In Search of Sun

Over thirty years of marriage we’ve had endless conversations about whether we like winter or summer better. For most of our adult lives we lived in Kansas City, where the winters are unbearably cold and the summers are unbearably hot. By the end of July you are longing for snow. And in February you can’t wait to sweat. Now that we are homeless, we can decide exactly what kind of weather we want! So as we planned our 2026 and early 2027 itineraries, it all focused around seeking sun and 60-80 degrees. And note…we left our cold weather clothes behind in Kansas last month, so it better be warm!

Here’s a glimpse into where the road will lead us over the next 16 months.

January and February - Fiesta Time!

We’re starting off with vacation! Yep, even full time travelers need a vacation. We’re celebrating our 30th wedding annivery in a few weeks and to do it right, we’re headed to the Caribbean and an all-inclusive resort. My sister and her husband are also celebrating their 30th in 2026 so they’re joining us. We’ll be headed to Sandals Royal Plantation in Jamaica. This resort was relatively untouched by Hurricane Melissa and it reopened this week. We’re looking forward to being completely pampered for 6 days, including having a butler to tend to our every need!

The sunshine continues for the rest of January and February in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Yes, for those of you who followed along last year, we’re headed back to Mexico. This time to the Yucatan. The old adage “time heals all wounds” is in full effect. This time around, no open air apartment, and hopefuly no coatis coming to raid our kitchen at night. We’re in a highrise with a rooftop adults only pool. Sounds like heaven.

March - Europe/Asia and kebabs

March starts what we’re calling our “Spring of Antiquities” with a new country for us. We’re headed to Istanbul Türkiye! For those confused, the UN and US government officially changed how it referred to the country from Turkey to Türkiye in 2022-2023. We’ll be visiting during Ramadan which will make it particularly interesting. We’re there for 3 weeks and I’m already wondering how we’ll fit everything in. There is so much history to be found in the city, with beautiful mosques and fortresses to explore. Türkiye is known for its medical tourism and we’ll be taking advantage of that will medical checkups there as well. I’ll share all about that experience too!

April - Opa! Temples, Olives, and Feta

April is all about Greece, another new country for us! We’ll start off with 2 quick days in Athens and then we’ll head to Crete for a month. We’re really excited about the history, the food, and the laid back culture of Greece!

May and June - Pinch me! The History!!

A quick flight from Greece will take us to Rome where we’ll spend a week. This will be our first time to Rome, but I’m guessing it won’t be our last. So much to see. So much pasta to eat. And so much wine to drink. We’ll be in heaven, I’m sure.

After a week in Rome we’re heading into Umbria for 2 weeks to the village of Orvieto in Umbria Italy. I’ve heard that Umbria is the new Tuscany. Just as beautiful but a whole lot fewer people, which I’m sure we’ll love after our time in Rome. Again…wine, pasta…I’m here for it.

We’ll wrap up our time in Italy with a month in Trieste Italy. You may not have heard of it, and other than being a cruise ship port for Mediterranean cruises it is relatively low touristed. Its in the far north east of Italy, and neighbors Slovenia and Croatia. Its about an hour train ride from Venice, which we plan to do on a day trip. Oh, and just a village away is Prosecco! Yep, we’re continuing our fun tours of the great food and drinks of the world. Cheddar and Beer UK, Champagne France, and now Prosecco Italy! We’re excited about all the hiking and day trips this region will offer us.

June, July, and August - Tennis, hikes, and pints

After Trieste we’ll have to leave Europe and the Schengen Zone, so it will be off to the UK we go.

First up is a week in London. Of course, we have to go to London. And this time we’ll be joined by the Scwhartz family! Top on the list is a few days at the opening week of Wimbeldon!

From London we’ll head back to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. We loved this little village so much this past summer we knew we wanted to return.

Finally, we’ll wrap up our time in the UK with a month in the Lake District. So many people have told us that for hiking in the UK we have to go to the Lake District. So we’re renting a car for a month and will be off to explore the glorious landscape of northwest England.

September and October - Back in the USA

Our passports expire in 2027, and to easily renew them we knew we needed to be back in the US for a few months.

We’ll start our time in western North Carolina with a rental car. We plan on doing a lot of hiking here and taking some time Durham to visit our son at Duke.

From there we’ll fly to Philadelphia for a month and spend time with our other son and Kona (formerly our dog, now his dog!)

Winter 2026-Spring 2027 - Or is that Summer and Fall?

We knew without a doubt that we had to get out of the US by the end of October and find warmth and sun. We wanted summer like temperatures, so of course, we needed to get to the Southern Hemisphere! So off to Australia and New Zealand we’ll go!

We are starting with three months in Australia with a few big events planned. November will be spent in Brisbane. In December we’ll head to Sydney where we’ll spend New Years Eve. Fireworks anyone??? January will take us to Melbourne and another bucket list item: The Australian Open! We’ll be half way to our bucket list of attending all the Grand Slam tournaments.

February and March will take us to New Zealand where we’ll rent a car to explore all the sites on the south and north islands

In April 2027 we have booked a 21 day Princess cruise to bring us back to Los Angeles with stops in French Polynesia and Hawaii. That will certainly be a new experience for us!

2025 has been enriching and rewarding and we are super excited to take everything we learned into next year. We like a blend of city and hiking and we’ll achieve that. We love learning, history, and new cultures. We like a blend of touristy and off the beaten path. We love warmth and sun. 2026….we can’t wait to meet you.

**Note: Since we haven’t been to these places yet I used stock photos for free from pexels.com. Thanks to the photographers who shared their creative work!