Bucket Lists

Recently I had dinner with a group of friends to celebrate a birthday, and on top of a delightful evening of Italian food and good company, I was inspired to dream of travel again.  Not that I don’t dream now, it’s just that a conversation triggered me to think about my next adventure.  I love it when conversations flip a switch in your brain that starts lighting up ideas that you know were there, but are suddenly creating new ones. 

At dinner, I reconnected with an ex-colleague who shares my love for going places.  The last we spoke, she was off to Vietnam and France for the summer.  It turns out that she spent her Christmas vacation dog sledding in Minnesota and absolutely loved it.  How random, right?  It was on her bucket list.  I have one, too, of course, but I’ve never written it down, so I thought I would make it official.

1.  Hike Machu Picchu, Peru

2.  Stay in multiple treehouses like this one in Scotland or Sweden (I can cross off northern lights, too!)

3.  Go on an African Safari

4.  See the northern lights from Iceland or Norway

5.  Ride on a boat down the Amazon like Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, but in South America please!

6.  Cruise the Nile like Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile

7.  Go to Everest Base Camp thanks to Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air

8.  Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway through part of Russia & visit the Kremlin

9.  Visit Petra in Jordan like Indiana Jones

10. Take a dip in the Ganges River, India

11. Go on a river cruise in Europe during the Christmas markets

12.  Hike through Denali National Park, Alaska

13.  Stay in an English cottage in the Lake District

14.  Explore the Silk Road east of China & spend the night in a yurt

15.  Visit the giant Buddha in Leshan, Sichuan, China

What I have crossed off:

1.  Rode a camel in the outback, Australia

2.  Bungee jumped off the original jump site in New Zealand

3.  Sailed on a junk off the coast of Northern Vietnam (Halong Bay)

4.  Climbed up and on the Great Wall & went to the Forbidden City

5.  Swam & went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef

6.  Ziplined and hiked through the Costa Rica rainforest

7.  Hiked the Cinque Terre, Italy

8.  Stuck a prayer in the Western Wall, Jerusalem

9.  Sailed over lost and sunken cities in the Mediterranean off the coast of Turkey

10. Explored castles throughout Scotland, like the one in Entrapment

11.  Bicycled through rice paddy fields through the Thai countryside

12.  Kayaked off the coast of Fiji

13.  Rode an elephant through the jungle in Thailand

14.  Bargained for a flying Turkish carpet in Cappadocia

15.  Hiked on a glacier in Norway & New Zealand

16.  Visited and photographed Angkor Wat, Cambodia

17.  Wandered Prague, Czech Republic with the love of my life

18.  Attended a World’s Fair (Expo) in Shanghai, China

All photographs taken by me. 1) Shanghai Expo, Czech Republic Exhibit 2) Hiking the Cinque Terre, Italy

3) Sailing on a junk in Halong Bay, Vietnam  4) Angkor Wat, Cambodia