With a world as “great big” as this one is, bucket list destinations and experiences are plentiful. Quite possibly my favorite part about travel bucket lists is that they’re always unique to the individual so no two lists are ever the exact same! A lot of my bucket list experiences are centered around adventure travel, but you could have guessed that by now! My favorite place to be is in the wilderness with my barefoot sandals on, feeling a nice, cool summer breeze on my toes and back, so after letting my mind wander and my eyes study the map, I found that a lot of these involve the words “hike” or “backpacking”, and I am actually so obsessed with ALL of them! So if you’re a fellow explorer looking for epic adventures around the world, you’ve visited the right place!
After crossing a couple of experiences off my list, I’ve allowed myself to dream bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER because I have found that while sometimes things may seem impossible or unattainable one day, I can always count on them becoming possible in the next days, months, or years following. There is no set day for the completion of this bucket list 1. because it’s always going to be growing and 2. because I know that I may just not get to EVERYTHING, and that’s alright with me! Life is already my greatest adventure, so these are just many cherries on top of the sundae!
If you have any of your own bucket list experiences that you feel align with the rest on these lists, please share it in the comments below!
Experiences By Continent + Region
North America
– visit all 50 states (12/50)
– visit all 63 US National Parks (8/63)
– camp and hike in Havasupai, Arizona
– backpack the Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho
– free dive with sharks, Hawai’i
– road trip for fall foliage in New England
– kayak to Spirit Island, Canada
– visit Banff National Park, Canada
South + Central America
– hike to Machu Picchu
– surf off the coast of Easter Island
– hike the W Trek in Torres Del Paine, Patagonia
– volunteer in the Amazon Rainforest
– walk on the glass at the Salar de Uyuni salt flats, Bolivia
– see Rio De Janerio via a doors-off helicopter ride
– find solitude in Brazil’s Lençóis Maranhenses
– kayak through the marble caves, Patagonia
– hike through Cocora Valley, Colombia
– fly over the Nazca Lines, Peru
– skydive over the Blue Hole in Belize
– take a picture with the “follow that dream” sign in Tulum, Mexico
Europe // UK
– spend two weeks exploring the Faroe Islands
– visit the Azores Islands, Portugal
– spend one-month exploring in Georgia
– go wild camping in Norway
– experience sunrise at Seceda in Italy
– spend a week solo backpacking in the Hornstrandir Nature Preserve, Iceland
– spend the night in a Scottish bothy
– soak in the Blue Lagoon, Iceland (June 2019)
– toss a coin in the Trevi Fountain, Italy (typical, but necessary)
– drive the Northcoast 500, Scotland
Asia // Middle East
– hike to Petra, Jordan
– float in the Dead Sea
– scuba dive in the Red Sea
– skydive over Mt. Everest
– wander the (new) Library of Alexandria, Egypt
– experience the Taj Mahal at sunrise
– visit Japan and only use Japanese to commnicate
Africa
– go solo backpacking in Madagascar
– visit the Great Pyramids of Giza
– go on an African safari
– drink way too much tea in Morocco
– experience Victoria Falls from both sides in Africa
– climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
– explore Reunion Island
Oceania
– campervan around the North + South Islands of New Zealand
– plant corals in Mo’orea, French Polynesia
– board a liveaboard in Tahiti
– visit the National Parks in Tasmania
– hike through Claustral Canyon, Australia
Major Hiking Trails
Multi-Day Backpacking Trips
– Everest Base Camp / Mount Everest, Nepal
– Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
– Pacific Northwest Trail, USA
– Teton Crest Trail, USA (August 2020)
– Pacific Crest Trail, USA
– Laugavegur Trail, Iceland
– Tour De Mont Blanc, France
– Camino De Santiago, Spain
– The Snowman Trek, Bhutan
– The Grand Canyon Rim-To-Rim Hike, USA
– Trek To Petra, Jordan
– The Lost City Trek, Colombia
– The West Highland Way, Scotland
– The Wonderland Trail, USA
– The John Muir Trail, USA
– Tōkai Nature Trail, Japan
– The Great Himalaya Trail, (Bhutan, Nepal, China, Pakistan, + India)
