wanderlist

The more I think about it (and the older I get), the less inclined I am to have a “bucket list”. What is a bucket list, anyway? Things you’d like to do before you die? Or things you’re going to actually be really disappointed on your death bed that you didn’t do?

To me, there are few things that I’d be disappointed about never doing. A safari in Africa, visiting New Zealand and road tripping in a VW camper? Sure. But visiting Venice or eating out at a stupid restaurant? Let’s be honest with ourselves, I won’t lay there dying and think, “damn, I never did have a meal at Cabbages & Condoms.” (…okay, knowing me, I probably would.)

So this page is now a much bigger, but much less urgent, collection of awesome things I want to do – which means I can add really stupid and fun places I’ve heard about, without worrying about whether they fit the “bucket list” category. Call it an alternative to bookmarking ideas (because we all know as soon as it’s bookmarked, we’re never looking at it again).

Want to read about the places I have been to? Click here!

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My All-Time Top 5 (i.e. the actual “bucket list”)

  1. Visit Japan (booked for 2024!)
  2. Go on safari in Africa (completed in 2022)
  3. Do a cruise around the Norwegian fjords (completed in 2023 – a day cruise, anyway!)
  4. Live in Australia (completed in 2015/2016)
  5. Road trip the Canadian Rockies (completed in 2016 and 2018)

Challenges

  • Visit every continent in the world (5/7)
  • Visit every country in Europe* (32/45)
  • Visit every visit-able island in Scotland** (19, we can dispute the final amount)
  • Bag 10 munros (2/10)
  • Visit four countries in a day (done! Switzerland, Germany, France & home to the UK)
  • Cycle (or walk) from Edinburgh to Glasgow

    * number is disputable – I’m not counting crown dependencies like the Isle Of Man and Gibraltar, but it does include Kosovo. And does Turkey count? Apparently not.

    ** I was going to put inhabited, but I’m including islands like Staffa and Lunga, which are not

WORLDWIDE

Hire a VW camper
Volunteer somewhere (completed in Thailand, 2015)
Sky dive (completed in the UK & New Zealand, 2007 & 2016)
Go parasailing
Go paragliding (completed in Canada, 2018)
Go ziplining (also completed in Canada, 2018!)
Ride in a hot air balloon (completed in Kenya, 2022)
Stay in a Hobbit house
Buy a campervan (or convert one!)

The rest of these were getting out of hand, so I’ve condensed them into their own headings! Click on them to find out what I’ve got.

Me with the view from the city walls, Dubrovnik, Croatia

EUROPE

✈ Destinations 🔻
✈ Experiences – in the UK 🔻
✈ Experiences – in the rest of Europe 🔻

Gardens By The Bay, Singapore

ASIA

✈ Destinations 🔻
✈ Experiences 🔻

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

AUSTRALASIA

✈ Destinations 🔻
  • Cairns, Australia (2016)
  • Sydney, Australia (2015)
  • Ayers Rock (Uluru), Australia
    • >
  • Coober Pedy, Australia
  • Great Ocean Road, Australia
  • Western Australia (very generalised, I know!)
  • Gwalia, Western Australia (mining gold town)
  • Horse Head rock, Australia
  • Port Stephens (Fingal Bay), Australia
  • Queenstown, New Zealand (2016)
✈ Experiences 🔻

Monument Valley, Utah, USA

NORTH AMERICA

✈ Destinations 🔻
✈ Experiences 🔻
Skydiving over Wanaka, New Zealand

OTHER

✈ Destinations 🔻
  • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Iguazu Falls, Brazil/Argentina
  • Galapagos Islands
  • Serengeti National Park, Tanzania (2022)
  • Cape Town, South Africa
  • Namibia
  • Antarctica (South Orkney Island!)
✈ Experiences 🔻

Are any of these on YOUR bucket list?

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11 thoughts on “”

  1. Only started travelling recently, since getting dementia! Still I have a bucket list of sorts. I love your bucket list but see you don’t have Iceland on there, or Russia?
    Gill 🙂

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    1. Your blog is so interesting and inspiring, Gill! Bless you for starting it. ❤ Iceland is on my list but it's actually crossed out because I visited a few years ago! 🙂 It didn't disappoint at all, it's one of my favourite countries!

      Russia I actually have a funny relationship with, because I find it fascinating, but I don't want to visit while they are oppressing people's rights (I hate getting political but at the moment it's hard not to!). Unfortunately that seems to apply to so many countries recently, but it's sad that such a powerful first world country seems to be going backwards. I'm sure some people will disagree with my thoughts there!

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  4. There’s nothing here I wouldn’t like to do! Mine is huge and it feels like it’s ever changing too, but I decided to embrace it. It’s great that after all these years traveling, I still want to go to more and more places 🙂

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  5. Pingback: 2020: An Insane Year In Review – An Orcadian Abroad

  6. Just discovered your blog, so I’m poking around it! 100% recommend an African safari – they’re absolutely amazing. And Slovenia is PHENOMENAL! The Hubs and I actually got married there a few years ago. We were supposed to spend three weeks hiking there in 2020, and then 2021, but alas, Beer Flu canceled both! Happy travels!

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