Whoa — I can’t believe I’m already making my second 101 in 1001 days list. I feel like I just shared my first 101 in 1001 days list with the world! Time really does fly, especially when more than half of it is during a worldwide pandemic… .
What’s the 101 in 1001 list anyways? It’s essentially a bucket list of things I want to accomplish in the next 1001 days – roughly 2.75 years. This gives me lots of time to cross things off my list!
Start Date: December 12, 2021
End Date: September 8, 2024
On my last 101 in 1001 days list, I focused on a ton of different aspects of my life. It turned out to be more of a chore than pure enjoyment, so I’m taking a turn for round 2! Nothing on this list are things I feel like I should do (but deep down don’t want to) — just things that I feel would make me genuinely happy. Sure, I SHOULD work out multiple times a week, eat more greens, and all that other good stuff.
Read my last 101 in 1001 days list and find out what I managed to cross off!
- Last updated: August 27, 2023
- Goals completed: 13
- Partially completed/in progress: 11
Travel
Domestic (0/12)
1. Be a tourist in NYC: I grew up in NY and spent years living and working in the city. While I’m so glad we made the move to San Francisco, I still miss NYC! I do go back quite often, but whenever I visit it’s typically to see family, so I’d love to spend a few days exploring my beloved NYC again! I’m thinking things like Top of the Rock, taking a helicopter flight over the city, row boating in Central Park, going for a boozy brunch, etc.
2. Go to 5 new-to-me states: I’ve really prioritized exploring California these past few years, so I’d love to discover more of my home country. It’s wild to me that I’ve been to way more countries than states! I’m itching to get to Tennessee, New Mexico, Alaska, Idaho, Georgia, and South Carolina. (3/5)
- Nashville, Tennessee: We recently spent a long weekend here (Noah wanted to sign up for a half marathon here and I obviously couldn’t say no). Spoiler alert — it so much fun! Tons of live music, hot chicken and biscuits, and murals/street art!
- Charleston, South Carolina: When I visited my parents in their new home of North Carolina, we drove down to Charleston for a long weekend. I fell in love with the cobblestone streets, the Battery (especially those houses!), and the architecture South of Broad! Would love to go back! (June 2022)
- Newport, Rhode Island: So I’ve technically been to RI for a few hours, but since it was over 10 years ago and I hardly remember anything, I’m counting it! I recently spent 3 days in Newport with my sister Ali on my last visit to New York — and we had such a great time together (lobster rolls, sunset on the wharf, spending an afternoon on the water, and admiring the gilded mansions! (June 2023)
I currently have plans for a week-long New Mexico road trip, and a New England fall foliage trip to Vermont and New Hampshire! All new states for me to explore! So excited!
3. Visit 3 new-to-me National Parks: During the last year or so, I made it my mission to visit some parks, and always had the best time! Next I wanna make it to North Cascades, Yellowstone, and White Sands.
Will most definitely be visiting White Sands on our New Mexico road trip!
4. Go to the Skagit Tulip Festival in Washington: After visiting the Carlsbad Flower Fields, wild mustard field in Half Moon Bay, running through the lavender in Dixon, and sunflower farms at Andreotti’s this past year, you can tell I’ve got a thing for florals.
5. Go to the International Food and Wine Festival in Orlando: I just wanna eat all the things and it sounds like such a good (yet expensive) time.
6. Twirl around the Ice castles in Colorado or Utah: This has been on my winter bucket list for so long! Time to finally check it off!
7. Go to NYC for Christmas and do all the festive things
8. MARFA! This little quirky town in Texas has always caught my attention — time to finally go!
9. Take an epic Florida keys road trip: I’ve been wanting to do this FOREVER, and actually had an entire trip planned out (hotels booked and all), but we cancelled that due to the pandemic. Hopefully Florida will be safe to visit in the near future!
10. Visit Harry Potter World and drink butterbeer, because how could that NOT be just the best time ever?!
11. Go on a New England fall road trip: We get minimal fall foliage here in California, so I really wanna make it to the East Coast and play in the leaves and all that jazz!
12. Spend a weekend in Sedona hiking with friends and staying at an epic hotel! Plus, I wanna see what this whole vortex thing is really about.
International (5/13)
13. Go to Oaxaca for Day of the Dead: This has been on my bucket list for so long – time to finally cross it off!
14. Go back to Japan: I’d love to visit anytime (I miss the country so much), but during cherry blossom season or to see all the foliage would be extra special.
15. Visit 3 new-to-me countries: Only time will tell, but I’m really itching to get to Jordan, Egypt, and Colombia! I used to visit a handful of new countries every year, but it’s proven difficult lately.
