Where To Next?

We’ve loved sharing our travels so far, and its definitely time to share more travel destinations – but travel must come before content so lately we’ve been spending time researching in preparation for lots more travel later this year.

Where to next? Its planning time!

Coming up, you can expect:

·       A mid-winter Rarotonga getaway – how to get the most out of this gorgeous island that offers so much, in its own sleepy, gentle way. We aim, as we often do, to strike the perfect balance between relaxation and activity. Our Rarotongan getaway will focus on relaxation, a touch of luxury, and sampling the very best seafood we can find in the island’s many highly regarded restaurants.

Where better than Rarotonga for a mid-winter break?

Then later in the year, in the post-summer European shoulder season, we will be in…

·       London – with a focus on the highlights as well as the glorious West End, we want to see how much we can do in our four days in England’s capital. We are looking forward to taking in some royal history along with the rich theatre culture, and see how much has changed from the London of my big overseas experience year in London in 1996! Because I can still picture the same old haunts from 30 years ago – am I in for a shock? Or does London endure in the same, stoic way?

·       Paris – making our way to Paris in the famous Chunnel might be worthy of its own review, but our focus will be firmly on this most romantic of cities.  Paris might just be our most highly planned and tightly packed of all our destinations so far, as there is just so much to see and experience: The Eiffel Tower – to climb or not to climb? The Mona Lisa – will we see her from the crowded Louvre? And will the Louvre meet my Da Vinci Code expectations? From an evening river cruise along the Seine, the creepy catacombs, the restored Notre Dame cathedral, to the unmissable Moulin Rouge… and the big question is – will we make it to Euro Disney? Between the two of us, we’ve ridden the big rides at Disneylands in Anaheim, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo, it just seems wrong to not take a day to check out how Euro Disney in Paris compares.

·       Amsterdam – from winding canals to weed cafes, and the infamous red-light district with its R18 attractions, what will we find to describe to you all from Amsterdam? As well as taking in the history of this pretty and historically significant city we hope to have the privilege of seeing The Annex where Anne Frank and her family spent much of World War II in hiding, and it wouldn’t be a trip to Amsterdam with a bicycle ride along an old canal.

·       Next our travels will take us by overnight train to Berlin. We’re always keen to try different ways to travel and experience new places on the way, and thus far we’ve always found train travel to be a wonderful way of both getting around, and enjoying some down time, while the scenery rushes by. Many of our holidays have been broken up by restful hours playing cards, napping, or day dreaming the miles away on-board Europe’s excellent train systems… but this one is overnight!  Having experienced sleeper trains in Thailand and in China, we’re keen to seen how this one compares. Will we sleep well and wake up refreshed having saved a night’s accommodation costs while we zoomed across borders? Or will we toss and turn uncomfortably and arrive exhausted and sore and risk losing a day to tired misery? The risk is there – we’ll let you know!

By now, you might be wondering just where we’re headed, and if you’ve followed us this far you might have guessed we are, of course, heading for another cruise! We are so excited to be trying a cruise line that we haven’t sailed with before, as well as hitting destinations that we hadn’t dreamed of visiting before this trip planning began. While our previous cruises have taken us to glamourous ports on equally glamourous ships, in the sun and with all the romance of the French Riviera and the drama of the Italian coastline, this time we’re heading north and into the stormy Baltic Sea.

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia await. From knowing nothing about these ports, to researching the very best ways to experience the most that we can on a cruise ship stop, our excitement is only increasing by the day! We’re picturing narrow streets, fascinating clock towers, ancient markets, and lots of seafood delicacies.

Then we move west to Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Karlskrona and you can bet we’re checking out what the locals do, what they eat and the very best things to see in each spot. You can anticipate hearing about food tours, icy dips in the sea and saunas, some nightlife, and city walks.

Post-Cruise, we will be spending more time in Germany – how much of my high school German can I remember and put to good use? Wie komme ich am besten zum Bahnhof bitte? Are the Wurst really the best? Will I learn to like Bier or stick to Wein?

From Germany it’s a quick stop in Prague – We’ve long heard how beautiful this Czech city is, and we can’t wait to see it for ourselves. For this stop we’ve booked a Botel – that’s a boat-hotel, nestled in a wide canal – how quaint? Will it be a cruise ships vibe or more like pirate ships of old?

Stunning Prague has been a dream destination for many years

And finally, because there’s no promise of lounging beside a pool in the sun in our itinerary so far, a couple of nights in hot Dubai to ease the transition back to springtime in Christchurch. Camels on the beach? Eye-watering high rises? Glamour shopping to rival Hong Kong and Paris? We can’t wait to see the glitz and feel that hot sun.

Four weeks with only carry-on - can it be done?

And the biggest question of all – is it reasonable to travel for a month in Europe with only carry-on luggage? Or will this experiment end in tears (and to buying a suitcase in some far-off destination?). We will find out! The two of us are split on this plan: Fi believes in being well-prepared with a planned, but generous, wardrobe of good choices for all occasions, while Katie plans to throw caution to the wind and try the next big thing in long haul travel by truly packing light. Will it all go wrong? Quite possibly, and we’ll definitely let you know.