travel dreams – Maps and Meanderings

10 Fictional Destinations I’m Dreaming About Right Now

Published on June 25, 2020November 16, 2020 by Meaghan Elizabeth

Do you ever read a really great book and wish that you could visit the world contained within it’s pages? Do you ever wish that you could take a road trip to the fictional town in your favourite television show or movie? Because I do.

I spend more time than I should probably admit, dreaming about and imagining scenarios where I am immersed in a fictional world. Sometimes, in the case of a long series, I spend so much time in the world that I can almost believe I’ve actually been there – especially when the author or creator is skilled at detailed world building.

Last post I talked about the 10 Trips that I am dreaming about right now. Since there’s not much travel happening this year, dreaming and planning is almost all that can be done in the real world. Luckily, there are no travel restrictions in place when it comes to fictional destinations, so I’ve spent some time thinking about the fictional destinations I would most like to visit.

This list isn’t exhaustive. Some locations were left off because I wanted to include some “off the beaten path” locations. There are also some worlds that are very well written and detailed that I didn’t include because I’m not sure they would make great tourist destinations – I’m looking at you, Panem. That’s not to say that the below locations would be completely safe for tourists. But after much deliberation, these are the 10 fictional places that I would most like to visit right now.

1. Narnia

This might be an obvious destination to include on a list such as this, but I just couldn’t pass it by. Because of it’s very nature, it’s a world that lends itself well to travel dreams. You can almost believe that you might be able to stumble upon it someday. When a world can be accessed through a wardrobe or a work of art, it feels almost within reach.

It might not always be the safest of travel destinations, but it is the one that I most wish to visit. I would love to see the lantern in the woods and the home of the Beavers. I would also really love to sail the seas on a ship with Prince Caspian. But I’d want to make sure to not get involved in any quests or dangerous journeys.

2. Middle Earth

Hobbit Houses in the hills. Image by Nel Botha from Pixabay

Speaking of dangerous journeys… I would love to visit Middle Earth, as long as there are no potentially world ending wars going on at the time. You would need to set aside a good length of time for a trip to Middle Earth. I don’t think you could fit all the big locations in a two week trip, so plan for at least a month.

I wonder if Rivendell would allow tourists. That is definitely one location that I think would be the most difficult to arrange. I imagine a limited number of very expensive accommodations. I also wouldn’t want to miss having a drink at the Prancing Pony in Bree and taking a guided tour of the Lonely Mountain… so many locations, so little time!

3. Discworld

This destination is less well known than the previous two. This is the world in Terry Pratchett’s series of the same name. This is another world that could be dangerous, even for tourists, but I think with a good guide you could possibly manage to avoid some of the dangers. There would be a lot of research required beforehand though, even just to make sure that you had paid any of the necessary guild fees associated with a visit to the city of Ankh Morpork.

My top priority for this trip would be Ankh Morpork and the surrounding cities. I would also like to visit Uberwald, though I acknowledge that there are additional risks involved in visiting that area – such as vampires and werewolves to name a few.

4. The Lost Cities

These are the cities of the Elves and other magical creatures from Shannon Messenger’s series “Keeper of the Lost Cities.” Since I have only read the first 3 books, I have a lot to learn about what it would be like to visit this destination. I would definitely schedule in time to visit the magical creatures reserve, and Atlantis would be high on my list of priorities as well. I’m sure there are many other activities and locations that will be added to my travel itinerary as I read more of this series.

5. Space, The Final Frontier

The Earth from space. Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

This is space a la Star Trek. In real life I’m not sure whether I would actually want to go into space. If road trips and air travel can give me anxiety, I can’t imagine what space travel would do to me… But this list isn’t about real world, it’s about fantasy. And one of the first destinations I can remember wanting to visit was space.

I don’t want to get involved in any dangerous missions, but since the Enterprise’s primary objective was to explore new worlds… hopefully we could avoid any dangerous missions. I would be fine with exploring the known worlds, or even just going on a sightseeing jaunt around space. “Now, if you’ll look out the window to your left, you’ll see the planet Vulcan…”

6. The Book World

If you haven’t read the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, then you should definitely check it out for so many reasons. The Book World is the world of all stories, where book characters live and the books are played out. I’m not sure how best to explain this, but essentially the book characters “live out” the book they’re from on repeat as people read it. Characters from popular books are busier than those from less read books.

