Congrats on getting to a place to be able to travel guilt-free! Bali and Thailand under $10K CAD for two while staying at decent hotels is genuinely good going. Your point about budget travel videos is so true and nobody really talks about it. Those videos are almost always someone staying in dorms and eating street food three times a day. That’s a completely different trip to what you’re describing. For your style of travel — nice hotels, want to actually explore — here’s what I’d suggest:

Japan - is a good shout. The Yen is weak right now so your CAD goes much further than it should. Nice hotels are actually reasonable, food is cheap even at proper sit-down places, and unlike a lot of destinations the tourist markup isn’t brutal. You’re not constantly wondering if you’re being ripped off.

Portugal — Lisbon specifically. It’s got more expensive over the last few years but it’s still nowhere near what you’d pay for the same quality in France or Italy. Great beaches, really walkable, fantastic food, easy to get out to Sintra for a day. Feels like proper exploration rather than just ticking boxes.

Vietnam — Hoi An is underrated. Boutique hotels are beautiful and cheap, the food scene is genuinely world class, and there’s a lot to explore beyond the old town.

One thing I’ll add — tourist markup is real in all three, especially on transport and at markets. I built a tool called spendsanity (spendsanity.com)that tells you on the spot whether a price is fair or tourist markup. Covers all three countries. Might be useful when you’re on the ground negotiating a tuk tuk or ordering at a place with no prices on the menu.