My 2021 Travel Hopes And Dreams!!!!

Happy Happy New Year to you all… my lovely and wonderful friends.

OMG!!!! We DID IT!!!!! We actually made it!!!!!!!

2020…… You was exhausting. You was terrifying. You was unexpected. You was unpredictable. You was testing. You was tiring. You was lonely. You was emotional. You brought me Teddy. You was the best year of my life. You was the worst year of my life, and you will go down in HISTORY!

So for those of you who have been here for a while you will know that I luurrrrrveeeeee to kick off a brand new year with a bucket list that is bursting at the seems. (See my ‘Thirty things to do before I’m 30’, and my ‘Around the world in 14 days’ bucket list here‘).

Writing a bucket list brings me such happiness. It gives me something to work towards, it fills me with excitement for the year ahead and it allows me to daydream for hours.

But then 2020 happened. And EVERYONES dreams went to shit. Going to Tescos to buy some bolognese and milk become an EVENT. We swapped bikinis for dressing gowns. We drunk tea instead of cocktails. And we sat in a 2cm inflatable plastic circle of water instead of an infinity pool.

So why I hear you ask, are you STILL doing a bucket list to kick off 2021, when you sat in your flat the whole year, with another lockdown looming, are you crayyyyy?

Well. The truth is. I honestly thought longggg and hard about writing this post. 

And at first I totally and utterly dismissed the idea.

A travel post with all my hopes and dreams???? During a pandemic????? Don’t be utterly ridiculous Samantha.

But then it hit me. What the hell is the point of life if you cant have hope???????

I have ALWAYS been the type of girl to have their day/weeks/months planned out in advance, always having something to look forward too, always planning for the next adventure. I’ll admit it, I’m a total control freak. Well it’s safe to say covid knocked me for six. THIS WAS NOT A PART OF THE PLAN!!! Being so out of control, and still being so out of control is a yucky feeling that i have struggled with alllll year round. But I know there are million of people like me who are feeling the exact same. And just because it’s now 2021 doesn’t make things any better. The hell of last year hasn’t miraculously disappeared.

(FUMING. Go away 2020 you were so beyond bitchy)

In fact my anxiety right now is as sky high as it was back in March/April and i’m back to being scared to leave the house. Wonderful. 

BUT. I hope and pray that in time things are going to be much better. There IS going to be light at the end of the tunnel.  Whether that’s in two months or in ten months. LIFE WILL GET BETTER. (Surely?!?) And if we don’t start believing that, and having hopes and dreams then Covid has won. And I just WONT allow it. Not under my watch.

So with that in mind. I’m officially on strike. I’m taking a stand. I AM WRITING A BUCKETLIST whether Covid likes it or not. 

And even if I get to tick just ONE of these off this year.. or next year… or in 2025, I will truly be the happiest and luckiest girl in the world.

So without further a do…here we are… here are five of my travel and holiday hopes and dreams that I will forever wish to come true.

1. ISLAND LIFE

I am DREAMING of the day I can be walking barefoot through the golden sand with a shell bracelet dangling off my bronzed ankle. To be sipping coconut juice out of an actual coconut again. To bellyflop into the turquoise sea. To sizzle under the sun whilst dangling off an inflatable pizza. To devour a pack of lays and drink Fanta lemon at 5pm whilst planning the night ahead. To be honest right now, I’ll take any beach. Even Southend on Sea. But if I had the choice. If I could click my fingers and be tranpspited ANY WHERE in the world. I would be in the Maldives. And I would never come home. Imagining Teddy’s little face swimming in the sea, plodding along the sand, us making castles and waving to the sharks together makes me want to cry. After the year we have all had, being a castaway a million miles away from home couldn’t sound more perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) DISNEY MAGIC.

This one needs no explaining does it? To imagine the day Teddy and I are walking down Main Street with our Mickey Mouse Ears on makes me actually want to faint. I don’t think I will even be able to contain myself. To relive the magic of Disney with Teddy is honestly something I think about 3948364254 times a day. I might just start writing the itinerary now just in case? Character breakfasts, incredible shows, exhilarating rides, stunning fireworks, all the different theme parks. Honestly I would be out of control. And after a day of pure magic walking back to stay at the Gran Floridian Hotel that smells of hot cinnamon and gingerbread men would be the cherry on the cake. BRB I need a lay down.

3) WINTER WONDERLAND.

Okak, okayyyy. I know you lot are all glad to see the back of this years festivities. Or lack of them. But I am alreaddddy dreamingggg of a whiiiiiteeee Christmas. Being an xmas baby has meant December has ALWAYS been my favourite time of year. But now I have Teddy Bear I am going to become even more extra. I want to do the whole shabang. Fly to lapland. Sleep in an igloo. Go sledging on a husky dog. Feed the reindeer. Visit Santa. Drink Hot Chocolate by a snowy mountain. OMG it feels me with actual tingles and excitement imagining how magical it could be. If Teddy can believe Santa is real until his 32 then that will work very well for me. Because that means a hell of a lot of Christmas trips and fun ahead.

4) EUROPE ADVENTURES.

Where to even begin? There are SO many wonderful and beautiful places I am so beyond excited and desperate for us to experience as a family. To repeat past holidays that I have loved and adored… to taste gelato on a buzzy Italian beach, to gaze in amazement at the magical and romantic sights in Paris, to sip hot chocolate in the famous Angelinas, to watch the paella I have just ordered in Barcelona sizzle and soar before I gobble it all up and to wander the snowy streets and Christmas Markets of Prague.

And all of the new adventures I am dreaming of experiencing one day? To put on a floaty dress and wander through the streets of Positano, to have a sleepy ride in the sunshine through Venice, to pretend I am an A-Lister in Lake Como, walk along the pebbles and try and find some dragons in Croatia, wander the streets of Florence in search of Pizza, dine alfresco in Santorini and take a speed boat through the caves of Capri. 

Staying at home for another year isn’t an option okaaaaayyyy?

5) DUBAI

And last but not least.. I want to go back to the hotel that stole my heart in 2019. The One & Only in Dubai. A hotel I would visit twelve times a year if I could. A hotel that immediately transport you to the magic of Arabia where you feel like Princess Jasmine. A hotel whose food is so delicious I dream of it every night. A hotel whose sand (yes I know its fake but shhh) is soft and powder white. A hotel that has views of skyscrapers resembling NYC to your left and the shimmering ocean to your right. An absolute slice of heaven.

So there we have it. All of my hopes and dreams.

And let me tell you something I feel all light and fluffy writing about travel again. It feels good. It feels RIGHT. So lets keep all of our fingers and toes crossed that this will soon be a silly nightmare we will hysterically laugh about one day!!!! Even though with another lockdown looming it feels far from over.

Where is the first place you are going to run too once this is all over? Lets keep dreaming. Its all we can do…..i’ll save you a seat in the Maldives….

Love you all lots,

Sammy xxx