Another year of travels is finally upon us and once again new destinations are waiting to be discovered. So now to the big question; where should you travel in 2018? Here’s five destinations, inspired by Lonely Planets ”Best in Travel”, that you totally should visit this year if you haven’t already.

CHILE

On the west coast of South America we find Chile, a country with a rough history but it’s now recovering. They used to have problems with human rights, democracy and poverty but just in the last 15 years Chile has reduced their poverty with over 50 %. Chile is now considered a safe country to travel to and is also home to beautiful nature, amazing culture and food! I guess that’s why it made Lonely Planets list haha. Personally I’ve never been to Chile or even South America but would love to some day, maybe in 2018?

Picture: Natural World Safaris & Juan Pablo Gallo

 

PORTUGAL 

A European country that I’ve actually looked in to visiting this year. Portugal has for many years been in the shadow of it’s neighbor Spain but since my grandparents visited a couple years ago I’ve been very interested in Portugal. In Portugal you can find both long sandy beaches as well as bigger cities like Lisbon. For me, as a student and a European, Portugal is a relatively affordable destination. I did a quick flight search and from the US to Portugal it’s about $800 but if you live in Europe it’s around $150. So for me, it’s an affordable destination that I would love to visit soon!

MAURITIUS 

Who can say no to this beautiful, exotic, tropical island? I have a friend visiting Mauritius in this very moment and oh gosh her Instagram-feed right now, so beautiful (I truly sounded like a millennial there haha). Just outside Madagascar in the middle of the Indian Ocean we find this paradise island. Mauritius is definitely one of my dream destinations with it’s beautiful beaches. Mauritius used to be a colony of the Netherlands, France and U.K. so they have therefor no official language but speak French and English. 

MALTA

Another beautiful island and another European gem. In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea we find Malta, a small country with only about 400,000 people. Malta offers something for everyone; beautiful snorkeling, hiking, golfing and of course just hanging out on some of the nice beaches. I realized, writing this, that I don’t have much knowledge about Malta so I take this as a hint that I have to travel there soon haha! 

DJIBOUTI

This is the destination I was most excited about when I read Lonely Planets list. I’ve never heard of Djibouti so I immediately started googling haha, but I couldn’t find much information about it! Djibouti is a small country in Eastern Africa with a population of less than a million and the country is apparently a must if you like snorkeling. Independent  writes ”the experience is more like swimming in David Attenborough’s Blue Planet – and entails the kind of wildness that’s so rare in today’s tourism.” so I guess it must be outstanding! According to Lonely Planet, “this petite nation is in the process of being ripped in three by diverging tectonic plates. Magma seethes beneath ever-thinning crust; Martian-like deserts spew steam from fumaroles; and sunken lake shores glisten with huge salt crystals.” so it seems like if you want to visit Djibouti soon before it’s literally ripped apart.