Where Should We Travel in Summer 2017?
Where should we travel to in summer 2017? We just can’t decide!
I have no idea which city, country or even continent I’ll be on in six months time. I’m 95% sure that it won’t be the same place where Charlie and I are travelling now, but even that’s not certain. As travellers and digital nomads, we feel incredibly lucky to know that we could be anywhere in the world in summer 2017. But the question is, where do we want to go next?
Here are the three trips that we’ve got in the back of our minds for summer — but who knows, maybe we’ll go somewhere else completely! What do you think?
1. Road Trip across North America
It’s every traveller’s dream to do the classic coast-to-coast US road trip at least once. But seeing that Canada is doing free entry to all its National Parks in 2017, we’ve been thinking about shifting the whole trip a few hundred miles north. The result is a totally untested 4000-mile journey that hits both iconic US cities and unmissable Canadian national parks.
- We’d start in the dining/shopping capital of the world: New York, New York
- Explore the urban art scene in Montreal
- Listen to some of the 140 languages spoken in Toronto
- Enjoy some of North America’s best bird-watching at Point Pelee
- Hop across the border to Superior National Forest
- Sample the microbreweries and coffee houses of Portland
- Soak up the coffee culture of Seattle
- Partake in the sights, sounds and smells of Chinatown, Vancouver
- End our trip at Jasper National Park to gawk at the Rockies
2. Backpack South America
In 2015, we set off for a house-sitting adventure in Costa Rica, with the plan of eventually making it to South America… Two full years later and the furthest south we’ve been is Panama! What happened? Well, we got side-tracked by a bucketload of amazing experiences in Central America, such as Guatemala’s oh-so-gorgeous volcanoes and Nicaragua’s stunning lakes.
But events are lining up to make 2017 an extremely tempting time to visit South America, especially as Colombia has been tipped as one of the best countries to visit in 2017 and because of the (almost) peace deal between the Government and the rebels in Colombia. If we do make it to South America this summer, our route would look a little something like this:
- Wander the colourful streets of colonial Colombia
- Amazon Jungle, Andes Mountains, the Galapagos Islands — need I say more about Ecuador?
- Hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru and see the floating islands of Lake Titicaca
- Learn about community-based tourism in Bolivia, the South American country with the largest percentage of indigenous people
3. Explore the Baltics
The Baltics is one area of Europe that we’ve always wanted to explore more. Aside from Charlie spending a week eating cinnamon buns in Stockholm before we met and our joint trip to Poland, we’ve not seen any of the other Baltic countries. Last year, my parents bagged themselves an excellent Baltic cruise deal which has got us thinking a bit more about summer cruises.
Norway, Sweden and Denmark are all high on our want-to-visit list. What with the northern lights in Norway, the archipelago in Stockholm and Copenhagen being named a green capital not too long ago, a summer trip to the Baltics sounds pretty awesome to us. Here’s the Baltic travel route we’d want to take:
- Cycle around the canals of Copenhagen
- Get lost in the old town of Kalundborg in Denmark
- Enjoy the trendy cafe culture in Sweden’s Gothenburg
- Take a boat around Stockholm’s stunning archipelago
- Go hiking on glaciers in Norway’s Geirangerfjord
- See the northern lights in Norway from late-September
Where do you think we should travel in summer 2017? And where would you like to travel to?
William
Africa!
Charlie Marchant
Love that it’s not even one from the list!
Wendy@TheNomadicVegan
All great ideas! My top pick would be South America. In my humble opinion, South America knocks the socks off of Central America. So if you liked Guatemala and Nicaragua, I think you’d completely fall in love with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The Scandinavia trip also looks nice (I’ve taken the liberty of renaming this trip, since the Baltic States refers to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia).
Charlie Marchant
We’re leaning towards South America too. We loved Central America so much that we’re thinking maybe we’d love South America just as much or even more.. Have you travelled in South America? Which countries did you go to? Thanks for your insight, Wendy!
Wendy@TheNomadicVegan
Yes! My husband and I have done two longish trips in South America. The first was in 2005, when we went to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and part of Bolivia. The second time was in 2010, when we went to Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. We still want to go back sometime soonish to finish off Bolivia and also travel around Brazil. If you like hiking and the mountains, Chile and Argentina have fantastic landscapes. Come prepared to battle the elements though. Peru also has amazing mountains, in addition to historical and architectural sights and a vibrant indigenous culture. It’s one of my favourite countries of all time. Colombia and Ecuador are great too, though. I recommend them all!
Agnieszka Walewinder
Me and Cez are going to backpack South America next summer so I hope you guys will decide to do the same so we can meet up on the road! How awesome it would be!!!! :)
Tomasz Walas
You should travel to eagle nest trail in Poland and hike. Start from Sanctuary Jasna Góra in Częstochowa, end on Wawel Castle in Kraków.
Katie Featherstone
Definitly South America. We did a very similar route to that and had the most amazing travel experiences ever. Fly out from Santa Cruz though, it’s just as cheap and Bolivia is awesome!
Helen
North America is amazing (the places we went to!) and I’d love to go back to Canada. All good choices! Decisions…decisions…decisions!
Charlie Marchant
I know right! So many decisions!
Jason
Being optimistic…based purely on the value of the pound North America may burn a hole in your pockets this year (sadly) .Actually, as you may know, lot of currencies are pegs to the dollar, so..( don’t mention the Euro). In Colombia I wished I went to the coffee area ( too much in a rush) and it must be safer now as well ( and the only time I got thanked for visiting a country). I would advocate for Chile -as it’s avoided a lot for costs, , for its contrasting landscapes easily reached from Santiago.Although I found it harder to be veggie there than anywhere else in South America ( Lima is so easy for this). Finland with its lakes I found more fascinating than Norway -and come on, who can resist a sauna?!
Wai
China! Cheap, great food, culturally diverse and totally different to your suggestions!
Charlie Marchant
I’ve been to Shanghai and Beijing – loved them both! I definitely want to go back and explore more of China some time, but not sure 2017 will be the year.
Sanne
I’d go for the US/Canadian border, mostly because this is something you really want to do in summer time! Not one of your bullet points but I promise these will be 2 highlights: Yellowstone NP and whale watching from Anacortes, WA, or from Vancouver Island. PS the Baltic states are Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ;) That would be cheaper than US/Canada, the Scandinavian countries you’ve listed won’t be any cheaper!