Many years ago, as a mixer at some work event I was at as a young professional, we went around and shared “bucket list” items in our lives, which if you’re not familiar with that term it means things you want to do before you “kick the bucket.” I was towards the end, but once the prompt was announced I already had in mind the things I wanted to say that were important to my heart, along the lines of “have kids and raise them into adulthood” and " run an organization where I can set the culture of the place" and “do meaningful public service for the city.” But everyone who went talked about a dream vacation destination, so when it was my turn I stifled my previous list and mumbled something about wanting to go to Tokyo or something like that.
Not that I didn’t like travel or have aspirations to see amazing places. I guess, at least in those circles, “bucket list” was short for “travel bucket list.”
Well, fast forward to the present, where I am in my fifties rather than my twenties, and I certainly have a “bucket list” that consists of many non-travel things I want to accomplish in my life before I die. But I also have a “travel bucket list,” and as I researched where would be fun to go, well I got more and more excited and the list got longer and longer. Like, really long. (Read on and you'll see.)
Part of the fun of travel is the communal aspect of it: talking about dream trips and upcoming trips, coming back from said trips and sharing amazing experiences, and of course doing the travel itself with others. So, I’ve been working hard on my travel bucket list for several months on my own, and I’m ready to share it publicly, in the hopes that it can become something we share that connects, inspires, and challenges us.
This post is my grand unveiling. Content lives in two places for now, more to follow.
First, I have itineraries and maps at a site called Wanderlog, which here are the public links so you can view my pages (one for each continent):
CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN https://wanderlog.com/view/kugdifkwph/continent-cam--carib-23x14/shared
US AND CANADA https://wanderlog.com/view/vkpinwpser/continent-us--can-14x1482x8/shared
ASIA https://wanderlog.com/view/vrnedmkdjh/continent-asia-42x21/shared
EUROPE https://wanderlog.com/view/uvuhicflyc/continent-europe-86x14/shared
AFRICA https://wanderlog.com/view/uyqukdawfb/continent-africa-51x14/shared
SOUTH AMERICA https://wanderlog.com/view/kibrhbelsq/continent-south-amer-24x14/shared
MIDDLE EAST https://wanderlog.com/view/tmiopfozbl/continent-middle-east-12x14/shared
OCEANIA https://wanderlog.com/view/bkuqevpkxv/continent-oceania-12x21/shared
Second, I have created albums containing pictures of all the places I want to go on Google Photos, which I’ve also made public so here are the links to view those images (again, one for each continent):
Having shared my actual travel bucket list, let me take you behind the curtain so you understand what’s in there, how I came up with everything, and where I could use your help.
Let’s start with the philosophy behind my approach. You may be forgiven, once you peruse my travel bucket list, for assuming that my MO is that I want to see literally everything. That’s not far from the truth. It’s a big, amazing, and beautiful world out there, so why wouldn’t I want to explore every corner of it? That being said, I certainly hold personal preferences. “Likes” include nature sites, cities/neighborhoods, train rides, zoos/museums/gardens, and universities. Conversely, I’m not as big into night life, fine food and drink, or big festivals. I truly desire to see the whole diversity of this great planet. But I don’t have unlimited time or energy, so on the margins there may be less interesting places I have to skip and more physically rigorous experiences I simply can’t do. (For example, Sarek National Park in Sweden looks absolutely gorgeous but utterly inaccessible for this middle-aged man who is decades past his physical prime.)
With that as a guide, I set about researching places to go, and things to do in each of those places. Being a visual person who likes to take pictures, a common prompt was “what are the most Instagrammable places in Amsterdam” and “what are the most scenic ferry rides in the world.” As you can see from the extensiveness of my list, I went deep and wide to make sure everything possibly interesting was included, but that’s to be expected given that I am a naturally curious person and there’s so much that’s worth seeing with my own two eyes. And that’s how I came up with the cities and nature sites for my list, and the things to do in each of those cities and nature sites.
Let me elaborate on my taxonomy of sites, as a way to organize things to see into categories, which are somewhat artificial and sometimes arbitrary but nevertheless helpful for sorting. "NATURE/GARDEN" represents natural sites, while "MUSEUM/CULTURE" represents man-made things. "AQUARIUM/ZOO" and "UNIVERSITY" felt like types that warranted their own categories. "NEIGHBORHOOD/RETAIL" is a catch-all for place-based things like cool neighborhoods, boulevards, and plazas as well as fun places to spend time and money like amusement parks, restaurants, and malls. Finally "TRAIN/FERRY" started out as picturesque train and ferry rides but is now where I put things like funiculars, suspended cable cars, and even scenic drives. As noted above, if I had different travel preferences I might've included things like "FESTIVALS" or "FOOD AND DRINK" or "NIGHT LIFE," but I didn't.
