What influences where in the world you should travel?
If you’ve always had a yearning to visit a particular country and you haven’t yet been, then this is probably a moot question…as soon as you can, you’ll be winging your way there, eyes gleaming with the excitement of adventure to come.
If, on the other hand, you’ve already traveled to many of the places you once dreamed of and there are no glaring holes in your passport just begging to be filled with yet another illegibile stamp, how do you decide where to go?
What criteria do you use to narrow down your choice of destination when the whole world is out there for you to visit?
The reason I ask is this: my husband and I are currently debating where we might head to after we’ve spent 3 months in South Africa early next year. Since we run our businesses while we travel, we do have some fairly strict personal criteria that our destinations must meet. These include:
- High speed internet
- Preferably able to get by using English (or German or French)
- A lower cost of living than the UK
- A warm, temperate climate
- An abundance of wildlife, nature and locally-produced food available
There are a few more on the list but the big one is the internet access which, despite its growing ubiquity, still rules out some of the more exotic, out-of-the-way places I’d love to visit.
Any suggestions are welcome and I’d love to know how you choose where to go when the world is your oyster.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:44 am
I’ve always wanted to visit Belize and explore all the archaeological sites. It’s an English-speaking country with most of the things on your list. (They may have high-speed Internet in the cities, too, but obviously you’d need to check.)
November 24th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Hey Lea, You might want to think about Malaysia also. It’s not as cheap as, say, Thailand, but much cheaper than places like Singapore or Hong Kong, and with comparable levels of development in urban areas (read: high speed internet). English is widely spoken.
November 25th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
I’m open to pretty much anywhere, so the way I narrow down is finances. I don’t travel to the cheapest places, I travel to the places that are the best deal. I guess I’m an off-season traveler, which is really fun. There aren’t crowds, rates are cheaper, there’s a different character to the place.
I also read books that are set in certain locations, so if I recently read a book that speaks to me, that place gets put on my to travel soon list.
Finally, I alternate city, country-side and beach travels.
So, my next 5 places outside of the US (because I live in the US)to travel:
– Italy and Tunisia: I’ve never been and want to see Florence and Carthage
– Jamaica: Just to relax
– Ecuador: Read the galapagos by kurt vonnegut and now i have to go there
– Shanghai and Tokyo: A stopover in Tokyo on the way to Shanghai… tall buildings galore.
-Budapest: There’s something about Budapest, the spas maybe?
November 26th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Hi girls,
Thanks for the ideas – Malaysia, hmmm haven’t considered that will do some research.
Sherry – I’ve been to Belize before and loved it, although the places I went (Placencia was one) were quite off the beaten track at the time and internet was not great. I also picked up a nasty parasite on the beach in my leg, so watch out for those!
Ann – we also like to alternate city/nature/beach type places to get a good combination of environments. South Africa has all of them, so I guess we might just wait and see how we feel nearer the time!!