I just want to live while I’m alive. – Bon Jovi

I started keeping my first bucket list when I was a dreamy adolescent, in one of the spiral-bound notebooks I crammed full of lyrics, poetry, and magazine clippings of my celeb heartthrobs (Daniel Radcliffe is still hot in that white-as-paste British way.)

In addition to little childhood aspirations like “own a horse named Calypso” or “have a Disney wedding,” I had quite a few travel-related goals. It was fun to read them and realize I have accomplished several by now!

But in the years since I first jotted down this bucket list in my notebook, I have added extensively to it. I’ve also learned that it’s okay for a bucket list to be a living, dynamic thing – why commit yourself to something you want to do at age 20 that you don’t feel like doing when you’re 30 or 40?

(On that note, check out my #40Before40 list!)

1. Step foot in all 50 states. (26 down; 24 to go.)
2. Step foot on all 7 continents. (5 down; 2 to go.)
3. Visit Antarctica.
4. Visit the South Pacific islands (I particularly want to go island-hopping in Polynesia)
5. Visit Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross Station.
6. See Big Ben.
7. Experience Stonehenge
8. Climb the Eiffel Tower.
9. Climb the Empire State Building.
10. Snorkel/dive the Great Barrier Reef.
11. Visit the Australian Outback
12. Participate in a lantern festival
13. Touch the Berlin Wall.
14. Visit Auschwitz in Poland
15. Stay in an Italian hill town (especially Tuscany)
16. Sleep beneath the Northern Lights
17. Stand at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
18. Take a photo of Mt. Fuji with cherry blossoms in the foreground
19. Eat sushi in Japan.
20. Visit Disney World & Harry Potter World in Orlando
21. See Ford’s Theater (where President Lincoln was shot.)
22. See Mount Rushmore
23. Eat gelato in an Italian cafe
24. Be in two places at once. (I was in three: Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany. I win.)
25. Stand at Land’s End, Spain
26. Float in the Dead Sea.
27. Dance at a Full Moon Party in Thailand.
28. Hike the Inca Trail.
29. Explore Macchu Picchu.
30. Join a meditation in Asia.
31. Sleep in an igloo.
31. Climb the Great Wall of China.
32. Ride Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls.
33. Visit the tiny village of Fermoy, Ireland, to see where my ancestors lived.
34. Drive on the German Autobahn.
35. Go inside an ancient Egyptian pyramid.
36. Learn how to surf.
37. See the “real” Little Mermaid in Denmark.
38. See a Broadway show in New York.
39. Go on an African safari.
40. Visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
41. Go zip-lining in a rainforest or jungle.
42. See an active volcano.
43. Be “on the steps of Notre Dame”. (Turns out this isn’t possible; there are no steps at Notre Dame. Disney lied. But I saw and toured the cathedral!)
44. Swim with dolphins.
45. Sunbathe at Cinque Terre, Italy.
46. Explore the Blue Grotto in Italy.
47. See Norwegian fjords. (Ride the Glacier Express)
48. Drink “pivo” in Prague.
49. Ride the London Eye.
50. See the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
51. Ride a double decker bus in London.
52. Stand at the last inch of land on Cape Horn, South Africa.
53. Watch the sun set over the Mediterranean in Greece.
54. Ride a gondola in Venice.
55. Straddle the lines of the northern and southern, and eastern and western hemispheres.
56. Visit Reykjavik, Iceland.
57. See a working windmill in the Netherlands.
58. See the tulips in Netherlands.
59. Cliff-dive somewhere.
60. Stay in an overwater bungalow.
61. Climb Corcovado mountain to see Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
62. Stand on the Cliffs of Moher or Dingle in Ireland.
63. Throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
64. See Bon Jovi in another country.
65. Be first row at a Bon Jovi concert.
66. Take a Disney cruise
67. See more of Canada – specifically Banff.
68. Drink at a beer hall in Munich.
69. See the statues at Easter Island.
70. Visit the Taj Mahal.
71. Walk the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
72. Go shopping on Rodeo Drive, Hollywood.
73. See the toilets flush backward in the Southern Hemisphere.
74. Stand on the beaches of Normandy, France.
75. Ride the Schilthornbahn in Switzerland.
76. Explore the ruins of Pompeii.
77. See Vatican City.
78.  Camp in the Colorado Rockies (and sing “Rocky Mountain High” on numerous occasions.)
79. Run through the hills of Austria and sing The Sound of Music.
80. Visit the Galapagos Islands.
81. Be part of a “Thriller” dance mob. (And learn the rest of the Thriller dance.)
82. See the green flash at sunset.
83. Experience summer in winter. (I hereby declare that living in San Diego does not complete this one.)
84. Visit the Swiss Alp village of Gimmelwald.
85. See Mt. Everest. (Maybe hike to Base Camp.)
86. See the Milky Way in a Dark Sky Park (and get a cool photo of it)
87. Go on a Disney cruise.
88. See a sea turtle in the wild.
89. Go kayaking.
90. Be in Times Square when the New Year’s ball drops.
91. See Neuschwanstein Castle.
92. Dance in real falling snow.
93. Complete a multi-day hike.
94. See the Redwoods in Northern California.
95. Go on a cross-country USA road trip.
96. Experience a white Christmas.
97. Go wine-tasting at a French vineyard.
98. See the Greek Parthenon.
99. Ask the Greek Oracle a question in Delphi.
100. Hike through Glacier National Park.
101. Sky dive. Maybe.
102. Complete my castle tattoo (I haven’t yet decided if I want Hogwarts or the Disneyland castle)
103. Start a travel business.
104. Publish something in a mass consumer publication. (My dream was always Time Magazine, but that’s dead now 😂)
105. Master the tripod headstand. (Improve my yoga/flexibility.)