Where Do We Go From Here?

As mentioned in the previous entry – in this entry I will be writing about places that would hopefully inspire my readers to hop onto skyscanner.com and book a trip somewhere new, ASAP.  Personally, I am planning for my next trip to be in January, to Bogota, Colombia.  I am trying to travel to 30 countries before I turn 30 years old, I currently am 26 and have been to 24 countries.  I am turning 27 in 2019 – so I will need to visit 2 countries a year to reach my goal!  I am hoping that I will be able to visit Thailand and/or Japan in 2019, later in the year.  I also will be in Greece (AGAIN) in the summer.  I am not meaning to sound ungrateful but having my family be from Greece and visiting it often throughout my life, it is not as fun to go back without my family being there anymore.

COUNTRIES TO INSPIRE YOU TO TRAVEL IN 2019:
Clearly I am only mentioning a few countries that I find interesting, but all you have to do is go into Skyscanner and select some dates and put the location as “everywhere” and you will get some cheap flight recommendations ;).  

I will do the work for you for the following countries, letting you know the cheapest month to fly to each country and how much it will cost.  Now, I don’t want to hear anyone complain they “Can’t afford to travel…” You’re welcome!  All of my flights will be flying out of Chicago IL, however, because that is where I am from, sorry!

Dates will be in blue, Cost will be in red, What you should do and see will be in Green!

EUROPE

U.K. – MARCH 5 – MARCH 12 COST: 329$ Trust, me this is enough time to see a lot in London.  

Some free/cheap things to do include: go see the Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, Visit Buckingham Palace, Go to the National Portrait Gallery, The TATE modern, the British Museum, Visit Regent’s Park and Hyde Park, See the London Eye and Big Ben, Go to Westminster Abbey.

France – FEB 1 – FEB 9 COST 331$ 

See the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre is free if you’re under 26 years old Friday evenings, or 6 euro after six P.M. on Wednesdays.  Visit Notre-Dame, See the Sacre-Coeur, walk along the Seine and trust me it’s worth the cost of 10-15 euros, visit the Catacombs.  

Germany – FEB 13 – FEB 20  COST 476$

This is a flight from Chicago to Munich, if you would like to visit Berlin I would recommend spending a day or two in Munich and then flying to Berlin.  You can see the BMW museum, Olympiapark, the Englischer Garten, Maruenplatz and then fly to Berlin and see what remains of the Berlin Wall, the Jewish memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, and eat some amazing German Food and drink beer out of a huge stein.  

Greece – MARCH 31 – APRIL 12 COST 482$

This is a flight into Thessaloniki with long layover in Istanbul.  This is an exceptional price to fly into Greece, trust me, my family has flown there enough times.  If you want to see anything cool I would recommend taking another flight to Athens, and if you would like from there you can take a boat to the islands, the boats are fairly cheap.  In Athens you can go see the Acropolis, spend the days on the beach, however, it will not be that warm during these months, just FYI.  Go to many museums.  

Italy- MILAN OR ROME are the cheapest to fly into.  JAN 10 – JAN 17  COST 472$ TO ROME

See the Spanish Steps, the Vatican, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, the Forum, the catacombs, and if you would like to visit Milan or Venice or Florence you can take the train or a plane there for fairly cheap.  

Croatia – FEB 25 – MARCH 6 COST 459$ INTO DUBROVNIK

When I visited Croatia I visited Split, from there I visited the Krka National Park, you can also visit Plitvice National Park.  In Dubrovnik you can explore the city walls and visit the beautiful beaches, visit the old town and some islands.  

Finland – APRIL 30 – MAY 7 COST 312$

I LOVE HELSINKI.  Honestly, it is one of my favorite places I have ever visited, and although it may look cheap to fly there the city is very expensive if you ask me.  Visit the Market Square, the Temppelixaukio church, the cathedral, the beautiful city park.  They have some really amazing museums, especially the art museums.  Go to a sauna if your allowance allows you to!

Spain – (There is cheaper times to visit Spain, but I thought one may want to go when it is a tad warmer there, so if you would like the cheapest time to visit it is in FEB, it’s about 370$ for FEB 8 – FEB 17)  JUNE 3 – JUNE 10 COST 590$ BARCELONA

Visit the Sagrada Familia, it’s SO beautiful.  Visit the beach and Park Guell, the Gothic Quarter, Casa Batllo, the Arc, the Cathedral, the Gaudi House museum.  When I was in Barcelona I spent my time there drinking a lot of sangria and enjoying tapas on the beach.  It was one of very few, “more relaxing trips” I have been on.  