- Colombia (March 2022): Happy to say we finally made it to Colombia, our first new country in almost 3 years! We spent a week galivanting around Medellin, Guatape, and Cartagena, and it was way better than we ever imagined! Gimme all the granadillas and fresh jugo!
- Tanzania (July 2023): After a few cancelled safari trips, we FINALLY made it to Tanzania for long-awaited African safari — and it was everything we could dream of and more. Spending a week at the beach in Zanzibar afterwards was the perfect end to the perfect trip.
16. Spend a day photographing Burano: I was SO close twice when I was in Venice, so time to head back to Italy with camera in hand!
Happy to say I finally crossed this goal off the 101 in 1001 list! We took the ferry over from Venice one day during our 2022 Euro Summer, and I was like a little kid in a candy store gawking at all the colorful homes! Of course I wrote an entire post with everything you need to know to plan your own day trip to Burano! (June 2022) ✔️
17. Finally cross Jordan (Petra and Wadi Rum) off my bucket list: Had this epic trip all planned out with a travel bestie, but had to unfortunately cancel because of you know what.
18. Go on our long awaited African safari: We had to postpone this numerous times because of C-vid, so it’s about time we make this happen!
After waiting over 3 years, we finally boarded the (crazy long) plane ride en route to Tanzania — we spent months perfecting our trip and it all paid off. Nothing will ever beat the experience of seeing hundreds if not thousands of animals in the Tanzanian parks — elephants right at our vehicle, flying over hundreds of hippos on a hot air balloon safari, and all the zebra, giraffe, dik-diks, and lion (!!!) you could imagine. Plus, we even saw an endangered white rhino! (July 2023) ✔️
19. Go to the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam: After reading her diary in its entirety a few months ago, I feel compelled to learn even more. And after going and seeing the secret annex in person, I can say it was just as moving as I envisioned it to be. Our one day in Amsterdam was filled with so many picturesque canals and tons of Dutch treats — it was the perfect addition to our 3 weeks in Europe this summer! (July 2022) ✔️
20. Check out a Luis Barragan house in CDMX: I’m a sucker for color and fun architecture, so this is right up my alley. And plus, I’d love to eat my way through Mexico City again!
We headed back to Mexico City for my 35th birthday, and were lucky enough to visit both Luis Barragan’s house and studio as well as Casa Gilardi — which were both spectacular! Wanna go? Make sure to make a reservation/buy tickets way in advance. (January 2022) ✔️
21. Have Noah show me his fave spots around London: He’s always loved the city so much, so I’d love to see it through his eyes.
22. Finally have breakfast with Geoffrey the giraffe in Kenya: We’ve got this booked for summer of 2023 (after postponing it for 3 years), so fingers crossed we can pull this off!
23. Travel to Poland and Austria and learn a bit about where I’m from
24. Explore more of Canada (2 new spots): Ideas include — Montreal/Quebec in winter, Vancouver Island, Churchill to see the polar bears
25. Explore more of Mexico (2 new spots): ideas include — Mérida, Izamal, Valle de Guadalupe, Isla Mujeres, Puerto Vallarta, Sayulita, Tulum. Yup, there’s lots of Mexico I still wanna see!
We just got home from Puerto Vallarta, Sayulita, and San Pancho, so checked this one off the list super fast, but of course I wanna plan more trips to Mexico! (accomplished December 2021). I also spent 2 weeks in Mexico in December 2022 and went to Merida, Valladolid, Tulum, Izamal, Bacalar, and Chichen Itza! Such fun times!
And it seems I can’t stop with the Mexico travels, because I spent another 10 days re-visiting Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, and Guanajuato — I fall harder in love with Mexico every time I go! ✔️
California Experiences (2/11)
26. Check 5 hikes off my Bay Area hike bucket list: Does the short (yet super steep and slippery) hike to Shark Fin Cove count?!
27. Soak in a hot spring in California
28. Hit up 5 new spots in California (ideas include Catalina Island, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Bodie State Park, Mt Shasta, Channel Islands)
29. Check off the remaining CA National Parks (I’ve got the Channel Islands, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Park left)
30. Hike to the Hollywood Sign: It’s about time I get back to LA anyways!
31. Paddle in Lake Tahoe in a clear kayak: We love Lake Tahoe, and I’d love to cross kayaking in a clear kayak off my list next time, despite my inexperience paddling!
32. Take a scenic flight over San Francisco: Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge from above? Sign me up!
