If you could email Santa Claus and ask for anything in the world, no matter how crazy, what would you ask for? With the holidays around the corner, I thought it would be fun to ask fellow travel bloggers to email or send a text message to Santa Claus. Some took the opportunity to ask for something they couldn’t afford while others decided to use their platform to give back. Some will make you laugh, and a couple may make you shed a tear. Keep reading to find out what was requested during their chat with Santa!
Travelers email Santa Claus. Hope they make it on the nice list!
Whaddup Santa it's me, Kay. Again. In case you don't remember me, I'm the girl that asked for you to clear up all those parking tickets last year. Anyway, this year is different. I have had SUCH fortunate opportunities to travel. Yes, I work my butt off doing tons of overtime, but I have the luxury of being able to save money to put towards my own interests. Unfortunately, not everyone is in a position where they can put travel as a priority. So, this year Santa, my wish is for you to help make travel a possibility for other people. Travel is such a huge eye-opener to different cultures, languages, and history, and one of the best teachers I've ever had.
The Kingsman Global Dreamers Foundation is a registered non-profit organization dedicated to making international travel more accessible for young adults and students by sponsoring costs for passport applications. Santa, if you could please donate to this foundation, it would help provide the opportunity of travel to so many young people! And THAT is the gift that really keeps giving.
Something travel related that I'd like to receive for Christmas, that I've never gotten around to buying myself, would be some photo frames for photos taken while travelling abroad. I have hard drives full of pictures, but I think in the last 5 years I've probably printed less than a dozen photos. I think it can be nice to decorate your house with pictures of things you've done with your life - including travelling.
It isn't anything particularly luxurious or expensive - just something I've never gotten around to. Although there are many digital photo frames now, that will show your .jpg files, I think there is something nice about having an actual printed out photo in your hands, or on your wall in a frame.
The one experience I can't afford but I would love for Santa Claus to give me for Christmas is a time machine for myself, my Mum and my son.
Just to go back in time and to be able to speak to my Dad again. For my son to enjoy one more game of football or mini golf in their back garden with him. Just to hear him say one more time that he loves me and one more cuddle from him. He must have access to a time machine as for how else can he deliver all those presents around the world.
All I want for Christmas is an... old school VW campervan! I know it's a big ask, but we want it so bad. It doesn't have to be new, or in excellent condition, we like the old ones, and we're happy to fix it up! It will be painted bright orange with green seats. The whole van is planned out (in our heads) plus we've already started practising the DIY projects to fit it with an outdoor shower and cooker. The only thing that is lacking is the funds to buy it...
Currently, we cycle around the world, which we love, but we have so much stuff. Too much stuff for two bicycles to carry. The time has definitely come to upgrade just in time for our next trip. In January we will be cycling from the UK to India, and it will be very sad not to have our guitar or plants with us for such a long time. If we had the van, we could DRIVE to India and take everything with us!
Related: Luxury Travel Gifts For The Globetrotter On Your List
I love travelling, but don’t like the feeling of homesickness you sometimes get when spending too much time away from home.If I could email Santa Claus and ask for anything this Christmas, I would love the chance to go on one of those big cruises with everything included. Like entertainment, pools, casino, basic health care attention, and fancy restaurants.
But not for a week, for a year! Many companies are doing long routes around the world where you get to visit hundreds of cities without having to pack your suitcases or take other means of transportation. I think it would be like having a second home (the cruise) where you can move around without any effort. I can’t think of anything better to ask for!
Dear Santa,
This year, I would really like a Mediterranean cruise. But not one that visits the same 5 destinations with thousands who care more about putting their belly up to the buffet than what’s on land.
I’d love a smaller, experiential cruise of 6 months with Mediterranean enthusiasts that will stop at smaller, lesser known locations where you have a week in port to experience what life on the Mediterranean is like.
I want to visit places like the beautiful islands around Split, Croatia, and the coasts of Montenegro and Albania. Let’s go to southern Turkey and see Hadrian’s Gate, along with the new, chic Beirut. Do we dare put our feet on the UN Buffer Zone near Larnaca, Cyprus? Let’s gorge on Kalamata olives and learn to make lace in Greece! How about sliding into Agrigento, Sicily to visit the Valley of the Temples and other UNESCO gems? And there are so many North African and southern Spanish destinations well worth exploring. Let’s make it happen, Santa! Thank you.
Maureen
Dear Santa,
I have been a good girl this year, and I’d really love one year of not owning a dog so we can take a family gap year to travel the world. We love him dearly, but he really restricts our ability to travel for longer periods of time.
