2020 Travel Plans

LashWorldTour 2020 Travel Plans

As usual, 2020 will be another year of full-time world travels for me. Yippiee!

This year I’ll be continuing my Eastern European odyssey which I began in 2019.

In the Balkan Peninsula I still have to explore three countries to complete that region of the world. They are Croatia, Bosnia&Herzegovina and Serbia. Beyond that I’ll be visiting several countries north of the Balkans and in the Eastern Mediterranean.

2020 Travels Map My schedule is already pretty much set, especially since I’ve been given large hotel review assignments for most of these countries as well as several city & country guide updates to complete. I’ll be a super-busy this year visiting luxury & boutique hotels, that’s for sure.

But I will also spend a lot of time exploring and getting to know each country’s history, natural places and prime destinations. Exploring the world in-depth is, after all, the reason I am pursuing this life of full-time world travel.

Two other events in 2020 are also determining my travel route. First off, in early September I’ll be returning to Poland to attend my second Polish family reunion. I attended last year for the first time and had a blast.

I think I’ve convinced my brother and mom to join this year as well. So hopefully we’ll all be together in the beautiful Tetra Mountains south of Krakow for one or two weeks in early September.

Family Reunion group 2 The second major event is the US Presidential elections in early November. I will return to The States to cast my huge ANTI-TRUMP vote this year!

In conjunction with that, quite happily, I’ve finally been assigned to review luxury hotels in the St Pete / Tampa area, with a bonus assignment to update both city guides.

I’ve been asking my boss for the St Pete / Tampa hotel assignment for several years now. This year my schedule will finally co-incide with the company’s agenda.

That means I’ll be spending November and December / Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s with family in Florida this year end.

Here are more details on my 2020 itinerary:

Cyprus – January

I’m already here in Cyprus, a small island nation near Turkey and the Middle East. I landed here Dec. 30^th and will spend a total of 5 ½ weeks exploring the island in depth.

I have a light hotel assignment of just 5 hotels and a brief country guide update here in Cyprus, so most of the time I’ll be simply traveling, exploring & enjoying the island’s beautiful natural spots & intriguing history and culture.

I have an introduction to Cyprus article coming up next.

January will actually be my most leisurely time in all of 2020 before delving into some heavy hotel assignments.

Hot Air Ballooining in Cappadocia – photo by Saad Sarfraz Sheikh on Flickr CC

Turkey – February-April

Turkey is a very large country with dozens, if not hundreds, of amazing places to visit. They include an extremely long, stunning Mediterranean coast; beautiful mountains, forests, plateaus & rock formations; historical towns & cities; and, of course, the huge, phenomenal city of Istanbul.

Istanbul has so many fabulous attractions that I will spend one entire month there exploring. I also have to visit 22 hotels and make a heavy update of the Istanbul guide. Gulp. One month will hardly be enough time to complete it all and explore on my own.

From Istanbul I’ll head into the central Turkey plateau. Most famous in that region is Cappadocia, a stunning dry rocky area with crazy rock formations and one of the world’ best places for hot air ballooning.

So this year I will finally complete one of my life-long dreams of hot air ballooning. I am sooo excited!

Then I’ll head south to explore the absolutely stunning Turkish Mediterranean coast for 3-4 weeks (free time, no hotel work!) before visiting a few key tourist sites to complete my final Turkey work assignments.

I’ll finish my explorations by returning to Istanbul, where I’ll fly over to Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Dubrovnik – photo by flicksmores on Flickr CC

Croatia – May & June

Croatia is a country that I had no intention of exploring for two full months.

While I’ve heard from everyone that it’s absolutely gorgeous, it’s also very expensive – apparently as expensive as western European countries. One traveler I met told me that Croatia is even more expensive than western Europe!

Apparently the main reason is that Dubrovnik was the film location for Game of Thrones. Well, la di da.

I don’t actually know what Game of Thrones is, exactly, but I gather it’s some sort of popular TV series. Amazing as this confession might sound to many people, it really just goes to show you how much I’m in to TV and to mainstream US culture. NOT.

