My September Travel Dilemma - Part 2

The Short-Haul Options

GENERAL

7/16/20263 min read

a river with a bridge and buildings
a river with a bridge and buildings

If you read part 1, here's where I am: I've got one week off in September but only 6 nights Monday morning to Sunday night. I've got three realistic short-haul options. And none of them actually fit 100% - which shows even travel creators have planning problems. I've used my planning methodology to work through and as promised - here are my options.

Option 1: Istanbul + Cappadocia

This has been on my bucket list for about 5 years. Three days in Istanbul. Two days in Cappadocia (for the hot air balloons and fairy chimneys). That's five solid days of actual experience, plus travel days between cities.

I could technically use the remaining two days elsewhere. The Turkish Riviera is calling—Bodrum, Dalyan, anywhere on the coast. But getting from Cappadocia to the coast and back to the airport in two days means you're just travelling. You're not actually being anywhere.

So it uses my entire week off for one trip when realistically this can be saved for a long weekend if I cut it to two days in Instanbul. So Istanbul + Cappadocia is off the list and moving to my "short breaks" list.

Option 2: Albania

Albania takes the number one slot of my short-haul list. The beaches are insane as are the mountain villages.

I could cut travel time by flying into Corfu first, then hopping to Albania. That saves a day. But I still have to pick: North or South. I can't do both in a week without it being a logistical nightmare.

Six days in Albania isn't six days in Albania if you're spending two of them getting between regions.

So here's the realistic version: I do Albania this September—just not all of Albania. I do a coastal trip (Sarandë, Durrës, maybe one mountain stop for the day). Then next year, I come back for the North.

Which means my week off is occupied, but my bucket list isn't complete. I'm building Albania trip by trip.

Option 3: Morocco Road Trip

This is where things get interesting.

I want to expand my Morocco guides. Right now I've got Marrakech dialed in. But I want Casablanca, Essouira, Taghazout, and Fes all in the mix. A proper Atlantic coast road trip. Beaches, surfing towns, mountain passes, the works.

One week? I can do probably do 3 stops if I cut Marrakech to one night and use the different airports on offer. I would just need to choose my destinations and build my itinerary.

Fes? Fes needs to be added. But Fes is inland, it's a detour from the coast route, and fitting it in means cutting something else so that's been removed as an option this time.

So this trip on paper fits - but is is the very top of my wishlist? No, but it does have a benefit in that it allows me to really expand my travel guides.

Why None of These Are Actually Solving It

I've got three short-haul options. One of them (Istanbul + Cappadocia) is getting bumped to a different calendar entirely. One of them (Albania) requires two trips to do properly. One of them (Morocco) is a compromise—I get some of what I want, but not all of it.

And September still feels unsettled. Because even when you narrow it down to "things that are geographically close," the logistical constraints don't disappear. They just get more creative.

One week isn't enough for two countries and means choosing between quality and quantity. One week means making peace with incomplete trips and come-back-later itineraries.

Which is fine. Actually, it's kind of beautiful—it means I'll have reasons to travel to these places again. But it's also why my bucket list stays full which is what prompted this blog series to begin with.

But that still leaves Zanzibar, Costa Rica, Raja Ampat, Thailand part 2, Philippines Part 2, Belize - and about ten other places sitting there. All of them long-haul. All of them requiring more than a week.

Which is what Part 3 is about. Why every single item on my actual bucket list needs 3+ weeks minimum.

Subscribe to stay tuned. And if you're in the same boat (short trips aren't scratching the itch, but long-haul doesn't fit your calendar), grab the Travel Log guides for how to at least make your compromise trips count.