New Year's Eve

Getting ready to ring in the New Year means getting your travel plans lined up!

There is no question about it – New Year’s Eve is my favorite holiday. Folks, this is an entire holiday that drinking champagne is built around, and wearing all of the sparkly things is not only encouraged, it is celebrated. Oh, and there is that whole reflecting on the last 365 days and looking ahead to what’s next.

Ironically, as much as I do love making a good list, I have never been much for making resolutions. But this next year is going to be a big one. In 2020 I turn 40 (gasp!) and my husband and I celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary (yay, us!). And yes, as you can guess, we have lots of travel planned.

Instead of listing out all the things I should be doing (ahem, eating fewer tacos, not saying mean things to other drivers from the comfort of my own car, and not buying anymore leggings), my list for 2020 is more about building out the ultimate travel bucket list for the next decade. Friends, we are going to be in the “roaring 20s” and I for one plan to travel, sport (and apparently speak as if I am a character in The Great Gatsby).

We have a trip in the works for April 2020 when we will revisit London and Paris, but these destinations are the tops of my list, and believe you me, they are most certainly in order:

1. George, Washington Um, what? Not an overseas destination? That’s right, this year we will be going camping for three days in Grant County in Washington state. If you know me at all, the very idea of me camping has you wondering if someone has abducted me and taken over the blog. Rest assured, all is well, and I have decided 2020 is the year I am finally making the pilgrimage to “The Gorge” for what is affectionately known as #LaborDaveWeekend. Yes, a trip is being planned for Labor Day weekend 2020 to spend three days dancing my heart out to the Dave Matthews Band.

2. Auckland, New Zealand Full disclosure, I have been here (yes, yes, I know, I promise to write a post about the insanely good food scene and wine country there that is otherworldly). However, I went on a business trip and not with my plus one for life, and at the moment, we are leaning toward Auckland as our 10 year anniversary trip, and I am not protesting in the slightest.

3. Prague, Czech Republic I have wanted to go to Prague for as long as I can remember. I have yet to meet anyone who says anything other than how beautiful it is, and yet, I have not made it a point to check out the famous bridges or even look into what one could do in Prague for a few days, but it still sits high on my list of places to check out.

4. Thailand I watched an episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain where he ate all the things at a local street food market in Thailand and I have never felt more compelled to book a last minute ticket and hunt down the culinary delights being shown on my TV. Aside from the photos of Thailand that showcase beaches and resorts that look out of this world, this would be a purely culinary-driven trip, and I would be perfectly okay with that!

5. South of France I would like to think that I would be quite alright with a week or so in the French Riviera. Between Nice, St. Tropez, Cannes and Monaco, yes, I do believe a long holiday there is in good order. On the trip to Positano this year, I did worry we weren’t going to get to relax and enjoy the beach life, as there is so much to do, and so much history, but that trip was such a success that I would like to think we could manage to make a beach style vacation in France work just fine.

• Honorable mention: Tahiti, Bora Bora or Fiji Take. Your. Pick. These just happen to be in order of shortest duration of total travel time, even though Fiji is only a one-stop flight from Phoenix. Either way, we tend to do a lot of travel based on exploring and walking, and the idea of another do-nothing vacation has a lot of appeal. We went to Turks & Caicos for our five year anniversary (and LOVED it) but we also love the idea of exploring new parts of the world, and happily would spend a week floating in crystal blue water.

I will naturally be building out my bucket list travel plans for 2020 and beyond, and welcome any and all suggestions – including places not on this list! Here’s to a great rest of the year (and decade, help!) and here’s to all the Passport stamps to come in 2020.