Our roving retirement travels in 2021 taught us a few lessons, the most significant is that we need to travel slower in the future. This year we had 59+ travel days. That means we slept in at least that many beds, and that is definitely too much. We also found that planning on the fly is okay for a few weeks but not for any longer than that. So, we have decided to stay in each place we visit for at least one week in 2022. I’m sure there will be some exceptions, but it’s good to have a goal.
Winter 2022 in the US
As many of you know, we typically spend our winters in cold places to ski. This winter is no exception. We will be in Tahoe for New Year’s followed by a week in our own timeshare in Park City, Utah. Because we got a special invitation to spend a week in Steamboat Springs, we decided to drive from Utah to Colorado. Since we will have about a week in Colorado before we need to be in Steamboat, we decided to visit some friends in Frisco, Colorado. Of course, we will also ski Breckenridge and Vail, if possible. Our final US week will be in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We have never been to Steamboat, so we are pretty excited to check out the skiing and the town.
Winter 2022 in Europe
We are heading to Europe at the beginning of February. After a short administrative stop in Nice, pertaining to our French visas, we will drive to the Trentino region of Italy to ski for a week. Our Epic passes allow us to ski for a week in the Madonna di Campiglio/Pinzolo/Folgàrida/Marilleva ski area so we couldn’t pass it up, especially because Mike has never skied in Europe. Then we head back to France to visit a friend in Grenoble. The Epic pass also gives us a week of skiing in Les 3 Vallees France, so we have booked a week-long stay in Les Menuires between Meribel and Val-Thorens.
Time to Get Warm
After ski season, I’m always anxious to spend time in a warm place. This year our choices were between Panama and Mexico — we chose Mexico. In March, we will head to Nuevo Vallarta for about a month and then back to Southern California for a short road trip to visit friends. (This is a warning to our friends in SoCal, we will be visiting in April.)
Next, we go to Florida to pick up a repositioning cruise, which is when the cruise companies move their ships from the Caribbean to Europe for the summer. The cruise is a new way for us to get to Europe. Our 14-day sea journey across the Atlantic will take us from Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam with a few stops in Europe along the way. Some people do this because it is a cheaper way to get to Europe, but we booked a really cool cabin on Celebrity’s newest ship so we aren’t saving any money.
Summer in Europe
Our cruise drops us in Amsterdam where we will spend a week visiting museums and checking out someplace I have never been. Then we head to Italy, next on our list of countries to explore. Our first stop will be Rome, another first for me. We will spend two weeks in Rome, which I hope is enough to see the sights at a moderate pace. Then to Sorrento for about three weeks. We are looking forward to seeing Capri, Naples, Pompeii, and the Amalfi coast during our stay in Sorrento, no packing and unpacking. Mike has been talking about visiting Sicily for a few years now so our plan includes a few weeks there and possibly a food tour of the island.
Our Italian sojourn will be followed by the start of the great cities of Europe tour. I have long wanted to visit the capitals of Europe because we always meet people that talk about how interesting they are, so our first stop will be a week in Berlin, followed by Prague, Budapest, and possibly Vienna. Aside from Budapest, where I once spent the night, I haven’t been to any of these cities and July seems like as good a time as any. Our great cities tour will be broken up by a short trip back to the Bay Area and Scottsdale for family.
More Travels in Europe
After we have seen the landmarks and museums of Europe, we are heading to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Everyone we talk to wants to go to Croatia and Dubrovnik specifically. We are planning a week in the city before a cruise in the Adriatic Sea between Dubrovnik and Split. After that, we have about eight weeks where we have no plans other than to stay in Eastern or Central Europe. We have talked about Albania, Bulgaria, and Montenegro in addition to other places. If we find we are tired, we might spend a month in Malaga, Spain. We shall see.
