The year that passed was one filled with much hope. After the world was essentially shut off in 2020, the introduction of vaccines and people in charge having a better idea on how to mitigate the pandemic, 2021 saw the gradual reopening of international travel. This year is no different. If we are to believe what scientists are saying, we might be seeing the end of COVID-19’s iron grip on us.
I am excited to make up for lost time and get back to traveling once more. Here are the five locations I am looking forward to hitting in 2022.
Let’s begin by doing a recap of last year’s travel. In my post of the same title, I wanted to visit the following countries/cities: Iceland, México, Las Vegas, Montréal, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia. Of these seven, I got to travel only to Reykjavik and Montréal. I did get to see London for the first time though, as well as the Belgian town of Leuven, the French town of Amiens, Brussels, and finally Basel in Switzerland. It’s not a bad trade.
Prague, The Czech Republic
I’ve been a longtime subscriber of the YouTube channel The Honest Guide. It features two intrepid Czech guys: Janek and Honza as they talk about the capital city’s many faces. Along with places to go and things to do, they also expose scams, such as currency exchange shops that give you a very shitty rate and con artists.
Despite watching their videos regularly, I have never added the city to my list—I hesitate because I don’t know how to speak Czech, and I don’t want to impose English—until recently, when I find myself coming back to Paris once more. A friend from France has recommended Prague to me numerous times, and I realized that this year is a good time to add it to my itinerary.
KRAKOW, POLAND
Since I’ve already “breached” central Europe with Prague, might as well continue further east to the capital of Poland—it is, after all, only a six-hour train ride away.
Once here, I’d definitely book a trip to Auschwitz.
México
I’ll keep this rather short: I didn’t get to go to Mexico last year, but I still want to—finally—go to a country south of the USA. At this point, I’ll take any Mexican ciudad or pueblo, as long as there’s a fairly lively downtown scene where I can go to in the evening for dinner and a little bit of cultural immersion.
New Orléans, Louisiana
The Anthony Bourdain-produced travel show The Getaway was my refuge in 2020 when all I can do is dream of leaving the house. Zachary Levi’s episode was set in (arguably) Louisiana’s famous city. My wannabe Franco-American self would like to check out if there are still any vestiges of New France. There’s certainly Maison Napoléon, a bar dedicated to the French emperor, but let’s find out more.
(Side note: I know that other parishes in the state have preserved their French past a lot better than New Orleans; they can be for another time.)
Photos: Lachlan Ross from Pexels (main), Pierre Blaché from Pexels (Prague), Robert Stokoe from Pexels (Krakow), Ricardo Esquivel from Pexels (Mexico), KEN COOPER from Pexels (New Orleans)
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