Jaisy and Daniel’s top 5 travel memories

We have been lucky in traveling to some incredible places over the years (and every year it just keeps getting better!) For inspiration (and because we never miss a chance to wax eloquent about some of our favourite places), we want to share our top “pinch me” travel memories.

What makes a stellar travel memory? It’s not always a dream destination or a big event. More often, it’s a visual, and a feeling, and a sudden shift in awareness. It’s what makes traveling so special – the unpredictable ways just being somewhere, at some time, can leave such a profound impact.

5. Jade Mountain Resort, St. Lucia

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to travel like a celebrity, this is it.

Staying at the Jade Mountain Resort was hands-down the biggest splurge of our travel lives. It was our most extravagant experience, but also one of the most intimate and relaxing. (I guess money *can* buy such things, after all…)

Tucked into the mountains on the quieter side of St. Lucia, Jade Mountain feels like you’ve been whisked away to some lavish retreat you saw in a movie. Our suite (the resort calls them sanctuaries) had an open fourth wall, bringing us closer to nature. We had our own infinity pool, and our own major domo who even volunteered to unpack our bags for us! And we had a mind-boggling view of the pitons we just could not get enough of (because of the open 4th wall, you can even appreciate it from the shower… or toilet). All we did was relax and luxuriate in our room. In the evening, we had a phenomenal meal at their rooftop restaurant under the stars.

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary here, and it was definitely an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind experience.

4. Yangshuo Mountain Retreat, Guilin, China

Hmm… maybe there’s a theme going on here. We clearly love these restorative, off-the-beaten path, otherworldly view spots.

The most remarkable feeling of our stay was suddenly finding this complete sense of peace amidst the hustle and bustle that is China. We’d been traveling through China for 3 weeks by this point, and driving into Yangshuo was like suddenly falling into a storybook. Yangshuo Mountain is a true retreat, tucked away in the Yulong Scenic Area. You pay a fee to enter the region, and while there are tourists, most travel in tour groups and stop at designated attractions.

In Chinese, there is a phrase “山水”, which literally translates to “mountain-water”, but means “scenery”. We just loved having breakfast by the Yulong river every morning, spending the day biking through the karst mountains and hiking into the fields, and enjoying a beverage on the balcony while soaking up the incredible views. It really is the epitome of what traveling means for us.

3. Luxor, Egypt

*Everything* about Luxor.

This is a Jaisy-centric memory, but ones she shares with her travel friends (who are still traveling together over a decade and a half later!) We had taken a tropical diseases course as students and had spent the past month in Egypt, living in dormitories and cheap hotels as we traveled about Egypt by school bus on our days off. We made some incredible friends that trip, and learned so much – not just about infectious diseases, but about Egyptian culture and traveling to new places… Luxor was the exclamation mark that ended an incredible adventure.

Luxor was not part of the course, so we’d splurged a bit on a nicer hotel by the Nile. We’d lounge by the pool during the day, take felucca rides on the Nile at sunset, and explore ancient temples at night. There was something so magical about wandering through the Valley of the Kings in the scorching heat and exploring Karnak temple at sunrise – it was an immersive experience in history like we had never known.

Oh, and we had the best bananas and fresh dates I’ve ever had in my life.

2. Wedding photos in Tuscany, Italy

It’s pretty hard not to have your destination wedding as one of your favourite travel memories.

While the entire day was a dream (coming from someone who was never much interested in having a wedding in the first place!) what really stands out from the day were the hours we took for ourselves in the Tuscan countryside, while our guests relaxed at the villa. Not only was this a good chance to grab some romantic photos, it was time to spend on our wedding day for just the two of us (and our astute photographer). We got to wander fields and vineyards, surrounded by bales of hay and rows of giant cypress trees. We had an unforgettable walk through a tiny medieval hilltop village, cheered on by the occasional local shaking out her rugs or watering the plants.

On our way back to our villa, we ran into a routine police check. The policeman came up to our car, and our photographer rolled down the window. When he caught sight of Jaisy in her wedding dress, he exclaimed, “Bella! nozze (wedding)!” and cheerfully waved us on our way.

1. Camping in the Serengeti, Tanzania

We are not campers. Th main reason we chose to camp on our Tanzanian safari was because it was significantly cheaper than staying in lodges. But camping while on safari was one of those moments when nothing has changed, but suddenly everything feels different. There is nothing that makes you realize how small you really are then being out in the savannah at night, with darkness in every direction and infinite stars overhead. You might read about how vast the universe is, but here you experience it for the first time. There are a few pavilions and buildings on the campground, but it is mostly tents scattered amongst the bushes. You can hear lions, hyenas, and other wild sounds all night long. More than anything, we realize that nature is the world’s default, and we are simply visiting.