The Bucket List Journey

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Hand-holding-a-globe

The most common response I’ve received to my travel photos and stories over the years has always been, “You should be a travel writer!” The second most common, however, has always been a request to see what exactly is on a 600+ item bucket list. I’ve never published it before, and I don’t plan to publish it in its entirety now (there are a few things on it that aren’t travel related and I would prefer to keep them private for the time being) but I will list the ones that I have checked off, along with the relevant blog posts where applicable, and I’ll update it as we go along. Fair enough?

Checked Off Adventures

  1. ???
  2.  ???
  3.  ???
  4.  ???
  5.  ???
  6.  ???
  7. Take a Train Ride across Canada
    • Completed: June/July 2016
  8. ???
  9. Visit the Scottish Highlands
    • Completed: November 2015
  10.  ???
  11.  ???
  12.  ???
  13.  ???
  14. Take an African photo safari
    • Completed: May 2010, Uganda
  15. Swim with dolphins
    • Completed: January 26, 2016 in Cozumel, Mexico
  16.  ???
  17.  ???
  18.  ???
  19.  ???
  20.  ???
  21.  ???
  22. Ride in a hot air balloon
    • Completed: March 2009, Bagan, Burma
  23. Take a cruise
    • Completed: Several times over!
  24.  ???
  25.  ???
  26. Spend the summer living in a beach house
    • Note: The summer turned into almost five years, and I still miss that house!
  27. ???
  28.  ???
  29.  ???
  30.  ???
  31.  ???
  32.  ???
  33.  ???
  34.  ???
  35.  ???
  36.  ???
  37.  ???
  38.  ???
  39. Watch the launch of the Space Shuttle
    • Note: I had VIP access to the launch of Discovery on April 5, 2010, the last night launch. I may have cried. A lot.
  40. Be an extra in a film
  41. ???
  42.  ???
  43.  ???
  44.  ???
  45.  ???
  46.  ???
  47. Send a message in a bottle
    • Note: I got caught in a riptide and nearly died doing it. Someone in Fiji better find that damn bottle is all I’m saying.
  48. ???
  49.  ???
  50.  ???
  51.  ???
  52.  ???
  53. Shower in a waterfall
    • Completed: May 30, 2011 in Cloudland Canyon, Georgia. So. Freaking. Cold. But my commitment to the bucket list is unwavering!
  54.  ???
  55.  ???
  56.  ???
  57.  ???
  58.  ???
  59.  ???
  60. Visit the World Trade Center memorial
    • Completed: October 4, 2015- Don’t look for a blog post about this any time soon. I was so overwhelmed I had to leave almost immediately.
  61. ???
  62.  ???
  63.  ???
  64.  ???
  65.  ???
  66.  ???
  67.  ???
  68. Get a tattoo
    • Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check…
  69. ???
  70.  ???
  71.  ???
  72.  ???
  73.  ???
  74. See a musical on Broadway
  75.  ???
  76.  ???
  77.  ???
  78.  ???
  79. Climb Mayan ruins
  80. ???
  81.  ???
  82.  ???
  83.  ???
  84. Learn to ride a horse
  85. Live in a beach house
    • Note: Damn, even early on there were duplicates on the list!
  86.  ???
  87.  ???
  88.  ???
  89.  ???
  90. ???
  91. Sail down the Nile
    • Completed: May 2010, and I nearly died. Good times.
  92.  ???
  93.  ???
  94.  ???
  95.  ???
  96.  ???
  97. Visit Stonehenge
  98.  ???
  99.  ???
  100.  ???
  101. Get a college degree
  102.  ???
  103. Go to Disney World
    • Note: See what a sheltered child I was? I was in my 20s before I could check this one off!
  104.  ???
  105.  ???
  106.  ???
  107.  ???
  108.  ???
  109.  ???
  110.  ???
  111.  ???
  112.  ???
  113.  ???
  114. Ride a cable car in San Francisco
    • Completed: October 18, 2009
  115. Visit Alcatraz
    • Completed: October 18, 2009- take the night tour!
  116.  ???
  117.  ???
  118.  ???
  119.  ???
  120.  ???
  121.  ???
  122.  ???
  123.  ???
  124.  ???
  125. Eat alligator
    • Spoiler alert: it’s gross
  126.  ???
  127.  ???
  128. Explore a tropical rain forest
    • Completed: May 2010 Kibale Forest and Bwindi, Uganda
  129.  ???
  130.  ???
  131. Spend the night at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast
  132.  ???
  133.  ???
  134.  ???
  135.  ???
  136.  ???
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  145.  ???
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  147.  ???