In this world you can visit pretty much any novel. Some of the later books in this series even describe tourist groups to this world, though they are somewhat problematic, and not seen as entirely positive. I am fully of the opinion that the Book World should be protected and not be filled with high numbers of tourists, but I would still love to visit. This type of trip brings with it so many possibilities! I would also be amenable to visiting the world where Thursday lives.

7. Storybrooke and The Enchanted Forest

This is the world from the TV show Once Upon a Time. I suspect that this could be a bit of a dangerous place to visit (I’m sensing a theme here) but maybe it wouldn’t be too bad for tourists? I would love to eat in the Diner, pop into Mr. Gold’s shop, and visit all the key locations in both worlds.

I can imagine a walking tour that goes through the “history” of the town and it’s residents. There would be so much to hear and see on this type of tour with a good guide. I would like to take a similar trip to the Enchanted Forest, though I suspect this would need to be more of a bus (carriage?) tour. I would also like to visit Hook’s ship… especially if it’s Hook giving the tours.

8. Camp Half Blood/Camp Jupiter (by Rick Riordan)

I couldn’t figure out how best to include this destination on this list, since much of the enjoyment of the series is following the main characters on their quests. And while a quest could qualify as adventure tourism, I’m not sure I would like to sign the waiver form for a trip like that… so I settled on a visit to the camps. I think that you could get some of the experience, with less of the danger… at least in theory.

If anyone is wondering, I would like to stay in the Poseidon cabin during my stay at Camp Half Blood and I think Leo’s workshop at Camp Jupiter.

9. Red London

This is one of the London’s from V.E. Schwab’s “Shades of Magic” trilogy. This is a fantasy series that features 4 different parallel London’s. There’s Grey London, which is a version of London most closely related to the one that we would know. Then there’s Black London, which is located in a dead world, and White London that is located in a dying world. The London that I would like to visit is Red London.

This is a London where magic exists. It’s not perfect and, like many destinations on this list, it would have it’s share of dangers and places to avoid, but I think that it would be such a fun city to explore. I’m not sure if I would like to visit more places in the Red London world, or if I would confine myself to the city, but either way it would be a memorable trip.

10. Asgard (Marvel)

Once again, I feel the need to add the disclaimer that this might not be the safest of locations to visit. I also acknowledge that there are some spoilery things that would greatly affect a trip to Asgard. But let’s just pretend that we would be able to visit the world prior to those events.

I think that this would be such a unique location to visit, and getting there would be half the fun with the rainbow road! I would love to explore everything about this world and would probably take way too many pictures of the buildings and architecture. I’m not going to lie, I would also spend a great deal of time attempting to get a glimpse of a certain god of mischief… even if running into him would be one of those dangers I mentioned earlier!

These are the top fictional places that I would love to be able to travel to right now. In writing this post, I’ve actually become so nostalgic for each location that I think I’m going to need to add them to my summer read and watch lists in order to be able to satisfy that travel bug a little bit.

What about you, are any of these locations on your fictional travel list? Are there any places that you would add, or that I should check out? I would love to hear in the comments – I am always looking for great new fictional worlds!

Until next time,

10 Trips I’m Dreaming of Right Now

Published on June 23, 2020November 16, 2020 by Meaghan Elizabeth

Hello Friends! Today we are dreaming about travel!

Since I don’t have infinite time or money for travel, I spend a great deal more time dreaming about trips than I do actually travelling. I also know that many of the trips that I would like to take will never happen. Because of that, I try to keep a balance in my dreaming between trips that I might reasonably be able to take at some point, and the ones that are mostly, or all, fantasy.

The list below contains a mixture of both types of trips. Some of them are currently in the “short term” dreaming stage – meaning that I consider these trips as not only possible, but probable. One of them may even become my next “big” trip, after Newfoundland. The first part of the list is comprised of these types of trips. The second part of the list is comprised of trips that are more long term or less likely to actually happen.

1. Fall and/or Winter Camping in our Trailer

Next June, if all goes as planned, we are getting a new travel trailer. There are many things that I am looking forward to with this new trailer, and one of the things is the possibility for an extended camping season. The trailer we are getting has a heater, and because it is fully enclosed with a hard top, it can easily be used in Fall and even Winter. I am hoping next fall to be able to take advantage of that for at least a weekend trip.

