I’ve had a bucket list for years, and don’t understand the derision that the concept often receives.

I’m not rushing around trying to see things before I die (kick the bucket) – I’m making lists (I LOVE lists) to serve as a roadmap to living the very best life that I can with the years I have left. Lists help keep me on track, plan efficiently, and make sure my life priorities – travel is one of them – are kept front and center.

I do realize, however, that simply saying “see and do everything” isn’t really a practical approach. So, instead, I started writing down places I wanted to go, things I wanted to see and do, and experiences that caught my eye. I set a top limit of 100 things that could be on the list because, let’s face it, otherwise it would go on forever. My list includes big dream bucket list items like having an audience with the Pope and staying in a penthouse in New York City, as well as more practical experiences like seeing a Red Sox game and going whale watching in Hawaii. I even include some off-the-wall ideas like riding a camel and having an audience with the Pope.

My bucket list is ever-changing – when something is accomplished or I’ve changed my mind about it, it gets crossed off the list and something new is added. The continual nature of how the bucket list evolves means that I will never accomplish everything on the list. And that’s just fine with me!

Here are the things that I crossed off my bucket list in the last two years (it’s been that long since I’ve updated it, you can see it here.) It’s a paltry check-off this time. And I’m fine with that, too!

• Last year, we finally got to the top of the Empire State Building and I can’t believe that it took us so long to get there. You can read about our visit using the NYC CityPASS here).
• We took a barge cruise in the Burgundy region of France and loved it. You can read my take on it here and Tony wrote about it here.
• We visited Israel and went to the Dead Sea in November. And although it was floating, not swimming, I ticked this one off the list.
• We sipped Champagne in Champagne as part of a shore excursion on our barge cruise in July and picked up a bottle to enjoy with friends when we returned to Paris.

Here is my newly updated Travel Bucket List, a total of 100 items with new items replacing those I have crossed off. I already have some tentative travel plans that will cross a couple off the list and there are a few more that could easily be arranged. If you want to join me or help in checking off any of these things in 2019, get in touch!

Note that this list is in no particular order.

1. Malta
2. Iceland
3. Cuba
4. Safari in Africa (not a country-specific item)
5. Visit the White House
6. Montgomery, Alabama
7. Visit a lighthouse in Maine (and eat lobster, too) July 2023
8. Go to a Red Sox game in Boston
9. Visit the great pyramids in Egypt
10. Transatlantic crossing by ship sailing into New York Harbor
11. Wine tasting in the Finger Lakes
12. Molokai
13. Trace some roots in Madrid
14. Enjoy a weekend on Cape Cod
15. Tunisia
16. Wear a fabulous hat at the Kentucky Derby
17. See polar bears in their native habitat
18. Press olives in Italy
19. Spend a weekend on the Jersey shore
20. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
21. Sunbathing on Daytona Beach
22. Ride a camel – February 2022
23. Spend a weekend on a dude ranch
24. Gibraltar
25. Stay in a room on stilts over the water somewhere in French Polynesia
26. Montreal
27. Enjoy chili in New Mexico
28. Driving trip in Wales
29. Learn to cook Cajun/Creole food in Louisiana
30. Sleep in an Ice Hotel
31. Morocco
32. Catalina Island
33. Spend a week at the Golden Door Spa
34. Eat at Rao’s in Harlem
35. Sardinia, Italy
36. Ride in a blimp
37. Paddleboat cruise
38. Have a steak in Argentina
39. Barbados – December 2023
40. Vacation on a houseboat
41. Sail in the British Virgin Islands
42. Gettysburg
43. Have a signature scent formulated in Paris
44. Experience the suite treatment on Emirates
45. Take a train ride across the United States
46. Yellowstone and Old Faithful
47. Take a cooking class in Italy
48. Mexico City
49. Round the world cruise
50. Lay down a bet in Monte Carlo – December 2022
51. Whale watching in Hawaii
52. Stay in a castle
53. Visit Graceland
54. Petra, Jordan – February 2022
55. Great Barrier Reef
56. Sedona
57. Go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
58. Stay in a penthouse suite in NYC
59. Have an audience with the Pope in Vatican City
60. Learn to throw a boomerang Down Under
61. Bali
62. Take a road trip to the Florida Keys
63. Open a Swiss bank account
64. Niagara Falls (from the U.S. side)
65. Watch tennis at Wimbledon
66. Visit Pennsylvania’s Amish Country
67. Take an RV trip
68. Laugh it up at Second City in Chicago
69. Walk on the Great Wall in China
70. See the Northern Lights in Lapland
71. Enjoy tea culture on a tea trail
72. Toast the New Year in Paris
73. Take a ghost tour in Savannah
74. See the snow monkeys in Nagano
75. Wine tasting in South Africa
76. Luxury train trip
77. Eat street food in Vietnam
78. Visit a European Christmas Market (my friend Ciaran has some great hashtag research for me to follow and plan) – December 2022
79. Visit all 50 states (current count 38, including D.C.)
    – see map below
80. Antarctica
81. Drink Chilean wine in Chile – November 2022
82. Prague
83. View wildlife on Borneo
84. Discover the food of Taiwan
85. Step back in time at the Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island
86. Stay in a treehouse June 2023
87. Hungary – both Buda and Pest June 2023
88. Visit the Space Port in New Mexico
89. Nile cruise
90. Cheer at a World Series game
91. See koalas and kangaroos in Australia
92. Wander in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul
93. Cross the Equator – October 2022
94. Listen to music in Vienna
95. Gibraltar
96. Improve my snorkeling in a warm water destination
97. Stay in a hostel
98. Enjoy lobster in Nova Scotia
99. Hall of Fame visits – Cooperstown (baseball) and Canton (football)
100. Mt Rushmore

Checked off in 2021: