So wow another year has passed. Time is seriously flying, especially when you are having fun and doing things you love. For us, 2017 has been pretty amazing. We knocked off 4 European countries from the bucket-list and visited 3 new provinces in Thailand this year. We made wonderful new connections and worked with several brands, agencies and tourism boards. It’s been awesome. So what about next year? Well guys, we are excited to share with you our travel plans for 2018.

Within Thailand

We have a goal to visit every province in Thailand. There is no time limit as to when but over the course of our life here, we want to achieve this. So far we have visited 14 or 15 and drove through another 15 or 16 provinces. Next year we hope to visit another 2 or 3. We would like to visit:

Ubon Ratchathani for this magnificent placed called Sam Phan Bok

Bueng Kan for this temple on a mountain

Photo cr: renegadetravels.com

South East Asia

So far we have only covered Thailand (but that is where we live), Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia in South East Asia.  Earlier in April of 2017, we tried going to Vietnam for Songkran holidays but it did not work out. For 2018, we are thinking between Philippines, Laos, Myanmar or might just give Vietnam a try again. We aim to visit at least two of these four countries.

Philippines is a top contender for next year because of its gorgeous beaches and islands like the Palawan archipelago. Cebu is also another place we want to visit for some epic adventures such as canyoneering, cliff diving and chasing waterfalls. Oh and we definitely would not want to miss the Maldives of Philippines. We’re thinking a week to 1.5 week would be enough in the Philippines. Or do you think more is needed? We hear there are lot of flight delays with the local airlines so probably better to space out the traveling within the country.

For Vietnam, we will see if we have time and money to make the trip. The biggest challenge is that visas are not easy to come by for Pakistanis. Firstly I have to go through an agency who will contact MOFA in Vietnam who will need to pre-authorize my visa from there before I can begin applying from here. This alone costs $150!

I think there is more chance of us going to Laos or Myanmar than Vietnam in 2018.

Japan

Another country we hope to visit in Asia is Japan. It’s been in our sights for a while now, especially for Kanika. There are lots of promotional deals and flights from Thailand to Japan so we might just look into one. Japan is actually one of the most popular destinations for Thais.

Maldives

We would love to include Maldives in 2018 but this is only if we can score a sponsored trip. There is no point of going to Maldives if we aren’t going to get to stay on a over-the-water villa and that is just way out of our budget, especially if we want to travel to more countries.

US or Australia

In 2015 our big trip was a honeymoon in Africa and in 2017 we visited Europe. In 2018, we have our eyes set on either the United States of Australia. Kanika has been to both but when she was young. I have never been to either country so we are quite excited to share any of this trip together.

If we decide on United States, it is a tossup between California and New York. I am leaning more towards California because it is closer to many other places we might want to visit like Washington, Vegas or even Mexico.

On the other hand, New York has always been on my mind.

In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of

Another possibility we might look into is flying into Florida and then try to hit Cuba as well. Who knows?! Let’s see. Do let us know what we should plan.

Australia is the other big option because a lot of our friends live there and have been begging us to visit them. Luckily they all live in Melbourne so that is where we would go. No plans to go anywhere else but perhaps Gold Coast or Sydney. I also want to (but probably won’t because of the sheer distance) visit the West Coast (Rottnest island to be exact) for a chance to take a selfie with the ever-so-cute Quokkas. I mean, just look at them!

Photo cr: annana208

It’s going to involve a lot of planning and saving up for. The visa in particular is going to be a hassle but we are getting better at managing expectations and applying effectively.

It’s a huge plan to aspire to but we will probably only do half of it. Now we want to hear about your travel plans for 2018. Tell us in the comments below guys.