2. VIA Rail Train trip from Toronto to Vancouver

While I was procrastinating researching our Newfoundland trip, I stumbled upon the idea of taking a train trip across the country. This is something I have thought about for years, but I only recently started thinking about more seriously. I discovered that VIA rail has a route that is specifically designed for this type of trip – a trip where it’s more about the journey and less about the destination. It’s not inexpensive to take a train across the country, but based on what is included in the cost, it’s also not as costly as I was expecting it to be. This is the trip that I am currently considering as our next “big” trip.

3. Road Trip out west – Toronto to Vancouver

This trip is another that has been on my list for years, but we decided to focus on out East first. I have always intended that camping would be a big part of this trip, and now that we are getting a trailer with minimal setup, it will be that much easier to incorporate. I’ll get into it more in an upcoming post, but one of the big changes we were looking for in a new trailer was the ease of setup to assist on those nights where the only reason you’re stopping for the night is to sleep, so you don’t want to spend all your time setting up camp.

4. Lake Superior and Camping in Northern Ontario

This is a trip that will probably be done on a year when we’re not planning a big trip. The trip is big in terms of distance, but we will mostly camp in a couple locations, so we can do it on a much smaller budget than many of the other trips. We have done a lot of camping and travel more in southern Ontario, or North towards Ottawa/Quebec, and less towards Thunder Bay and the North West, so this is definitely an area that we would like to explore more. I think this would be a good trip to test out long distance driving with the trailer prior to committing to go out West.

5. Long Weekend in a tiny Cabin

This is another trip that will hopefully be possible in the relatively short term – if not this year, then maybe the next. I discovered Cabinscape through instagram and have wanted to stay in one of their cabins ever since. They are all relatively remote, off grid tiny cabins located in the general direction of Ottawa for the most part. They are beautiful cabins with beautiful views and locations for exploring in the woods. If this sounds intriguing to you, you should definitely check out their website and instagram feed.

6. A Resort Beach Vacation – Unknown Location

Sandy Beach with bright water
Image by かねのり三浦 from Pixabay

I have never been on a winter vacation to a warm destination, other than a trip to Florida one year with a friend when I was young. I typically like to plan other types of trips for the summer, so it’s just something that has never made the short list. I still don’t know when it might happen, but as I get older, this type of vacation at the beach gains more and more appeal. I just want to see some beautiful bright blue oceans and sandy beaches, is that too much to ask?

7. Hawaii

Hawaii has been a dream destination for me for years. But this is one of those trips where I don’t know if it will ever actually happen. I haven’t gone deep enough yet to work out the details or draw up a potential budget, but I know that this is a more expensive trip and would be at the far outreaches of our budget. Especially since while there, I would want to make sure to see as much a possible, knowing that it would probably be a one time trip. This is one of those trips that will always fall into the “maybe someday” category.

8. Back to the UK (England and Scotland)

This is one of those trips that I don’t know when it will happen, but I also can’t drop it from the list. There are so many new places that I want to visit that, that it can be hard to justify planning to go back somewhere I’ve already been. But I love London, and I often find myself missing it, and wishing to go back. I also didn’t get to spend nearly enough time in Scotland while I was living in London. So I will keep on dreaming of a time when I can go back and visit the UK. Someday… Someday maybe.

9. Return to Nova Scotia – Kejimkujik National Park

A view from one of the trails in Keji National Park

This is another that falls into the category of, “returning to a place we’ve already been” trips. When we went to Nova Scotia a few years ago, we spent one night in Kejimkujik, or Keji as it is more commonly called. And it was not nearly enough time there. I would love to drive our trailer out to spend a week just in Keji. The only problems are that a) it’s a pretty long drive to go camping for a week, and b) there is one part of the drive that I know I would not love to do with a trailer behind me.

Maybe one day, when I am more comfortable driving with the trailer, we’ll be able to consider it. But I know that I will find myself dreaming of Keji frequently between now and then. If you are planning a trip to Nova Scotia, and you have not checked this park out, then you definitely should.

10. Russia

This is my big trip dream that is probably never going to happen. There are so many barriers to a trip to Russia, and cost is only one of them. But I have dreamt of visiting Russia for years, and I will keep on dreaming of it, no matter how improbable it might be.

So that is my list of trips that I am currently dreaming of. Don’t be fooled by how short it is, as this list is in no way exhaustive. There are many, many other places on my travel dream list. I had a hard time limiting this list to just 10. But if I were to list every place that I might want to visit someday, this post would be much longer than anyone wants to read. And certainly longer than I want to write. These are the trips that float around in my mind the most often – even if some of them may never happen.

