most of the places I’m providing are the ones with epic nature and again, you really can’t beat excellent Patagonia or the Argentinian Lake district when it pertains to wonderful landscapes and raw natural beauty.
When we were in Argentina in 2017, we fell in love with it. The wine, the friendly people, the road trips, the vibe and the mountains are all reasons we didn’t want to leave.
Patagonia and the Lake district was one of the few places we’ve ever been that I really felt sad leaving.
I felt like we needed another month or two, even though we spent a lot more than 2 months living and travelling there.
I guess another part of the pattern forming on this list is the theme of fly fishing.
I have to admit that Argentina also has some of the best fly fishing in the world. Click here to check out a video we made of my last fly fishing trip in Patagonia.
Argentina is a place where you can escape the crowds and be in the middle of nowhere, or meet up with new pals in a white wine bar and talk about recent adventures. All the things we are craving a lot of ideal now.
7. Italy
If there is one place in the world that I’d want to live outside of Grenada, it would be Italy. We absolutely adore Italian people and their unconditional love for life and all things pleasure.
In fact, we just recently spent 3 weeks in Rome, before flying here to Lisbon.
We’ve all heard about what’s going on there ideal now and it’s devastating. All we can think of is how warm and welcoming Italians are. We know they can get through this and we really hope that it turns around soon for them.
Italy is a place where you seem to make a pal anywhere you go. Italians are hilarious, they’re kind, they’re welcoming and their love for life is an inspiration.
Italy also relies quite heavily on tourism, so after this is all over, we hope that people will return to this stunning country, but maybe this time with a a lot more sustainable outlook on the way they travel.
If there wasn’t a Schengen Visa, we would both want to live in Italy, but because of the strict 90-day limit, we can’t.
But for sure, when things get better we want to return to Italy, have a glass of white wine and a pizza with some of our Italian pals and help wherever we can.
8. Portugal
Even though I’m writing this post from Lisbon, and we did have about a week to explore the city before everything changed, Portugal is a place that we can’t wait to experience a lot more of.
It’s also a destination that will always have a special place in our hearts now.
I think that we’ve been a part of something massive here and we feel like we’re all in this together in Lisbon. We’ve already been through so much with the Portuguese people and they’ve been so kind to us during it all.
The owner of our apartment or condo has been helping us wherever he can, bringing us cleaning supplies and coffee, and translating the localnews to us.
The people at the grocery stores have kept working to supply us all with vital food and the doctors here are doing an fantastic job.
At 10 pm at night some nights, people here, like in Italy, are taking to their balconies and clapping for the doctors, nurses, health professionals and volunteers who are on the font-lines battling this thing.
We feel a real sense of community here and we’re rooting for Portugal to pull through this.
When this is over, we’d love to head up the coast to check out some of the extraordinary beaches and historic towns, and drive south to explore the Algarve (maybe even go scuba diving there).
Either way, we’re just delighted to be in a place that seems to be taking care of the crisis very well at this time. Portugal is an extraordinary country and Lisbon will forever be on our list of much-loved cities.
9. new Zealand
A few of our friends, including one of my best travel buddies, are currently isolating in new Zealand.
Our pal Jason is lucky enough to have a place out in nature, so he’s been sending me photos of stunning coastal walks and hikes he was doing and it just reminded me of how badly Dariece and I want to check out new Zealand one day.
I can just think of meeting up with our pals and driving out to waterfalls, going hiking, exploring the coastline, checking out vineyards and just enjoying the country.
We’ve always thought of new Zealand as a smaller version of Canada, complete with the big, powerful next-door neighbour. It has all the things that we love about Canada but squeezed into a a lot more compact and a lot more easily accessible size.
Most of the country is also considerably warmer than Canada, which is always nice.
New Zealand has always been a place we’ve put of going to because we feel like once we go, we’ll want to live there. but maybe now is the time to check out and finally get a feel for it, meet up with old pals and get back to nature.
10. Botswana
We did a backpacking trip to Africa in 2011 and while it wasn’t the easiest travel we’ve ever done, it was absolutely some of the most fascinating and rewarding.
For some reason ideal now, we both think about animals a lot. We think about having our own pet dog and how great that would be ideal now, but we also feel an urge to be in nature and to see animals in their natural habitat.
Maybe it’s something about getting back to basics and being a lot more connected with the earth.
Either way, Botswana was one place that we didn’t get to go to on our last trip to Africa, but it’s somewhere we’d love to explore.
It’s been a long time considering that we’ve been on safari, and I think now is a good time to be reminded of how extraordinary mother Nature can be.
There’s nowhere better to get up close and personal with wildlife than Africa, and Botswana has some of the best national Parks and Reserves on the continent — Okavango Delta and Moremi, and Chobe national Park to name a couple.
We also learned a lot from the people of Africa on our last trip, and we would love to meet some of the Tswana people of Botswana, hear their stories and try to understand their way of life.
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In Conclusion
We know that this global pandemic is going to have a enduring effect on travel and we actually have no idea what our life will look like after this trip.
We only hope that we’ll still be able to check out different countries and connect with people who are different from us and learn about their culture.
There’s nothing that brings Dariece, myself, and I’m sure lots of people around the world, a lot more happiness than travelling and learning from people around the globe.