I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.

That quote couldn’t be truer for us. While we haven’t stepped foot in every country in the world, we have hit 60 of them in the past two years (and over 80 countries in our lives). As you can imagine, we have a lot of thoughts about where we’ve been — some of them may even be worth sharing. ;P

To set expectations, here’s what we value in a good vacation spot:

Fresh and inventive cuisine — the more vegetarian-friendly, the better.
Natural beauty — we enjoy mountains, waterfalls, hot springs, the ocean, lakes, rivers, and forests. We don’t discriminate.
Cultural hub — although we love getting away from the hustle and bustle of a city during the day, we also love to be able to stroll past an artisan market on the way to a top-rated restaurant for dinner while listening to tales from locals.
Enchanting history — museums are a dime a dozen, but if there are ruins involved, we’re in. We keep an eye open for the mysteries of the world.

So, without further ado, here’s where we think you should take your next vacation…

1. Iceland

Iceland has been growing in popularity ever since Game of Thrones began filming there, but the hype is valid, y’all. This was unanimously our favorite country of the trip. We rented a car for 10 days and drove across most of the island scouting out glacial lakes, craters, geysers, hot springs, volcanos, waterfalls, lava fields, 300 types of moss, and just about every other natural beauty that Earth can offer. Don’t miss the Golden Circle hotspots! On top of the unique terrain, Reykjavik has a quaint downtown area complete with unique bars and legit cuisine.

2. Chile

OK, this one was rather surprising for us. We had no idea how vast and magical Chile really was until we had the daunting task of having to choose between going North or South from Santiago for our road trip there. We ultimately chose South, but now we have a good reason to go back to see what the North has got goin’ on (the Atacama desert and the best star gazing around!). Everyone we asked told us about the Lakes District, so we luckily stumbled into a fairy tale land there called Huilo Huilo. The vibe there is indescribable — it’s like you’re in a forest-themed Dr. Seuss book and you never want to leave. But, alas, once we did leave we also got to see Pucón as well as a bit of Patagonia around Puerto Natales.

Which brings us to our next point: Puerto Natales is incredible. We did the much talked about W base trek, which took a total of 8 hours and had a LOT of ups and downs. But we treated ourselves with delicious food for basically every meal we had there so all our aches and pains were worth it. It was Michelin star quality (don’t miss Lenga) and we much preferred the food scene here over Santiago. Hot tip: take the distillery tour at Last Hope.

We can’t forget the star of the show, though. Ever heard of a little place called Easter Island? We were seeking a little mystery, and mystery we found. The ancient Moai statues are so interesting to learn about, and the street dogs there are the most loving pups we’ve ever met!

3. Tasmania

“But what is there to even do in Tasmania?” I asked Tristan before booking our flight there. Oh boy, was I in for a treat. This was one of those islands that had the perfect proximity between civilization and nature. You could grab a delicious flat white coffee in town and then be out in the mountains within 20 minutes. There are numerous hikes and drives you can take part in, and the island is easy to explore within a couple of days (we recommend taking a week). Did you know there really are Tasmanian devils roaming around, too? But you mostly need to watch the road for rogue wallabies jumping out into the street.

We also mentioned this before, but the Museum of Old and New Art is one of our favorites around the world.

4. South Africa

Animals, nature, city, culture. South Africa has it all. Cape Town specifically has captivated us, and we’ve been lucky enough to visit twice now. It’s an easy jumping off point for safaris (or maybe even Afrikaburn?), and there are so many things to get into during your time there. We hiked Table Mountain (the huge rock face looming over the city), visited the botanical garden, saw the Cape of Good Hope, did day trips to a penguin colony and to Stellenbosch to visit some wineries, [Tristan] attempted to dive with great white sharks until it got called off due to wind, visited Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and two other presidents were once imprisoned, and so much more! The food here is cheap and tasty, and it’s a rich cultural experience for anyone.

5. Slovenia

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: WE LOVE THE BALKANS! Slovenia was no exception. This charming country had the least amount of tourists out of any European country we visited, yet it was still so welcoming. On top of that, it has all the European charm that you might expect to find in the streets of Paris…except better. Lake Bled is an unbelievable beauty. There’s a castle built directly into the side of a cave. There’s a gorge you can hike along with rushing water flowing next to you. There’s even a monastery built on the island in the middle of the lake. It’s easy to rent a car and drive. The prices are reasonable. What more could you ask for? Even the capital city of Ljubljana was wonderful with a beautiful stone-lined river flowing through the middle of it with a young, hip, and creative population.

6. Egypt

What Egypt lacks in lush nature, it makes up for in the most fascinating history we’ve ever known. Sure, you learn about pyramids and mummies in grade school, but to actually see tombs and intact engravings that are thousands of years old is pretty incredible. We visited Hurghada on the Red Sea, then did a Nile river cruise from Aswan to Luxor, then hopped on the train to Cairo. Luxor was definitely our favorite in terms of ruins — please don’t miss it if you find yourself in Egypt.

Cairo was dusty like an Indiana Jones movie and very busy (some of the craziest traffic we’ve seen), but we had to see the pyramids and Sphinx while we were there. They were great (and very hot), but our real favorite part of the city was Zamalek Island. There, we found shisha and our favorite falafel while sitting right on the Nile river. It’s a very popular place for good reason.

7. Turkey

In another surprising twist, Turkey turned out to be no ordinary land. When we thought about Turkey, we assumed that Istanbul was the main attraction here. Once we started looking into it, we instantly knew there was going to be a lot more to explore. While Istanbul did have some amazing food and the whole city was an open-air museum, it was a little too crowded for us. We headed to see the sunrise in Cappadocia, famous for its fairy chimneys and hot air balloons in the sky. Then we headed to Pamukkale to check out the ancient Roman ruins and thermal springs. The city itself was nothing special, but the travertine pools are the main attraction here and totally worth a trip.

8. Italy

Spaghetti! Pizza! Cacio e Pepe! Pistachio gelato! Buffalo mozzarella! Pesto trophi! OMG. If the food wasn’t enough to convince you (you fool), then maybe the vast variety of cities and landscapes will be. Okay, Italy is an obvious vacation spot, yes. BUT we spent a lot of time in Italy on our trip, going there on three different occasions. We visited Venice, Lake Como, Florence, Rome, Ischia, Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Capri. Not gonna lie, it’d be hard to pick a favorite. But if we had to choose, Tristan would pick Venice and Dany loves Lake Como (but also Capri). We have a lot to share about Italy — maybe in another post — but one main tip would be to avoid inland Italy in July. The last thing you want to do is a tour of the Colosseum in the scorching summer sun (lesson learned)!