33. Finally visit DISNEYLAND! Can you believe after living in California for over 7 years I still haven’t made it there?! Happy to report I FINALLY (after all this time!) made it to Disney, and I had the best disney day with my besties. Rode all the rides, took all the photos, and tried all the Mickey shaped foods. Dying to go again asap! (June 2023) ✔️
34. Drive Route 66 in CA
35. Spend a night at the Madonna Inn in SLO: It looks incredibly quirky — why not sleep in a pink hotel room?! Plus, I’ve heard the iconic champagne cake is delicious. Update — we stayed a night for my birthday! Read about our experience in the Tall and Short Room at the Madonna Inn here! (February 2023) ✔️
36. Go to DesertX 2023! I was obsessed with finding all the pieces in DesertX 2021, so why not continue the tradition and go next time?
Personal Growth (4/11)
37. Photograph the Milky Way
38. Learn how to make Mochi donuts!
39. Learn how to make creme brûlée
40. Learn how to make homemade ravioli
41. Learn how to make pastel de nata: I signed up for a pastel de nata cooking class in Lisbon after devouring a dozen the week beforehand, and it was so fun spreading the dough, making the custard, and then shoving some into my mouth, haha. Not so sure I can replicate the recipe exactly, but they sure were tasty! (August 2022) ✔️
42. Learn how to replicate Levain cookies: By far the all-time best-ever chocolate chip cookie, and I always make sure to grab a few whenever I’m in NYC. They took me almost 3 hours to make (I’m not the greatest at blending sugar and butter…), but they turned out absolutely perfect and so, so delicious! (baked these scrumptious goodies in January 2022) ✔️
43. Learn how to make pierogi: Finally made them (when we were quarantining at home when Noah got C*vid), and they were absolutely amazing! So proud of myself! Besides the fact that they literally took 5 hours to make, making homemade pierogi from scratch is something I’d definitely wanna do again. I calculated each pierogi took my 9 minutes to make, so you know I savored each bite! (May 2022) ✔️
44. Bake fresh popovers! One of my all-time favorite breads!
45. Make homemade bagels: So, ya know, I can make pizza bagels whenever I damn well please. 🙂
46. Cook a piece of fish to perfection: Figured out the air fryer does all the work for so, I think we’ll be making fish a lot more at home! (February 2022) ✔️
47. Get to my goal weight: Kinda an oxymoron considering all the other things in this section are food related, haha. I started with a health coach in October 2022 and am already feeling stronger and lighter! Proud of myself for sticking with it so far!
Friends and Family (7/11)
48. Visit my parents in North Carolina: They just moved a few months ago so would love to see their new home and area! I visited in early June as soon as I got out of school. Beyond thrilled they love it down there, and can’t wait for more visits! (June 2022) ✔️
49. Watch Noah cross the finish line at the Kona Marathon: He’s already finished marathons in Maui, Kauai, and Oahu, so time to finish it off! The race has been getting cancelled because of the pandemic, so hopefully he’s able to sign up in the next few years!
50. Go on a sister trip! We had hoped to cross this off the list last year, but then Covid happened. 🙁
Happy to say we spent a few days in Newport, Rhode Island together and it was such a blast! We ate all the seafood, watched gorgeous sunsets on the wharf, admired all the glitz and glam at the Breakers Mansion, and sipped frozen lemonade while sailing the Atlantic. Even the drive home was crazy fun — singing at the tops of our lungs and laughing like crazy! Hoping we can do a sister trip every year! (June 2023) ✔️
51. Spend a night with Noah at Fairmont Lake Louise: It’s his dream and he’s obsessed with snowy weather, so we just gotta go! Plus, Banff is just gorgeous in winter, so I’d love to head back! (November 2022) ✔️
52. Show Ali and Kevin around SF: About time they finally come visit! 🙂
I was thrilled when my sister and her husband touched down at SFO — they spent the week with us exploring the Bay Area, and we ventured over to Sausalito, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, Pacifica, and San Francisco a few times! Highlights include House of Prime, rides on the Sausalito boardwalk, fearing for our lives on the walk down to Shark Fin Cove, lots of time with Kona, and our amazing food tour of North Beach.
The best time with the best people — made my heart so happy. (August 2023) ✔️
53. Make my grandma’s famous mandal bread on her birthday (June 8)
Came out a little crumbly but it tasted delicious! Even brought some to New York and Newport! (June 2023) ✔️
54. Watch my sister get married! And what a beautiful wedding it was! Such a fantastic weekend celebrating Ali and Kevin! (December 2022) ✔️
55. Plan a super fun bachelorette party for Ali: This is right up my alley and I can’t wait to do all the decorating and fun planning! We spent a day getting pampered at Sojo Spa overlooking the Manhattan skyline, eating a delicious brunch, and having tons of girl time. (September 2022) ✔️
56. Celebrate Max’s 10th birthday! Whoa, can’t believe this little guy is turning 10 already so soon!
57. Plan 5 new date ideas with Noah: Loved crossing this off our list on my last 101 in 1001, so re-adding it! Here’s what we’ve gotten up to so far:
- Spent at afternoon at Urban Putt mini golf in San Francisco – so fun and quirky. Definitely a hidden gem in SF!
