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?
