travel-list-banner.png

 “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag

I have a travel wish list, and it never seems to get any shorter. In fact, if anything, it gets longer the more I travel. And, then, there’s life – sh*t happens, things get in the way, and you have to roll with the punches. As such, this ever-growing list represents the closest thing that a future planner can have to a definitive travel checklist!

Travel Goals.

  1. Touch all seven continents before turning 30. (COMPLETED: 2016)

  2. Visit all 50 states. (COMPLETED: 2016)

  3. Visit 100 countries.

  4. Become a master scuba diver.

  5. Visit all New7 Wonders of the World.

    • Great Wall of China (COMPLETED: 2017)

    • Petra (COMPLETED: 2019)

    • Machu Picchu (COMPLETED: 2023)

    • Taj Mahal

    • Colosseum (COMPLETED: 2002, 2008, 2018)

    • Christ the Redeemer (COMPLETED: 2023)

    • Chichen Itza

    • Honorary Status: Great Pyramids at Giza (COMPLETED: 2017)

  6. Visit all Seven Wonders of Nature.

    • Amazon Rainforest and River, Brazil

    • Halong Bay, Vietnam

    • Jeju Island, South Korea

    • Iguazu Falls, Argentina/Brazi

    • Puerto Princesas Subterranean River National Park, Philippines

    • Komodo Island, Indonesia

    • Table Mountain, South Africa (COMPLETED: 2016)

Adventures to Have.

