It doesn’t matter if you’ve been to 50 countries, or five countries – it happens to every traveller.
There comes a point where you find yourself sitting around at home thinking: Okay… where to next?
It’s a good feeling, knowing you’ve got the whole world out there to explore, and it’s up to you to decide which part of it you’re going to check out next. But it’s not always easy to figure it out.
Some people start off their travelling lives with certain goals, countries they’ve always had in their mind that they want to visit. But when all those have been checked off the list, you don’t want to give up travelling altogether.
Other people catch the travel bug by accident, having been dragged along on someone else’s holiday, and all of a sudden realise they want to travel more – but to where?
Others, like me, have a completely different problem: you want to go everywhere. There’s not a single country you wouldn’t be happy to wind up in. But time and budget restraints mean that’ll have to be whittled down somewhat.
The easiest way to solve this is with a large map, a dart, and a forgiving landlord. Close your eyes, throw the dart, hope you don’t hit an immediate family member or piece of expensive furniture, and there’s your destination.
Except that never works. You’ll keep pulling the dart out and rethrowing until, hey, what do you know, I hit Tuscany…
When you find yourself stuck for a destination, it’s tempting to just go back to somewhere you’ve already been and enjoyed. It takes the risk out of spending a whole lot of money on going somewhere you won’t like – but it takes some of the fun away as well. I try not to revisit places I’ve been to before, mainly because it’s not usually the destination you’re trying to recreate, but the experiences you had last time. And that’s impossible. Why not go somewhere new and have completely new experiences?
If you’re really set on a certain country though, just get a bit more adventurous. If you had a blast in Paris last time, try Toulouse or Lyon. Or if you had a ball in New York, give Chicago or Boston a go.
For those determined to try somewhere new, there are a few things to consider.
If you’re like me, and you’re happy to go anywhere, the most important thing is your budget, and how you want to spend what you’ve got. If you’re determined to live in luxury, you’re not going to be able to go as far afield, and for as long, as those prepared to rough it.
Weighing up how much cash you’ve got to play with will go a long way to deciding where you’re going to be able to go.
Then even those with no ideas need to come up with a destination. If you’ve got a bit of travel experience, you might want to go somewhere like World 66, and do the “destinations visited” map. That way, you’ll get a nice visual idea of whether there are any large chucks of the world you’re yet to check out.
If that doesn’t work, try thinking about destinations you really liked, and go for somewhere similar, but a bit further off the beaten track. So if you like Thailand, maybe think about Laos or Cambodia. If you like India, try Nepal or Sri Lanka. And if you like Spain or Italy, give Argentina or Uruguay a go.
You also have to think about the things you like doing on holidays. If you like hiking through mountains, you’re not going to go to the Netherlands. If you like looking at animals, you’re not going to go to Egypt. If you like eating, you’re not going to England (thanks, I’m here all night).
Travel books are good for inspiration, too. Each year Lonely Planet releases its “Best In Travel”, which might be a bit populist, but I challenge you to flick through it and not think to yourself, “hey, that looks cool” at least once.
Or you could get some inspiration from this site.
Regardless, this decision-making isn’t something you should spend too much time agonising over. Wherever you go you’ll meet new people, eat new food, see new things and have new experiences.
And it’ll sure beat being at work.
How do you decide where you’re going next? Which country would you recommend readers go to next?
Hope you’re enjoying the Backpacker blog. There’ll be a new one up on Fairfax Media websites every Wednesday. If you have any topic suggestions, or just want to send me some personal abuse/spam, you can drop in on my website here, or email me at bengroundwater@gmail.com. Happy travels!
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Visiting various travel blogs can give you a great insight into whether a destination might be for you. Real reviews will also give you an objective appreciation of the trip and you’ll have a head start when it comes to knowledge on the ground.
Here’s a recent review from Dan’s Around The World Travel Blog featuring Acacia Africa’s 43-day Kenya to Cape town Overland tour:http://bit.ly/1vKHUK
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Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.
One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.
If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.