Can you believe we're now living in the 20's?!
It feels so futuristic and yet so retro at the same time - I can't help but think of flapper girls whenever I see the 20's written down!
Ever since we started taking the children on holidays abroad, I've found myself totally and utterly bitten by the travel bug and I have to admit - I spend approximately 75% of every single day planning future holidays and daydreaming about which countries I want to visit next.
Each year I like to set myself a little list of places I want to try and visit - to be totally honest with you, most of them usually don't get ticked off because - well - I don't have a magic money tree in the garden! (Such a shame, I'd spend it so well!)
But we do usually end up going on a lot of random adventures I hadn't planned for - last year for example we had unexpected visits to Oxford and Venice which were some of the most amazing trips we've taken.
But nonetheless - I like to set some travel goals regardless. And with this being the start of not only a new year but a brand new decade, it feels like the perfect time to get all of these Dream Destinations organised in my head with a rough idea of exactly when I'd like us to visit each place.
Do bare in mind though that this list is without doubt made up far more of dreams and optimism than it is of affordability and likelihood! ;)
2020
Our travel plans are very much set in place for this year, as we booked our family holiday over a year ago.
After having dreamed about visiting ever since my own childhood and having watched endless YouTube videos of it with the kids, I am SO excited that we have managed to book our first visit to Orlando, Florida!
We booked our accommodation a year ago and will be staying on site at Disney World for 14 nights, with an extra 3 nights staying off site. Up until this month we had only paid a small deposit and so it all still felt very much like it might not really happen, but we booked our flights last week and we have our full final payment ready and waiting for the accomodation now too so it all feels real at last!
Holidays to Florida are never exactly cheap, but because we're a family of 5 and we wanted to stay on site at Disney World - this one is costing a small fortune and so I doubt very much that we'll be able to return any time soon, so for that reason I want to REALLY and truly make the absolute most of our stay here!
I want us to take as much spending money with us as we can so that we can really relax and enjoy ourselves on this trip of a lifetime without having to worry too much about counting every penny, and so for that reason - we don't plan on having any other trips this year.
We MAY make an exception for something inexpensive like an out of season caravan holiday in Cornwall if we can stretch to it, but as things currently stand - the plan is for Florida to be our only trip this year.
Which is fine by me because I COULD NOT BE MORE THRILLED AND EXCITED!!!!
2021
Next year is the year that I turn 40 and I've always had it in my head that I want to celebrate my 40th birthday in style with a trip to New York City.
After Florida, visiting New York has always been my second-biggest travel wish and I would be SO thrilled to get both of these dream destinations under my belt.
Jon & I toy with the idea of an adults only trip to New York every year...Jon has been before, in fact he worked there for a while and he loves it but he thinks its a bit much for the kids at their current ages and so we're leaning toward maybe having a "just us" trip there to scope it out first and see what we think about taking the kids back at a later date when they're a bit older, but on the other hand I know that Tyne would just adore it and part of me is reluctant to go without him.
We'll have to see how that one pans out but either way - I'm really keen to make New York happen in 2021!
Number 3 on my Travel Wishlist is Lapland and this is one I'm really keen to get the timing right on. We've thought about doing it every year but I always end up thinking that the kids aren't quite the right ages - I want to go while Tyne stills "Believes" but also when Sailor is old enough to be able to do the sledding activities and not struggle too much with the cold.
Annoyingly I think this year would probably be our best bet (I keep hearing horror stories about Tyne's friends no longer believing at 7!) but we certainly won't be able to stretch to it on top of Florida so 2021 - when Tyne will be 8, Noah will be 6 and Sailor will be 5 - will hopefully be just right.
2022
This year will hopefully be a chance to cross another Disney dream off the list, as I'm really hoping to be able to stretch to a Disney Cruise this year!
Tyne & Noah have both been on cruises before, and both still talk about those holidays a lot - they ask if we can go on a cruise again all the time!
I think combining our families love of Disney with our love of cruising would be just fantastic, and I love the idea of taking one of the cruises from Dover - I'm particularly drawn to the Norway cruises as it's without doubt the most beautiful country I've ever visited and I know that Noah would just love the Frozen themed cruises that the Disney Cruise Line do there.
