Reflections - Where We Already Need To Go Back
Introduction
What a year it’s been. It’s tough to know where to begin if we were starting over! We have such an incredible roster of experiences, places, and people we’ve met when considering where we’d go again. Additionally, we need to make our evaluation based on where on our future timeline we would consider traveling to each of this year’s destinations again. We’ve considered each of these places and organized them by near future, near-future with kids, and distant future. See below for our thoughts on why we arranged them this way.
Where We Want To Go Back To Soon
The places that rank highest on our ‘Return To’ list are those that deserve attention more immediately. While we saw and experienced enough to leave an impression, we felt these places didn’t get nearly as much time as they should have. Alongside their desirability, these countries are fairly accessible and realistic as a near-future repeat destination. Here’s our shortlist:
Japan / This one seems obvious, seeing as we’re already back! That said, Japan is truly such a fascinating place with so many nooks and crannies to explore that we won’t be able to stay away for long!
Cambodia / Cambodia was incredibly unique and felt rather untouched by tourism. We spent most of our time in Siem Reap, so we’d love to go back to spend more time at Angkor Wat and the regions beyond the ancient city we missed, like the beachy Sihnaoukville or Koh Rong island.
Laos / Laos was yet another fascinating place we could have spent more time in. While we did fit quite a lot of sights into our short time there, we’d love to give the country more time and discover the lesser known areas, like Thakhek or the Bolaven Plateau.
Indonesia / We definitely spent waaay too much time at the beach on Lombok, although it was a much-needed break from our busy regular schedule. That said, we could have allotted more time to island hopping, spending more time on the beach, just in new locations - something we’ve saved for our next visit!
Mexico / Our quick pop over to Mexico City turned out to be one of our favorite cities of the whole trip. The people, the culinary experience, the sights, the energy! Given that Mexico is so close to home, we’d love to hop on a quick flight to explore more in the future!
Tanzania / Tanzania was simply incredible, one of our top destinations of the year. We loved every second we spent in the landscape, amongst the great wildlife of the African savannah. The country still has so much to explore and there’s just something exhilarating about heading out on a morning’s game drive. We’re already planning to head back in 2027 if we can!
Where We Want To Go Back To With Kids
Our return to Phoenix brings about a new chapter of life, starting with a more long-term home and planning our 2026 wedding. Beyond the more imminent milestones, we’re beginning to think about a life with children of our own. While this is still a few years down the line, we’re now looking back on this trip with the consideration: where would we go again when we have kids? Here’s our shortlist:
Australia / Australia is an incredibly diverse country, offering everything from great food, to unique wildlife, to brilliant landscapes. These can all be explored through the ease of relatively cheap flights, a campervan, a rental car, or public transport. In terms of being kid-friendly, Oz has plenty of fun activities for little ones…even despite the existence of some unfriendly wildlife.
New Zealand / Similar to Australia, New Zealand is very easy to explore with or without children. If you’re an outdoorsy family, NZ is the place for you! We love to get outside and we’ll definitely be taking our little ones back to see the incredible greenery!
Malaysia / You’ll notice that wildlife is a theme in the places we would return with kids! Malaysia, Borneo in particular, is the perfect place to get children excited about discovering animals. Each river safari feels like a big scavenger hunt! Alongside an abundance of wildlife, Malaysia is incredibly vibrant and very easy to get around.
Oman / Oman was an unexpected highlight of our trip. We were surprised by the balance between desert and sea, as well as the amazing wildlife to explore on land and in water. We’d be excited to spend more time in this country in the future, especially with kids, to teach them about the world’s different cultures and diverse peoples.
Jordan / Jordan is an other-worldly place - the landscapes are unlike anything we’ve seen! We’d love to come back here when our kids are old enough to appreciate the country’s multi-cultural history, incredible food, and friendly people!
Egypt / Simply put, Egypt is a crazy place. Traffic is ridiculous, there’s people everywhere, and there is a strange closeness in the existence of modern life and relics of the ancient world. We learned so much about the past powers of Egypt - something we’d love to share with our kids when they can fathom historical importance like this.
Namibia / Namibia is a country we were lucky enough to visit, but feel like we could have spent more time in. The country is also incredibly diverse - from sprawling deserts that kiss the sea, to red rocks that resemble Arizona. Whilst there, we discovered that Africa is very easy to explore on your own via a rental camper, something we’d love to try with kids!
Botswana / Botswana is similar to its neighbor Namibia when it comes to its rich, diverse natural beauty and stunning wildlife. We’d love to return to the Okavango Delta with children one day for more magical nights under the stars, falling asleep to hippos grunting in the dark. We just need to return when they’re old enough to realize that the hippos are not going to be their friends, no matter how cute they look.
Argentina & Chile / Patagonia, across both of these incredible countries, is such a great place for all-things nature. Aside from truly challenging hikes like the O-Trek, there are plenty of stunning trails to explore. It’s also the jumping off point for Antarctic cruises, another reason we’d love to return here with kids when they’re a little older.
Where We Want To Go Back To In The Far Future
Honestly, we would likely return to most countries we’ve visited, if given the chance. That said, there are a few places we feel like we need to let marinate in our memories for a few years first. By giving them more time, we’ll allow ourselves to distance our experiences for a trip with fresh eyes down the line. Here’s our shortlist:
Thailand / While we’ve been to Thailand twice now, it's a place we haven’t entirely explored yet. There are loads of stunning islands to hop between, many untouched by tourism. This, paired with the kindness of the Thai people is why we would love to go back far down the road!
South Korea / Truthfully, we’ve written off South Korea since we went earlier this year. That said, Seoul was a beautiful, vibrant city that deserves another chance. Given our short time in the country, we don’t want to exclude any interesting regions like Jeju Island that are meant to be quite stunning. So, we’ll give South Korea another chance in more years to come.
Vietnam / Vietnam is a truly enjoyable country to explore and has plenty of methods of transportation to get around easily. While Jackson has already been twice, there are still several areas in the far north, inland central, and southern islands either of us has yet to explore. One day, we’d love to come back and what is thus far unknown to us.
South Africa / South Africa is a tricky call. SA is a stunning country with rich wildlife and truly diverse landscapes. However, during our two trips there this year, we were overwhelmed with the sense of unease that grips the country a quarter-century after Apartheid. We’d love to return one day because of SA’s stunning natural beauty, but hope the country can heal some more before we do.
Zimbabwe / We only spent three days in Zimbabwe during our Southern Africa overlanding adventure, and do know that we want to revisit it one day to explore more of the country. From what we saw, the country has incredible natural wildlife and endlessly kind people, just really, really terrible roads. Yet another place where there is so much left to explore.
Peru / Peru is an incredible country, but we felt like we’ve gotten a pretty good impression of it after spending nearly one month traveling across its southern half. Of course, there are more areas to visit here, more trails to hike, and more ruins to explore, but we want to give it a break before we come back. We may pair more time in Peru with a future Colombia or Bolivia trip to make up for their exclusion from our final itinerary, and it might also be a candidate for a trip with children when they’re old enough.