5 must-see places for 2016

“You know that voice in your head telling you to travel? Listen to it. Because 10 years from now you’ll wish you had!”

So, I’m sitting here in my PJ’s, it’s bucketing snow outside, I’ve a steaming cup of tea in front of me and I’m dreaming of our travel destinations for this coming year.This time of year gets me really excited for all the amazing places I plan to see. New year, new start and all that.

I’ve a list the length of my arm of all the countries I want to visit in the future but for this post I’ve narrowed it down to my top five. These are countries that are accessible from our ‘new home’ in Canada and aren’t considered super-expensive.

So, here it goes –

Cuba

Colourful buildings in Havana, Cuba

“Timeworn but magnificent, dilapidated but dignified, fun yet maddeningly frustrating – Cuba is a country of indefinable magic.”

This is top of my list for a reason (multiple reasons in fact).  We want to get to Cuba pronto, since relations between the US and Cuba are warming and soon the streets of Havana and elsewhere will be buzzing with loud camera-touting American tourists. Word on the backpacker scene is that you should visit Cuba before it is forever changed. I’ve wanted to go to Cuba since forever, I’ve spent ages on Instagram drooling over photos of Cuba’s pastel-hued streets and palm tree fringed beaches. To me, Cuba just oozes passion and excitement. It will be like stepping back in time where we will wave goodbye to western ways and expect the unexpected. And luckily for us the flights from Canada to Cuba are very reasonable.

Iceland

Blue Lagoon, Grindavik, Iceland

Iceland to me, seems like such a magical island and it’s been on my bucket list for a very long time. From its extraordinary natural beauty to the warmth of the local people I don’t understand why anyone would not want to visit here. Obviously, the Blue Lagoon will be top of our list whilst here but we’ve also been told (numerous times) how good the food is and how mesmerizing the live music scene is and clearly we’ll be putting on our hiking boots to explore its famed natural landscape. Luckily for us, Iceland is a very popular and cheap option as a stopover from Vancouver to Ireland.

Greenland

Aasiaat, Greenland

“When you’ve seen the world there’s always Greenland” goes the saying. But why in the world would I wait until then. Greenland too, has been high on my bucket list for years. Its magnificent scenery –  such as tiny colourful cabins with a backdrop of massive glaciers is trully the stuff of dreams. Greenland also intrigues me because it’s one of the most sparsely populated places on the planet. It fascinates me that people actually live here. We plan to watch the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) from here , a trully once-in-a-lifetime experience. We will fly to Greenland from Iceland.

Disneyland, California

We plan to release our inner-child and indulge in a few days at the ‘most magical place in the world’. The boyfriend Paul loves theme parks and he’s never been to America so this is top of his list. We will coordinate the trip to Disneyland with a roadtrip along the West Coast of America , in the Summer in a convertible BMW  with the top down mostly and the seabreeze blowing in our hair. Bliss!

Banff, Canada

Lake Louise, Banff

Sorry Whistler! Banff is considered to be Whistler’s strongest competitor as both a ski resort and an overall tourist destination. But despite Whistler holding my heart, Banff is certainly somewhere we will be visiting this year. I mean all you have to do is google image the place to see how insanely beautiful it is. Word on the street is that the drive from Whistler to Banff is super scenic so we plan to rent a car or perhaps splurge on an RV and spend a few days driving to Banff.

And that my friends is where we will be spending some of our 2016. The rest will be spent in our little home in the mountains of Whistler, Canada. I hope this list inspires you to travel more, this world is big and bad and wonderful and it would be a shame not to explore every possible corner. Get out there, have fun and make 2016 your year.

Thanks for reading,

Aimee & Paul x