I love lists. I’ve made them all my life, from things to do, to resolutions and goals, books to read, and just things to think about. I was a fan of the various book of lists that have been published over the years, and love looking at list that others have made to see how they compare to mine.
With the coming of a new year, I decided to sit down and write my travel bucket list. I had to limit it to 100 items – without a limit I would still be listing and this post would never get published. I had a few other self-imposed rules: the list could include specific experiences or general destinations; there had to be a mix of domestic and international locations and experiences; I could not include anything that I knew for certain would be happening this year; and the list had to include a mix of ordinary and easy experiences along with the exotic and expensive. Also, no self-editing was allowed – again, because I’d never finish the list.
So here is my list, in no particular order other than stream of conscious. I’ll be using the list to plan some discretionary trips, as well as using it for a research guide for travels in the future.
MJ’s 100 Travel Bucket List:
- Malta
- Iceland
- Cuba
- Safari in Africa
- Visit the White House
- Turkey
- Visit a lighthouse in Maine (and eat lobster, too)
- Montgomery, Alabama
- Ride in a gondola in Venice
- Greece
- Go to a Red Sox game in Boston
- Visit the Everglades
- Visit the great pyramids in Egypt
- Transatlantic crossing by ship sailing into New York Harbor
- London
- Go to the top of the Empire State Building
BrusselsMarch 2013- Wine tasting in the Finger Lakes
- Molokai
- Trace some roots in Madrid
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Enjoy a weekend on Cape Cod
- Tunisia
- Barging in France
- Wear a fabulous hat at the Kentucky Derby
- St. Petersburg, Russia
- See the polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba
- Press olives in Italy
- Spend a weekend on the Jersey shore
- Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
- Sunbathing on Daytona Beach
- Buenos Aires
- Ride a camel
River cruise in EuropeMarch 2013- Spend a weekend on a dude ranch
- Providence, Rhode Island
- Gibraltar
- Stay in a room on stilts over the water somewhere in French Polynesia
- Montreal
- Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Driving trip in Wales
AmsterdamMarch 2013- Learn to cook Cajun/Creole food in Louisiana
- Swim in the Dead Sea
- Atlanta Aquarium
- Morocco
- Get a massage on a beach in Thailand
- Catalina Island
- Spend a week at the Golden Door spa
- Eat at Rao’s in Harlem
- Sardinia, Italy
- Ride in a blimp
- Paddleboat cruise
- Make wine in Argentina
- Zipline in a tropical forest
- Barbados
- Vacation on a houseboat
- Sail in the British Virgin Islands
- Gettysburg
- Have a signature scent formulated in Paris
- Experience the First Class treatment on Emirates
- Savannah, Georgia
- Take a train ride across the United States
- Yellowstone and Old Faithful
- Take a cooking class in Italy
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Custom made clothes from Hong Kong
- Mexico City
- Round the world cruise
- Take a child to Atlantis in the Bahamas
- Lay down a bet in Monte Carlo
- Whale watching in Hawaii
- Drive around Ireland
- Stay in a castle
- Visit Graceland
Practice my Spanish in BarcelonaSeptember 2012- Visit a real life ghost town
- Great Barrier Reef
- Sedona
- Go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
- St. Maarten/Sint Martin
Quebec CityNovember 2011- Ride an elephant
- Stay in a penthouse suite in NYC
- Have an audience with the Pope in Vatican City
- Learn to throw a boomerang Down Under
- Monterrey Aquarium
- Bali
- Take a road trip to the Florida Keys
Drink beer in GermanyMarch 2013- Open a Swiss bank account
- Niagara Falls (from the U.S. side)
- Spend a night in a yurt
- Watch tennis at Wimbledon
- Martha’s Vineyard
- Visit Pennsylvania’s Amish Country
- Eat barbecue in Kansas City
- Take an RV trip
- Laugh it up at Second City in Chicago
- Walk on the Great Wall of China
Do you have a Travel Bucket list? Do we share any of the same travel dreams?
Photo credit: Courtesy of Shutterstock
I’m proud to join with some fabulous travel bloggers talking about new plans for travel for 2011. See what the rest of the Travel Blog Mob has to say:
- Sharing Travel Experiences: A New Destination for a New Year
- Wandering Educators: Top Ten Destinations for Quirky Travelers
- The Vacation Gals: Ziplining in a Costa Rica Rain Forest
- Ciao Bambino: Family Safari in Africa
- Nerds Eye View: Back to Austria in 2011
- BootsnAll: Where to Travel Next, How to Decide
- Wanderlust & Lipstick: Best Destinations for Solo Women Travelers
- Spot Cool Stuff: Southern Sudan, the Newest Country
i love this list, and am inspired by it!
did you know in minnesota, just north of duluth on the north shore (lake superior), you can STAY in a lighthouse? I loved it!!
@wandering educators,
I’ll have to check that out! It’s been awhile since I’ve been anywhere in Minnesota other Minneapolis.
Holy Wow! If you accomplish even 10% of your bucket list, you’ll have had an amazing, amazing year!
We do share a lot of our bucket list items. For one, Iceland is at the top of my list, too. Let me know when you’re in MN visiting the lighthouse!
@Beth Blair,
Iceland has been on my to-visit list since long before it became hip and trendy — it probably goes back to college for me. There’s something compelling about it, I guess.
I’ll be sure to let you know when I get back MN way!
I’d settle for 5%! I have a bunch of new plans already scheduled, so I took them off the list, but I’m hoping to keep VERY busy this year!
Many of these sound fun! I think my favorites on the list are the ghost town, lighthouse in Maine, and Yellowstone. All places I haven’t been but would love to go. Of course a beer in Germany sounds good right now too:-)
Great list
. Few of them I’ve done (being a Brit & a Welsh one at that!), and a few of them I want to do.
Trying to plan my next trip abroad, thinking the States & Canada. Done States a couple of years ago & loved it, so want to do it again
Great and compelling list of travel destinations, Mary Jo.
I need to pull out my Bucket List iPhone app and make one for travel, I think. And I’m going to steal some of your list too since most of mine align with yours
@Martin Cooney,
Ooooh, I didn’t know there was a bucket list app. I’m off to go find it now.
Great list. When you say “drive around Ireland”, do you mean drive around Ireland, or drive Oround Ireland? Also you are going to eat BBQ in KC, you should add eat at the Paterson House in Nashville. Grab an Elvis panni with Waylon jennings on the side.
Excuse me for quoting Anne Shirley, but I love the “scope for the imagination” in your bucket list. Your list has gotten me thinking of making my own list, with “see Northern/Southern lights” at the top of it.