I’ll admit I’ve made a few “100 things I want to do before I die” lists; however, I’ve never really followed or kept up with them. Probably because I’ve only added items that seemed so far out of reach (and yet still do), so my dreams were never set into reality. I came across Karen Walrond’s advice on creating your own life list, and I was inspired to type up the travel list that has been sitting underneath the conglomerate of papers on my desk. Figured that even attempting to cross things off my list will make my life more exciting.

Check below to see when this (super awesome) list has been updated.

LOCATION SPECIFIC

NORTH AMERICA:

✓ drive across country: New York to San Francisco
visit all 50 states: New York, Florida, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Nevada, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, Louisiana, Illinois, North Carolina, Utah, Minnesota, Colorado, Hawaii, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming [23/50]
visit 20 caribbean islands [ones listed are those I’ve been to]: Barbados, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Kitts [10/20]
Visit Crater Lake, Oregon
✓ Sail around Kauai’s Na Pali coast
✓ drive the Road to Hana in Maui, Hawaii
Spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square, NYC
Ride a mechanical bull in New York City
Explore/hike 10 National Parks: Mount Rainier, Badlands, Yosemite
Spend Mardi Gras in New Orleans — I was there a few weeks after!
See the hoodoos in Arizona/Utah
Take surf lessons in Hawaii — tried Stand Up Paddling, is that enough?!
Go shelling on sanibel island
Visit a few great American Cities: ✓ Austin, ✓ Seattle, Nashville, Montreal, Honolulu, ✓ New Orleans, Phoenix/Scottsdale, Tucson, ✓ Washington D.C., Portland,✓ San Diego, ✓ San Francisco, Vancouver, ✓ Salt Lake City, Quebec City, Denver, Santa Fe, Miami, ✓ Philadelphia
Hike the stairway to heaven in Oahu, Hawaii
Explore the Mendenhall ice caves in Juneau, Alaska
Hang out with flamingos on the beach in Aruba
Swim in a cenote in Mexico
✓ go on a helicopter ride in Hawaii

Drive the Pacific Coast Highway: drove from Mendocino to Big Sur so far!
Hike and helicopter the Grand Canyon
Swim with manatees in crystal springs, Florida
Road trip from Miami to Key West, stopping at the turtle sanctuary on the way
✓ Visit the colorful city of Antigua, Guatemala
Take colorful photos at antelope canyon in Arizona
Go whale watching in Alaska
Dive the Great Blue Hole in Belize
See Banff/Jasper National Parks in Canada
Be brave enough to do the Skywalk edge in Toronto

SOUTH AMERICA:

Pet a tortoise in the Galapagos Islands
Take fun pictures with the Moai at Easter Island
Swim with sea lions in the Galapagos
Swing at the “End of the World” in Baños, Ecuador
Visit the marble caves in Patagonia (chile/Argentina)
Learn how to Salsa in Buenos Aires

EUROPE:

Kiss my love on the eiffel tower — does the replica in Vegas count? :p
✓ backpack in Europe — completed, May 2008 (went to 5 cities/4 countries in a few short weeks: Rome, Paris, Cannes, Geneva, London)… although I want to do it again. Maybe Summer 2015?!
Touch an iceberg/glacier in Iceland
Ride in a hot air balloon in Capadoccia, Turkey
Stay in a fairy chimney in Gerome, Turkey
Ride the London eye

Ride a gondola in Venice
Travel along the western coast of italy, including hiking Cinque Terre
Swim in the blue lagoon in Iceland
Ride a vespa around Rome
Go dog sledding in Iceland
✓ visit Greece and it’s islands (explored Santorini, Mykonos, & Crete) — completed, June 2012 honeymoon

Take a snow mobile out for a spin in Iceland
See the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland
Attend La Tomatina in Spain (the worlds biggest tomato fight)
Walk the Tunnel of Love in Klevan, Ukraine
Play in the tulip fields in the Netherlands
Stand on the Troll’s Tongue in Norway

ASIA:

Go camping on the beach in Thailand
Visit the great wall of china
Visit the Maldives before they disappear forever
Volunteer at an elephant park in Thailand
Cruise Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
See the rainbow formation at the Zhangye Danxia landform in Gansu, China
Explore the Hang Son Doong cave in Vietnam
Play in the bamboo forest in Kyoto, Japan
View the Kelimutu Crater Lakes in Indonesia

AFRICA:

see the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt
see the big 5 on a safari in Africa
kiss a penguin in South Africa
cage dive with sharks in South Africa
pet a lemur on Madagascar
Learn how to cook with spices in Marrakech, Morocco

MIDDLE EAST:

Go dune bashing in Dubai
✓ ride a camel in Israel — completed, August 2011, and what a thrilling experience it was
✓ float in the Dead Sea in Israel –completed, August 2011 in Israel
✓ wake up early enough to see the sunrise atop Masada
See the tallest building in the world in Dubai

AUSTRALIA/PACIFIC:

travel throughout Australia
learn how to sail in the Whitsundays
go Zorbing in New Zealand, or anywhere else I can do it!
✓ stay in an over water bungalow in Bora Bora
Drive the great ocean road and see the 12 apostles and whitehaven beach
Jump into To Sua Trench in Samoa
Take a romantic boat ride through the glow worms caves in New Zealand

ANYWHERE

visit every continent, even Antarctica!
learn how to ski or snowboard
swim with dolphins in nature
snorkel off of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, the Maldives, ✓ Bora Bora, Seychelles Islands, Bonaire, ✓ Hawaii, La Jolla Cove in San Diego, ✓ Greek Islands [other spots snorkeled: Belize]

✓ climb a mountain – completed, July 2011 in Israel [climbed Mt. Masada]
stay up all night and ✓ see the sunrise –completed, May 2010 in Punta Cana (sunrise)! and in Israel August, 2011
✓ go rock-climbing — done, Fall 2012
be brave enough to go sky-diving from 15,000 feet
✓ Hike a Volcano – completed, June 2015, hiked Pacaya in Guatemala
meet 10 famous people (see how close I was to a few at the Cannes Film Festival). Also took 2 plane rides with ___ (forgot her name, need to ask the husband :p)
✓ parasail — done, May 2010 in Punta Cana
be a spectator at the Olympics [anywhere!]
✓ swim to the edge of an infinity pool
go white-water rafting
✓ fly in first class (just once!) — completed, got a free upgrade from Hawaii to LA on Hawaiian Air! Boo ya! And just recently flew first class on our way to Cabo, Mexico.
✓ swim with sea turtles, done in both Hawaii and Belize!
take a picture of the Northern Lights, from either Alaska or Iceland
see and enter a real-life castle
✓ Travel Solo! – done, in Seattle, May 2015, and I loved every second of it
swim with sharks – done, in both Belize and Bora Bora
swim with whale sharks
✓ ride in a hot air balloon
Learn how to dive and get PADI certified
See and active volcano with red hot lava