My Travel Checklist in a Corona-free World

For those of you who have the travel bug like me and are sick of being indoors all day (apart from that routine daily walk everybody goes on of course!), these lockdowns have been really difficult to deal with. Even the people who aren’t partial to getting on a plane or travelling, in general, have found these past few months challenging and claustrophobic; there’s just no respite or escape from the struggles of everyday life. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve laid on my bed and mentally planned my next holiday that I’m going on when the globe is coronavirus free. Each time the destination changes but the one constant wherever I imagine myself to be is that sense of freedom, having no worries whatsoever, with the hardest decision concerning which restaurant you want to eat at in the evening – the struggle is real!

I’m aware that there will probably be a backlog of holiday bookings for next year but there’s no harm in planning for the future, right? So, if you want some ideas for destinations, here are some of the places I plan to travel to once it is safe to do so. 

St David’s, Wales

As soon as the ban on travel is lifted, everybody is going to be booking holidays abroad, so a UK break is much more realistic. My boyfriend’s uncle has a house in St David’s, the smallest UK city in population and area, and the house is right by the coast which is an added bonus. It will be perfect as our first holiday as a couple and because it’s such a small place, you’ll never feel overwhelmed with tourists and visitors on your days out. The best part of the trip for us though is that the accommodation is free!

When my boyfriend went with his parents last summer, he sent over lots of photos that he took whenever they went on coastal walks and visits to the beach and I have to say, it really is a beautiful place, one that I’d never actually heard of before. I can picture it now, taking an evening stroll on the beach as the sun starts to set – the colours of orange and pink in the sky contrasting with the deep blue sea, with the calming sounds of the waves washing up onto the shore…absolute bliss! 

Paris

Now, I’ve been to Paris quite a few times before but it’s one of those places that you’ll never get tired of visiting. There are so many tourist attractions like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame Cathedral (it will be interesting to see how far they’ve got with the repairs after the tragic fire) and many more! 

It’s also an ideal destination to visit relatively soon after the pandemic because you can even get to it via the Eurotunnel if you wanted to avoid the airport. It’s also quite reasonably priced for young people like us who can’t afford that all-inclusive, four-star hotel experience yet, especially because you only tend to stay for a long weekend rather than an entire week.

Venice, Italy

I’ve never actually been to Italy and I’m really sad about it. It’s always been on my list of places that I want to visit but I’ve just never got round to actually going. Everybody that has visited who I’ve spoken to, whether it be to Venice, Rome, Florence or any other popular Italian cities, they always seem so enthusiastic about how lovely it is and for someone who has a travel bug like moi (oh wait, that’s French…), I definitely need to experience it for myself. 

I chose Venice out of them all because although I do love a good sight-seeing holiday which would certainly be the case when visiting Rome, the whole idea of Venice consisting of just canals with no roads, with its Gothic-esque buildings and colourful houses is just so fascinating and enticing to me that I have to go there first! Also, it does have quite a romantic reputation, so I’d love to go with my boyfriend someday. However, I definitely think that I would keep coming back to Italy, visiting a different part each time, as all of its cities are beautiful in their own unique way, as well its islands like Capri and Sicily.

Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand is such a popular holiday destination for Brits and most of you reading this have probably thought about going there if you haven’t already. I haven’t visited anywhere on the Asian continent yet which I’m very eager to change because so many people have told me how beautiful and vibrant the different cultures are, and Thailand is no exception to this. One way I want to immerse myself in their culture is through trying Thai food because so many people have expressed how deliciously healthy and flavoursome the cuisine is over there. I must admit, in the past, I’ve never really been too bold with trying new foods but that’s something I definitely want to change and what better cuisine to start with than Thai?

I’d definitely go to Bangkok though because that’s where most Brits tend to go which means that there will be less of a language barrier. That doesn’t mean to say that I’m not open to visiting other places in Thailand though. I would also love to visit China and India too, but I feel like Thailand is a perfect place to start if you’ve never been to Asia before. 

These are just some of the destinations I’d love to visit once travelling is back on the table again. Just the sheer thought of being free and able to go wherever we want once this pandemic is over is helping to keep myself going and I hope I’ve given you some hope for the near future too. A point worth making is that we will all cherish the experiences we have and the memories we make a lot more now. Finally! Something positive to come from all of this…

• Bucket-list
• travel