Many of you have written asking where we’re headed next and also how we pick travel destinations. The truth – shocking if you know us – is that we don’t have the next three years all planned out. COVID, international acts of aggression, and changing visa requirements seemed to make that an unusually hubristic idea. And we like the notion of adding as we go, staying longer if we fall in love with a particular city, leaving early if we don’t. That said, we’ve got a general sense of direction and order (Europe, Asia, Australasia, back to Europe, South America).
In no particular order, here are our criteria for destinations:
Size: we like cities, and we like walking around cities. We don’t usually like small towns or countryside. Months of hiking in the wilderness, camping: cool but not for us.·
Food: in case it’s not obvious by now, we travel on our bellies, so anywhere with food we like or expect to like is a viable option.
Familiarity/Novelty: some of the places we’re going we know and love (Istanbul, Dublin); others we’ve never been to but think we will love (Norway, Kyoto). We’re aiming for an unscientific mix. This is neither about running around gathering countries nor about recreating our old life in an expat community.
Ease: this includes language and our skill with it, quality of life, museums, and the like. Because some places will inevitably be more disorient(at)ing, we’re trying to balance those with less taxing locales.
Legal: the Schengen Agreement means that with a tourist visa we can only stay for 90 of any 180 days within most of Europe. We could (and might) try to obtain scholarly visas to stay longer, as much of Europe is our ideal stomping grounds. But for now, that’s a limiting factor.
Practical: we’re planning to stay in the same general part of the world for long periods, rather than running back and forth. This is for environmental, but also economic, reasons.
Climate : we don’t have and don’t want winter coats, so anywhere we go has to be temperate. That’s why Scandinavia is next, during its summer, and why we’ll be wintering in the Mediterranean. Also, we like water (and fish). Not to mention how fabulous we look in sailor suits. We are going a few places far from the shore, but you’ll notice an overwhelmingly maritime theme to our travel destinations.
So that’s how we pick our travel destinations. Incidentally, we’re eager for recommendations: where shall we go?
Switzerland. Without a doubt.
Stay in Bern, which is spectacularly walkable, and the other four big cities are each 1-2 hours away by train. It’s also only 1-2 hours away from some of the best mountains in the world, myriad castles, Roman ruins numerous and massive, etc. The food is okay, the museums are quite good, and the local scholars are, from Einstein to the present, famed for their genius.
Thanks Carson! We’ve been to Geneva (the Fondation Hardt), and Laurel spent a month or so in Zurich and Bern and the Alps as a backpacking college student. We hadn’t planned to go back this time round, but will put it back on the list because of you. (Though ‘the food is okay’ is deeply alarming to people like us who travel on our stomachs…)
Dear Laurel,
In Fall 2019 Laura and I spent the semester in Asia. While Japan was our home base and a place that we love, particularly Kyoto for which I have many recommendations, we also went to Cambodia and Vietnam. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the two weeks we spent in Vietnam (I had originally not wanted to leave Japan). Were it not for the pandemic I think we would have gone back the following summer. Cambodia was also very rewarding. We speak neither Vietnamese nor Khmer but found it fairly easy to get along. Since Vietnamese is written in Roman script it was much easier to negotiate over time than say Thai. I see from your map that you have not been to either of those countries so perhaps they would be of interest. They are warm too.
Once you get to Latin America I would be happy to provide some recommendations if you are interested. My former Peruvian doctoral student will be returning to Lima at the end of the year. If you find yourself interested in Peru I can put you in touch.
Safe travels and best wishes,
Michael
Dear Michael: Thanks so much for writing! We are indeed planning to go to Vietnam and Cambodia – they’ve been on the list for years and I think we too will go from Japan. We’ll be in touch before we head to that part of the world. As far as Latin America goes, I (Laurel) spent a summer in Ecuador learning Spanish and travelled around there and Peru for another month or so – loved both places. We may base ourselves in Buenos Aires, which we love, or Santiago where we have never been before. Any tips welcome!