Having established a list of places to go and general sense of how much time was needed in each place based on how many things there are to do in each place, I went about the task of grouping sites into trips. Asia and Oceania are so far away from Philly that I am calling those 21-day trips, whereas everything else is 14-day trips (except for the US itself, for which the vast majority of trips are 8 days). Of course, this was not a linear process: oftentimes when clustering sites together, I’d stumble across a city or national park in between two sites, which led me down yet another rabbit hole of things to do there, and next thing you know the list would get yet longer and clusters of destinations scrambled into new trip itineraries.
In case you’re wondering what this looks like in Wanderlog, let me explain my notations. Every continent has a prefix, and every trip to that continent has a number, so each trip has a prefix and a number, say “EUR14.” For each trip, I’ve roughly blocked off days for travel (“T”) and then one or more days for each place (“#”). So, for example, my notation for EUR14 is T-57-57-T-58-58-58-58-T-59-59-59-59-T,” which means that Day 1 is a travel day, Days 2-3 are at Caldera de Taburiente National Park (#57 on my Europe list), Day 4 is a travel day, Days 5-8 are at La Gomera (#58), Day 9 is a travel day, Days 10-13 are at Tenerife (#59), and Day 14 is a travel day. You’ll find these notations under each place I’ve logged in Wanderlog, along with a list of things I want to do at each place (sorted by things like "Museum/Culture" and "Nature/Garden").
(A few quick nerdy nitpicks here, in case you want to go deep down the rabbit hole with me. First, in the example above, there are travel days in between each site, because the sites are far away enough that it'll take more than a few hours to get from one to the next. So, while there may be sight-seeing that can be done on those days, it's not much, and so to be more realistic and not feel rushed, I've blocked it off as a travel day. Conversely, there are times when getting from one site to the next only takes a couple of hours or less, so in those cases I haven't budgeted a travel day, even though of course there is time that is spent on the go, so those days aren't truly full days to enjoy in a place. But close enough. Second, you may notice on the margins that the sorting of sites by continent aren't quite precise. That's for convenience's sake, to bundle nearby sites together. So, to use my example above, the Canary Islands are technically on the African continent, but I have them in my Europe list. Similarly, I'm counting all of Turkey as Europe for purposes of bundling trips. Third, you'll notice in my US/Canada list that I've excluded places I already go to a lot, like the San Francisco Bay Area (where I grew up, and where I go each year to see my family), Philadelphia (where I live), and cities and sights near Philly (where I've gone a bunch and will continue to do so). This also includes Orlando and Miami, which are likely on my "visit at least once a year" list given I have property in both places, so no need for them to be on the bucket list. Now, there are other places, mostly in the US, that I've been to a fair bunch, so they're still on the bucket list as I'd like to visit again, but I also realize I'm not likely to get to everything on the list, so those places I've been to already may be later in life or not at all, in order to get to places I've never ever been.)
Another not insignificant amount of research went into things like best and worst times of the year to go, which helps me land the right trips in the right months, and how much mobility is required to enjoy each place, which helps me determine whether I should go sooner or can wait until I'm much older. There is of course a ton more planning to do once it's time to actually go on each trip, but these topics seemed essential to figuring out what month and year to go where, just to get a general approach to knocking out the list.
Having logged all my trips and collected all my notes, I then set about finding and saving pictures for each place and site on Google Photos. Call it a picture-board for my aspirational trips, to get a visual sense of what I have to look forward to, and also to share with my family so I can see what catches their fancy that I will then want to take them to. Go back above and click through to those links so you can see what I hope to see!
So here’s where I stand as of now:
Africa – 169 places in 51 14-day trips
Asia – 213 places in 42 21-day trips
Central America and Caribbean – 75 places in 23 14-day trips
Europe – 324 places in 86 14-day trips
Middle East – 49 places in 14 14-day trips
Oceania – 62 places in 12 21-day trips
South America – 80 places in 24 14-day trips
US and Canada – 260 places in 14 14-day trips and 82 8-day trips
I will not get to all of these trips! But I want to try! Here’s where you come in. Well, lots of reasons.
First, help me refine my list. What places and sites have I left out? What places and sites are not worth it? Where have I budgeted too little or too much time? Where have I been unrealistic in being able to get from Point A to Point B within a trip? Give me feedback, pushback, and travel hacks. There’s a feature in Wanderlog where you can leave notes so please do so for my edification!
Second, if you have a travel bucket list and your destinations are on my list, let’s go together! I fancy I’ll do some trips with Amy, some with the kids, some with the whole family, and some solo. But I’d also like to do some with friends, including my closest friends as well as people I know less well but share a love of travel with. Hence, if there are any trips you are interested, please make note and I will do my best to coordinate.
My long and winding post is now over. There you have it, all the trips I’d like to take in my lifetime. Bon voyage everyone!
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