The world is big, and beautiful, and awesome—all realities that seem increasingly fanciful and fleeting as we continue to stare at the same four walls each day. But reopening is just around the corner.
And as the day nears, when we can finally board an airplane and fly across the globe, it’s worth contemplating this essential question: Where should you go first? Not all destinations are created equal. From likelihood to reopen first, to ease of travel, to ensuring safety along the way, here are some of the very best places that should be on the top of your travel list for that big, first journey abroad (again).
Maldives
A nation of some 1,200 islands spread across 26 coral atolls, this Arabian Sea paradise has made headlines throughout the pandemic. During the initial global lockdown, ironic stories emerged about travelers caught for weeks, here, at private-island resorts, trapped in some of the most beautiful surroundings imaginable, but distressed at the prospect of not being able to return home. Then, at least one luxury hotel captured travel stories in top publications (and people’s imaginations) by offering an “unlimited stay” for all of 2021 in one of their over-water villas jutting out over the aquamarine sea, including breakfast and airport transfers in a speed boat, for the tidy sum of $30,000.
Tim Johnson
Author
Toronto-based writer Tim Johnson is always traveling in search of the next great story. Having visited 140 countries across all seven continents, he’s tracked lions on foot in Botswana, dug for dinosaur bones in Mongolia, and walked among a half-million penguins on South Georgia Island. He contributes to some of North America’s largest publications, including CNN Travel, Bloomberg, and The Globe and Mail.
