Five Unconventional Places I Hope To Visit This Summer

Summer is the time of year I usually stay home: it’s when most people have time to travel and therefore the perfect opportunity for me to take a break from traveling and avoid the crowds. This year, due to a variety of circumstances and if I can find the time off, I’ll be joining the throngs of summer travelers.

Here are five unconventional places I hope to visit this summer.

1. Greenland

Ever since I visited Longyearbyen in 2016, I’ve wanted to visit Greenland. It’s not a well-trafficked destination and the landscape looks stunning.

I also want to fly Air Greenland, which operates an A330 from Copenehangen to Kangerlussuaq.

The problem is getting back to LA…that’s not the easiest feat. Air Greenland and Air Iceland (not Iceland Air) serves Iceland and from there I could fly WOW Air back to LA. But the costs are very high for these flights.

I also do not want to go to Greenland without my wife, but her schedule is already fairly full this summer. I’m still going to try to make this work.

2. Saint Pierre and Miquelon

The flag of St. Pierre & Miquelon is what originally fascinated me about this French enclave off the Canadian coast. But like Greenland, the scenery here looks beautiful.

There’s another airline here as well…Air Saint-Pierre. I’m not sure how useful a trip report would be (though probably more usual than my Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Uzbekistan Airways reports), but would fly to Paris to test out this airline.

3. Mongolia

Mongolia has a rich history and provides quite a juxtaposition to neighboring China. I was going to visit Ulaanbaatar with Lucky last summer, but we were unable to squeeze it in.

MIAT, the national carrier of Mongolia, flies to Frankfurt during the summer and offers reasonable fares. While business class looks quite unmemorable, I’d still like to give it a try.

4. Russia

Russia is an intriguing nation, especially in light of recent geopolitics. I last visited Moscow and St. Petersburg in 2007 and look forward to visiting again.

Aeroflot was excellent 10 years ago and it seems to have even improved. I look forward to trying the Russian airline and its latest 777-300 business class.

5. Algeria

Algeria is an African Arab country on the north coast of Africa.  If possible (considering safety and visas) I’d like to visit Libya (and Tunisia, which is easy to visit) on the same trip.

As in all other destinations, my desire to visit is driven in part by the scenery and in part by an airline I wish to review. Air Algérie flies from Montreal to Algiers. I’d like to check out the airline (and perhaps fly back on Tunis Air, though Air France has cheap(er) first class fares out of Algeria).

CONCLUSION

These are not new destinations: I mentioned each of them in my New Year’s post on 2018 travel plans. But now is a good time to start planning out summer travel and I hope to solidify some planes shortly. Any feedback is welcomed.

Where will you be heading this summer?