Travel 2025: use your wild cards, and deploy them wisely

Kathmandu airport is a place where travel dreams come to an abrupt end. Every now and then, a fortunate traveller will discover somewhere wonderful. Inevitably, though, you have to leave and return to real life. And for many people who discover the joy of high-altitude life in Nepal, that rude reawakening happens when you join the endless, straggling queues at the capital’s inadequate airport. But at least you can meet fellow travellers.

David and Noah, young men from Salzburg, have been working furiously for three years so that they can treat themselves to two years of endless travel. They were due to meet up with family from Austria somewhere in southeast Asia for Christmas. No doubt that rendezvous worked out, because they have thought a lot about the trip of their lifetimes.

Assuming you share roughly the same outlook on making the most of a journey, travelling with a partner can prove extremely rewarding. But naturally your list of places and experiences will be different to mine. David and Noah recognise this by each having three “wild cards”: a particular destination that the other will honour. Noah wanted to go diving in Egypt’s Red Sea, so they did; David is determined to visit Easter Island, despite the substantial dent it will make in their travel budget.

Which set me to thinking: we should all have our wild cards, and the start of a new year is an excellent time to decide on your trip trio for 2025. If you have a partner, you can reveal your choices and start planning on New Year’s Day. And if you travel alone, make them the three roving resolutions that you are determined to fulfil before the end of the year.

I have not yet settled on my three, but perhaps it will help if I recommend some of the discoveries I have made in the current year – six in total, in case you want to split them.

Tynemouth

The name describes the location: where the river through Newcastle reaches the North Sea. The setting is spectacular, with a rugged, crumbling castle marking the end of a handsome town with great places to eat. None is more rewarding than Riley’s Fish Shack, down on the sand with deckchair dining.

Vermont

Bernie Sanders’ home state is a world away from soon-to-be-Trump’s-again America. Lilting countryside, serene lakes and well-read locals with time to talk.

Bassano del Grappa to Trento by train

Add this glorious clamber through Italy’s Sud Tirol to your repertoire of great rail journeys. You get precipitous mountain views, and the towns at either end are glorious.

Gaspe peninsula

The comma at the eastern end of Quebec has muscular good looks, a shore that sparkles and working ports that supply the freshest seafood.

St Louis, Missouri

Love retro transport experiences? You must try the crazy capsules taking you to the top of the Gateway Arch. They are straight out of 1960s sci-fi. Then be amazed by the grace of the City Library and the humanity of the Campbell House.

Nepal

Magnificent mountains. Intense culture. Lovely people. One would be enough to tempt me – the Himalayan nation offers all three.

Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.