It is a dream of ours to do a round-the-world-trip, and with my hubby being able to work remotely, it could be easily done. But not while we have a dog. My parents take him for 2-3 weeks a few times a year, but I think a year would be pushing it. We love travelling and try to make a few trips a year but a whole year on the move would be awesome. We could tick so many countries off our bucket list.
Dear Santa, I would be extremely grateful if you gift me a peaceful month-long vacation in Scotland where my two little ones also enjoy the getaway instead of being fussy or demanding all the time. I want them to enjoy travelling and savour the beauty of travelling as a family.
I would love to just plop down on a picnic blanket with my husband and stare at gorgeous greenery, majestic cliffs and hear the soothing sounds of the ocean at a distance. All this while the kids are happy and enjoying a good picnic feast in the midst of nature.
Dear Santa:
I've been good all year and believe I deserve a gift. Specifically, I would like a cruise on an all-suite ship that travels around the world. This is an all-inclusive trip that circumnavigates the globe stopping at no less than 68 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Included in the price are all the shore excursions, drinks (including the good stuff) specialty restaurants and much more. Come through for me, Santa!
I would love to go on a dive trip to the Galapagos Islands. I was in Ecuador 18 years ago, but I was backpacking through South America and couldn’t afford to go then. Now it seems even further from a possibility. Diving in the Galapagos Islands is best on a liveaboard around the northern-most Darwin, and Wolf Islands, which are a little separate from the islands visited for regular trips. They are not cheap – weeklong liveaboard dive trips start at more than $500 per day. But this is some of the best diving in the world, and I would LOVE to dive there and have the chance to see penguins, marine iguanas, hammerhead sharks, rays, whale sharks and sea lions!
If there’s one thing I would like for Christmas that I cannot get for myself right now it's a dinner at Noma. A two-Michelin star restaurant in Copenhagen, named the best in the world four times in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014.
Run by René Redzepi, Noma serves its own interpretation of Nordic cuisine. They divide the year into three seasons — seafood, vegetables, and game and forest — to use only the ingredients that are at their peak at any given time of the year. At USD$350 per person, dinner at Noma is definitely going to burn a hole in one’s wallet so, Santa, if you could arrange something, I’d be delighted!
Hello Santa, I’ve been good! In the last year, we have driven from San Francisco to Atlanta, up to Freeport, Maine, back down to Boston and New York City. Now as you know, we have driven back to the west coast to Seattle. We have stayed in all kinds of exciting places via a tent, cabin, BnB’s and hotels, which has been amazing but you know what? What I would like to have is a luxury motorhome.
It doesn’t even have to be super big, but oh my we have seen some fantastic RV’s and Motorhomes all around the USA. It would be so awesome to have my things with me and not have to pack and unpack over and over again. What do you think? You don’t even need to put a bow on it; the keys will do. Thank you Santa! xoxo Cynthia Graham
If I had an extra 19,000 USD lying around, I would totally go for a flight on the Singapore Suites Airbus A380. The interior was designed by Coste, a yacht designer, and it literally has a double-bed in the sky.
Can you imagine? No donut pillow around the neck, no toddlers screaming in the seats ahead…. just pure luxury and the joy of looking to your next destination.
This would be the ultimate travel gift, as the hefty price tag renders it unattainable for most of us. But, we can certainly dream and play the lottery in hopes of winning!
The one experience I would love to have but can’t afford would be an Antarctic Cruise. As a photographer, I’ve travelled across the world, but I have yet to step on the Antarctic continent. Something about the place, its desolate beauty perhaps, calls to me.
Departing from the most southerly permanently inhabited city in the world, Argentina’s Ushuaia, these basic to luxury cruises span 5-15 days travelling to and from Antarctica. Crossing the Drake Passage, one of the most notorious pieces of the ocean on earth, only to arrive in the unspoiled wilderness of the Waddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula would be a dream come true for an adventurous traveller like me!
Dear Santa,
I have been travelling for a while now. However, there is a place I can't bring myself to due to some financial restraint. I really really want to go to Norway during the winter season to see the Fjords, the northern lights, get on a tour in the Arctic circle, and go skiing in Norwegian mountains for a month.
These are experiences that can only be tried in Norway, at the same time, these activities are very expensive and travelling in Norway, in general, can cost a fortune while my travel fund can only afford a trip in Southeast Asia. In case you are feeling generous, please thrown in flight tickets and a low-cost travel insurance *wink*!
Dear Santa,
Since I was just a kid, I dreamt of going on a cruise up the inside passage, through Glacier Bay and stopping at some of the historic Alaskan towns such as the gold mining town of Skagway. Ketchikan's totem pole collection would also be incredible to see along the way.
