It’s 1:38 a.m. and I’m jolted awake by the ping of a WhatsApp text.
“The Northern Lights are out,” it reads.
The text is coming from another person I met aboard my Havila Voyages cruise through the Norwegian fjords. We’re currently just off the coast of Tromsø.
I rush up to the deck, and there they are, in their purple and green dazzling glory. I didn’t grab a jacket in my rushed attempt to sight the natural phenomenon, so I’m cold. But I don’t care. Finally, I am seeing the Northern Lights. And the only reason I’m here is because I decided to give Norway a second chance, despite my first experience there in 2017 not leaving a lasting mark.
As an avid country-counter and adrenaline junkie, it usually takes a pretty strong incentive to get me to return to a country I’ve already been to. I started this year in typical Kaitlyn-travel fashion, with an epic bucket list of new nations to add to my 80+ country count. Following that lead, I ended up on a 21-day road trip from South Africa to Zambia with Exodus Adventure Travels. Despite how incredible the experience was, after three weeks of a truly wild adventure, I found myself craving familiarity in an effort to decompress. So I headed to Italy, my go-to happy place. It was while slow-traveling there that a lightbulb went off: Instead of trying to tick off new countries, what if I use the rest of this year to revisit ones I’ve already been to, to see them with new eyes? And I’ve done just that.
Italy: The Catalyst to Return Travel
It wouldn’t only be after my Africa road trip that I’d return to Italy — I’d end up back there several more times throughout the year. In May, I visited the Marche region for the first time. I ate regional specialties like olive all’ascolana (fried, stuffed olives) and vincisgrassi (a pasta dish similar to lasagna) and saw an entirely different side of the country by learning about I Borghi più belli d’Italia. After my time in Le Marche, I rented a car and drove to Pignola in Basilicata, my great-grandmother’s hometown. Though I had been to Pignola in the past, I wanted to go back to finally search for her birth certificate, the one missing puzzle piece that would make me officially eligible for Italian citizenship. I rented a small apartment on Booking.com, and on my first full day there, I go the birth certificate from the municipio. Return travel not only brought me the Northern Lights, but it just might have brought me dual citizenship, too.
In September, I took the train up to Piedmont to tick off a major bucket list item: Truffle hunting with pups in Alba. I arranged a weekend with Langhe Experience, and thanks to their assistance, I got to spend a sunny Saturday morning truffle-hunting with a dog named Book, leaving with two fresh black truffles. And while truffles are what brought me to Alba, I’d learn the small Piemontese city is also home to tonda gentile alla langhe, a specific type of hazelnut that’s arguably the best in the world (which makes sense, considering Alba is the birthplace of Nutella).
Looking on a map, I saw how close I was to Valle d’Aosta, so still being the impulsive, bucket list-ticker at heart, I took a long bus ride up to the least visited Italian region and spent a few nights in Aosta, the region’s capital. From there, I commuted all the way across the country to Trieste in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, home to some of the best white wine and coffee in Italy. Because I chose to continuously return to Italy this year, worrying less about “seeing new countries” and more about seeing one I love more in-depth, I have now proudly been to 18 of 20 Italian regions, making return travel anything but an adventureless feat.
A Year of Luxury Travel, Too
My country count is as high as it is because I spent much of my 20s backpacking. This meant sleeping in many airports, sharing rooms with more than 30 strangers in sketchy hostels and generally doing as much on a shoestring budget as possible. Those days, thankfully, are over, and in my quest for revisiting countries this year, I made sure to do so in style.
For my birthday, I wanted to treat myself to a proper vacation, but I didn’t want to go too far from the United States. Mexico is never a bad idea, and having been two times prior, I decided to go back. But this time, I went somewhere new: Mexico City. I booked a stay at the newly-opened Kimpton Virgilio in Polanco, the Beverly Hills of Mexico City. While I had always envisioned my time in Mexico City as being a wild, adventurous, taco-eating sprawl, my jaunt ended up having a bit more balance. Yes, I ate as many tacos as my body could handle, but I also spent time enjoying the tub in my room, sipping wine on my private balcony and not feeling guilty for sleeping more than 10 hours my first day there.
I didn’t only visit Mexico for the third time this year, but Austria, too. The last time I was in Vienna, I was on such a tight budget that I slept on the airport floor. So this time, I treated myself to an adorably chic room at Hotel MOTTO. Because I had already been to the city, I didn’t feel the pressure of having to tick off major attractions and simply enjoyed my time aimlessly wandering. One day, I used my Eurail Pass to leave Vienna entirely by taking a casual day trip to Slovakia, just to feed that inevitable hunger of adding to my country count.
When I was invited to a wedding in Paris in October, I reluctantly said yes — Paris isn’t my favorite place in the world, and having been four times, it was one destination I simply did not have the desire to return to. So, I based myself out of Champagne instead, which is only a 45-minute express train ride from the City of Love. In Champagne, I’d take treating myself to luxury to a whole new level with my stay at The Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa. A sprawling suite with my own private balcony overlooking the rolling hills of Champagne while popping a bottle of Leclerc Briant, all to myself, was like the solo honeymoon of my dreams.
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Appreciating My Own Backyard With More Domestic Travel
“Slowing down” my travel style has meant appreciating more of my own country, too. I took my dog, Bowie, on a road trip from New York to Florida for his 12th birthday. While I have personally done this exact road trip several times throughout my life, I made it a vow to stop at different destinations along the way. First up was Virginia Beach, which I had surprisingly never been to. We stayed at Hyatt Place Virginia Beach Oceanfront, a dog-friendly hotel right on the boardwalk. It was there I was humbly reminded that Bowie is a city dog through and through and absolutely hates the sand. (Noted, Bowie!) So, I made sure our next stop was in a proper city, landing on Savannah, Georgia, which would end up being one of my favorite destinations all year.
It wasn’t only Bowie who pushed me to travel more throughout the United States. Years ago, I kept having vivid dreams I moved to Seattle, despite having never been there. This year, I’d finally go, and continuing with the luxury travel trend, I treated myself to a stay at Four Seasons Hotel Seattle, where I took full advantage of the property’s infinity pool overlooking the Pacific, Mojito in hand. From Seattle, I’d embark on my first ever cruise with Holland America Line to Alaska, marking my 41st state. It’s still one of my favorite party facts that I’d been to more than 80 countries, including solo traveling to far flung destinations like Zambia and Jeju Island, before ever stepping foot on a cruise.
Return Travel Is Here to Stay
I’m no longer as reluctant as I once was to return to countries I’ve already been to. Because of my travel style this year, two of my new globetrotting goals are to visit my final two regions of Italy (Molise and Sardinia), along with my remaining nine U.S. states. If there’s a new experience to be had, like taking my first cruise or finally seeing the Northern Lights, I’d only be robbing myself by choosing not to travel somewhere because I’ve “already having been there.” Despite a still jam-packed travel year, I’ve learned that returning to a place generally leaves more flexibility, like taking a day trip to Slovakia if you feel like it or sleeping for 10 hours in Mexico. Safe to say, return travel, at least for me, is here to stay.
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