2023
I'd like to try to squeeze in a couple of shorter trips this year if possible - A weeks holiday soaking up the sunshine in Greece and a 4 or 5 day mini break to the USA for Hallowe'en!
I've wanted to visit Greece for a long time, it looks so beautiful and like it'd make for a really relaxing holiday with a young family too.
And as a huge fan of the US, I've been desperate to spend Hallowe'en there for years - my kids have picked up my love of both America and Hallowe'en, and so I know they'd love this to - ideally I'd love to spend a few days in Salem, MA home of the famous Witch Trials and setting for our families favorite Halloween movie - Hocus Pocus! I think that'd make for a pretty awesome Hallowe'en holiday destination!
2024
For this year I'd love to finally cross off a Bucket List destination - another that Jon & I have repeatedly said we'd do a couples trip for but just never get around to - Salzburg, Austria!
I was the biggest fan of The Sound Of Music as a child and I just so desperately want to go to Salzburg and do The Sound Of Music tour! And 2024 looks like the only year with a break in far-flung holiday dreams where we might be able to do it.
Other ideas for this year would be a visit to Ireland (somewhere I've yet to visit!).
2025
This year, the kids will be 12, 10 and 9 (*SOB!*) and so I feel as though they'd be up to a different sort of holiday.
This is something I'd actually never even considered until I randomly woke up a few days ago with the idea right there in my mind - "We should go to Texas for their state fair"!
I have no idea where it came from - I've never been particularly interested in Texas any more so than any other state, I've never had a particular interest in going to any state fairs - but the idea was there! And so I googled both Texas and its state fair, and the more I read about both - the more I liked the idea.
I'm a big believer in following intuition too - something told me we should do this trip and so, I want to do it! It's a shame it'll have to wait 5 years - if money was no object I'd like to do it sooner, but ...well...money IS an object, and so Texas will have to wait a while!
The Rest Of The Decade
Even with so many destinations mentioned above, there are still SO many places I'd love to see and so I'm adding those to my wishlist to hopefully tick off over the following 5 years.
Hawaii - Well it just looks like paradise on Earth doesn't it?! I would absolutely love the chance to spend a week or two here, but I feel like it would be a destination best enjoyed when the children are older.
California - This is another state that's been on my wishlist forever, and another one that Jon has already visited and says we'd all just love. There are SO many parts of California I'd want to see so I'd love to do some sort of road trip here - I'd love to visit LA and Orange County, Tyne would absolutely have to visit Alcatraz and I'd love to see San Francisco myself, and of course we would HAVE to fit in a visit to the original Disneyland!
To me, seeing Disneyland California is the Holy Grail of Disney trips - being Walt Disney's own theme park, the only one he saw and visited himself.
Croatia - This isn't somewhere that had been on my radar at all until the last year or two when it suddenly seems to have become a really trendy destination. I've heard that's to do with it being where Game Of Thrones was filmed? But given that I've never seen an episode and don't really want to - that's not why I want to visit, I just think it looks really beautiful!
Germany/Poland - I've never visited either country but have always been intrigued by both. Since tracing my family history on Ancestry, I found that my Great Grandparents came to Liverpool from Germany and that my family line before them are German through and through - so now I'm even more keen to visit.
I'd also like to visit Auschwitz, which always seems like an odd thing to say as of course a visit there will be anything but enjoyable but it feels like something every person should do at some point.
The Netherlands - And finally, although Jon & I have been to Amsterdam before and we've taken Tyne to the Netherlands on a cruise - I've been reading quite a lot about the Dutch Fairytale theme park Efteling lately and even joined a Facebook group all about it - it sounds very quirky but really interesting, and I'd really like the chance to visit with the kids at some point. I'd also like to take the kids to Amsterdam as I think it's a really cool city and there are so many interesting museums there that I think they'd really love.
So those are my travel dreams and goals for the coming decade! I'd love to hear about yours - leave me a comment below and let me know where you'd most like to visit!
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