- Hung out at Tricks and Treats in California Great America, one of the best things to do in fall in San Francisco!
- Lazy afternoons at the lake with Kona, typically with a Trader Joe’s salad and a good book
58. Be home for Noah’s bday AND our anniversary 3/3 years: Managed this 2/3 years last time, so let’s bump it up!
- 2022: We were together for both his birthday and our anniversary! Woo!
- 2023: Together, again!
Just because (3/13)
59. Walk a marathon (26.2 miles) in a weekend (maybe the Routeburn Track in NZ if it’s open?!): I was SO close when I walked 25.8 miles in 2 days in Vegas, but I forgot about this goal before it was too late!
60. Sign up and run a 5k in a fun destination
61. Birthday trips for 35, 36, and 37: I make it my mission to plan a fun trip for my birthday every year, so let’s do it!
- 35: Mexico City — Spent a long weekend devouring 3 tasting menus, waking up at dawn for a hot air balloon ride over the pyramids, and learning about Luis Barragan and Frida Khalo!
- 36: Madonna Inn — Pretty low-key this year, but still managed such a fun weekend celebrating in an all-pink hotel room at the quirkiest hotel in SLO!
62. Do a cookbook challenge and make everything in it in a year!
63. Read 50 books: I read almost 30 books in 2021 alone, so 50 books in almost 3 years shouldn’t be too difficult!
64. Decrease my screen time (on my phone) by at least 25%: My screen times gotten way out of control (about 5 hours a day, ahhh), so time to limit a bit.
65. Do 23andme!
66. Watch at least 10 sunrises: Some notable ones include sunrise over the pyramids of Mexico City in a hot air balloon, while en flight to NYC, at the lavender fields in France, and at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala!
67. Enroll in an actual Spanish Class (besides Duolingo): I’m up to over 450 days, aaaaand Duolingo apparently teaches you as much as a college class, so… I’m counting this done! ✔️
68. Spend a night at the TWA hotel: Okay, so I didn’t actually spend the night, but I realized there’s actually no real need to! I visited when I had a few extra hours to spare at JFK, and loved sipping a cocktail in the Connie Cocktail Lounge, sneaking up to the rooftop pool, and checking out all the uniforms and artifacts from the 60’s! Such a fun afternoon! (June 2033) ✔️
Read my full review of the TWA Hotel here — so much Jet Age glamour and 60’s nostalgia!
69. Find out my blood type
70. Get my inbox to Zero. ZERO: Happy to announce I finally deleted alll my unnecessary 34 THOUSAND unread emails — took me forever but ahhh… that fresh and clean feeling. I also went through all my spam comments here on the site (all 16k of those), and deleted them as well. (October 2022) ✔️
71. Get up to my 150th ride on the peloton!
Blog and Business (3/10)
72. Write 100 blog posts (including 10 on NYC, 1 on Long Island)
73. Buy a new computer: Done! And it was about time! I’d been using the old one for over 7 years! And considering I basically run this entire blog from one machine, I needed something more reliable. (accomplished December 2021) ✔️
74. Do a complete blog audit (update formatting, check links, add affiliate links, internal link building of all posts, make master spreadsheet of all posts and info)
75. 5 $500 days on Mediavine: Had a few of these this past year in 2021, and would love to see more of them of course! So far, as of September 2023, I’ve had 7 $500+ days on Mediavine! So incredibly pleased with how this year is shaping out income wise! Still can’t believe I created this thing from scratch, all by myself! (September 2023) ✔️
76. Out-earn my 9-5 salary again (as expected, income dropped significantly due to the pandemic): Did this in 2022, and boy am I proud of myself. ✔️
77. Reach 300k page views in a month! Hit 200k page views again after a long slump from the pandemic. Now onwards and upwards!
78. Start blogging full time!!!!
79. Start a niche site
80. Write 50 posts on said niche site
81. Go to a travel blogging conference: Kinda wild that I’ve been blogging over 10 years and still have never made it to a conference! I mainly wanna go to connect with other like-minded creators, and of course learning a thing or two would be awesome. I just bought a ticket to a conference in Salt Lake City for April 2024, so making progress towards this goal!