  148.  ???
  149.  ???
  150.  ???
  151.  ???
  152. Watch silverback gorillas in the wild
    • Completed: May 2010 Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda- my #1, all-time, most amazing travel experience ever
  153. ???
  154.  ???
  155.  ???
  156. Visit Mt. Rushmore
    • Completed: September 2016
  157. Visit the Crazy Horse Monument
    • Completed: September 2016
  158. ???
  159. Visit ancient Greek & Roman ruins
    • Completed: March 2012, London; February & September 2013, Athens
  160. ???
  161.  ???
  162.  ???
  163.  ???
  164.  ???
  165.  ???
  166.  ???
  167. Watch bald eagles in the wild
  168. Eat cheesecake at Junior’s in Brooklyn
    • Completed: October 5, 2015
  169.  ???
  170.  ???
  171.  ???
  172.  ???
  173.  ???
  174.  ???
  175.  ???
  176.  ???
  177. Touch a whale
    • Completed: April 18, 2009
  178. ???
  179.  ???
  180.  ???
  181.  ???
  182.  ???
  183.  ???
  184.  ???
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  204. See a herd of bison on the American plains
    • Completed: September 24, 2016 Custer State Park, South Dakota. Happy birthday to me!
  205. See the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum
  206. ???
  207. Eat beignets at the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans
    • Note: Too many times to count, but I never get tired of them!
  208. Hear wolves howl
  209.  ???
  210.  ???
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  212.  ???
  213.  ???
  214.  ???
  215.  ???
  216.  ???
  217.  ???
  218. ???
  219. Visit The Hermitage, Home of Andrew Jackson
    • Completed: March 2017
  220. Walk the Enchanted Trail near Chattanooga, Tennessee
  221.  ???
  222.  ???
  223.  ???
  224. Listen to jazz and blues in Memphis
  225.  ???
  226.  ???
  227.  ???
  228. Buy a painting from a starving artist
  229.  ???
  230.  ???
  231.  ???
  232.  ???
  233.  ???
  234.  ???
  235. Tour Magnolia Plantation in South Carolina
  236. ???
  237.  ???
  238.  ???
  239.  ???
  240. Take a carriage ride through St. Augustine
  241.  ???
  242.  ???
  243.  ???
  244.  Visit the Acropolis (February 14, 2013)
  245.  Hunt for antiques at the West London Fair
  246.  ???
  247.  ???
  248.  ???
  249.  Visit Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello (October 22, 2010)
  250.  ???
  251.  See the ancient bronze statue of the Delphic Charioteer in Greece (February and September 2013- once wasn’t enough! This thing is breathtaking)
  252.  ???
  253.  Eat cheesesteak in Philadelphia (July 3, 2015- Jim’s Steaks on South Street. Legendary.)
  254.  ???
  255.  ???
  256.  ???
  257.  ???
  258.  Have afternoon tea at the London Ritz.
  259.  ???
  260.  ???
  261.  ???
  262.  ???
  263.  ???
  264.  ???
  265.  Tour the Okefenokee swamp by boat (January 21, 2016)
  266.  ???
  267.  Walk the entire Freedom Trail to visit the landmarks of the American Revolution (September 17, 2010)
  268.  Explore a bat cave (May 23, 2011- Carlsbad Caverns)
  269.  Buy a book in San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore (October 17, 2009- “American Chinatown” by Bonnie Tsui)
  270.  Visit all 54 African countries (OK I’m still working on this one- Uganda and Rwanda down, 52 to go!)
  271.  ???
  272.  ???
  273.  ???
  274.  ???
  275.  ???
  276.  ???
  277.  ???
  278.  See the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery
  279.  Travel the Road to Mandalay (March 2009)
  280.  ???
  281.  ???
  282.  ???
  283.  ???
  284.  ???
  285.  ???
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  297.  ???
  298.  ???
  299.  ???
  300.  ???
  301.  ???
  302.  ???
  303.  ???
  304.  Drive a tank! (June 25, 2010 in Kasota, Minnesota. This got me a mention on CNN Money, and was dope as hell.)
  305.  ???
  306.  ???
  307.  ???
  308.  ???
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  324.  ???
  325.  ???
  326.  ???
  327.  ???
  328.  ???
  329.  ???
  330.  ???
  331.  See a blue iguana in the wild (Mexico, Burma, and Uganda. Who knew there were so many of them?)
  332.  ???
  333.  ???
  334.  ???
  335.  ???
  336.  ???
  337.  ???
