My Travel Bucket List
This week, I thought we could look at some of my bucket list destinations that I would absolutely love to go to one day. I have been a travel girly long before it was a TikTok trend, I have been building this list since I was probably around 10 years old. Some of my bucket list places I have been to, for example, Machu Picchu, Paris and Edinburgh but this post is to talk about the ones that I haven’t been to so we can cross them off together, at some point down the line. I also just wanted to preface this by saying that none of these images are mine, as these destinations, I have not yet been to but all the images are all linked so you can click on them, head straight over to Pinterest and see who posted them. Enjoy!
1. Greece
So when it comes to this list, you’ll notice there are 2 common denominators in my reasoning for wanting to visit all of these places. Either history and culture, or animals, and Greece is no exception. My top reason for wanting to visit Greece is the history surrounding the country. I was obsessed with Ancient Greece for a while as a teenager, it’s something that really interests me, so much so that my cat is called Plato! Greece has always been at the top of my list and I really hope to go in the next few years. I would love to do an island hopping trip and explore as much as possible but also, spend some time on the mainland, looking at some of the incredible architecture and historical sites, such as The Acropolis, The Temple of Poseidon, Epidaurus, Delphi and Knossos. As well as my interest in Ancient Greece, one of my favourite cuisines is Greek food. I think it is so delicious, I am excited to try authentic Greek food in Greece, I think that’ll be lovely. And of course, you can’t go to Greece without looking out over the most amazing blue waters. I have a customer from work who is Greek and she has told me so many times how stunning the beaches are, so I am looking forward to experiencing it for myself.
2. Italy
Where do I begin with Italy? Honestly, I think the question should be why wouldn’t you want to go rather than why would you? The Italian language is one of my favourites, so is the cuisine. If I could only eat one country’s food for the rest of my life, it would absolutely be Italian and I would never complain. The landscapes, the architecture. There is also the incredible history behind it, the Romans, Pompeii, the Medici and as we know, I am very interested in Art History so you’ve got some amazing artists from Italy, De Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Botticelli and so many more. It has always been a dream of mine to do a driving holiday around Italy for about 6 months to soak up as much of it as possible. Italian wine is one of the best in my personal opinion as well so I think it would be really good to go wine tasting there too. When I was still studying for my Alevels, I wanted to do a year abroad in Italy but unfortunately, COVID hit and I was no longer able to go but one day, I will do my 6 month driving trip around there that I have planned for me and my Fiancé.
3. The Maldives
I feel like this one is so cliché but after seeing the sea of stars online and the whale sharks which are my favourite sea animal, I actually have a tattoo of one. Being able to see them in the wild would be a dream come true, I would absolutely do my research to ensure it was an ethical viewing but I would like to experience that as some point. My idea of going to the Maldives might be different from everyone else’s though. I wouldn’t want to go to the touristy spots or the floating villas. I would want to go the islands that most people don’t tend to go to and just explore a bit more. I have heard that to do it this way is cheaper but also, it is nicer because there is less crowds and I also think this would be the best way to see a whale shark naturally rather than through tour guides feeding them and luring them in. I am in no rush to visit this one though as I feel like recently, it’s definitely got a lot more hype around it so I’d like it to maybe settle down a bit before I go. I always prefer less crowds and quieter places.
4. Indonesia – Particularly the Borneo Rainforest
During lockdown in 2020, I made myself a challenge of watching as many documentaries on Disney plus as I could. I have always enjoyed the specials or the movies so they’re a bit longer rather than the series. I ended up watching almost all of the specials over the course of lockdown 2020 and one of them was about an orphanage for orangutans in the Borneo rainforest. The people would rescue infant or young orangutans and then rehabilitate them to be able to survive out in the wild which, eventually, continues to help grow the orangutan population. They have a few there that are unable to be rehabilitated and they do have to keep them for the safety of the orangutan but it is such amazing work that they do. Orangutans are probably my favourite great ape. I think they are so intelligent, so fascinating to watch and I would love to not only visit this orphanage but maybe volunteer in one similar to be able to help save the species. I think it would be such an unforgettable experience. This has been on my bucket list since I watched that documentary in 2020. I couldn’t tell you what it was called to be honest as it was a long time ago but I would definitely recommend trying to find it. I’m sure if you typed in Orangutan on Disney plus, it would come up.