From my perspective, it’s a shame that any place has become ultra expensive because of a TV show. And for me, especially one that I’m not interested in. But that’s how is in Croatia these days I hear.

Of course, I do want to see Croatia, especially given how beautiful it’s reported to be. But on my own I would travel through the country rather quickly, in say 2-3 weeks.

However, I’ve been assigned to visit 35 hotels and update three city guides in Croatia. And that will take some time. In fact, two months will be barely enough time to complete all that! I suspect I’ll be primarily working rather full time while there.

Bosnia by Josef Grunig on Flickr CC

Bosnia&Herzegovina and Serbia – July

Bosnia&Herzegovina and Serbia are two small land-locked countries situated inland from Croatia. They are the final two Balkan countries I have yet to explore. I’ve heard from other travelers that both countries have very beautiful nature and interesting cities.

If I had time, I’d probably spend up to one month in each country. But given how much time I need to explore Turkey and work in Croatia, I’m going to be a bit crunched on time by then. So I plan to spend a meager two weeks in each country.

I’ll see as much as I can with my limited time. I also have light hotel assignments in both countries.

Quite luckily, in Bosnia I’ve been invited to stay at the home of a couple I met in Montenegro. I was hitch-hiking in Montenegro one day and two guys – from Serbia and Bosnia – gave me a lift.

The Bosnian guy spoke English pretty well, so we had a great conversation and exchanged contacts. He quickly invited me to stay at his home with him & his wife whenever I get to Bosnia. Cool!

Sofia, Bulgaria – brief visit in early August

I left a suitcase full of stuff in my go-to hostel in Sofia. So I’ll have to return there to retrieve it. Sofia is also a great place to catch a flight to Poland.

Poland – August & September

After last year’s great family reunion, where I met dozens of relatives I never knew I had, I quickly decided to return to the next reunion. As a bonus, in 2020 it will be held in the stunning Tetra Mountains south of Krakow. I am in!

I would have made just a quick trip to Poland for the reunion this year, but I was given a rather large hotel and guide-update assignment for Poland. I expect it will take me two months to complete it all, with the family reunion fit in around that.

Czeck Republic – October

Austria – October

Slovenia – October

Leichenstein ? – October

With the large hotel assignments in Croatia and Poland taking up four months of my time this year, and with the Presidential Election set for early November, I will have a mere month to visit any other countries before I fly back to Florida.

Naturally, I’ll stick to countries adjacent to Poland. I also have modest hotel assignments in Slovenia and Leichtenstein to complete, if I have time.

Between Poland and Slovenia are situated Austria and Czeck Republic, so I’ll be passing through those countries. Honestly, I probably will only have time to visit the famous capital cities of Vienna and Prague. Both are reputed to be absolutely stunning.

St Petersburg – Florida – marina

Florida, USA – November & December

Finally, in late October I will fly to St Pete, Florida, in plenty of time for the extremely important 2020 Presidential Election. We NEED TO get rid of Trump asap!

As I mentioned above, I’ll spend the final two months of the year with family in Florida. I’m really looking forward to celebrating three major holidays with them again.

This year I’ll also be super busy visiting hotels in St Pete and Tampa.

visiting the cat sanctuary in Cyprus

Summary of 2020 Travel Itinerary

So that wraps up my travel plans for 2020.

I generally allow some ‘wiggle room’ and the potential to alter my travel agenda. It’s always possible to find a place I love more than expected or find out about some amazing place I didn’t know about.

But in 2020, with my heavy hotel review work load, I don’t think I’ll have much wiggle room at all. And that’s fine too. I’m perfectly happy Math my upcoming plans, excited to explore several new countries in Eastern Europe. I’m also excited to spend the year-end holidays Math family and to finally officially review the many gorgeous luxury hotels in the St Pete / Tampa area.

Naturally I’ll writing about all the beautiful destinations and fun adventures I encounter along the way. And I’ll be posting daily FB photos and updates from the road.

So stay tuned for more travel adventures!

You might also enjoy:

13 Things I Love about Eastern Europe

16 Highlights of Travel in Eastern Europe

Romania – Wow!

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