I am feeling more than a little touch of wanderlust at the moment. Life is increasingly stressful and busy and I just want to grab my passport, get myself to the nearest airport and zoom away. I didn’t really enjoy flying until recently, but on my latest flights I have felt more and more at peace with the whole experience, in fact I am really starting to enjoy it. You see you can’t do anything up there in the skies. There is no phone to answer, emails to reply to, no laundry to put away, and you can’t start prepping dinner. It is pretty relaxing if you let yourself enjoy it and those first few minutes in the sky as you creep higher and higher give you some astounding views. Arghh when can I go next???
Image credit: Andrew Neel
I want to share some of the countries I would like to or that I am already planning to visit in 2017. Some may not happen but others definitely will and I am pretty excited about that.
1.Ireland
Considering Ireland is fairly close to home; I live in Wales, it may be surprising to some that I have never visited. Well this year I get my wish as I won a competition with Ballymaloe Relish to spend a weekend at the Food & Wine Literary Festival at Ballymaloe House. There are lots of places in Ireland I would like to visit and after reading the book Coast written by Rachel Allen I would love to spend a few days travelling around the shores.
Image credit: Ian Schneider
2. France
I’ve spent some time in France both in the sunny south and in Paris but I want to see more and I definitely NEED more time in the capital, I want to explore the food scene and maybe even pop up the Eiffel Tower. I want good wine and food I can’t pronounce in a cosy restaurant, I want macarons from Laduree and crepes from street corners.
Image credit: Pedro Kummel
3. Portugal
It’s been quite a few years since I last visited Portugal but it is one of my favourite countries to spend time in. The weather is warm yet not as insanely hot as places like the Canaries so you can stroll and enjoy the sunshine more. The food is really good and budget friendly..and um we already know how much I love the Portuguese custard tarts.
4. Denmark
I visited Denmark for the first time earlier last year, fell in love with it and managed to squeeze in a second visit in December. So far I have only made it to Copenhagen which is such a cool city that I would love to spend more time in. I would like to explore more of the country, some less known areas perhaps and maybe make a trip to Aarhus which has this year won the European City Of Culture award.
Image credit: Julien Widmer
5. Wales
Yes, you may find it strange that I want to visit my own country. But how much of your own country have you seen? I want to spend more time in North Wales which I haven’t done since my teens and I also want to go to Snowdonia National Park at some point.
Image credit: Paul Morris
7. United Arab Emirates
Famous for its incredible stunning islands and theme parks, the reason I want to go is for the restaurants. You can find many top class restaurants with an incredible view too on the Square Meal UAE website I especially love the perfectly instagrammable Beirut Sur Mer.
There are lots of other places I want to see..New Orleans, Vegas, New York..Barbados and Hobbiton in New Zealand for sure.. but maybe I will be pushing it to squeeze in many more.
Where do you want to go this year?
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