Top Travel for 2026
10. Adelaide — Wine, Wilderness, and Warmth
Adelaide is Australia’s quiet achiever — a gateway to rolling vineyards, coastal trails, and festivals that outshine their fame. I’m drawn to the Barossa Valley for the Shiraz, to Kangaroo Island for its raw, untamed beauty, and to the Central Market where locals buy, cook, and argue about food like it’s religion. Adelaide feels human-scale — something rare and worth savoring.
9. Albuquerque — Sky Country + Soul
There’s something hypnotic about New Mexico light — golden, endless, unbothered. Albuquerque’s where that light collides with adobe walls, chile heat, and a stubborn sense of self. I’m craving a green chile cheeseburger from a roadside shack, a morning hot-air balloon ride over the Rio Grande, and an evening chasing local art and beer under the desert stars.
8. Morocco — The Poetry of the Desert
In Morocco, every color feels deeper. Marrakech’s medina is a sensory overload — spice markets, prayer calls, mint tea poured from impossible heights. But I’m more drawn to the quiet of the Sahara, to nights under a riot of stars where silence has texture. I want to taste tagine cooked over open flame and listen to the wind write its own story across the dunes.
7. Hong Kong — Where Fire Meets Water
Hong Kong is a city built on resilience and flavor. Dim sum at sunrise, skyline glitter at midnight, and ferries that still hum across Victoria Harbour as they’ve done for generations. I want to eat my way through Mong Kok’s street stalls — char siu, egg waffles, milk tea — and then retreat to the Dragon’s Back for a hike that ends in salt air and serenity.
6. St. Lucia — A Symphony of Green and Gold
St. Lucia is what happens when nature decides to show off. The Pitons rise like guardians over turquoise coves, and the air hums with Caribbean rhythm. I’m dreaming of mornings in Soufrière, black-sand beaches beneath my feet, and afternoons drifting in volcanic hot springs. It’s not just paradise — it’s a place that makes you slow down and remember what breathing feels like.
5. Tanzania — The Earth Before Time
There are places that remind you how small you are, and Tanzania is one of them. From the Serengeti’s thundering migration to Zanzibar’s spice-scented shores, it’s life in raw, cinematic form. I want to watch the sun rise over Ngorongoro Crater and feel the ground shake with the weight of elephants. This isn’t a vacation. It’s a reckoning with wonder.
4. Ireland — Stories in the Mist
Ireland doesn’t just welcome you — it wraps you up, feeds you whiskey, and tells you stories until dawn. I want to walk the Cliffs of Moher in the rain, wander Galway’s pubs where fiddles still sing, and find poetry in every pint. It’s not about luck — it’s about heart. And Ireland’s got more of that than anywhere else on the map.
3. Peru — Altitude and Awe
Peru is myth carved into stone. Machu Picchu isn’t a photo op; it’s a pilgrimage. But beyond the Andes, there’s the pulse of Lima — a city redefining what it means to eat. I want ceviche so fresh it still tastes like the ocean, and pisco sours served with laughter and chaos. Every meal, every mountain trail, every conversation — all of it humming with history.
2. Alberta, Canada — Ice and Fire
Banff is cathedral-level nature — the kind that silences small talk. Glacial lakes like turquoise glass, pine forests whispering secrets, and mountain peaks sharp enough to cut your doubts in half. I’m picturing dawn at Lake Louise, a thermos of coffee, and the reflection of eternity in still water. No filter on Earth could do it justice.
1. Tokyo — The Future Wrapped in Tradition
Tokyo isn’t a city; it’s a living contradiction — where a thousand years of ritual meet the blinking edge of tomorrow. I’m ready to lose myself in the back alleys of Shinjuku, slurp ramen at 2 a.m. with strangers, and find calm in the moss-covered serenity of Meiji Shrine. The thrill isn’t in the tourist checklist — it’s in the unexpected grace between chaos and precision.