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  344.  ???
  345.  ???
  346.  ???
  347.  ???
  348.  ???
  349.  ???
  350.  ???
  351.  ???
  352.  Hear Big Ben chime.
  353.  ???
  354.  ???
  355.  ???
  356.  ???
  357.  ???
  358.  ???
  359.  ???
  360.  Visit Gillette Castle in East Haddam, Connecticut (September 19, 2010)
  361.  ???
  362.  ???
  363.  ???
  364.  ???
  365.  ???
  366.  ???
  367.  ???
  368.  ???
  369.  Visit the grave of Benjamin Franklin in Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia
  370.  Eat a 6″ sandwich at Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh
  371.  ???
  372.  ???
  373.  Visit the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.
  374.  ???
  375.  ???
  376.  Search for gems at Crater of Diamonds, Murfreesboro, Arkansas (March 2017)
  377.  ???
  378.  Visit Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage in Nashville, Tennessee (March 2017)
  379.  Pizzeria Uno, Chicago (and why I get free pizza for life)
  380.  ???
  381.  ???
  382.  ???
  383.  ???
  384.  Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana (September 23, 2016)
  385.  ???
  386.  ???
  387.  Explore Badlands National Park, South Dakota (September 25, 2016)
  388.  Mt. Rushmore & the Crazy Horse Monument (oops, another duplicate. It happens!)
  389.  ???
  390.  Buy a souvenir magnet at Wall Drug in Wall, SD (September 25, 2016)
  391.  ???
  392.  Hear a concert at Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater (September 26, 2016)
  393.  Explore Carlsbad Caverns in Carlsbad, New Mexico (May 23, 2011)
  394.  ???
  395.  ???
  396.  Find the best Chinese food in San Francisco’s Chinatown (October 17, 2009- City View Dim Sum was my final choice!)
  397.  ???
  398.  ???
  399.  ???
  400.  ???
  401.  Watch orcas off the coast of British Columbia (July 4, 2016- second only to seeing wild mountain gorillas in Uganda on the Highlights of My Life list!)
  402.  ???
  403.  ???
  404.  ???
  405.  ???
  406.  ???
  407.  ???
  408.  ???
  409.  ???
  410.  ???
  411.  Stand on the Equator (May 2010, Uganda)
  412.  ???
  413.  ???
  414.  Ride in a helicopter (September 18, 2010- Boston)
  415.  Visit Gettysburg (October 23, 2010)
  416.  ???
  417.  ???
  418.  ???
  419.  ???
  420.  ???
  421.  ???
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  468.  ???
  469.  ???
  470.  ???
  471.  ???
  472.  ???
  473.  ???
  474.  ???
  475.  Explore ancient temples in Indonesia
  476.  ???
  477.  ???
  478.  ???
  479.  ???
  480.  ???
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  524.  ???
  525.  ???
  526.  ???
  527.  ???
  528.  ???
  529.  Ride the St. Kitts Scenic Railway
  530.  ???
  531.  ???
  532.  ???
  533.  ???
  534.  ???
  535.  ???
  536.  ???
  537.  ???
  538.  ???
  539.  ???
  540.  ???
  541.  ???
  542.  ???
  543.  ???
  544.  ???
  545.  ???
  546.  ???
  547.  ???
  548.  ???
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  562.  ???
  563.  ???
  564.  ???
  565.  ???
  566.  ???
  567.  ???
  568.  Go back to Greece (sometimes I love a country so much I put it back on the list even after I’ve been there. Sue me.)
  569.  ???
  570.  Visit the tomb of St. Luke in Thiva, Greece
  571.  ???
  572.  ???
  573.  Visit Thessaloniki
  574.  ???
  575.  ???
  576.  ???
  577.  ???
  578.  ???
  579.  ???
  580.  ???
  581.  ???
  582.  ???
  583.  Borobudur Temple Compound, Indonesia
  584.  ???
  585.  ???
  586.  ???
  587.  ???
  588.  ???
  589.  ???
  590.  ???
  591.  ???
  592.  ???
  593.  ???
  594.  ???
  595.  Explore Gilmerton Cove, a series of underground passageways beneath Edinburgh (November 13, 2015)
  596.  Take Murphy Ann to visit her ancestral homeland at Mount Vernon (March 2017)
  597.  ???
  598.  ???
  599.  Marry Eric (December 31, 2015) Oops. Live and learn!
  600.  ???
  601.  ???
  602.  ???
  603.  ???
  604.  ???
  605.  ???
  606.  ???
  607.  ???
  608.  ???
  609.  ???
  610.  ???

Oops. Live and learn!

So there you have it- everything I’ve checked off my bucket list so far. Next up on the list? #542- explore ancient temples in Sri Lanka. Stay tuned!

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