By the time you read this I’ll be on my way to Italy, combining my all-time favorite activity – summer rowing – with visiting Lake Como, a place I’ve longed to visit for as long as I can remember. It seems apt, then, that Transun have invited me to come up with my three top bucket list destinations as part of their Northern Lights competition, the prize for which is a trip to the Arctic Circle to see the Northern Lights.
Unusually for someone who does a fair bit of travel writing, I’m not a great fan of travel for travel’s sake. Wanderlust may sound cool, and it makes for awesome Instagramming, but mindless gallivanting isn’t good for our amazing planet. If I’m going somewhere there has to be a good reason – something that gets my heart beating a little faster. So I’ve chosen my top three destinations because they all mean something special to me – in fact you could say they they tell my life story (bits of it, anyway) in little snapshots. The thought of these places might even make me well up a little, but we’ll keep that to ourselves, shall we?
1. Scandinavia dreamin’
Travel can be just as much about the people as the places, which is why Scandinavia is first on my list. When I left school at the tender age of 17, I headed to Spain where I spent three months “studying”. In reality, I spent three months hanging out in grungy student cafes and bars with three brand new friends – one Swedish, one Danish and one Norwegian. I was totally in awe of their Scandi cool, with their artfully-draped scarves, their effortlessly multi-lingual conversation and their laid-back attitude.
Good times
Luckily, they didn’t seem to notice how deeply unhip I was and before long we became such close friends that I was pronounced an honorary Scandinavian – an achievement so great it merited an entry in my diary (and no, you can’t see any more of it – most of it is utterly cringe-worthy). I even learned a handy set of Swedish words and phrases, ready for the round trip to all three of their homelands that I was so sure I’d soon be making.
Becoming an honorary Scandinavian.
Such high hopes. But life got in the way, we drifted apart, and somehow I never made it to Scandinavia. I’d have been so sad if I’d known that all these years later I still hadn’t made that trip (or practised my Swedish).
And yet… writing this post prompted me to do a bit of long-overdue sleuth-work. So much so that this week I finally tracked down Swedish Martina, still as cool as ever and living in Amsterdam. So I’m part of the way to my happy ending, but there’s still the small matter of that trip.
Why have I not been here. Seriously, WHY?
Image by Tomas Sereda
If that weren’t reason enough to visit, there’s the fact that Scandinavia is just so up my street. I still swoon at the lilting sound of the Scandi languages – frankly, you could just read the Oslo or Stockholm phone book to me and I’d go weak at the knees. There’s the fact that there’s so much outdoorsy, sporty stuff going on – and you know what a sucker I am for that kind of thing. And, then, of course, there’s the prospect, if you go far enough north, of seeing the Northern Lights – so magnificently eerie and other-worldly that I can hardly bring myself to look at photos in case I spoil it for when I see them for real. I’m even looking at this picture through my fingers.
Aurora borealis over frozen forest in Sweden. Not a common sight in south Wales.
Image by Antony Spencer
So yes. You bet it’s on my bucket list. And if I were lucky enough to win that competition…
2. Bali Highs
If my Scandi longings are all about catching up with the past, this one is all about the person I’ve become in adult life. Girl on the River fans will know that in my youth I wasn’t even remotely athletic. In the last few years, though, in a totally unexpected way, sport has become such an important part of my life that it’s come to define who I am. Getting fit has changed everything for me. It’s given me a spring in my step, made me happier in my own skin and provided me with a group of funny, fierce and fabulous friends.
So number two on my list is a very active bit of travel – surfing and yoga in Bali.
Why surfing? Well, it took me until well into my adult life to pluck up the courage to try it, but when I did… Well, this is how it made me feel:
Joy!
Photo with kind permission of Kate Czuczman
I’ve never known anything quite so exhilarating as that moment when you emerge from the foam, still standing, with the waves crashing around you and propelling you forwards. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it. It’s possibly the most life-affirming thing I’ve ever done.
And the yoga bit? Well, this is key. I’m still a baby beginner when it comes to surfing, so spend most of the time being tossed off my board and fighting to reach the surface. Yoga, quite simply, puts you back together again. It aligns all the twists in your mangled body and brings you back to earth. Since my Austrian adventures I’ve got into a regular yoga routine and it is doing me all kinds of good, so that bit would be non-negotiable.
Girl on the Yoga Mat
And, most importantly, why Bali? Well, it’s pretty much the perfect place for this kind of trip. For a start, it is beautiful and wildly exotic, with exquisite temples, white beaches and even a sacred monkey forest (come ON – who could resist a monkey forest?)
Pura Ulun Danu temple, Bali, Indonesia. And is that a ROWER I see in the background?!
Image by ImpaKPro
Bali is also a paradise for surfers. Even inept ones like me. What’s more, the surf is up all year round and it’s WARM. Actually, properly warm. Now there’s nothing wrong with surfing in Cornwall or Wales – I’ve tried both and it was great. But the prospect of paddling into turquoise waters that didn’t make your feet go numb… well, that’s worth traveling for.
Surf’s up
Image by Mac99
My friends at Surf Sistas, who helped me take my first wave in Cornwall a few years ago, are in Bali right now on a surf and yoga island surfari, and I’ve been drooling over their pictures. The new friendships with the locals, the surf-friendly asanas, the sights, sounds, smells… I’m with them in spirit. And one day I hope to join them in person.
3. Fly me to the moon
OK, stay with me here. I know it’s an outlandish idea (in every sense of the word), but Transun said the bucket list could include dreams “so big they’re almost impossible to achieve”, so I’m taking them at their word.
Out of this world.
Image by Balaks Kovacs
Oddly, this destination is all about what lies ahead (way ahead) – it’s about getting old. When I was at school, a friend and I agreed that if we made it into old age we would go to the moon together. Just, you know, for fun. And the idea has never really gone away. So I might have a way to go before I’m classed as an old lady (oi, quiet at the back there), but I love the idea of an old age filled with adventure – defeating’s everyone’s expectations of what an elderly person should do and be and think. And what could be more outrageous – more full of danger and thrills and challenges – than going to the moon?
Granny? Is that you?
Image by cookelma
The poet Jenny Joseph wrote:
“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.”
Well, when I am an old woman I shall wear an astronaut’s suit. I shall look at the earth from space and marvel at its beauty. I shall float in zero gravity and embarrass my grandchildren with Snapchat selfies sent from space. And I shall return an eco-warrior, having seen the fragility of our planet, and nag everyone about recycling and turning off lights.
What I’ll see from the moon (so long as I have my old-lady-glasses on)
This isn’t such a daft idea, either. There are space tourist programmes which, by the time I am an antique, will be taking people into space. OK, so there’s likely to be a bit of a multi-million price tag attached to the venture, but hey, a girl can dream.
Space Adventures lunar mission.
Image with kind permission of Space Adventures
And even if this is the only item that doesn’t ever get crossed off my bucket list, I fully intend to head into old age with the same spirit of rebellion and adventure that I’d need to go into space. In that sense the dream will never die.
So, what’s on your bucket list? Are you content with half a day in Aberystwyth or do you long for the outbacks of Mongolia? Tweet me @girlontheriver – I’d love to know.
Note: images of Sweden, Norway, Bali and the moon from istockphoto.com. Surfing image reproduced with permission of Kate Czuczman.
Transun is an independent, specialist tour operator that organises travel experiences in cool places, with a focus on northern Europe.