Iceland – SEPT 2 – SEPT 7 COST 320$

OKAY.  DISCLAIMER.  Visiting Iceland is very inexpensive and everything else IS NOT.   No joke, unless you head to the grocery store and eat hot dogs the entire time you’re going to drop a lot of money on everything – even food.  Soup was equal to like 17$.  But, Iceland is beautiful and worth it.  Go to the Blue lagoon, see the Northern lights, the Arctic Circle, some puffins, whatever.  

The Netherlands – FEB 25 – MARCH 4 367$

The Van Gogh museum and the Heineken experience were my two favorite attractions in Amsterdam.  Visit Excalibur and have a beer in the red light district.  Visit the museums of red lights secrets and sex.  Visit the Anne Frank museum and some coffee shops, nudge nudge.  

ASIA

Thailand – APRIL 17 – APRIL 23 550$

I am hoping to make my way to Thailand myself this year, hopefully accompanied with Japan or China!  You can find TONS of cheap trips to Bangkok, I personally chose these dates because this is the time I am considering visiting.  Visit the Grand Palace, maybe go to the Phi Phi Islands, the temples, go shopping, maybe even be basic af and see an elephant and monkeys.  

China – FEB – ANY RANDOM DATES ~ 500$ 

So I have been playing around on skyscanner.com looking for dates to China because Sarah really wants us to visit together this year.  I have found that most flights to Bejing are around 500$ in February.  Once in China I would of course visit the Great Wall, stuff myself silly with Chinese food, and see the Forbidden City.  

Vietnam – FEB 8 – FEB 17 600$

Visit the markets, the cu chi tunnels, make your way to Ha Long Bay, National Parks, Bays, Vietnam looks amazing.  Personally  I would pair it with another trip to Cambodia or Thailand or elsewhere nearby.  

Japan – April 10 – April 17 797$

The best option I have been able to find in traveling to Japan is to either fly to Thailand and call the airlines asking for an extended layover in Japan, OR to fly elsewhere and from there fly to Japan.  I want to visit Tokyo SO BADLY.  Visit the sky tree, Harajuku, Mt. Fuji, Tokyo tower, go shopping, just see the city – everything looks amazing.  

Cambodia FEB 26 – MARCH 4 632$

India FEB 18 – FEB 26 760$

NEW DELHI.  

Jordan: Amman – JAN 14 – JAN 23 692$ 

Plz visit Petra.  I want to so badly. 

AFRICA

Egypt: Cairo – JAN 12 – JAN 21 750$

Haggle some souvenirs and visit the pyramids

South Africa: Johannesburg- MARCH 4 – MARCH 16 682$ 

Morocco: Tangier – FEB 8 – FEB 17 438$

SOUTH AMERICA

Peru: Lima – MAY 9 – MAY 18 419$

Try some amazing food and visit Machu Picchu

Brazil: Rio – FEB 12 – FEB 19 626$

Hang out on the beautiful beaches, visit Christ the Redeemer and party your ass off

Colombia: Bogota – FEB 26 – MARCH 5 330$

Once again, amazing food and explore the beautiful city

Argentina: Buenos Aires – FEB 12 – FEB 21 900$

OTHER

Australia: Sydney – JAN 21 – JAN 31 708$

See the Opera House, the Sydney Harbor bridge, go to the zoo and aquarium, go scuba diving and visit all of the beaches – maybe make your way to Cairns and see the Great Barrier Reef

 

If you’re on a time crunch I will share some photos and provide flight cost and months to go for awesome places you can visit in 3-5 days.  

Costa Rica March 12 – 19 288$

It may not seem like enough time in Costa Rica but I spent only a few days there and had an amazing time!  For recommendations on what to see and do in such a short amount of time check out my previous post, “Livin the Pura Vida in Costa Rica” 

Seattle, Washington Feb 5 – 9  158$

Seattle is amazing, maybe not in February but hey, it’s the cheapest option.  Visit the space needle – for more check out my previous post on Seattle.  

Puerto Rico  Feb 19 – 23  291$

New Orleans, LA Jan 21 – 24  81$ 

NOLA is amazing and everything to do there is amazing in my opinion.  Don’t skip a Bayou gator boat tour 🙂 

New York City  Feb 5 – 9  83$

Three Previous posts on NYC with recommendations for you!

Cuba  Nov 18 – 25  280$