Last year (2016) was a crazy busy year of travel and I checked several things off my bucket list. Bucket lists seem to get a bad rep these days, evoking the image of someone rushing around the world it pursuit of checking off sites on a to-do list. That is not the case with my list. My bucket list is a result of being an inveterate list maker. I make lists, I use lists, and I refer to lists often.
There’s nothing rush-rush about my list and that should be evident by a few guidelines I follow in making it. My list is capped at 100 and is an assortment of destinations, things to do or see, and experiences. When something is accomplished, or I’ve changed my mind about it, it gets crossed off the list and something new is added. The continual nature of how the list evolves means that I will never accomplish everything on this list. And I’m just fine with that.
Here are the things I’m crossing off this year (my 2016 bucket list update is here):
- In May 2016 I spent several days in Providence, Rhode Island. It was an artisan experience, including a look at the design, fashion, style, and culinary scene of this classic New England city. If you’re looking for an enjoyable stay, a getaway to Providence may fit your interests.
- I visited St. Petersburg, Russia, as part of my Viking Ocean Cruise, which ranks as my top travel experience for the year. My political science degree had an emphasis on Soviet Studies (yes, I’m old and it was still the USSR back then) and visiting has been something that I’ve wanted to do since back then. Part of the reason for being so excited about the Viking Homelands itinerary was the days we spent in St. Petersburg.
- I explored history in Poland with a visit to Malbork Castle (that’s it in the photo). When I put this on my list, I had no idea what this experience would look like or what type of history I’d be able to dig into. I left it all open to whatever developed. We had time in Poland as part of the Viking Ocean Cruise and I decided to take the tour to Malbork Castle and learn more about its Teutonic Order history. There are fascinating stories and I’ll be doing more reading to learn which of them are fact and which are more legend.
- I saw the glitz of Macau with a last minute opportunity to head back to China in December, along with Macau and Hong Kong. (I leave it to you to wrestle with the issue of whether those locations are part of, or separate from, China.) The glitz is pretty amazing, perhaps more so since it was decked out for Christmas, and my short visit convinced me that it’s worth a return visit to see more – beyond the glitz, so to speak.
Here goes with the updated MJ 100 Travel Bucket List, with an additional four items added to the bottom, replacing those I crossed off this year. If you want to join me or help in checking off any of these things in 2017, get in touch!
- Malta
- Iceland
- Cuba
- Safari in Africa
- Visit the White House
- Turkey
- Visit a lighthouse in Maine (and eat lobster, too)
- Montgomery, Alabama
- Go to a Red Sox game in Boston
- Visit the great pyramids in Egypt
- Transatlantic crossing by ship sailing into New York Harbor
London– Visited in July 2018Go to the top of the Empire State Building– January 2019- Wine tasting in the Finger Lakes
- Molokai
- Trace some roots in Madrid
Nashville, Tennessee– Visited in April 2018;- Enjoy a weekend on Cape Cod
- Tunisia
Barging in France– July 2019- Wear a fabulous hat at the Kentucky Derby
- 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
- Ride a camel
- Spend a weekend on a dude ranch
- Gibraltar
- Stay in a room on stilts over the water somewhere in French Polynesia
- Montreal
- Enjoy chili in New Mexico
- Driving trip in Wales
- Learn to cook Cajun/Creole food in Louisiana
- Swim in the Dead Sea
- Sleep in an Ice Hotel
- Morocco
- Catalina Island
- Spend a week at the Golden Door Spa
- Eat at Rao’s in Harlem
- Sardinia, Italy
- Ride in a blimp
- Paddleboat cruise
- Have a steak in Argentina
- 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
- Take a train ride across the United States
- Yellowstone and Old Faithful
- Take a cooking class in Italy
Charleston, South Carolina– September 2017- Mexico City
- Round the world cruise
- Lay down a bet in Monte Carlo
- Whale watching in Hawaii
- Stay in a castle
- Visit Graceland
- Visit a real-life ghost town
- Great Barrier Reef
- Sedona
- Go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
- Stay in a penthouse suite in NYC
- Have an audience with the Pope in Vatican City
- Learn to throw a boomerang Down Under
- Bali
- Take a road trip to the Florida Keys
- Open a Swiss bank account
- Niagara Falls (from the U.S. side)
- Watch tennis at Wimbledon
- Visit Pennsylvania’s Amish Country
- Take an RV trip
- Laugh it up at Second City in Chicago
- Walk on the Great Wall in China
- See the Northern Lights in Lapland
- Enjoy tea culture on a tea trail
- Toast the New Year in Paris
- Take a ghost tour in Savannah
- See the snow monkeys in Nagano
- Wine tasting in South Africa
- Luxury train trip
- Eat street food in Vietnam
- Visit a European Christmas Market
- Visit all 50 states – I added Tennessee and Oklahoma to the list, making the current count 36
- Antarctica
- Drink wine in Chile
- Prague
- View wildlife on Borneo
- Discover the food of Taiwan
- Step back in time at the Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island
- Stay in a treehouse
- Hungary – both Buda and Pest
- Visit the Space Port in New Mexico
Slurp up champagne in Champagne– July 2019- Galapagos
Enjoy high tea in Hong KongDecember 2016- Nile cruise
- Sleep in a castle
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