10 Dream Trips

While I was driving to work today in an anti-histamine induced haze, I got to thinking about all the places I’d rather be. Well, at least anywhere with non-pollenating trees that have been making my life hell lately! I’ve been lucky enough to travel a ton over the past 10 years. Even luckier is that I get to travel for work. Maybe it’s because I’ve traveled so much that to me, staying in a generic hotel room is a soulless and boring as it gets. So everytime I go away for pleasure, I try to find the most unique (and cheap) accommodations I can.



Because of this strategy, I’ve stayed at some pretty cool places!  
An eco lodge on a white sand beach in Mexico,
the most luxurious lodge you could imagine that you get to by rafting in/out, 
a couple of very jumpy nights in an actual treehouse,
a posada in Argentina on an olive plantation,
a restored lodge in an old fishing village in India 
and an amazing place in Thailand with my own semi-private pool


However, anyone that knows me, knows I’m constantly researching new places for new adventures. Who knows if I’ll ever get to them all, but here are some amazing dream trips:

 Haad Tien resort- Koh Tao Thailand

This place has it’s own 350m amazing white sand beach, it’s on a nature preserve and has some amazing simple but luxurious bungalows. It’s totally private yet close enough to the local town. Koh Tao is one of the smaller islands in the Phang Nga Bay and supposed to not be as touristy as Koh Samui or the gong show that is Phuket (well, not all of Phuket is a gong show, only Patong) Koh Tao is known for world renown diving and has some hiking and rock climbing too. For me, this would be more of a mellow place to snorkel, get massages (Thai Massages are awesome!), go for bikes/hikes and hopefully go there with someone you’re romantic with. If you’ve never been to Thailand, be sure to do a cooking class or two. So easy and you’ll cook better than your local Thai place in a day or two!

Amazon Tupana Jungle Lodge- near Manaus Brazil

Next February, my mom is turning 60. I told her to pick somewhere on the map (within reason) and I’d make her dream trip happen. She shocked me when she said her dream trip would be to the Amazon in Brazil. In researching places, I came upon this place. To get here, you have to get to Manaus which is the nearest large town to the Amazon. They pick you up and take you to the lodge in motorized canoes (ie no paddling required) You can do accommodations alone, or they have 2-4 night packages that include hikes, fishing trips, river tours (where you can see pink dolphins, caimans, monkeys etc…) The 4 night package has a “jungle survival” package where you build a tent out of materials found in the jungle. Not quite sure mom’s ready for that yet though!
  Hotel Mawimbi,Holbox, Mexico

After 3 times in Mexico (Playa Del Carmen, Tulum and Cozumel) I don’t really feel the need to see more of Mexico (especially the likes of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan etc…) but this place seems incredible! To get there, you fly into Cancun (which is usually cheap) take a bus to Chiquila and take a ferry to Holbox (pronounced Whole-bosh) On Holbox, there are no atms or cars. There are however cabs. But the cabs are golf carts! Holbox is still relatively untouristy and will likely never have massive resorts since it’s tiny. The main draw here is the beach and a relaxed vacation. Again, an ideal place for scuba divers because at certain times of year, nurse sharks are in the waters. I picture myself here in a hammock on the beach lounging in the shade with a great book and margarita in hand. If you don’t scuba dive, it’s probably not the most active vacation, though as a non-scuba diver myself, I’m sure I’d find ways to keep busy by snorkeling, kayaking or hiring a sailboat.

  Four Seasons Tented Camp, Golden Triangle area, Thailand

Truly a once in a lifetime experience, this place looks beyond incredible. This place involves luxiourous accommodations in the middle of nowhere, gourmet meals, massages and elephant trekking. It doesn’t get more unique than this. Located in Northern Thailand’s Golden Triangle area (where Thailand, Laos and Burma meet), you’re in the middle of the jungle (which, from my time in Costa Rica is really noisy!) The accommodations are super luxurious tents with jungle views and a huge outdoor deck. Though it’s all inclusive, it’s not in the “wear a bracelet and eat a buffet way”.  Your meals, drinks, elephant trekking and massages are included. Of course, this comes at a price! For a 2 night all inclusive stay it’ll set you back about $2000 (Canadian) so you might have to take out a loan!

