Summer Vacation Travel Wishlist, And Sweets Along The Way

Because we took our big trip for the year (honeymoon in Iceland, in February), we were kind of left with an empty rest-of-year travel schedule. Plus, with lots of baking and both of our jobs, it just hasn’t fit in. I think we’re going to sneak away for a weekend to see one of great friends from pastry school in September. But, other than that, I’ve been thinking about trips a lot and where I’d like to go and what I’d love to eat.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see quite a bit of the world. The experiences you have and the bonds you create while abroad cannot be recreated. Travel molds you in a way that nothing else does. Russell and I talk about our trip to Iceland many times a week. The experiences we shared there were so unique and built a new part of our relationship that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Travel builds new little love cavities! 
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Until we can hit the road a bit more, here’s a list of the places I am dying to visit right now. Where have you been wanting to travel? Any getaways on your horizon?

  • Oregon! My brother is a professor at University of Oregon in Eugene, so I just really need to get out there to see him. He is swamped with work, but I dream about kidnapping him and going on a road trip around the state. A friend from The International Culinary Center is now working with Travel Oregon and her photo updates are insanely amazing. The food scene out there blows my mind. I’d visit Sweet Pea Bakery, Salt & Straw, Departure, Kachka, to name a few. I would also take my sweet husband to a Portland Timbers soccer match to make all of his dreams come true.
  • Miami! I can’t tell you I have great intentions with this one. I just want to eat some great Cuban food, walk on the boardwalk, and wear a neon bikini on the beach. Give me a break.
  • Chiang Mai! Have you watched the Andy Ricker documentary, Farang, yet? Andy Ricker is the founder of Pok Pok, Whisky Soda Lounge, and Sen Yai. He’s totally obsessed with Norther Thai cuisine and has me craving it, too. Summer heat makes me crave hot food, both in temperature and spice. I want to see things I’ve never seen and be surrounded by voices and words I don’t understand. I want to find the most secret, sacred food spots – and I want my world turned upside-down.
  • Quebec! Confession: I really dislike summer. It hasn’t been too bad this year in Nebraska, but it hasn’t been good. I’m craving feet of snow and subzero temperatures. I’ve already started putting cinnamon in almost everything. I want to go to a sugar-shack-turned-restaurant in the middle of the woods in Quebec and I want to eat Sugar On Snow. A pile of it. Take me to Cabane à Sucre Au Pied de Cochon. Maple desserts for days and any gluttonous thing you can imagine, all set inside a log cabin. Have I told you how much I love maple syrup?
  • Montana! I want to turn off my phone, pack my backpack full of snacks, and I want to get lost in the woods. A friend of mine does this every year and calls it Montanathon and I just want to go there and be there and see nothing but hidden lakes and big trees.
  • Honolulu! A former coworker from the International Culinary Center moved to Honolulu at the end of last year and opened Koko Head Cafe this year. She sources from local farms and local waters and the food has me droolin’ all over Instagram. Also, I’m craving beach time real bad.
  • Jukkasjärvi! This is going on my fall and winter list, too. The one and only IceHotel is in this small northern Sweden town. While you can’t sleep on blocks on ice in the summer, it’s tucked deep in the heart of nature and you get to experience the incredibly long days of summer in this very northern spot. I’m fascinated with places at both ends of our Earth and hope to visit them in the extreme times of year.