New Destinations For 2018
We had a very busy travel year in 2017. We picked up many new destinations as we crossed the Atlantic to spend 4 weeks in Portugal. Many more new destinations were added as we headed into the Baltic. We have a bunch of favourite spots that we want to re-visit in 2018. But we also have already started planning for two interesting trips to new destinations for 2018. As with most years, there are is a long list of places still high on our travel wish list. We will see how many we see this year!
Staying Warm In 2018
Since we live in Toronto, much of our 2018 travel will take us to warm spots. The travel year starts on January 2 when we head to Miami to start another cruise with Oceania Cruises. We travelled with Oceania to the islands of the Eastern Caribbean and also along Central America on the Western Caribbean. This year we are heading further south to the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao). We visited Curacao before but the other two will be new destinations for us.
After the ABC islands, we will re-visit Grenada. We already have our excursion booked to see the underwater statues. Kingston in St Vincent will be a new island for us to explore. The cruise continues on to St Lucia and then a return trip to Barbados. But we are leaving the ship to stay in St Lucia. A return to Sandals in St Lucia will be a luxury treat for David’s birthday.
When we return from St Lucia it will still be bitterly cold in Toronto. We are lucky that my best friend has a great luxury condo in Bahamas. A return trip to Nassau is always a great way to relax and escape. The new Baha Mar Resort has opened up next door to the condo. Every trip we get to see yet more of this sparkling new resort.
The top of the travel wish list and new destinations for 2018 has to be Hawaii. All through 2017, we were teased with images of Hawaii. Blue waters, white sand beaches and pink sunsets keep moving Hawaii up on the list. A return visit to the Maldives is also something we keep eyeing. We are watching the Emirates Airlines sales for a chance to hop through Dubai to the Maldives. Or maybe even a return to the Seychelles. Watch the blog to see where we end up for sun and fun.
Heading To Bohemia In The Spring
Our spring travel plans will be anchored with a trip that starts in Prague and ends in Budapest. We are trying a small group tour with Overseas Adventure Travel for the first time this year. It will take us to many new destinations in 2018 as we head into the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
We plan to take additional time on both ends of this trip. But where we will fly into and out of Europe is still on the planning board. A side trip to Vienna is definitely something to consider when in this part of the world. The big question is whether we may head further south from here. It would be easy to travel into Switzerland and then maybe end up in Milan. The northeast corner of Italy is still largely unvisited even with the amount of travel we have done in Italy. When these plans are firmed up, we will post the detailed itinerary on the blog. If you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them.
In The Fall We Head To China
In September we will join Viking Cruises for the first time with an exciting set of new destinations for 2018 in China. This trip will include some land-based travel in several cities, internal flights and a Yangtze river cruise in China. We have already added on the post-trip excursion that will let us explore Guilin and finish up in Hong Kong.
As with our spring travel, we have the main part of this trip set. But we have yet to decide where we will fly into and out of. And we are currently assessing options for places to see before or after this trip. A short hop over to Japan is one of the things we are investigating. If you have suggestions on places that can be easily reached from Hong Kong, we would love to get your input.
Short Hops From Home
We got grounded for some of the fall in 2017 while I waited for a jury duty call. But that did not stop us from taking smaller trips from Toronto. We did a road trip to Chicago for the very first time. We ran hard for 4 days in Chicago and loved this city. Chicago was such a hit that we are planning another short trip soon! We’ve booked a great getaway to New York City in late December to see the city all lit up for the holiday season. .
There are so many places that are a short hop from Toronto. We have travel bloggers we would love to meet in person in New England (@RoarLoud), Baltimore (@MyVirtualVaca) and in Washington (@eatlivetraveldr). It was great to meet Pam (@Always5Star) twice when we have both been in the same place at the same time. We are sorry we missed a chance to meet others when we visited Chicago and NYC. We need to get better at not scheduling every minute when we are travelling!
Other Things On The Travel Wish List For 2018
We travel as often as we can. Each new trip seems to add many more places to the travel wish list. We still hope to add many more new destination for 2018 once our major trips are firmly scheduled. But what is bubbling close to the top of the list?
Italy is a favourite destination for us and the islands of both Sardinia and Sicily are at the top of places we have not yet tried. We may even be able to plan a stop in Malta if we are island hopping.
A cruise to Antarctica continues to stay on the wish list. We did our cruise to Alaska in 2017 and it has just added a desire to see more of Alaska. Antarctica is a much bigger trip and we would likely want to combine this with some travel in South America as a starting point for the cruise. We have a friend doing a cruise in South America for a month and are waiting to hear all about it.
We have often considered doing an around-the-world cruise. Although we are not sure we could stay on a boat for half a year, we would love to taste test parts of the world that we may likely never travel to. Friends of ours have booked this for January of 2019. They keep teasing us with pieces of this itinerary to join them.
We did our first Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans in 2016. It would be such fun to travel to other major Mardi Gras locations around the world – Venice, and Rio for sure. I would want to get a magnificent costume to stroll the streets and join in the festivities.
The list is long and growing. It will not be hard to add new destinations for 2018!
Shaping Up To Be A Busy Travel Year For 2018
Each year we look back at the travel for the past year and marvel at the great places we have visited. And then we begin to plan for the new year. 2018 will be no different.
We often roll into a new year with some thoughts but little plans. This year we are starting with 3 trips already booked. We just need to pad out the beginning and end to see what else we will add. But we are certain that these trips will not be the only new destinations in 2018. There is just so much more we want to see!
What new destinations for 2018 are you planning? Do you have any suggestions for places to add to our spring or fall itineraries?
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Sounds like you’re going to have a fantastic year of adventures and sights! Can’t wait to follow along!
Audrey, We usually do not have this much firmly booked in a new year. But our spring and fall trips will anchor the rest of the trips at that time. Still got lots of planning to do. And many surprises to fit in between. Who knows when I will have time to actually edit the pics and publish the huge backlog of blogs I have written on 2017 travel. But we won’t stop travelling just to blog! Linda
I hope we get to meet in 2018 too!! I should have stowed away in your luggage last year, what a year you had!
Cathy, We had such a great 2017, it will be hard to beat in 2018. This is the first time we came into a new year with so much already booked. Our anchor trips are scheduled, we now just need to figure out what else we will see at the start and end. We will definitely do more short trips and do plan to come your way. Hopefully it will coincide with a time when you are home! Wishing you a great new year. Linda