What about you? Do you have a list of trips that you are either actively planning or dreaming about? Does your list include trips that you know are unrealistic, but you just can’t stop yourself from dreaming about? Have you been to any of the destinations or taken any of the trips on this list? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time,

The 5 Stages of Trip Planning

Published on June 16, 2020November 16, 2020 by Meaghan Elizabeth

This summer I was supposed to be taking a two week trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. Unfortunately, it has become clear that our trip is not going to happen. Newfoundland is not currently accepting visitors from outside the province, and it doesn’t look like that is gong to change any time soon. Even if it were to change by mid-summer, chances are that not everything will be open, and it wouldn’t be the trip we want. Because of this, we have decided that it is time to accept the inevitable and cancel. Our much anticipated Newfoundland trip will now be postponed until summer 2021.

As we’ve started thinking about cancelling everything that’s already been booked, I thought it would be a good time to write about the planning process. This may seem odd, especially as there’s not a lot of travel happening right now, but I suspect that though people aren’t travelling, many are dreaming of future travel or thinking about planning future trips. If we can’t travel, we can still think about and dream about planning travel.

I’ve mentioned before that I love planning trips. I love everything about the process of researching, building the itinerary, and picking out accommodations. But trip planning doesn’t start with the research and itinerary planning. The trip planning starts long before you get to that stage. So today I am going to look at the stages of planning a trip in general, using my Newfoundland trip as the example. In future posts I will hopefully dive into some of these stages in more detail.

Phase #1: Inspiration and that Initial Spark

In my experience, trip planning begins with that initial spark of inspiration. It’s the thing that makes you think, “I’d love to go there someday.” This spark might come from a book you read, a show or movie you watched, or hearing someone else talk, or write, about the destination. Whatever it is, there’s always something that makes you start thinking about how you might like to visit that location someday.

There’s nothing concrete in this stage. There’s not even much day dreaming – that comes later. Most trips and destinations never move beyond this stage. Many of our travels sparks fade away without much further thought. Maybe we know that the location would be much too expensive, or impractical, or not feasible for one reason or another. Or maybe the location just doesn’t hold our imagination as much as some other location or as much as we thought initially. For whatever reason, many ideas never move beyond a spark.

I have wanted to go to Newfoundland for so long that I can’t remember the initial spark. I can remember one of the things that fanned that spark into a flame and moved me into the next stage, though. It was the Newfoundland tourism commercials. Every single time I see one of these commercials, it makes me want to go to Newfoundland even more. Their tourism department definitely knows how to do it’s job.

Stage 2: Dreaming and Moving Towards a Plan

Stage 2 is the dreaming phase. This stage is reserved for those trips that have captured our imagination enough to stick around. They are the trips that never really seem to leave our minds as “some days.” If ever anyone were to ask us places we’d like to travel to, these are the trips that immediately spring to mind.

In this stage you possibly talk to others who have been to your dream destination and you learn more about the things they recommend doing and seeing while there. Maybe you start visiting tourism websites, or seeking out blog posts from those who have travelled there. Maybe you start reading books about the destination. Whatever dreaming looks like for you, you find yourself returning to the idea of planning a trip to that location more and more often.

I have long wanted to travel to all the provinces in Canada. I love exploring this country, so Newfoundland has been a spark in my mind for years. The idea of visiting Newfoundland got a hold of my mind and heart, and I found myself revisiting it over and over again. Eventually it was the “next trip” that we were planning if anyone asked. The idea worked it’s way from a dream to a plan, and before we knew it, we had moved into stage 3 of the trip planning process.

Stage #3: From a Dream to a Plan

Eventually some trips take up so much place in our minds that we move from dreaming to planning. At this stage, you are still technically in the idea phase, but you are starting to figure out if you could turn the idea into a concrete plan. Unfortunately, this is where some trips are forced to fade away or move into the background when we start to figure out whether we will be able to come up with enough time and budget to make the trip happen.

In this stage you start to look more seriously into how much the trip would cost and the length of the trip you would like to take. You might also start to figure out the questions of transportation. Would the trip involve air travel? Or is it a road trip? These, and more, are the things you start to seriously consider in this stage. These decisions will help you develop a timeline and an idea for when, and if, this trip might actually happen.

