A while back, I wrote a post about my (greatly abbreviated) top ten country bucket list. It was intended to be an exploration of my travel dreams, as well as a way to prioritize the places I most want to see (since I always have more travel dreams than time or money, making a list of my top travel goals makes sense, right? I’m nothing if not organized. Seriously, to an insane degree. It’s rather scary.)
Recently I started thinking about this list and thought it would be fun to check back and see how I’m doing with my list of must-sees: how many have I made a reality, how many are trips-in-progress, and how many remain tantalizing future travel goals? I love accountability, almost as much as I love to cross things off of lists, so here goes:
Melissa’s (Updated) Bucket List
View of a mist-covered mountain outside Nairobi
10) East Africa
Done and done (and soon to be done again!) Last year I visited Kenya and Uganda for a work trip, and I’ll be going back soon to explore more of Kenya (details pending). I can’t wait to revisit this beautiful corner of the world and dig a bit deeper into what it has to offer.
9) Brazil
Still haven’t been, but it remains high on my list, especially after friends have raved about it so much lately. I would love to make this a winter (aka their summer) trip one of these years—maybe in combination with Chile, another place in South America I’m longing to see….
8) Costa Rica
I seriously thought about taking a trip there this spring, but it didn’t quite pan out. I have looked into doing a yoga retreat in Costa Rica and really want to make that happen one day (two bucket list goals achieved on one trip; I love it!)
7) India
I was literally just talking yesterday with a friend who had spent lots of time in India and loved it. It remains high on my list, but I want to visit when I can do an extended tour through the country (both north and south, hopefully) and really get to delve into its magic. This trip may not happen in the foreseeable future, but it will happen!
6) New Zealand
No details yet, but I’m making a determined effort to visit this magical land within the next year (gauntlet thrown down, now I must commit!) Seriously, few places rank higher on my must-see-asap list than NZ, and I’m very hopeful a 2018 trip is in the cards. Stay tuned!
5) Australia
Well, of course you can’t mention New Zealand without bringing up Australia, right? Because they are SO close and both look SO AMAZING, I would really love to do a trip that combines both—if I manage to carve out a month or so in my schedule that would be possible, but otherwise, I’m afraid Oz may have to wait in line behind New Zealand (I guess I should officially bump it down behind NZ on my bucket list, right?) But I’m determined to make it to Australia in the not-too-distant future as well.
4) Vietnam
SO. CLOSE. A few months ago I was booked to go back to Cambodia for a work trip, and I had added on a few vacation days in Hanoi to check out the city and visit Ha Long Bay. Unfortunately, the plug was pulled on my work trip, so Vietnam was postponed as well…for now. I still hope to make it back to Southeast Asia later this year or early next, though it’s not totally within control due to the work factors. But one thing is certain: when I return to Asia, I will get to Vietnam at last.
View of Soca river in Slovenia.
3) Slovenia
Check another one off the list—I finally made my decade-long travel dream come true and visited Slovenia last summer, and ever since I’ve been recommending that everyone drop whatever they’re doing and head over there. What a beautiful and fascinating country!
2) Bali
Oh, Bali…how you tempt and vex me. I was determined to finally make this dream trip a reality for my milestone birthday last December. But, with all the traveling I’d done that year, and the relatively limited vacation time I had to work with, I decided it made more sense to postpone until I had a chance to do it properly, ie spend a few weeks in Indonesia and really get the opportunity to soak up Bali. After all, a 20-hour plane ride is nothing to scoff at, and if you’re going all that way you need to make your time there worthwhile, right? I don’t want to give Bali short shrift when I feel it deserves so much more, so I’m holding off until I can do it right (what a dangerous notion that is, really….) Anyway, I will make Bali happen. For sure. One of these days. Sigh….
`1) Russia/China/Mongolia and the Trans-Siberian Express
Big news here: I’M FINALLY GOING TO RUSSIA!!!
No, not the Trans-Siberian Express (that will happen eventually though!) but St. Petersburg. My friend and I have booked a cruise through Scandinavia (covering Berlin, Tallin, Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen), with a full two-day stop in St. Petersburg. So after two decades of dreaming about it, I’m finally going to Russia in August—just four months away!! Cue massive excitement, guidebook purchases, and earnest efforts to finally make it through Crime and Punishment this time….
So, that’s the status of my bucket list. Two countries checked off, three more in progress, and five dreams waiting to be fulfilled in the future….I guess that’s not terrible, right? Slow and steady wins the race, and even if getting to every corner of the world my heart desires may take longer than I’d like, I have no doubt that in the end, it will be well worth it.
Do you have a bucket list? How are you doing at fulfilling your travel dreams?