Northern Hemisphere

  1. Experience Fat Tuesday in New Orleans.

  2. Watch the Kentucky Derby live at Churchill Downs.

  3. Eat lobster in Ba’ Ha’ba’, Maine.

  4. Act as a farmhand in Greece.

  5. Do the hula in Hawaii. (COMPLETED: 2017)

  6. Float in the Dead Sea. (COMPLETED: 2019)

  7. Pretend to be Indiana Jones in Petra. (COMPLETED: 2019)

  8. Channel my inner Agatha Christie at the Old Cataract Hotel. (COMPLETED: 2018)

  9. Sail down the Nile in a felucca like an ancient Egyptian. (COMPLETED: 2018)

  10. Visit an actual dig site in Egypt. (COMPLETED: 2018)

  11. Attend a luau in Maui. (COMPLETED: 2017)

  12. Ride a donkey up the cliffs in Santorini.

  13. Find Pedro the Pelican in Mykonos.

  14. Road trip through Romania.

  15. Take a long distance train ride in Sri Lanka.

  16. Swim with starfish at Bocas del Toro, Panama.

  17. Ride a cable car in San Francisco. (COMPLETED: 2004)

  18. Eat Buffalo wings in Buffalo. (COMPLETED: 2017)

  19. Compare Philly cheesesteaks in Philly.

  20. Watch a Broadway show on Broadway. (COMPLETED x LOTS)

  21. Walk the Freedom Trail in Boston. (COMPLETED: 2009) 

  22. Hike Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park.

  23. Chase a tornado with a team in Tornado Alley.

  24. Swim with manatees in Florida.

  25. Kayak the bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico.

  26. Remember the Alamo in San Antonio.

  27. Eat a peanut butter and banana toastie at Graceland.

  28. Ride a horse into the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater.

  29. Go to the Tulip Festival in Ottawa.

  30. Eat poutine in Quebec.

  31. See the polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba.

  32. Bobsled down an Olympic track in Calgary.

  33. Explore Montreal.

  34. Go tidal bore rafting in Nova Scotia.

  35. Snorkel in cenotes in Tulum.

  36. Go on a great white shark dive trip to Guadalupe Island.

  37. Eat our way through traditional Oaxaca.

  38. Release baby sea turtles in Cancun.

  39. Rent a scooter in Bermuda.

  40. Watch the flying manta rays in the Sea of Cortez.

  41. Eat pizza in Naples, Italy. (COMPLETED: 2018)

  42. Ride a gondola in Venice, Italy. (COMPLETED: 2008, 2018)

  43. Watch the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain

  44. Marvel at the Gaudi architecture in Barcelona. (COMPLETED: 2018)

  45. Throw tomatoes at La Tomatina in Valencia, Spain.

  46. Channel our inner sailor-man at the Popeye Village in Malta.

  47. Golf the Old Course at St. Andrews.

  48. Hunt for Nessie at Loch Ness.

  49. Ride the Jacobite train through the Scottish Highlands.

  50. Tour all the houses from BBC Pride & Prejudice in the UK.

  51. Sail around the Greek islands.

  52. Experience the true Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.

  53. Drive on the Autobahn in Germany. (COMPLETED: 2010)

  54. Ride in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia, Turkey.

  55. Soak in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland.

  56. Dive between tectonic plates in Iceland.

  57. Spend too much money in Monaco. (COMPLETED: 2018)

  58. See the Last Supper in Milan. (COMPLETED: 2018)

  59. Chase the Northern Lights in Norway.

  60. Take a river cruise through Eastern Europe.

  61. Hunt vampires in Romania.

  62. Swim with the pigs in the Bahamas.

  63. Ride a camel past the Great Pyramids. (COMPLETED: 2017)

  64. Walk along the Great Wall of China. (COMPLETED: 2017)

  65. Climb some Mayan ruins in Central America.

  66. Get up close with sloths in Costa Rica.

  67. Snorkel the Belize Barrier Reef.

  68. Cruise through the Panama Canal.

  69. Hold starfish at Boca del Drago, Panama.

  70. Cruise through the Panama Canal.

  71. Get up close and personal with sloths in Costa Rica.

  72. Witness the Great Migration on safari in Kenya.

  73. Choose contrasting outfits for Chefchaouen, Morocco (the “Blue City”).

  74. Survive a ride in a tuk-tuk. (COMPLETED: 2016, 2017)

  75. Beach/island hop in south Thailand.

  76. Visit base camp at Mount Everest in Nepal.

  77. Pray at the Wailing Wall.

  78. See the Yi Peng lantern festival near Chiang Mai.

  79. Get custom clothes made in Vietnam.

  80. Attend the Cherry Blossom festival in Japan.

  81. Volunteer with pandas in China. (COMPLETED: 2017)

  82. Get blessed by a monk in Cambodia.

  83. See orangutans in Malaysia.

  84. Eat a sushi breakfast at Tsukiji Market in Tokyo. (COMPLETED: 2018)

  85. Embrace harajuku culture for a day in Tokyo. (COMPLETED: 2018)

  86. Stay at a traditional ryokan in Kyoto.

  87. Stand in the DMZ (on whatever side is not going to arrest us).

  88. Travel the full length of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

  89. Take a longtail boat in Thailand. (COMPLETED: 2016)

Southern Hemisphere

  1. Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef. (COMPLETED: 2015)

  2. Attend Carnival in Rio.

  3. Hang out with monkeys in Bali.

  4. Hike the Incan Trail to Machu Picchu. (COMPLETED: 2023)

  5. Attend Carnival in Brazil.

  6. Hike in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia. (COMPLETED: 2019)

  7. Straddle the equator in Ecuador.

  8. Sip coffee in Colombia.

  9. Canoe through the Amazon.

  10. Watch tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (COMPLETED: 2013) 

  11. Swim with the sea lions in the Galapagos.

  12. Feel the mist from both sides of Igazu Falls.

  13. Take a professional selfie with Rio’s Christ the Redeemer.

  14. Marvel at the World’s Highest Waterfall at Angel Falls, Venezuela.

  15. Eat a guinea pig for dinner in Peru. (COMPLETED: 2023)

  16. Get the secrets of the statues on Easter Island, Chile. (COMPLETED: 2019)

  17. Dart-boat in New Zealand.

  18. Take a train west from Adelaide to Perth.

  19. Bungy jump from AJ Hackett Bungy Bridge. (COMPLETED: 2015)

  20. See a kiwi bird up close.

  21. Hike around Uluru in the Australian Outback. (COMPLETED: 2015)

  22. Road trip around Tasmania.

  23. Pretend to be a hobbit at Hobbiton in New Zealand.

  24. Take a selfie with a quokka. (COMPLETED: 2015)

  25. Trek to see mountain gorillas in Rwanda or Uganda.

  26. Climb sand dunes in Namibia.

  27. Zip-line over Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe.

  28. “Move it, move it” like the lemurs in Madagascar.

  29. See all the ‘Big 5’ on safari in Tanzania.

  30. Take a luxury train ride through the south of Africa.

Countries / Places to Visit and Things to See.

North America

  • United States (COMPLETED: 1986)

    • The Grand Canyon

    • Horseshoe Bend in Arizona

    • Redwood National Park in California

    • Death Valley in Nevada

    • Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, California

    • Hearst Castle in California

    • Yellowstone National Park

    • Yosemite National Park

    • Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York City (COMPLETED: 2015)

    • Las Vegas Strip (COMPLETED: 2016, 2018) 

    • National Mall in Washington, D.C.

