Cover photo by Sky view

Christmas is in two days! During this time of year, we’re sharing our wish lists to family and friends so I want to share my travel wish list with you!

This is a smaller list of all the places I want to go to (I have total of 38 so far). I’m hoping to hit every single one on this list over the next decade:

Arizona

Part of the reason why I want to go to Arizona is because I have a friend from college that lives there and I haven’t seen her in person since graduation. I also want to go to the Grand Canyon, visit a spa, and go on a hot air balloon ride. I mentioned wanting to ride one in Fall in my S.A.D Time wish list post, but it’s not limited to Fall. My original vision was going on a hot air balloon ride over the Grand Canyon but I don’t think that’s offered based on my research.

I really want to see the Grand Canyon at night, look at the stars without the light pollution. However, I don’t want to camp there (not a camp girl yet).

Niagara Falls (the Toronto side)

I have been wanting to visit the Niagara Falls for who knows how long. I love bodies of water and waterfalls so to see them in person would be so awesome.

I specifically wanted to go to the Toronto side because it would give me an excuse to see Toronto, the place where Degrassi was filmed! No but seriously, since I’ve been to one side of Canada once, I’d love to see the other side.

Brazil

Moving down to South America, I want to go to Brazil. Brazil has been on my list since high school, coincidentally right before the Olympics was held there. I mainly want to go to experience Carnival but I also realize that means there would be so many people there during that time.  Maybe I could go during my birthday which is right before Carnival season and I can see how they prep for the festivities.

Going to the rainforest would be cool as well, and don’t get me started on eating the food!

Iceland

This is a destination I’m already checking off my list. I didn’t have Iceland on my mind at all before this year. Then, all of a sudden something came over me and I really wanted to see the Northern Lights, particularly on my birthday. Then I saw a Tiktok of a woman who went to Iceland and she shared her itinerary. It looked so fun and I knew that was my sign to make it happen.

I’m going to Iceland in 2025 with EF Ultimate Break. I was already planning on going that year but when I saw they were doing everything I wanted to do and it ended up being cheaper to go with them, I decided to take the plunge. I wanted to do the hot springs, northern lights, and look at the landscapes and we’re doing all of that! If I don’t go on a solo trip before then, it will be my first solo trip (kind of).

Paris, France

I’ve been to Nice, France/the French Riviera (and I want to go back) but I have yet to go to Paris! I mainly want to go for the food and of course to see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Palace of Versailles.

I’d been wanting to visit since 8^th grade when I first started learning French. I had a chance to study abroad there in college along with friends but I couldn’t afford it within my tuition. I think this might better though because I’d see the city on my own terms.

Greece

I’ve always thought Greece was so beautiful. I even set a story I was writing there once because I wanted to go so bad. Going here was my original plan for my 30th birthday but we’ll get to my new plan later.

My dad and step-mom went to Greece recently and I told them they were doing my dream vacation. My hope is to do a cruise that stops at the different islands within Greece. Fingers crossed!

Amalfi Coast, Italy

I’ll be honest, this place came on my radar because of the Pixar movie Luca. When I found the real place the movie was based in, I thought it was beautiful! I’d love to pair it with the Greek cruise.

I’ve been to Rome, Naples, and La Spezia with my mom, and there are other places in Italy I want to see like Venice and Sicily. I’m hoping I’ll get to the Amalfi Coast first.

Now, we’re getting more into continents because I would like to visit all 7 continents one day.

Africa

As an African-American, of course I want to visit the motherland! Now the specific countries vary (and honestly I hope to visit as many as I can) but the first three are Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco.

Nigeria is on my list because according to Ancestry I’m 32% Nigerian so I want to go and experience the culture and try the food.

South Africa is more of my Dad’s suggestion. He went there back in the 90s and said he loved it. Morocco is on the list because I want to look at the architecture and try the food.

I also want to visit Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, and Seychelles (the water looks so crystal clear over there)!

Asia

There are so many places in Asia I want to visit! It’s funny because in high school, visiting Asia wasn’t really on my radar (mostly out of fear of being othered) but that changed after college.

The two countries that I’m hoping to visit first are South Korea and Japan. After I found out January wasn’t the best time for Greek cruises, I thought maybe I could take my 30^th birthday trip to South Korea and even go to Japan for a few days after. Then my sister told me she wanted to go to Japan for her 30^th birthday. Our birthdays are 5 months apart so I said, “Oh, I could just go with you since it would be warmer then anyway.”

I kind of wanted to go with my friends too but don’t want to impede on my sister’s birthday. Still working on logistics but we have two years to plan.

Other places I’m hoping to visit are India, Singapore, Bali, Thailand, and the Philippines. And all of these places I know has great views and great food (my main reason for most places).

Australia & New Zealand

Maybe a not-so-fun fact: My mom and I were planning on going to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji with a woman who ran a group called “Travel Queenz”. We’d been paying on the trip starting in 2019 and then we were going to go in 2021. Of course, we all know what happened between those years.

The thing is though, the woman never told us how the pandemic would affect the trip: would we reschedule? Would we get a refund?

 She never answered and became radio silent so my mom and I were out of quite a bit of money. I think that experience is what made me want to plan all of my trips myself to ensure that never happened again (EF Ultimate Break is me taking another chance).

Anyway, I’d still like to visit Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand specifically is where they filmed certain parts of Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings so I definitely want to see all of those gorgeous sights!

Hawaii

This is something I’ve been iffy about. I know a lot of the locals are saying to stop coming so that’s why I haven’t gone. At the same time, some are saying come because the tourism helps the economy, especially after what happened in Maui with the wildfires.

My dad and step-mom went a couple of years back and really enjoyed themselves. Can you tell I’m trying keep up with my dad?

Antarctica

I wasn’t going to add this to the list at first but if I want to hit all the continents, I have to hit all the continents.

I didn’t want to go mostly because I didn’t think it’d be possible. I’m not a scientist or anything and I wasn’t sure if cruising there was possible. However, I just came across a YouTube vlog of someone who took a luxury expedition cruise to Antarctica. It felt like a sign that I could do this too.

That’s my travel wish list! I’ve always wanted to see more of the world but I’m always concerned about my treatment in these places. Being a black woman, there’s always a slight fear of experiencing racism practically anywhere in the world but someone on TikTok said, you’re already treated badly in your own country so don’t let that stop you from seeing other places. And you know, what? They’re right. I don’t want to let fear of something possibly happening stop from doing anything. If I did, I wouldn’t go anywhere!

Other Travel Wish Lists

Here are some other travel wish lists I have that aren’t necessarily destinations.

Things I want to do travel wise:

1. Solo Trip/solo cruise
2. Scenic Train ride
3. Road trip
4. Business class/first class for overseas flight
5. Vacation with my dog

Items I want for travel

1. Travel journal
2. Packing cubes (just to try them, I don’t actually think they’ll take up less space)
3. Detergent sheets
4. Travel ice roller (for self-care)
5. Refillable travel perfume spray bottle
6. Twelve South AirFly Pro (or something cheaper) , device that connects Bluetooth headphones to the airplane screens
7. Vacuum sealed storage bags for packing (which I just bought)
8. Carbon Monoxide Detector
9. Emergency door stop alarm
10. Reusable straw keychain

What are some of your travel wish list items for 2024 or the years to come? Let me know in the comments! If you prefer to watch, check out the YouTube video!

We just have one more blog post in 2023 left!