South America! I spent 9 months there and it’s incredible, my favorite continent by far. Jan/Feb is a perfect time to go Buenos Aires and hit up Patagonia since the seasons are flipped. If you want a beach vacation you could also hit up Colombia or Ecuador (or Brazil but it might be incredibly hot). Ecuador has some amazing hikes too. And of course there’s the Amazonas.

I was in Lagos (Portugal) for most of November and it was perfect. You could really hop all around the Algarve. Lagos was great because it’s such a small, walkable, chill town. Met quite a few DNs but a decent amount of locals too.

You could go to smaller towns in the Algarve to meet more locals as well - Tavira and Loulè were local hotspots recommended to me, Olhao and Portimao are also options but maybe more boring places, Albufeira is a bigger city if you want that… so many options and some of the best beaches I’ve ever seen.

I think spirituality has lots of mental health benefits and I appreciate it from that aspect, but I wouldn’t describe myself as spiritual. I’m practical, and I borrow aspects that make sense and make society work better (have compassion for others, meditate for brain health, etc). I don’t believe in anything otherworldly, though.

I think there’s a difference, at least in my mind, between a DN and one of those really spiritual people who travels around the world looking for enlightenment. DNs are more practical, generally; they’re not hoping “the universe provides” or anything like that.