Winter storm Jonas said hello to New York City this weekend, and I've been snowbound in my apartment.
Truth be told, I spent much of the time wandering through the lonely streets of Manhattan, knee deep in powder, enjoying the snowpocalypse that delivered about 30 inches of the white stuff. Indeed it's a good day in NYC when you can wear your ski pants and goggles to your local pub for dollar beers.
Still a snow day in January is a great time to start plotting future adventures later in the calendar year. For me personally, as of now I only have a couple of long weekend trips planned -- Spring Training in Florida and my annual guys ski trip to Alta -- and nothing else. Where is my big trip going to be in 2016?
Each year I attend the NY Times Travel Show for some travel inspiration. The show is a bit geeky and not for everyone but it's basically a huge trade show for tourism bureaus and tour operators from around the world.
At last year's show I picked up some information at the Japan booth on Kanazawa, aka "the real Japan," and a few months later I was there, staying at a ryokan, eating insane sushi and tenkara fishing in the local river. You never know what will spark an interest.
Here are 5 places that I found most intriguing at this year's show:
1. Newfoundland -- I met Ed English, who owns an operator called Linkum Tours, at the Canada pavilion. English's Quirpon Lighthouse Inn, located on a tiny island off the north coast of Newfoundland in the Strait of Belle Isle, is a prime spot for viewing icebergs and whales. Also nearby is hiking in Gros Morne National Park and fly-fishing for Atlantic salmon in the rivers of the Northern Peninsula. English can help a weeklong trip combining a few days at the lighthouse with a few days near the best fishing and hiking. Seems to me like the perfect place for a writing retreat!
2. Spain & Portugal – These are really two separate trips but for the purpose of this list I am combining them, mainly because I can’t decide which interests me more now. I traveled to Spain in 2014, and I would love to return and explore more. The food alone (tapas!!!) makes a trip worthwhile. At the show, I picked up a road map of Basque Country and was amazed at how vast the region is – hundreds of tiny villages along the coastline and in the mountains. As for Portugal, a trip to culture capital Lisbon and the nearby province of Sintra is enticing. Cabo da Roca, situated at the very end of the Sierra de Sintra, is the westernmost point of the European continent.
3. Ireland – I’ve never been to Ireland, but everyone raves about it. In fact, it has been on my mind the past few years as a possible destination. Wild West Irish Tours runs small group adventures focused on the West Coast. Note to self: Research the fly-fishing options of Ireland. A trip combining a couple days in Dublin, a side trip to the coast and some Irish fly-fishing would be memorable.
4. Ethiopia – Did you know that Ethiopia is the only African country never colonized? Or that it has more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other African nation? From rain forests to grassy savannas to mountains and deserts, Ethiopia is one of Africa’s most diverse places. And it was the birthplace of coffee! Awaze Tours is a privately owned tour operator based in Addis Ababa and runs trips all over Ethiopia. Realistically it may be awhile before I make it back to Africa, but it’s always fun to dream about trips to this continent.
5. Brazil – The big blank spot on my map of travels in South America – my personal favorite continent – is Brazil. Eventually I will travel to this country, but where? It’s a huge place, a world unto itself. How about staying at a place like Araras Eco-Lodge in The Pantanal, the largest floodplain in the world and a prime spot to see wildlife such as the jaguar. March to June is sport-fishing season. I wonder how this experience would compare to traveling to the Galapagos, another place I have yet to visit.
Honorable mention: PyeongChang, South Korea. The site of the 2018 Winter Olympics. It would be fun to visit before it becomes a household name next year. The mountainous region – featuring a ski mountain called Jeongseon Alpine Centre -- is easily accessible by both high-speed train from Seoul.
So there you have it. It will be interesting to see if I wind up traveling to any of these places this year. Or maybe next year. What do you think? Where are you planning to travel this year? For now, it's back outside to play in the snow.