My 2020 Travel Wishlist

There are so many places in the world I have yet to go and every year I make plans to cross just a few more of those places off my list. I truly enjoy vacation planning- there’s just something so exciting about discovering somewhere new and learning about it. I especially enjoy planning my trips for the new year. 365 days all available for exploring somewhere new! I love having something to look forward to- there’s always flight prices to watch, quality Airbnbs to look out for, and hot activities to keep an eye out for. Call me a travel nerd, but it all brings a sort of excitement to my blood. One other thing that’s got me excited is my new United Airlines Explorer credit card. I’ve been wavering for a while now on getting a better travel card and taking advantage of the many perks a good credit card brings and finally settled on the United Airlines card over the popular Chase Sapphire Reserve for two main reasons. 1- United has the strictest Basic Economy rules in that buying this cheap fare doesn’t allow you to bring even a carry on aboard the plane. Thus, forcing me to shell out an additional $60 to check my luggage. The credit card will allow me to not only bring a carry on bag, but also check a free bag all while still taking advantage of the cheaper basic economy flight price. With an annual fee of $95, I figured I would only need to take 2 roundtrip United flights a year to get my moneys worth. Reason 2- I’m a Houstonian now and Houston is a major hub for United. United flights from Houston to anywhere basically are frequent and direct (2 factors I value the most when choosing flights) making my loyalty to one airline even stronger. I’ll update you guys on how well the credit card actually works for me, but for now I can’t wait to use it! Here’s a look at some of the trips I’m hoping to take in 2020.

Asheville, North Carolina

I fell in love with North Carolina last year when I visited Raleigh and Wilmington for my friend Amanda’s wedding so I knew this year I wanted to make a return trip to experience further the beauty the state has. I’ve heard that Asheville has a laid back hipster vibe that is very similar to Austin and is up in the North Carolina mountains, which is a beautiful place to be. Plus ever since Taylor Swift’s Blank Space music video was released, I’ve wondered about the mansion featured. Turns out that the Biltmore Mansion is real and its located in Asheville and open for tours! Add that fact to the plentiful breweries and bagels that exist in Asheville and I was sold. They say the best time to visit North Carolina is in the fall when the leaves are turning gorgeous shades of orange and red. But I’m not sure I can wait that long to visit… so I’m considering a spring trip (May?) to see the blooming flowers and experience the fresh mountain air.

Stockholm, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark

Europe has recently been one of my favorite places to travel- mainly because there’s just so much history in literally every single European country and everything is just so different from America. It was definitely a lot easier to get on a flight to Europe while I was living in New York than now when I’m living in Houston. BUT I refuse to let that stop me! I’ve been obsessed with Oatly’s oat milk lately and once I found out that it was a Swedish brand, I knew I had to visit Stockholm. Because Scandinavian countries are all pretty close in distance, I thought squeezing Copenhagen into the week long trip would be an added bonus. Imagine bike riding through the cobble stoned town or sitting on the Nyhavn dock in the breeze while drinking a cup of Danish coffee. It sounds so picturesque doesn’t it?

Orlando, Florida

I had serious FOMO this year when I saw everyone heading to Orlando for either Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or the Epcot Food and Wine Festival or Universal Studio’s Haunted Horror Nights. If you haven’t heard of any of those events, seriously look them up because they are a big deal in the world of Halloween. So I made up my mind to attend next year and take my recently moved- to- Miami friend as well. I’ve heard that Disney vacations need to be planned in advance because everything books up insanely fast, so this vacation is pretty much set in stone. We’re just waiting for 2020 reservations to open!

San Diego, California

Warm fluffy donuts. Melt off the bone brisket. Crispy flavorful chicken wings. What does this trip sound like its going to be about? If you guessed food, you’re 100% right. I’ve been wanting to take a foodcation for a while now, but could never decide on the right city. It had to be somewhere with tons of good food (obviously), but also with beautiful outdoor activities (to work off those calories) and not too many other demanding tourist activities (that would distract me from my eating and exercising!). I settled on San Diego as the perfect location after doing brief research on Yelp and instantly realizing that YES I do want to eat juicy tacos and fried cheesy Korean corndogs while enjoying the view of the ocean atop a cliff. I don’t have a date set yet, but since San Diego is well known for its 300 plus sunny days I figured even a winter February trip would be fine with me.

Park City, Utah

When I lived in New York, I attended the Tribeca Film Festival every year and watched so many amazing independent films. I even got a chance to attend the premiere for the Ted Bundy biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and hear Zac Efron speak! I love seeing movies that aren’t mainstream, but still have relatable stories and talented cast members. When the movie, The Farewell (starring the hilarious Awkwafina) debuted earlier this year at Sundance Film Festival, I knew I had to make a trip at least once in my life to attend this film festival as well. So I convinced my best friend we could make a besties trip out of winter activities, matching pajamas, and indie films. Doesn’t that sound like a cozy vacation? Luckily, she agreed because we have two tickets booked for Utah at the end of January!

Bogota, Colombia

I’m completely unsure if this trip will happen or not because if it does it will be super last minute, but I thought I’d still include it in this post because a wishlist is only a wish right? Recently, a friend told me about this amazing travel company designed for young professionals called Here And Now Travel that creates trips for young professionals (like myself) to meet and travel with other like minded individuals. I’ve never been the type for group tours (have you ever heard me mention anything like that on Toast and Travel?) because I feel constrained by the set itineraries and the slower moving pace of larger groups, BUT the itineraries have clearly been designed with the working professional in mind because most of the tours are 4-5 days and fall on holidays such as, Memorial Day weekend or July 4 in order to allow for minimal use of those previous pto days. Plus, I’ve always been curious about Colombia, but much too scared to venture there myself. I think traveling with Here and Now will be the perfect chance to allow me to meet new friends and explore a new country! Another bonus? Because the company is a relatively new startup, its prices aren’t too high yet AND they have a promotion where your first trip is $100 off. Currently, the downside is that they only offer trips to Bogota, Tulum, and Costa Rica, but hopefully as time goes on they will expand to other countries as well.

These trips are really just the tip of the iceberg for 2020. I still have to hit my 3 country minimum! If you have any ideas or suggestions on where else I can go (on limited pto days), drop them in the comments section!