My Ultimate Travel Bucket List

Everybody has a bucket list of some form, don’t they? Skydiving, getting married, having kids, swimming with sharks (maybe not in that order)? I’ve done one of those four things (more than once!), but that’s beside the point. My biggest bucket list is my travel bucket list. I think everybody who loves to travel as much as I do has one.

A couple of months ago, I started writing a 2019 bucket list of sorts. It was more so a 2019 to-do list for traveling. Shortly after writing the list, I found myself craving places that had come up in conversation, on my Instagram feed, or on TV that I hadn’t previously thought of for 2019. On top of that, I’m very much so an opportunist. Most of my travel plans come out of a good opportunity (like a really cheap flight sale), so a lot of my travel becomes unpredictable. Usually, I have only two or three destinations a year that I set out to travel to by the end of the year.

That’s when I decided I should just make a general travel bucket list and put it down somewhere. I’ll add to it when I want to, and I’ll come back on here and edit this post when some places are visited. Keep in mind, this is a rough bucket list of places that are on the forefront of my mind (and you’ll be surprised how many are). I do have a goal to eventually visit every country and territory. It’s a long list – the UN list of countries is 195 countries long. The Travelers’ Century Club list has 329 on their list as of March 2, 2020, although they include everything – islands that are territories of a country, both sides of St. Maarten/Martin separately, etc.

The places on my list below are the ones that stick out to me more than the rest. Some are going to be really specific, and others will be just the country. There are some places I left off the list that I really want to visit, but aren’t reasonable at this time or for the near future because of safety. The safety of countries is largely cyclical so I’m hoping I can add some places to my list when I feel they’re safe enough to visit. I’m crossing my fingers I don’t have to take any places off because they become too dangerous.

So here it goes! I’m going to separate the list by continent/general area to make it easier for those not so good at geography.

North America

— Fairmont’s Great Canadian Railway Adventure (if you haven’t heard of this before, you’re welcome)

— Yellowknife, Canada

— Banff National Park, Canada

— Sail on an Alaskan Cruise

— Play with sled dog puppies in Alaska

— See killer whales in the wild off the coast of Washington/British Columbia

— See the redwoods in Northern California

— Drive the Pacific Coast Highway down the coast of California

— Stay at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California

— Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California

— Drive into Tijuana, Mexico from San Diego

— Walk on the glass walkway above the Grand Canyon

— Sedona, Arizona

— Visit America’s most notable national parks (Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Zion, Denali, Glacier, Arches, Bryce Canyon, the list goes on!)

— Witness the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico

— Park City, Utah to lounge in the ski lodges by the fire because I can’t ski

— Eat some french fries in the potato capital of the USA, Idaho (I really love french fries)

— Montana

— Colorado Rockies

— Austin, Texas

— New Orleans, Louisiana, but definitely not for Mardi Gras ✓

— Black Hills & Mount Rushmore in South Dakota

— Eat some pineapple in Hawaii ✓

— Swim in the cenotes of Mexico

— Mexico City for Día de los Muertos

— San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

— Swim in the Las Coloradas Pink Lake in Yucatan, Mexico

— Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

— Dive the Blue Hole in Belize

— Relax by Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

— Go diving in Roatán, Honduras

— Costa Rica ✓

— Sail through the Panama Canal

— San Blas Islands, Panama

— Visit Havana, Cuba before its old world flare goes away ✓

— Swim with the Pigs in the Exumas, Bahamas

— Go scuba diving in the Cayman Islands

— Sit on the beach with flamingos in Aruba ✓

— Stay at Jade Mountain in St. Lucia

— St. Kitts & Nevis ✓

— Go sailing around the Virgin Islands

— Listen to reggae music in Jamaica ✓

— Lay on the beach in Turks & Caicos

— Walk along the Pink Beach in Bermuda

South America

— Walk the streets of Cartagena, Colombia ✓

— Medellin, Colombia

— Visit the Surinamese Rainforest

— Sail up the Amazon River

— Take the IncaRail up to Machu Picchu ✓

— Walk with tortoises in the Galapagos

— Swing on the Swing of Death in Ecuador

— Become friends with all the llamas in Cusco, Peru ✓

— Visit Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia when the flats look like a mirror