Le Taha’a island resort, Taha’a island Poynesia Le Taha'a


One of my ultimate must do before I die trips is to stay in an overwater Bungalow in the South Pacific.  I picked Tahaa’a island as my dream desitnation because it produces 25 tons of vanilla a year. Anyone that knows me knows a) I love to bake and b) base a lot of my trips on food. Oh, and I love orchids too. And vanilla is an orchid! Taha’a island is pretty remote and pretty rugged. Yet the acccomodations are totally luxurious. Probably not a place to visit on your own because it looks too damn romantic! You wouldn’t even need to leave your room. Ever! You have the beautiful green ocean right off your room. Heaven!

Sayari Camp Serengeti, Tanzania

Another once in a lifetime trip would be a trip to the Serengeti. I picked Sayari as a dream place because it claims to be off the tourist track but there is still some off road driving allowed in spots. Imagine being in the absolute middle of nowhere and seeing hippos, lions, leopard and elephants? And amazing Serengeti sunsets? I picked this place too because it has the perfect mix of luxury in natural surroundings. Looks incredible! One day….

 Eden Lodge 

Madagascar would be an amazing place to visit. There are entire species of animals which only exist in Madagascar. The Eden lodge is powered on solar energy (therefore lessens the guilt a bit from the carbon emissions of getting there) Again, the draw of this place is the isolation of it, but still somewhat luxurious accommodations. All of the bungalows are beachfront and since it’s solar powered, there is no air conditioning. The only cooling is the ocean breeze. This seems like an amazing place to go after hiking through all of the rain forests in Madagascar!

Chica Brava Surf Camp, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Since I took a surf in Oregon a few years ago, I’m hooked on surfing. Then I took private classes in Costa Rica and I got hooked on WARM water surfing. Now, it just seems like pure torture to me to surf cold water. The last time I surfed, it was my first time getting up on a hard board (a feat of which I’m quite proud!) So, I’m sure that another intense camp would improve me that much more! Chica Brava is a surf camp in Southern Nicaragua about 30 minutes north of the Costa Rican border. The waters are warm and the surf is consistent. What’s better is that this is a place a girl can go on her own since it’s an all girl surf camp. The accommodations are hardly luxurious, but it would be an amazing experience to build up surf skills!



 The Spa Koh Chang Resort, Koh Chang, Thailand

Koh Chang is the 2nd largest island in Thailand and 85% of the island is protected rainforest. It’s only opened up to tourism since 2000 and as yet, 2/3 of the tourists are Thai. This means that the presence of tuk tuk’s, tailors and lady-boys is probably less (in Patong, I once heard a lady-boy solicit himself by saying “you wanna get F&)(*(@ by lady-boy- words NO ONE should have to hear!) I picked the Spa because I’d love to do a vacation that focuses on relaxation. I usually have a ridiculously hard time relaxing on vacation and want to experience everything, whether it’s paragliding off a mountain, or waterfall rapelling. Staying somewhere like this resort, would force me to relax. It wouldn’t be that hard since they fill your time with yoga and massage. They also offer health/detox and fasting plans but I have way too little self disclipline to attempt that on a vacation. This could very luckly be part of my next Thailand trip.

 Private Mountain Casitas, Boracay, Philippines


Since Hong Kong seems to be my second home as of late (in 2009, I went there 3 times for work) One time, I’d like to tack on a visit to the Philippines since airfare from Hong Kong to Philippines is inexpensive. This seems like the perfect place to destress. Borcay is arguably, one of the 10 best beaches in the world. Boracay is a great place for any beach activities like diving, sailing and a great place to try kiteboarding or skimboarding. I picked private mountain, because, well it’s private! And once you brave the uphill walk to get there, you’re blessed with incredible views of the beach.



I’d love to think that I’ll get to all of these places in this lifetime. To me, traveling is always a catalyst for great memories and great stories! There’s nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of running off the side of a mountain (Mendoza, Argentina) getting robbed on Christmas Day (Samana, Dominican) or being questioned for 3 hours by Israeli security (Frankfurt, Germany) Well, there’s my list, time to start knocking off a few of the items!