TRAVELIN' TIM
Seeing the world, one week at a time.
2022-23 Hotlist
Here's what's on the calendar this year, and my wishlist for future trips...
GREECE
STATUS: Booked March 2022
A 'different' kind of trip for me, as I am dispensing with my need to see everything in a short period of time, and planning to spend three days each in Athens, Naxos and Santorini.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
STATUS: Booked for November 2022
Originally booked for 2021 (and replaced by Turkey), we're going to give this tour through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand another shot toward the end of the year. Hopefully, the pandemic situation will be better by then.
NEW ZEALAND
STATUS: Frontrunner for 2023
Now that they've announced plans to reopen, the wheels in my head have started turning. Currently the frontrunner for a trip in 2023.
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
STATUS: Wish Listed
Another one of the less budget-friendly options here, but one I definitely want to get done while I'm still young enough to really enjoy it. Still haven't decided between someplace like Namibia, or someplace more like Tanzania.
EASTERN EUROPE
STATUS: Wish Listed
Quite possibly the least expensive trip on this list, this would likely involve me flying to Sofia or Bucharest and bopping around the countryside for a couple of weeks.
FOLK SCHOOL!
STATUS: Wish Listed
About a nine hour drive away from my home is the John C. Campbell Folk School, a place where adults can stay in the beautiful NC Mountains and learn things such as blacksmithing, dulcimer playing, or storytelling. Count me in!
QUEBEC
STATUS: Wish Listed
Like going to Europe without leaving the continent, I look forward to seeing the French side of Canada. The only question is... do I go in the summer or the winter?
INDIA-NEPAL
STATUS: Wish Listed
The second of three trips (so far) canceled by COVID, I'm hoping to re-book this one someday. Agra (the Taj Mahal, Varanasi, and Kathmandu are three places I'm eager to get to.
MEXICO CITY
STATUS: Wish Listed
I've been to Baja, and I've been to the Yucatan, but people tell me you haven't 'really' been to Mexico until you've seen its sprawling, historic capital.
AMERICAN HOBO
Status: Wish Listed
This would have been the May 2021 trip had Iceland not stepped up to welcome the vaccinated. Someday, someday... especially if the Amtrak system gets the upgrades it is hoping for.
THE BALTICS
Status: Wish Listed
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all seem like great countries to visit, maybe even in the winter! I don't mind the cold and snow so much as long as it doesn't mean work, and I get to leave when I tire of it.
TRANS-SIBERIA RAILROAD
STATUS: Not now
If only, if only. If only Russia weren't currently being led by a brutal butcher of a dictator, this would be a dream trip for me. Hopefully, Putin's reign of terror ends before I get too old to enjoy it.