MONTHLY CHALLENGE
My Dream Trip For 2023
It’s not always about the ‘where’…
There are so many places in the world I wish to visit. I have never been to the United States or South America. Actually, Alaska is quite high on my wish list and doing a road trip all the way from Alaska to the southern end of Patagonia has been my dream forever.
When I was a child, I envisioned myself being a veterinarian, living in Kenya and working with all the wild animals, big and small. But the reality is that I have never been to Africa.
In fact, I haven’t travelled that much… I mean, I have done hundreds of thousands of kilometres on the road, but I didn’t see too many various countries. I have been only to dozens or so countries in Europe, driven across Canada, around both islands of New Zealand, and, of course, Australia, my new home country.
There are plenty of wonderful places my traveller soul would love to visit. However, as much as I love to travel, I have to admit that sometimes there is more to life than solo travels visiting exotic places.
It has been almost four years since I last saw my parents and more than five years since I hugged my sister and her kids. My entire family and some lifelong friends are still back in Europe, and I miss them…
It was Christmas 2017 when, for the last time, my sister and I could enjoy each other company. I miss her so much that all I can think of in the last few months is when I will finally be with her and her kids again. And also, who knows for how long we will have our parents. My dad will turn 84 in June this year…
And so I was torn. On the one hand, I wanted to travel, discover new places, and go to countries I had never been to. It has been over three years since my last RV trip, which was on the North Island of New Zealand. But on the other, the intense longing to see my sister and family is causing agonising pain in my heart.
I started to think about the time when my sister and I were little, about the travels we did with my parents, about the times we walked the mountains or travelled together as teenagers and young adults… My little sister is the best travel companion you could wish for. She is very adventurous, and she loves discovering new places. However, she is also very understanding, considerate, forgiving and supportive.
And so I decided that I definitely have to see my sister this year. Maybe we could travel together? With her and the kids… This would mean I need to go over to Europe during the school holidays — the roads and everything in Europe will be chock-a-block!
The perfect plan!
I was sitting at my PC, looking at the map of Europe and thinking about where we could go to have a good time. And it was how I came up with the idea — how about I rent a motorhome for a week or so, and we all could go to Denmark and maybe across to Sweden and visit some places there.
During school holidays, more than half of Europe is going south, where there is warm, to enjoy the sun and sand and play in the water. Not so many are going north, so it wouldn’t be that crowded. Furthermore, I have never been to Denmark or Sweden, which also has been on my wish list. So maybe I could “kill two birds with one stone” — discover new places while travelling in great company and have quality time with my sister and her family.
All excited, I called my parents to tell them about my great idea! It’s a bit challenging to talk to my sister, as the time zones aren’t in our favour. Every time I have a moment to chat, she is busy. When she has 10min for a chat, I’m deep asleep. So my parents are the perfect communication point — I share my ideas with them, and they pass them on to my sister.
About a week later, I chatted with my parents again. They told me my sister liked the idea, and they themselves had something to add to it. “How about if after the trip to Sweden, you all come to Poland, and we will book a cottage in Pobierowo, and we spend a few days there?” — asked my dad. “That’s a perfect plan! I love it!” — I replied to my dad.
Pobierowo is a place in northwest Poland on the Baltic Sea. For a few years, my parents used to go there every year in early autumn, as it’s a lovely little town. Actually, I have never been to this town either, so another new place to discover, though situated in the country of my origin.
This year my dream trip isn’t so much about the “where” but the “who” — I hope I get to see my family and friends back in Europe. At this stage, it is just a dream, and I don’t know if it will become reality. But who cares? Dreams are free, and they don’t harm anyone, so I just keep dreaming!
At this point, I should share some travel stories of other writers who inspired me to plan my trip… Well, I could lie; add here a couple of stories and say that I got inspired by them. But I tend to always say the truth, so…
After I came up with my perfect plan and wrote the post here, I went to Globetrotters’ publication and searched for stories from Denmark or Sweden. Not many stories from these countries, but I found a couple that I will share here:
In the following story, Ilam Padmanabhan writes about the beauty of Denmark
I love the wilderness, so it’s not a surprise that Anne Bonfert’s story about hiking through Sweden’s Wilderness caught my attention. Not only the narrative is great, but also amazing photos!
