My September Travel Dilemma - Part 2: The Short-Haul Options (And Why None of Them Are Perfect)

One week off. Three short-haul options on the table. Here's why none of them fully solve the puzzle.

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7/16/20264 min read

My post contentSo here's where I am: I've got one week off in September. I've got three realistic short-haul options. And none of them actually solve the puzzle.

Let me walk you through what's actually on the table.

Option 1: Istanbul + Cappadocia

This is my top bucket list item that almost fits. 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. And here's the thing: once I get back from that, my week is gone. My bucket list has one item ticked. And September's over.

So Istanbul + Cappadocia isn't moving to a one-week slot. It's moving to my "short breaks" list. I'll do it over a bank holiday weekend. I'll stretch it with a long weekend. But not now. Not this September.

That's the compromise: I move it to a different calendar. The trip doesn't disappear—it just gets rescheduled to whenever I can steal an extra three days.

Option 2: Albania

Albania is at the top of my short-haul list. The north is stunning. Pristine beaches, mountain villages, no crowds. The Accursed Mountains, Lake Koman, Durrës, Sarandë.

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). 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 the likely one. And this is where the real compromise gets 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 Casablanca, Essouira, Taghazout, Marrakech, and get back to the coast. That's doable.

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 here's what I'm actually doing: I'm doing Casablanca, Essouira, Taghazout, Marrakech this September. I'm getting the coastal road trip dialed. Then in a future trip—maybe next year, maybe in two years—I loop back and add Fes and the mountain routes.

My guides expand. My bucket list stays full. My week off fits the constraints.

It's not the trip I want. It's the trip that actually works.

Option 4: Miami + Key West (The Red-Eye Wildcard)

Then there's the curveball: red-eye Sunday evening to Miami, back late Sunday evening. Seven full days instead of five.

Miami has the energy I want right now. Key West has the vibe. Beaches, good food, walking around in shorts in September (yes, it's humid, yes, it's hurricane season—but the gamble is part of it). It's close enough that the red-eye actually works. It's far enough that it feels like a proper trip.

With the red-eye strategy, I get Monday through Sunday on the ground. That's a solid week. Not rushed. Not compromised.

Here's the thing though: it's the safe choice. The easy choice. I could do this trip tomorrow and it would be fine. But "fine" isn't why my bucket list is full. Zanzibar isn't fine. Costa Rica isn't fine. These are the trips I actually want.

Miami/Key West with red-eyes feels like settling. Which means, realistically, it's also my backup plan. If Morocco falls through, if the flights don't line up, if I wake up one day and just need something that works—Miami is sitting there, ready to go.

But is it what I want for September? Not really.

Why None of These Are Actually Solving It

Here's the pattern: 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. One week 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.

So here's what I'm actually doing for September: Morocco. The coastal road trip. Casablanca, Essouira, Marrakech. Not the complete version—but a version I can live with.

But that still leaves Zanzibar, Costa Rica, Raja Ampat, Thailand, 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—and why that's the real reason it stays full.

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.