My Travel Bucket List
Dear friends,
I have the travel bug.
I just want to go everywhere. I’ve always been fascinated by other places, peoples, and cultures, but it wasn’t until the last year or two that I recognized that fascination and impulse to travel as having an official place in my life and identity. I haven’t traveled a ton, but I have been to a few places and each has left their mark on me and my desire to see the world.
I had my first international travel experience when I was sixteen. I went to Peru for two weeks on a humanitarian trip where we helped build a school for children in a village up in the Andes mountains, helped renovate a community center in another village, and spent some time in the Amazon rainforest and at Machu Picchu. It was an incredible trip to say the least, and the one that I credit my wanderlust to have originated with.
Since then I haven’t traveled internationally, but I have compiled a list of the places I’ll visit and some things I’ll do when I have the means to (and the current world situation is resolved).
- Visit London – I enjoy all history but when it comes to learning about other countries my one true love has to be England. I am particularly enamored by the long, rich, complex history of the city of London. Not only does it have a fascinating past (seeing as history isn’t everyone’s cup of tea) but it also has a vibrant culture, a diverse food scene, and some impressive sights to see. As Samuel Johnson once said, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
- Eat pizza in Rome – Though greasy American pizza is delicious and certainly has a time and place, I have a vision of myself seeing the colosseum, visiting the Vatican, and ending the day eating real Italian pizza in Roma with pedestrians milling around, a light breeze blowing, and the sun setting over the city. If that doesn’t sound like a bucket list item then I don’t know what does! Not to mention the Italian language is one of the most beautiful languages I have ever heard and I would not mind hearing it spoken by everyone around me.
- Go to a Christmas Market in Germany – First off, I have a lot of German and Austrian ancestry, and second, I love Christmas, so it would only make sense that I would love a Christmas market in Germany. My dad went to one on a business trip once when I was growing up and he said it was pure magic, so since then I’ve thought it would be pretty neat to see one for myself.
- See the Terracotta Army in Xi’an, China – If Europe would be an adventure for my American self, then Asia would be a whole other beast. I think one of the best ways for a person to broaden their worldview is to experience foreign cultures and, for westerners, Chinese culture is definitely one of those. Among other things, the soldiers are specifically on my list of must-sees. They were built to protect one of China’s early emperors in the afterlife. Each is individual and have stood for over two millennia. That’s some impressive history.
- See the Statue of Liberty – On my trip to Peru I had an eight hour layover in New York so my travel group did some sightseeing. The Statue of Liberty was on our list but we ended up running out of time and had to rush back to JFK before we could see that monumental, iconic symbol of freedom. I feel that as both an upcoming historian and American citizen I need to see the Green Lady and pay my respects to all that she represents, in addition the plain fact that it would be pretty cool to see her in person.
I do have more than five places that I would like to go during my lifetime but these top five seemed to sum up my most pressing travel urges. The world is a pretty incredible place bearing indelible marks that have been left by both its previous and current inhabitants. Though I may not have the means to travel to all of these places in the near future, the wait time does give me ample opportunity to learn about them and prepare for the day when I do finally step foot on British soil or salute Lady Liberty in person.
The beautiful thing about travel is that it provides us the opportunity to see the world through others’ eyes. It can be all too easy to become stuck in our own little world, so caught up with our personal cares and worries that those issues become all we can see. Taking time out of your own life to visit another place, whether that’s across the world or simply across town, is a foolproof way to reset your perspective.
I find it inspiring to think about these places I dream of going someday. It reminds me that there is so much life out there to experience, enjoy, and grow from.
Let me know some of your dream travel destinations in the comments!
Sincerely,
Kayla