I first saw images of the inside passage along the Canadian Coast and up to Alaska in a National Geographic magazine and have been fascinated ever since. All I want is a simple, luxury cruise on an amazing ship, please Santa.
Related:
Dear Santa,
I would really love to see the Northern Lights - it is at the top of my bucket list. While there are several countries where you can see this incredible natural phenomenon, I am hoping to see it in Scandinavia since that is a region of Europe I have yet to visit. I have read about and seen photos of a glass igloo hotel in Finland, and that would be the perfect place for me to see the Northern Lights!
Since the Northern Lights are not always visible especially on cloudy nights, I would like to stay at the igloo hotel for at least 2 to 3 nights to increase my chances of seeing the Aurora borealis during my visit.
Love, Patti
Dear Santa,
Since I have been such a great wife and mom this year, could you please get me a trip to Willamette and Napa Valley to taste wine and eat food? Oregon and California are the two famous wine areas in the US, and they both have a fantastic food scene. You know that I love to eat great food and drink nice wine and it is something that I truly cannot afford to splurge on.
It would be extra special if my mom and sister could come with me and we are driven around eating and visiting different wineries in the countryside for at least a week. It would be so relaxing and enjoyable to unwind and share a meal and drink with family in such beautiful settings.
Dear Santa,
It is a long time since I’ve written to you, but for Christmas this year I want to go to Croatia. Croatia is full of amazing experiences, like the Sea Organ and Sun Salutation art installations at Zadar, or the pristine wonderland of Plitvice Lakes. But what I really want is to go to Vis Island.
Vis, the furthest island from the coast of Croatia is special because it was a military island, only opened to the public in 1989. It is so different from the other Croatian islands. Its port, lined with Venetian Stone buildings is a romantic place for yachts to moor and people to stroll.
Vis Island has unique “007” experiences like exploring a very real submarine pen by boat or partying the night away at Fort George. Situated on a headland with superb ocean views, Fort George was first built then abandoned by the English - and has now become an outdoor nightclub.
I am very sorry I haven’t written to you for so long Santa, but I promise I have been good and hope you will grant my wish.
Yours truly,
Jan from Budget Travel Talk
Dear Santa,
We recently spent a month on a road trip around the national parks of North America and we fell in love! Please please Santa may I have a luxury RV so that we can fulfill our dream of visiting all of the national parks of the United States
Dear Santa,
I have been very fortunate to have traveled as much as I have and that I was able to visit Antarctica a few years ago. After my incredible trip to Antarctica, I was inspired to visit the other polar region of Earth. I would love to receive a free trip to the Arctic on a cruise that includes a visit to the North Pole.
As you know those cruises are very expensive (starting at about $30,000 per person) so that is not something I can afford. In addition to stepping foot on the North Pole, this dream cruise would also give me the opportunity to see polar bears and other arctic wildlife in their natural habitat.
Love,
Matilda
One experience I would love as a gift this Christmas is an all-expenses-paid trip back to Bali. Bali, the beautiful Indonesian island has suffered such heartache over the last couple of years. If it’s not the threat of volcanoes, it’s the regular earthquakes causing destruction off the coast. Bali isn’t perfect. It’s far from perfect. In places, it’s run down, poor and filled with poverty. There are traffic jams on top of traffic jams and pollution everywhere.
But do you know what? I loved everything about Bali. There’s something magical about a place that can be so poor, yet so rich at the same time. So ugly, yet so beautiful and so happy when surrounded by so much sadness. It’s an experience you can only believe by seeing it for yourself. An experience that you won’t appreciate until you are back home. An experience you’ll be longing to do again.
Related: Luxury One Week Bali Itinerary For First Time Visitors
The northern hemisphere at Christmas is freezing cold, so there’s nowhere better to be than inside, curled up somewhere warm. Add in thousands of books, and you’ve discovered my perfect way to hibernate for a couple of weeks. The people at Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden, North Wales, must have been reading my Christmas wish list when they decided to offer overnight stays at the library!
With 26 boutique rooms, access to 150,000 books, extended hours in the Reading Rooms (for books in the collections that aren’t available for loan), an onsite bistro for sustenance, and permits to stroll the gardens of nearby Hawarden Castle, should you feel the need for some fresh air, it’s got absolutely everything a book lover could ever need. Their biggest problem might be getting me to leave again!
If you could email Santa Claus and ask for anything in the world, no matter how crazy, what would you ask for? Tell me in the comments below!
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