Hitting the Bucket List
I mentioned that we have six to eight weeks free because in October we head to an overwater bungalow in the Maldives. I have always wanted to go to the Maldives and Mike found a deal last year that we weren’t able to schedule before this fall. Since our plan is to chase warm weather, from the Maldives we are going to check out Singapore and then Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We are also planning to check out Penang and other parts of Malaysia before heading back to the Bay Area for the holidays.
Having a Better Plan
It is always fun for us to add countries to our visited list and there are a few new ones this year. We are hopeful that 2022 will be more peaceful than 2021 was and that our plans won’t be interrupted by COVID restrictions. But, if we have learned anything from our two and a half years on the road it is that we always have to be flexible. Remember: It’s an adventure!
Any recommendations for interesting attractions in these places?
21 comments
We thought you had spent some time in Steamboat last year on your tour de ski towns but clearly you didn’t so it will be a first for all of us!
Sounds wonderful! We’ll miss you when you get here. We fly out Jan 14 to Bay Area to celebrate our good friend’s retirement, technically we’re scheduled to fly back on Jan 20, Thursday night late, but depending on how we feel, we may extend. We’ll chat you before leaving town. Happy new year!
That is such a bummer, we were so looking forward to seeing you guys.
Getting slightly jealous by reading such a nice and darn cool list of destinations! Stay safe travelling and have a happy and healthy new year!
Happy New Year, to you too.
Croatia is one of my top two countries out of 85. You will love it! You can take a day bus tour from old town Dubrovnik to Montenegro. It’s a beautiful country too! Sicily is worth seeing! I had no idea they had ruins there as well! Friendly people!
Thanks for the recommendations.
In addition to the Prague Castle, of course, drop in to their National Film Museum!
We will add that to our list.
Wow, you’ve chosen an awesome list of destinations! I’ll be interested to hear how skiing in Europe is these days. Last time I put my boards down on European snow was a long time ago. I remember how fantastic the decentralized amenities were (lifts and food service were run by dozens of private owners). And the lift “lines” were chaotic with a mob of people all cramming in to board.
That’s what I remember about skiing in Europe.
It looks like we are nearly crossing paths a few times in 2022. We’re in Puerto Vallarta now, moving to Guadalajara in 2 days where we’ll be for 7 weeks. Also taking a transatlantic cruise out of Ft Lauderdale.
Like you, our big lesson from 2021 was to “slow it down”. Ideally, 3-8 weeks in a place but we do make exceptions.
We have daily vlogs from our 2018 visits to Prague, Berlin, Budapest, and Vienna. We loved every bit of each city. If you can swing a trip to Krakow, I think you’d like it.
We’re also planned up in 2022. Hoping it’s smooth sailing for us all.
Thanks so much Amy for your advice, we will checkout your vlogs about Europe. I guess great minds think alike. We would like to hear about Guadalajara.
Counting the days… 🙂
You’re going to have a great 2022! We’ll see you in Steamboat tomorrow!
What an amazing trips you have to look forward to! How will you travel? Public transport only, or rent a car as well?
We don’t plan so much, still have to figure out where we’ll go in a couple of weeks 😂 Second half of the year we want to do a large Europe car tour through Croatia, Greece and back. Combining camping with a tent and airbnb.
We typically fly between regions, eg Amsterdam to Rome. We typically rent cars within a region. The speed and freedom to visit outlying attractions and villages is worth some extra expense.
Life is Good! We didn’t make it to Drubovnik, but Split is definitely worth visiting as are the Islands just offshore. A cruise between the two should be fantastic.
Most of the cruise is spent on the islands. We are looking forward to it.
Fabulous schedule family! Definitely interested in Maldives, on our bucket list as well. I can’t wait to hear about it! Blessings and continued traveling grace!
Wow! It’ll be an awesome 2022!
Surprised Mike hasn’t skied Europe. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
Fantastic cities on your planned European tour. Haven’t been to Berlin, but the others are all wonderful! Did you know the original Budweiser is made near Prague? Check it out.
Nuevo Vallarta seems like a cool place. Maldives is on my list too. Can’t wait to hear all about them!
Enjoy!
Terry