Despite being slightly incredulous that June has rolled around this week – how are we half way through the year already?! – I thought it was about time I updated you on my 2016 travel plans. As you’ll see, they’ve morphed quite a lot since I sat down to write about my initial ideas back in January.
In the first half of the year, my three big planned holidays have been and gone: Puerto Rico, the Outer Hebrides, and most recently, Mexico. In between those trips I’ve had a few local travel escapades too: a day trip to Beacon in the Hudson Valley, a visit to ‘little Poland’ (aka the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Greenpoint), not to mention a marathon tour of the typical NYC tourist sights with one of my oldest friends (we actually did walk the equivalent of a half marathon one day!)
So what’s next? More than I had expected, that’s what! Read on to see where I’m taking my suitcase over the next few months…
Philadelphia, June 2016
Next week, I’m returning to the city that started it all: Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love was the first city I ever lived in (Stornoway and St Andrews are most certainly not city-size), and the first place I ever visited in the US. It was also the first place I lived abroad – and so quite frankly, Philly has a lot to answer for!
I’ll be back in my old stomping grounds for BlogHouse, a four day-long, intensive, small-group conference that helps bloggers take their websites to the next level, whatever that means to them.
I’m excited to learn more about this weird and wonderful industry (I’ve seen blogging referred to as ‘the Wild West of careers’), and looking forward to meeting like-minded travelers (not to mention people who also take photos of their food before eating! Roll on the Philly Cheesesteaks!)
New Orleans, July 2016
This one came out of the blue recently – I love a last minute adventure! My brother and a friend of ours are embarking on a summer road trip through the American South, and I’ve decided to join them in their first stop: the Big Easy.
I’ve never been to the South before, so I’m especially excited about this one. My brother and I always have a good laugh travelling together (our drive to Huisinis is a prime example) so I can’t wait to explore a new part of my adopted country with him and our friend. The Leodhasachs take on Louisianna – that will be a suitcase story to watch out for!
Brooklyn, late summer
Sometime after New Orleans I’ll be taking it easy closer to home, in Brooklyn Heights. At a recent Travel Massive event (you’ve probably heard me talk about these awesome monthly travel meet-ups before) I was lucky to win a night’s stay at Brooklyn’s newest boutique hotel, the Nu Hotel. I haven’t settled on a date yet, but it will be a nice break from routine sometime between New Orleans and my next international trip – not to mention an excuse to explore a borough I don’t see enough of.
Italy, October 2016
My brother-in-law is getting married in Tuscany this autumn (to the lovely lady I wrote about in this blog post), so of course we are making the journey across the Atlantic to celebrate with them.
Before the festivities start I’ll be spending a few solo days in Rome (I’m just giddy at the thought of seeing the Colosseum!) and then heading up to The Lazy Olive, where the wedding will take place and which we’ll be using as a base to visit spots like Florence and Sienna. This time, I’m eating all the pasta! (If you haven’t heard about my one-time hatred of pasta yet, read this post, and maybe check out this one too.)
Undecided…?
Despite a lack of set dates, there are two more destinations I hope to visit: Kennebunk in Maine, and Central Pennsylvania. Mostly because I have family there and I want to catch up with them, but also partly because I love these locations – and they’re super easy to get to!
One is quiet and full of fields and trees, where we stay in a house (it’s also a fabulous Air BnB!) by a creek that I’m sometimes brave enough to kayak in. The other is by the ocean – my beloved ocean! – in Maine, a state I am a little bit in love with.
And of course, I would love to make it back to Britain again before 2016 is out (for a whole host of reasons, personal and otherwise – that’s expat life for you) but whether that will actually happen is another matter.
In the meantime, I’m more than excited about the jam-packed six months ahead – and I can’t wait to share all these future suitcase stories with you!
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Happy Trails to you. Hope you visit Michigan someday in your travels. There are many thngss to see around the Detroit area and, yes, Detroit is coming back and you must travel north to see our beautiful north country, Small quaint towns on the west coast and also on the east coast….I favor the west myself. Also, there is Mackinac Island with the Grand Hotel (pronounced Mackinaw) and the Upper Peninsula as well. We also have a “wine country” around Traverse City. Enjoy your travels and be safe.
Thanks, Christine! Michigan sounds lovely – I’ve seen pictures of the sand dunes on the lake and it looks gorgeous! And I’ve heard lots of good things about Detroit too. It’s definitely on my travel ‘bucket list’ 🙂
I can’t even begin to think about travels like you have been undertaking and are planning so I will simply mention that I envy you the Italian sojourn. It’s on the fringes of an area in which I have spent a lot of time and hope to spend much more. I also have friends in and around Barga mentioned in one of the links. It’s a great favourite of Scots Italians (or Italian Scots I’m never quite sure which way round it should be) but whilst I love the mountains I prefer rather more remote areas. I laughed at your post on food: not liking pasta!? Bon voyage agus buon viaggio.
Thanks, Graham! The year is turning out to be a lot busier in terms of travel than I had expected, what with two competition wins and a wedding. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Italy – and yes, eating more of the food! I used to be an incredibly fussy eater, so it will be a different experience this time!
Hey, girl! I can’t wait to see you at BlogHouse! I’ve lived close to Philadelphia my entire life, so I’m very excited to enjoy the city with everyone. Your upcoming trips look fantastic! I’ve always wanted to go to New Orleans.
Right now my upcoming travels will take me to Denmark, Sweden, the Baltic States, and Finland. 😀
Hi Rachel – excited to meet you next week! I’m really looking forward to getting back to Philly and seeing it from more of a ‘tourist’ perspective, and as a blogger – the year I lived there was long before blogging became a thing for me 🙂 Your trips sound fantastic! I’ve been to Denmark, but not to any of the other Baltic/Scandinavian countries. I’ll look forward to reading about them when the time comes!
Sounds like you’ve got a lot to look forward to! I’m sure it will be awesome to catch up with family and to celebrate the wedding of your brother-in-law. I hope you have fun! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Ella! There’s definitely lots to look forward to 🙂