— Walk with the Penguins on Magdalena Island, Chile

— See the mysterious statues of Easter Island

— Visit Argentinian & Chilean Patagonia

— Drink some Malbec in Mendoza, Argetina

— Falkland Islands

— Step foot on Tristan de Cunha, the most remote inhabited island

— Sail to Antarctica from Ushuaia, Argentina

— Montevideo, Uruguay

— Celebrate Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Europe

— Drive the Ring Road around Iceland ✓

— Listen to “Galway Girl” by Ed Sheeran in Galway, Ireland ✓

— Find a four-leaf clover in Ireland

— Take a black cab ride in Belfast, Northern Ireland

— Sit on the beach in Brighton, England on a sunny day

— Visit the puffins on the Isle of Skye, Scotland

— Bordeaux, France

— Walk through a lavender field in the South of France

— San Sebastian, Spain

— See the completed Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain

— Marvel at the views on Tenerife Island, Spain

— Lagos, Portugal

— Dive into a swimming hole in the Azores

— Rent a boat in the canals of Amsterdam

— Sail through the Norwegian Fjords

— Lay under the Northern Lights in Svalbard, Norway

— Drive through a snowy Korvemaa Forest in Estonia

— Krakow, Poland

— Twirl around Zakopane, Poland

— Experience Oktoberfest in Germany

— Visit Cinderella’s Castle aka Neuschwanstein Castle in Southern Germany

— Visit the beautiful lakes in Switzerland

— Stare at Jungfraujoch in Switzerland

— Cinque Terre, Italy ✓

— Dolomites, Italy

— Stay at the Montchalet in the Dolomites

— Take a gondola ride in Venice ✓

— Walk the colorful streets on Burano Island

— Eat cheese in Bologna, Italy

— Visit the Tuscan sunflower fields

— See the Roman ruins in Rome ✓

— Make a wish at the Trevi Fountain ✓

— Take a boat into the Blue Grotto on Capri, Italy

— Look over the cliffside in Positano ✓

— Swim around the blue waters of Malta

— Lake Bled, Slovenia ✓

— Island hop around Croatia

— Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia ✓

— Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina ✓

— Kotor, Montenegro ✓

— Albania (I don’t know where, but my friend Rachel gushes about Albania!)

— Island hopping in Greece ✓

— Watch a sunset in Oia, Santorini ✓

— Visit the castles of Transylvania, Romania

— Take the train from Europe to Asia in Istanbul, Turkey

— Watch the sunrise over Cappadocia with hot air balloons flying above

— Visit the Red Square in Moscow

— Take a cruise to St. Petersburg, Russia

Africa

— Take the ferry between Spain and Morocco

— Walk the streets of Chefchaouen, the Blue City in Morocco

— Buy a rug in Morocco

— Tunis, Tunisia

— Visit the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt ✓

— Sail down the Nile River ✓

— Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt ✓

— Go scuba diving in the Red Sea

— Go gorilla trekking in Uganda ✓

— See lions in trees (they only do it in a few spots in Africa!) ✓

— Witness the Great Wildebeest Migration across Kenya & Tanzania ✓

— Watch animals in the Maasai Mara, Kenya ✓

— Stay at Giraffe Manor in Kenya

— Zanzibar, Tanzania

— Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

— See Mt. Kilimanjaro in real life (we’ll see if I ever think climbing it is a good idea) ✓

— See the bluest water ever in the Seychelles ✓

— Lake Malawi

— Scuba diving along the coast of Mozambique

— Hang over Victoria Falls at Devil’s Pool ✓

— Go white water river rafting down the Zambezi River

— Walk from Zimbabwe to Zambia ✓

— Visit the Drakensberg Mountains of Lesotho

— Watch elephants and hippos wade through the Okavango Delta ✓

— Stay at the andBeyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge in Namibia

— Mauritius ✓

— See a baobab tree in Madagascar

— Drive overland from Cape Town, South Africa to Nairobi, Kenya

Asia

— Go scuba diving in Okinawa, Japan

— See Mt. Fuji reflect off the lake

— Experience cherry blossom season in Japan

— Stay at a Japanese Ryokan

— Listen to Gangnam Style by Psy ONLY ONCE in the Gangnam District in Seoul, South Korea

— Visit the DMZ

— Ride a camel in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia

— Walk along the Great Wall of China

— Go bungy jumping off the Macau Tower

— Fall in love with pandas outside of Chengdu, China

— Yangshuo, China

— Ride a motorbike through Vietnam

— Hanoi, Vietnam

— Stay the night in a junk boat in Ha Long Bay

— Watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat

— Swim in Kuang Si Falls in Laos

— Visit the Golden Triangle, the border of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos

— See Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai, Thailand

— Bagan, Myanmar

— Walk the rainbow steps of Batu Caves in Malaysia

— Langkawi, Malaysia

— Swim in the Marina Bay Sands pool in Singapore

— Visit an orangutan sanctuary on Borneo

— Walk along the edge of Mt. Bromo on Java

— Watch Komodo Dragons walk along Komodo Island in Indonesia

— Visit Paro Taktsang in Bhutan

— Hike to Mt. Everest Base Camp

— Witness the sunrise at the Taj Mahal

— Practice yoga in Goa, India

— Visit Jaipur, India, the Pink City

— Journey across Sri Lanka by train

— Travel the Silk Road through the Five Stans

— Explore the mystery of Iran

— Take a cruise through the Persian Gulf

— Visit Saudi Arabia once they open up tourism

— Hike through Petra in Jordan

— Ride a camel through Wadi Rum, Jordan

— Float in the Dead Sea

— See the ancient city of Jerusalem

Oceania / South Pacific

— Sail through the Whitsundays in Australia

— Dive a part of the Great Barrier Reef before it dies ✓

— Go crocodile spotting in Darwin, Australia

— Hop around with the kangaroos on Kangaroo Island

— Shark cage dive off the Southern Coast of Australia

— Esperance, Australia

— Get a selfie with a quokka on Rottnest Island

— Visit the Outback (and I don’t mean the restaurant!)

— See Tasmanian Devils in a sanctuary in Tasmania

— Drive a camper van around New Zealand

— Cruise through Milford Sound

— Walk through the lupin fields near Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

— Get lost in Fiji

— Lay on the beach in New Caledonia

— Swim through Jellyfish Lake in Palau

— Jump into Sua Ocean Trench in Samoa

— Walk through the sand in Aitutaki, Cook Islands

— Sail around French Polynesia

— Stay in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora ✓

— Swim with stingrays in Mo’orea ✓

Do you think my list is long enough?? Bless you if you’ve made it this far! There are some big things left off, mainly because I’ve already done them. I’d love to hear what’s in the top 10 of your list! Leave comments down below to let me know!!

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