Life is difficult when you have as many dream destinations as I do. Not only is it hard for me as a travel-addict to be at home for a longer period, but it's also not easy to select a destination for your next trip. In the past few weeks I have been thinking a lot about where to go this summer. Below you will find a summary of the destinations I have considered for this summer.
As many of you may know by now it's my dream to go to Uzbekistan. "Uzbekistan?!?" you may wonder. Yes, Uzbekistan. If you google Samarkand, Bukhara and/or Khiva (or just look at the picture above of the Registan square in Samarkand) you will understand why. This country has a lot to offer to tourists and most western tourists are still unaware of its beauties. Since I am the kind of guy that would not make a long trip to visit just one country, I was seriously considering joining a group trip that would go from the huge empty boulevards of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan via the most beautiful cities in Uzbekistan towards the mountains of Kyrgyzstan where the traveler would get to stay in a traditional yurt for one night. This trip still sounds absolutely amazing to me. However, when I looked at the group composition of what would be my fellow travelers I got a bit disappointed. Age group 18-35 was represented by 0 people so far and most of the people were in age group 55+. I figured it would not be so much fun for me to travel around for 3 weeks with a bunch of old people, so at the moment my plans to visit Central Asia are still on hold. But one day I will go there for sure!
I have already visited a lot of countries in Europe, but somehow I never got to Bosnia & Herzegovina yet. This may not sound like a typical holiday destination, but it's certainly worth a visit. Ever since I was a teenager I have been amazed by the famous bridge in Mostar, so I just have to go there some time. I will start off my trip (which will take place from 14 till 21 May) in Zadar where I will meet a close friend, then visit Split, move on to Mostar where I will also visit a soccer game of the Bosnian premier league club Velez Mostar together with a bunch of local hooligans and finally I will spend one or two days in Sarajevo. This trip is going to be legen... wait for it... and I hope you're not lactose-intolerant because the second part is da(i)ry!
And on top of all these travels to exciting countries I will also spend a week with my parents, my sister and my (to-be) brother-in-law in Germany. After all those travels on my own to less-traveled countries it will be nice to spend some quality time with my family again in a country similar to my own. Because taking time for your family is also important in life.
Places I won't visit this year
South-East Asia
Initially my intention was to do volunteer work in South-East Asia this summer. The first problem I encountered here was that the Dutch volunteer organisation doesn't send volunteers to South-East Asia this year. I quickly managed to find another organisation that does send Dutch volunteers to this region and I already started looking for interesting projects to work on. However, when I started to look for more information I found out that during the European summer it's rainy season in these countries. It's not a lot of fun to do volunteer work outside in the rain, so I had to make a new plan.
Zambia
On the website of that second volunteer organisation I found another interesting project: working on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Victoria Falls in Zambia. I already pictured myself working in nature, with a view like in the picture above. Wouldn't that be an amazing experience? Victoria Falls is quite far away from the capital cities though and it's either really expensive (by plane) or really time-consuming (by bus) to get there. Moreover, I have already been to Africa last year so this summer I would prefer to go to another continent. So Victoria Falls was also not the ideal destination for me in 2013.
Central Asia
As many of you may know by now it's my dream to go to Uzbekistan. "Uzbekistan?!?" you may wonder. Yes, Uzbekistan. If you google Samarkand, Bukhara and/or Khiva (or just look at the picture above of the Registan square in Samarkand) you will understand why. This country has a lot to offer to tourists and most western tourists are still unaware of its beauties. Since I am the kind of guy that would not make a long trip to visit just one country, I was seriously considering joining a group trip that would go from the huge empty boulevards of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan via the most beautiful cities in Uzbekistan towards the mountains of Kyrgyzstan where the traveler would get to stay in a traditional yurt for one night. This trip still sounds absolutely amazing to me. However, when I looked at the group composition of what would be my fellow travelers I got a bit disappointed. Age group 18-35 was represented by 0 people so far and most of the people were in age group 55+. I figured it would not be so much fun for me to travel around for 3 weeks with a bunch of old people, so at the moment my plans to visit Central Asia are still on hold. But one day I will go there for sure!
Places I will visit this year
Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina
I have already visited a lot of countries in Europe, but somehow I never got to Bosnia & Herzegovina yet. This may not sound like a typical holiday destination, but it's certainly worth a visit. Ever since I was a teenager I have been amazed by the famous bridge in Mostar, so I just have to go there some time. I will start off my trip (which will take place from 14 till 21 May) in Zadar where I will meet a close friend, then visit Split, move on to Mostar where I will also visit a soccer game of the Bosnian premier league club Velez Mostar together with a bunch of local hooligans and finally I will spend one or two days in Sarajevo. This trip is going to be legen... wait for it... and I hope you're not lactose-intolerant because the second part is da(i)ry!
South America
When browsing through the websites of some travel agencies, my eye was caught by an announcement on one website that this week was "Peru and Bolivia-week". Mmm, I thought while looking at the pictures, maybe this would be a nice destination to go to this summer. I couldn't really stop browsing pictures of Macchu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and Salar de Uyuni (see the photo above) and got very excited about this trip. But then I made a nearly fatal mistake. I started comparing prices at different websites and found out that one website offered an even greater trip that also included a few days in Argentina as well at very little extra cost. Suddenly a trip to just Peru and Bolivia was not good enough any more: I wanted to go to Argentina as well. However, it's not really colleague-friendly to take off 4 weeks during summer. The solution was easier than I thought: why not go to South America in autumn? In October it will be spring in South America
Germany
And on top of all these travels to exciting countries I will also spend a week with my parents, my sister and my (to-be) brother-in-law in Germany. After all those travels on my own to less-traveled countries it will be nice to spend some quality time with my family again in a country similar to my own. Because taking time for your family is also important in life.