For our Newfoundland trip, some of the primary considerations for this stage were budget, length of trip, and type of transportation. We decided fairly early that we would be flying from Ontario to Newfoundland. While it’s possible to drive out and take a ferry, the travel time for that option is considerable. Since vacation time is not infinite, and we knew we would have at most two weeks, we decided it would be more than worth it to fly.

Another transportation consideration was whether we would take a bus tour or rent a car. Bus tours are a popular option for Newfoundland, and we gave them serious consideration, but ultimately ended up deciding to put together our own trip. Not only did this give us more flexibility over our budget, but also over our itinerary. I wasn’t sure that a bus trip would let us do and see everything we wanted (and I have travel planning control issues).

Making these decisions helped us put in place a timeline for when we were going to take the trip. We had a general idea of the type of budget we would be looking at and how long we would need to save. It was roughly two years ago that we decided we would aim for 2020 for our trip. This gave us the time we needed to save, as well as an idea for when we would need to start seriously planning and booking. Knowing these things prepared us to move into the next stage.

Cat looking at a map — Trip planning. I was going to find a stock photo But couldn’t resist using this.

Stage #4: Research and Itinerary Building

By this stage, you’ve moved well beyond the vague dreams and into concrete planning. This is no longer a trip you might take someday, it’s now a trip you are going to take in x amount of time, even if you don’t know the exact dates yet. Now it’s the time to get down to the business of planning.

Don’t get me wrong, you are still dreaming in this phase, but now it’s paired with research and the reality of logistics. You need to dream about the things you might like to do, but also figure out what you can realistically fit into the time you have. You need to think about things such as whether your trip will be spent mostly in one city or resort, or many different places. Will your schedule be relaxed and filled with a lot of downtime or will your itinerary be tightly scheduled and filled with activity?

As you research and figure out all these things, you can start to build your itinerary. The one downside of this stage for me always seems to be the gradual realization that there is no way we can possibly fit in everything that we want to do in the time that we have. This happened to me in spades while planning our Newfoundland trip.

Newfoundland is a big place with so much to see and do – especially when you know that you won’t soon be returning. Trying to fit everything into a roughly two-week period begins to feel like trying to cram a bear into a breadbox… an impossible task. It doesn’t help when so much of the advice on visiting Newfoundland is to slow down and enjoy the scenery. How do you take it slow when you want to see and do absolutely everything?

It took me a long time to research and plan and build what I hope is a functional itinerary for our trip. I eventually decided that our trip was going to involve a lot of driving and be quite a bit busier than might work for others. We want to see as much of Newfoundland as possible in our short time, which requires a busier trip. Maybe someday I can travel to Newfoundland and enjoy that relaxed pace of life, but this trip is not going to be that.

Different trips will require different amounts of time and effort in this stage, but eventually you will get the trip details and itinerary worked out and be able to move into the next – and final – stage of trip planning.

Stage #5 – Booking, and Fine Tuning, and Other tasks.

Some elements of this stage may also occur in the previous stages. You might need to book flights, for instance, before you’ve fully worked out the itinerary. But generally, by this stage, all the big planning is done and it’s time to book your accommodations and book/buy tickets for any events or attractions you are planning on attending. This stage may take place over a number of months depending on your timeline. Some things need to be booked early, and some need to be booked closer to the travel dates or even while travelling.

For me, this stage generally involves fine tuning and completing the itinerary. For our Newfoundland trip, for instance, there are a number of days that even now require fine tuning and filling out. I know the general shape of the days, but the details still need to be finalized. We still need to determine where we want to eat, for instance, and which walking tours and hikes might we want to take. This the level of detailed planning that happens during this stage.

This stage may also include figuring out a packing list. I hadn’t got anywhere close to planning out a packing list for Newfoundland yet. I probably would have been starting that list around now, actually. The packing list step involves figuring out what the weather might be like, and what types of things you might need for specific activities. Some of our accommodations for Newfoundland, for instance, required us to bring blankets and sheets. These are the types of things you migh consider in this stage.

This stage can continue right up until just before the trip depending on how you plan and prepare, and it ends once you transition into the prep stage when you’re starting to pack and get ready to go. I didn’t include that stage here, because I consider it more part of the travel stage and less a part of the planning stage.

Each trip brings with it unique planning approaches even when you work within the same general framework. These are the typical stages of planning that I have noticed in all the trips I have planned and taken. What about you? Do you agree with these stages? Have I missed any? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time,