    • Denali National Park (COMPLETED: 2016)

    • The St. Louis Gateway Arch (COMPLETED: 2009)

    • Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (COMPLETED: 2003)

    • Alcatraz in San Francisco (COMPLETED: 2003)

    • Mount Rushmore in South Dakota

    • The Badlands in South Dakota

    • White Sands National Monument in New Mexico

    • Pearl Harbor in Hawaii (COMPLETED: 2017)

    • “The Bean” in Chicago (COMPLETED: 2010)

    • The Grand Tetons in Wyoming

South and Central America

  • Argentina (COMPLETED: 2013)

  • Bolivia

    • Salt Flats

  • Brazil

  • Chile (COMPLETED: 2019)

    • Santiago (COMPLETED: 2019)

    • Patagonia (COMPLETED: 2019)

    • Atacama (COMPLETED: 2019)

    • Easter Island (COMPLETED: 2019)

  • Colombia

    • Cartagena

  • Costa Rica

  • Ecuador

  • Guatemala

    • Lake Atitlan

    • Antigua

  • Panama

  • Phillipines

  • Peru (COMPLETED: 2023)

  • Puerto Rico

    • Old San Juan

Oceania

  • Australia (COMPLETED: 2015)

    • Sydney Opera House (COMPLETED: 2015)

    • Melbourne (COMPLETED: 2015)

    • Brisbane

  • New Zealand (COMPLETED: 2015)

    • Milford Sound, New Zealand (COMPLETED: 2015)

    • Queenstown, NZ (COMPLETED: 2015)

    • Mount Cook in New Zealand (COMPLETED: 2015)

    • Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand

Africa

  • Botswana

  • Egypt (COMPLETED: 2017)

  • Kenya

  • Madagascar

  • Morocco

  • South Africa (COMPLETED: 2016)

  • Tanzania

  • Zambia

  • Zimbabwe

Asia

  • Cambodia

    • Angkor Wat

  • China (COMPLETED: 2017)

    • Forbidden City in Beijing, China (COMPLETED: 2017)

    • Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, China (COMPLETED: 2017)

  • India

  • Indonesia

  • Israel (COMPLETED: 2019)

  • Japan (COMPLETED: 2018)

    • Tokyo (COMPLETED: 2018)

    • Kyoto

  • Jordan (COMPLETED: 2019)

  • Malaysia

  • Nepal

  • South Korea

  • Taiwan

  • Thailand (COMPLETED: 2016)

  • UAE

    • Dubai

    • Abu Dhabi

  • Vietnam

Europe

  • Austria (COMPLETED: 2010)

  • Belgium (COMPLETED: 2010)

  • Bulgaria

    • Rila Monastery

  • Croatia

    • Dubrovnik

  • Czech Republic (COMPLETED: 2010)

    • The Old Town of Prague (COMPLETED: 2010)

  • Denmark (COMPLETED: 2012)

  • England (COMPLETED: 2008, 2011)

    • Stonehenge (COMPLETED: 2008)

    • Abbey Road (COMPLETED: 2011)

  • Estonia (COMPLETED: 2012)

  • France (COMPLETED: 2008, 2010)

    • Eiffel Tower in Paris, France (COMPLETED: 2008, 2010)

    • The Mona Lisa at The Louvre, France (COMPLETED: 2008, 2010)

    • Notre Dame in Paris, France (COMPLETED: 2008, 2010)

  • Germany (COMPLETED: 2010, 2012)

    • Remnants of the Berlin Wall (COMPLETED: 2010)

    • Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany (COMPLETED: 2010)

  • Greece

    • Athens

    • Santorini

    • Mykonos

    • Crete

  • Hungary

  • Italy (COMPLETED: 2008)

    • Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy (COMPLETED: 2008, 2018)

    • Colosseum Rome, Italy (COMPLETED: 2008, 2018)

    • Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (COMPLETED: 2008)

    • Pompeii, Italy (COMPLETED: 2018)

    • Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy (COMPLETED: 2018)

  • Iceland

    • Reykjavik

  • Ireland (COMPLETED: 2008)

    • Cliffs of Moher

  • Latvia (COMPLETED: 2012)

  • Malta

  • Monaco (COMPLETED: 2018)

  • The Netherlands (COMPLETED: 2012)

  • Norway

  • Poland

    • Auschwitz-Birkenau

  • Portugal (COMPLETED: 2018)

    • Lisbon (COMPLETED: 2018, 2019)

    • Porto (COMPLETED: 2019)

  • Romania

    • “Dracula’s” Castle

  • Russia (COMPLETED: 2012)

    • Red Square in Moscow, Russia

    • The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia (COMPLETED: 2012)

    • Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia (COMPLETED: 2012)

  • Serbia

  • Scotland

    • The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye

    • The Royal Mile in Edinburgh

    • Switzerland

  • Spain (COMPLETED: 2018; C: 2004, 2005, 2008, 2018, 2019)

    • La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain (COMPLETED: 2005, 2018)

    • Plaza de Espana in Seville, Spain (COMPLETED: 2005, 2018, 2019)

    • Alhambra in Granada, Spain (COMPLETED: 2005, 2018)

    • Great Mosque in Cordoba, Spain (COMPLETED: 2005, 2018)

  • Sweden (COMPLETED: 2012)

  • Turkey (COMPLETED: 2019)

    • Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (COMPLETED: 2019)

    • Cappadocia (COMPLETED: 2019)