Experiences (7/12)
82. See 3 broadway musicals: 7/3 — We saw the Harry Potter musical (March 2022) and despite it being over 3 hours long, it was fantastic! Also saw Dear Evan Hanson which was way deeper and depressing than I thought it’d be, but still highly recommend! Danced my way through Moulin Rouge (October 2022) with a friend, and took myself on a solo date to see Mean Girls (February 2023), which was one of my faves! Also saw Come From Away (April 2023) and Aladdin (August 2023), plus a wacky Cirque du Soleil show as well. ✔️
83. See 5 concerts, including one at red rocks and one Sam Hunt or Thomas Rhett show: Again, have tickets to Thomas Rhett (!!!) and Dave Matthews Band so far! I’m totally counting the Lovers and Friends festival because we saw at least 10 artists!
Happy to report I finally saw BOTH Thomas Rhett AND Sam Hunt (different shows), Dave Matthews Band, and have tickets to All American Rejects, John Mayer (!!!), and Neyo (!!!) — all coming up soon! Also, saw tons of artists at Lovers and Friends fest! ✔️
84. Stay at 5 bucket list worthy hotels: 6/5 — Already stayed at Hotel Mousai in Puerto Vallarta, so that’s one crossed off! And the Sofitel in Mexico City was pretty cool too, especially the rooftop pool! I had an epic hotel in both Merida (Mexico) and Lake Atitlan (Guatemala) which I can’t wait to share with you! Plus we stayed at the Fairmont in Banff and the Lemala in Tanzania! ✔️
85. Have a bonfire on the beach
86. Stay in an airstream
87. Take a chocolate making class: Took a chocolate making class in Antigua, Guatemala, and learned the exact process from bean to bar! So fun and we even got to make our own chocolate! ✔️
88. Go snorkeling with dolphins in the wild: Kinda, not really. Attempted to swim with dolphins in the wild in Zanzibar, but it was a complete fail, despite seeing them underwater for .2 seconds. I also didn’t agree with the ethics of this practice AT ALL, so promptly told our boat driver to leave. There’ll be other, more ethical opportunities one day!
89. Go to an amusement park and ride all the rides: Spent a day at California Great America for Halloween, and although we got stuck on half the rides (true story — they kept breaking down), it was such a fun date night! ✔️
90. Stay in a cool a-frame Airbnb
91. See brightly colored starfish on the beach (go tide pooling): Unexpectedly went tide pooling in Half Moon Bay and can’t believe how much I saw! Tons of hermit crabs, green sea anemones, and even purple starfish! I can’t wait to go again! ✔️
92. Go wild at a music festival: Scored tickets to Lovers and Friends Fest in Vegas, and that was just as wild as we imagined it would be! All our favorite 90s/2000s throwback artists were there, and despite not seeing Usher due to the stampede (a story for another time) and absolutely melting in the heat, it was surreal seeing so many of my faves! Who wants to go next year?! ✔️
93. Go camping (Big Sur or Kirby Cove?!)
Seasonal activities (2/8)
94. Go strawberry picking and then make strawberry jam: Half complete when Ali and I went strawberry picking out East in Long Island — and indulged in the sweetest ever strawberries! (June 2023) ✔️
95. Visit Europe in the winter: We unfortunately had to cancel our big Swiss Alps trip because of the pandemic, so fingers crossed we can replan for another year!
96. Go apple picking then bake an apple pie! Picked some apples last year, but not enough for a pie! Another time!
97. Soak in a hot tub in the snow
98. Spend a day in San Francisco doing all the Christmasy things: We spent a day in the city this year admiring the tree in Union Square, but I really wanna go all out and do everything!
99. Go ice skating on Lake Louise, because I was too chicken on my last visit to Banff in winter
100. Check out hidden Calla Lily Valley in Big Sur: Crossed this off the list after YEARS of wanting to go! Did it live up to my high expectations? Ehh… but it was still fun to find! Here’s my complete guide to Calla Lily Valley in Big Sur so you can see these gorgeous blooms yourself. ✔️
101. Make an epic gingerbread house
This is so cute and I’ve been reading your blog posts all week at work (oops). This one is my favorite! I totally copied your ‘3 Day Itinerary’ format for my blog and hopefully when I have more content on my own site, I can write a guest post for you! Now I am inspired yet again to write a bucket list for 2024!
Thanks so much Kristin! I also find myself sucked into people’s blogs sometimes! And I too LOVE writing bucket lists — so, so fun!
Feel free to email me about a guest post — I’m always looking for destination experts. 🙂