I have a good friend who told me about a recent New Year’s resolution trend she is taking a part of: make a list of 101 goals and achieve them in 1,001 days. I can’t come up with anywhere near 101 overarching goals for myself (besides tiny ones like reading a certain book or cooking a certain complicated dish), but I can of course think of dozens of travel-related goals.
I’m turning 25 on Thursday, so I also feel like it’s a good time to reflect on what I have accomplished and what I want to get under my belt in the future. I feel like I have done a heck of a lot of travel for someone my age, but when I read blogs by other young travelers, it makes my number of 12 countries visited seem paltry. So I decided to make a short list of travel-related things I want to do before I die. While I wish it was possible, I’m not limiting these to 1,001 days!
Here are my current top 20, in no particular order:
- Visit the Egyptian pyramids
- Volunteer in Africa for several weeks (probably Kenya or Tanzania)
- Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia
- Go to Poland and visit the concentration camps in Warsaw and Krakow (one side of my family is Jewish and originally from Poland)
- Go to a beach in Rio de Janeiro
- Take a boat ride down the Amazon River
- See Gaudy architecture in Spain
- Swim in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland
- Walk along the Great Wall of China
- See the Australian outback (and go to New Zealand, too!)
- Eat chocolate in Switzerland
- Go to a “coffee shop” in Amsterdam
- Watch a snake charmer in Marrakesh
- Observe Eastern European culture in Budapest and Prague
- Go on a cruise to Antarctica
- Visit a Buddhist monastery in Nepal
- Take a ride through the green Irish countryside
- Visit the Taj Majal
- Eat real Thai food in Thailand
- Go to Hawaii (and visit the LOST set if possible!)
There are of course hundreds of other places I want to go and things I want to do, including visiting every country in Europe, but these 20 are must-dos for me. Amsterdam has been toward the top of my list for a while, and I hope to get there soon. If you have been there before, let me know which Amsterdam hotels you recommend! Same goes for Barcelona hotels.
What are some of your lifetime travel goals?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
How fun and they are so obtainable (although you’ll have to get to Hawaii since I believe this is the last season of Lost, right?!) As for the “only” 12 countries – it is so not about the number, and you are leaps and bounds above most people your age
If you’ve spent quality time in each place then that’s better then a day in each country.
I met a guy on my trip who was on a whirlwind RTW and it was ONLY about the number – some countries he was in for half a day!
Cheers and good luck on accomplishing these!! Look forward to reading about the journey.
Thanks, Shannon! You make a great point — it definitely shouldn’t only be about the number. No point in going somewhere if you aren’t even going to be there for a full day and soak up some of the local culture! Some of the countries I’ve visited, I have been multiple times and visited different areas. Now that I think more about it, you’re right — that is more important than visiting a million places but with no quality time. Thanks for your great feedback, as always
I went to Iceland for spring break in college and it was, hands down, my favorite vacation ever! Flights on Icelandair are cheap, it’s beautiful, and if you go during the off-season (I went in March) and get out of Reykjavik, people are so nice and accommodating and will just hang out with you all night telling you about small-town Icelandic life. I’m probably Iceland’s biggest fan, there’s no reason why anybody in the U.S. should miss out on traveling there!
As for my travel goals? I’m moving to Kyrgyzstan in a few months to work with an NGO, so I’m hoping to do some Silk Road travels, the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, Samarkand, and what’s left of the Buddhas in Afghanistan, if I’m lucky!
Thanks for chiming in, Kristin! Glad to hear you loved Iceland — I definitely can’t wait to go.
It sounds like you have all kinds of wonderful and exotic adventures ahead of you!
I’d love to visit the pyramids as well. I’d have to say that’s number one on my travel list! Everytime I see a great deal in an email I’m tempted to go! I’d love to see Australia and Ireland as well!
love the list! i just added to mine (this week as a matter of fact) driving up the PCH from San Diego to San Francisco. not as wild as Marrakesh to be sure, but I have heard the scenery along that highway is just simply breathtaking. plus i really wanna go to San Francisco!
This is the year to do Iceland! With the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, it’d be really cool! I’ve read that it’s drawn in more than 25,000 tourists from around the world! Thanks for the list! Great stuff!
Love your list! it overlaps with loads of stuff I want to do also (trans sib rail is near the top of mine)!
I feel bad (but not really:-)) because i have done 5 things on your list already! Let me just say, the whole island of Oahu is like walking around the “set” of LOST. They utilize the island so much for everything, just walking around and visiting random beaches, you feel like you are on the show. I went when I was kid with my family and when LOST came on back in ’04, it made me want to go again, so I went in ’06. I couldn’t even imagine going now. I am sure everytime you turn a corner, it’s like, that was in LOST! And this is from someone in Los Angeles where my whole town is a “movie set”. Hawaii is just so beautiful!
Good Luck!!!
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Becs — that’s so cool that you went to Oahu and got a feel for LOST! I can’t wait to go there