5. Sri Lanka
As I am sure you can tell by now, I am an animal person, I love them, I have had so many animals in my lifetime that I honestly cant keep track of them without asking my parents for a list. If you didn’t know, Sri Lanka is rated as one of the best places to go for a safari outside of Africa. They have over 140 different mammals, 400 birds and 170 reptiles on such a small island. It would be the experience of a lifetime to go there. My plan for this bucket list journey would be to buy or hire some scooters in the capital city and then use them to travel around the country for a month or more. Go on the famous train from Kandy to Ella, try some locally grown tea, go on a Sri Lankan safari and just explore the country as much as possible.
6. Namibia & Zambia
This one is a fairly new one for us. I used to really want to go to Kenya and I still do but we have been watching a YouTube couple called Jammy Gits drive around the world in their Land Rover Defender, and whilst this is something we would love to do one day, it isn’t really possible for us at the moment. They spent a good length of time in Namibia and everything we saw from them just made us fall in love with the country even more and has overtaken Kenya as my top African country that I would love to go to. Something that is possible for us and I am already planning is hiring a car in Namibia and driving around the country, through the national parks and seeing as many animals as possible. The reason I added Zambia on here is that it borders Namibia and if you didn’t know, it is also home to one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls is stunning and my plan is to not only experience it on the floor but also witness it from a helicopter. I don’t think you can really go wrong with that. I mean, seeing it from above must be even more incredible.
7. Costa Rica
One of the things on my bucket list is that I would love to live in another country for a year. For Dave and I, the country that we have always gone back to when discussing this dream is Costa Rica. This is for multiple reasons, firstly, the nature and wildlife, of course. Second, the fact that life just slows down there. It’s not as intense. Third, every time I hear someone talking about Costa Rica, they are always saying how amazing it is, how wonderful the people are and everything like that and honestly, it just makes me want to go so bad. As I said, our plan has always been to live here for at least a year, whether or not we stick with that, we will find out but for right now, this is the plan.
8. China
China is the final one on my list for today. There are more but I don’t want to bore you with just a whole list of countries. So another documentary I watched in lockdown was about another animal care facility and if you couldn’t guess by the country, it was caring for pandas. I love all bears but I feel like pandas are definitely some of the most entertaining to watch and this documentary spoke about how they care for the pandas but they don’t want the pandas to have any sort of human contact as that desensitises them to humans and puts them in danger of poachers/hunters. The workers dress up as pandas and spray themselves with panda urine so that the panda has no idea its a human that is caring for them and I honestly think this shows so much dedication to the pandas and to your job as a whole. I would love to go over there and volunteer to help the pandas in some way. Maybe not dressing as a panda but even if it was just preparing their food. I would love it so much and I know Dave would too as bears are his favourite animal. I think that when you love animals as much as we do, one of the best things you can do for them, is to give back and take care of them where and when you can. As well as the wildlife, I think it would be so good to go and explore the Great Wall of China, the Chinese countryside and landscape and also, try some of the food because Chinese food just looks and tastes so amazing. We have discussed probably spending around a month or so here but we would more than likely split it up in to 2, 14 day trips just because of work and I don’t know when we would have the opportunity to go there for such a long time but who knows, maybe we will be able to make it work. Stay tuned to find out!
So that is my top 8 bucket list countries, I cannot tell you guys how excited it makes me to talk about these sorts of things. I love planning and getting ready for a trip. Some of them obviously need much more planning but hopefully, they will all become a reality at some point in the future.
I would just like to make an apology for my lack of posting over the last 2 weeks, I had my wisdom teeth removed and then had some complications, I got a kitten, a new job, honestly everything has been happening over the last 2 weeks and I just have not had the time to make a post at all but I hope you enjoyed this despite the delay. Follow my socials to keep up to date when I post something new. Bye x