After almost a year of quarantining, social distancing, and significantly reduced travel, we’re all experiencing wanderlust. Whether it’s a visit to sorely missed family and friends or a trek to a faraway land, we are all indulging in a little daydreaming. Here, the Fulcrum team shares some of the spots we plan to travel to when we are, once again, free to fly about the world.

Tim Clark

My favorite place to visit is Vancouver Island. I lived on the island for eight years and have found some hidden gems during our time there. We have family and many friends to visit when we go up there for a holiday. Surprisingly, there are some beautiful fresh-water lakes in addition to plenty of amazing ocean beaches. We also love all the rain forests to camp and hike around. The quiet of the island is also a draw for us.

Emilia Romagna, Italy, however, is on my bucket list. It’s a region in Northern Italy known for medieval cities, beaches, and the best cuisine in Italy. Bologna, the capital of the region, is particularly famous for its food. Our daughter Emilia is also very intrigued by a visit to the region that bears her name. Additionally, the region is central to other areas we’d like to visit, such as southern France, the Alps, Venice, Tuscany, Genoa, Florence, Milan and Rome.

Di Thigpen-Shankles

Some of my favorite places to go are in my proverbial backyard; I am lucky to live near the Mountain Loop Highway and its many hiking trails. It is a joy to be immersed in Pacific Northwest plant growth, to breathe fresh air, and to hear the symphonic sounds of nature.

When we’re all vaccinated and it is safe to travel overseas, I would like to visit South Korea. My interest comes from watching numerous Korean dramas and films during the past year. There are many similarities in the spoken language to Chinese. I want to see the historic buildings, the modern ones, and the rural lands in between the cities. Taking the KTX train from Seoul to Busan is a must!  South Korea is a big peninsula with many roads built alongside the sea, so to drive along the sealine is a trip in and of itself; it is a road trip within a trip!

Matt Wilkins

Last year, pre-pandemic lockdown, my summer travel plan was to return to Paris, as it has been over 15 years since my last visit. I was looking forward to reacquainting myself with the city’s café culture, walking through one of the less-explored arrondissements, and experiencing Monet’s Waterlilies at the polished and renovated (2006) Musée de l’Orangerie. The museum was either closed or under renovation on past visits, so viewing these paintings in one of the oval rooms built for them has been a long-standing wish. I would tack on a visit to Rolland Garros and the French Open—a bucket list item. Other destinations on my bucket list and worthy of acceleration in a post-pandemic world include Australia (specifically the Great Barrier Reef), New Zealand, and South Africa.

Janet Welcher

If I could go anywhere for a summer getaway, it would have to be Il San Pietro Di Positano.

This is a very special place and a splurge, but it is worth the necessary planning and saving. Il San Pietro is perched on a cliff and has breathtaking views of the Amalfi Coast all throughout the property. Each of the 57 rooms has a sea-view terrace and the property has its own private beach. We took the shuttle into town one afternoon to walk around and check out the famous sandals at Nana Positano’s. Bring several books and you will never want to leave.

John Richmond

I would venture over to Europe and explore Prague in the Czech Republic, which has been on my bucket list for years. I can imagine roaming around the city with a delicious beer in hand and admiring the Romanesque architecture as I find my way to the Vltava River walk. I’d love to catch a football game at the Old Town Square and aimlessly roam across the many bridges before having dinner at the Prague Castle. I hope Prague is my next adventure!

Darcy Johnson

Warm sun, a sandy beach, unobstructed forests, and a fast ski boat provide a formula for my ideal summer setting. We honeymooned at Priest Lake in Northern Idaho 40 years ago. Since then, our family has enjoyed the pristine setting of this remote lake which rivals Lake Washington in size but is as close to God as one can get on earth. The lake is nestled in the Selkirk Mountain Range in the panhandle of Idaho and stretches within 15 miles of the Canadian Border. Our holidays are action packed with every imaginable water sport (especially waterskiing), hiking, mountain biking, swimming, paddle boarding, sliding on the natural rock slide at Lion’s Head, and fishing. Chimney Rock offers a moderate hike to reach the peak of the highest mountain around and capture the never-ending landscape of this stunning scenery. We enjoy observing elk, deer, moose, bear, and critters of all types in the nearby woods. Relaxing by the fire at the end of the day, telling stories and reflecting on our gratitude for this place and the people in our lives is the essence of vacation for us. We try to go every year to reconnect to this glorious space.

Irene Martel

My family are baseball fans. My husband and I always try to catch a game at major league baseball parks wherever we travel, and we’ve started to do this with our children. Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Petco Park in San Diego are on our summer getaway wish list. It’ll be great if we can catch our favorite baseball teams, the Seattle Mariners and the Boston Red Sox, when they are playing at those stadiums.

Hayden Wieck

When thinking of the ideal summer vacation destination, close proximity to baseball games and bodies of water are high on my list of criteria. These preferences make Cape Cod one of my favorite vacation destinations.

While most people are already aware of Cape Cod’s historic maritime charm and ample beaches, fewer know about their premier summer baseball league. Every summer, the top collegiate baseball players in the country flock to the Cape Cod league to showcase their abilities ahead of the MLB draft. The ten-team league is stocked with talent on the cusp of breaking into major league baseball — the league boasts over 1,000 former players that have played in the Major Leagues! The best part: fans can attend games free of charge! Watching a baseball game at this level of play under the lights during a cool summer evening on the Cape while perched on an uncomfortable metal bleacher is baseball in its purest form, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a summer night!

If you find yourself in Falmouth for a game, nothing beats a quick pre-game stop at Pickle Jar Kitchen for a refreshing honey bourbon lemonade and one of their specialty sandwiches.

Kathryn Haggitt Fisher

I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and love getting down to the Delta in the springtime, when the magnolias and azaleas are in bloom and the humidity actually feels nice with temperatures only in the 70s. The Delta is definitely not a summer destination, however, as that same humidity is unbearable when it’s 95 degrees in the shade. For the hotter part of the summer, I head east to the hills of east Tennessee and mountains of western North Carolina. Rafting the Natahala River and hiking the Appalachian trail are fabulous ways to enjoy the natural beauty. For a cultural excursion, check out the Biltmore estate in Asheville, NC. Either way, sipping a cool cocktail on a porch swing is the ideal way to end the day.

Michelle Mathieu

Summer isn’t summer without a trip to the Oregon Coast. My annual pilgrimage started with a family vacation to Cannon Beach in 1979. We returned year after year, building friendships, sandcastles, and bonfires. Cannon Beach in the summer means flying kites, falling in love, and forgetting time. It is where I learned some of life’s most important lessons, like sea anemones squirt when you poke them, skim-boarding is a lot harder than it looks, and you can get stuck on Chapman Point when the tide comes in.

I lived in Cannon Beach the summer after graduating from high school, washing dishes at the conference center and hanging out at the arcade in Seaside. Years later, the first trip I took with Jim (my then-boyfriend, now-husband) was to Seaside, where his family has owned a cabin for six generations right in the heart of downtown. We laugh at the thought of teenage Jim cruising the strip in his ’49 Ford pickup while I was playing Ms. Pacman in the arcade all those years ago. The pandemic has pummeled Seaside, yet it still smells like waffle cones. And the Oregon Coast still means flying kites, falling in love, and forgetting time.