Bucket List Road Trip

Sarah (Hightop.highlife)
I might be learning something new about myself... I’m slightly impatient! Building our own van has been a dream of ours for some time now and having to rely on others to get it off the ground has been somewhat er challenging, well for me anyway.. (I like to use the term ‘us’ however Neil is extremely laid back and I don’t seem to ever see him slightly stressed... hmm!) So in the mean time, I thought I’d share the road trips that are calling our name… Now just where to decide to go first? 

1. ICELAND

 We fell in love with Iceland after a winter trip in 2015. Snow mobiling over glaziers, pony trekking over volcanic landscapes, it was INCREDIBLE. We always said we would love to go back and explore more of this wild country. We would particularly like to return in the summer and do some cycling!! We didn’t see the Northern Lights last time either so it's unfinished business… can you imagine if we saw them from the roof of the van? Woweee!

2. CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK, SCOTLAND

Scotland is one of the wildest and most beautiful countries we have ever visited. Another place we said we wanted to go back and explore more of. Wild camping is so much easier here than in England too. I've been travel lusting over Challenge Sophies adventures in the Cairngorms forever, and can’t wait to get to the Highlands and hike in these mountain ranges (they have 5 of the tallest mountains in Scotland). The views are meant to be insane. The area is excellent for hiking, skiing and climbing (inc ice climbing)

3. MOROCCO

We took a month long trip in our old van (when it was just the two of us) around Portugal and Spain… we were heading for Morocco but didnt expect to be as besotted as we were with Portugal and Spain so we ended up taking a slow trip soaking up the best of both countries. On the way home we agreed the next trip was Morocco! We then found out I was pregnant and well that was the start of a crazy couple of years… time to pick up where we left off perhaps? I can only imagine the outrageous colours of the Moroccacliffs, the Atlas Mountains, and the Sahara desert! We cannot wait to get lost in this country.

4. ALBANIAS BEACHES

So that’s a lot of mountains but we also love the coast A LOT, so a road trip of Albanias beaches is on our list for sure. We want to cruise along the Albania Riveria, swim in the Adriatic and Ionian seas, go kayaking, rafting, have beach bonfires, hike to beautiful waterfalls and have open air banquets by the sea.

5. LAGO DO SORAPIS – DOLOMITES, ITALY

I mean have you seen pictures of this place… Im just going to leave that here.

No seriously though, I get really underwhelmed sometimes when I see pictures of places that look crazy beautiful… I dream about going there forever and when I get there I get really despondent because I am not alone. I’m not even with just one or two others, no I’m with hundreds of tourists all fighting to get the best view (or selfie). Anyway I've read about this place in the Dolomites which just looks dreamy and best of all you can only get there by a 2 hour hike so its won’t be as busy as its touristy neighbours.

6. CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY

Turkey? Really? Fairytale like and otherworldly beauty are just some of the terms used to describe this place. You can even stay in a CAVE HOTEL (although we would of course be staying in our van)! This place is so beautiful it is best known for taking a hot air balloon rides to see the curvaceous landscape. The conical and pink rock formations are like moonscapes and known locally as ‘fairy chimneys’, I want to wander amongst the Valleys and wake up to see the balloons take off at Sunrise. In fact I want to go immediately!

7. WEST COST OF IRELAND

We had our first experience of the west coast of Ireland a couple of years ago when we celebrated a family birthday. We hired a huge house in Donegal and it was up there with one of the best weekends we’ve had. To go back and explore the coast by van would be wild! I feel like its one of those places that make you feel alive, like really alive. I mean just look at how rugged the coastline is can you imagine the Atlantic Ocean crashing into the cliffs its going to be crazy, plus its just a hop on the ferry from home.

8. FRENCH ALPS

A huge thing for us is we are lucky enough to have time off work over Christmas. We have always taken our backpacks and gone away (normally somewhere hot) but to actually take our home on wheels with us to somewhere snowy, and comfortable for Reggie! Can you imagine just how magical Christmas would be?! Also I would (Sarah) love to do a mountain marathon one day, how cool would it be to do it here!

9. SWEDEN

We don’t know where exactly but I’ve always wanted to go. Hundreds of miles of empty roads and endless spectacles of forest, sea and mountains, a perfect Nordic road trip. Its the epitome of wild living.

10. CORNWALL

We will forever continue to adventure in our favourite county in the UK… thousands of memories already have been made since I was a child and again since Neil and I met. We will continue to create those memories of endless summers living on untamed beaches and pretending to be really good at surfing! Watching the setting Sun from Gwithian Towans with a glass of chilled white in hand.

Do you ever write a bucket list of things you want to do? Leave a comment with any tips and advice on any of these destinations.


The countdown to road trip ONE begins… 

Sarah, Neil and Reggie Mac - check us out on instagram here


*blogs are opinion based by each writer*

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