Many people have a desire to see the world or have a particular destination they one day dream of visiting? There is nothing more exciting than crossing that dream vacation off your list or completing something daring. What’s on your bucket list?

If photo ops with the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Island hopping in Greece or walking down Rodeo Drive in Hollywood comes to mind, you’re among the many. We all have dreams, ambitions and goals. Some big, some small but each one should inspire you to get out there and take on the world. My favorite resource for scoping out some of the world’s greatest treasures is the UNESCO world heritage sites. I seem to prefer those outlandish destinations that most people have not had the opportunity to visit and destinations that have been untouched by the overwhelming influx of tourists and western development.

Over the past few years, I have developed a Bucket list that seems to grow with time and slowly but surely I have had the opportunity to cross off a number of these desires. Some items are bigger than others and may take time to accomplish but it is always good to have something to strive for in life. I find that with each week I may write down new goals, that next great adventure or even find myself in situations that end up on the list.

I would like to share my list which consists of over 400 items and encourage each of you to write one of your own if you haven’t already! This list is continually being updated and things will be added to the list. Suggestions for additions are greatly appreciated and I am always looking for a challenge. To see the items I have completed, please go to the list of COMPLETED BUCKET LIST items for details. 

My Bucket List: Life’s Ultimate To-do List

1. Climb to basecamp of Mount Everest in Nepal
2. Learn to Snowboard
3. Go Skiing
4. Night Kayaking with blue Bio-luminescent
5. Kayak in the Everglades
6. Horseback riding on the beach
7. Learn to Kite Surf
8. Wind Surf
9. Para-sailing
10. Learn to Sail
11. Bike the Pinellas Trail round-trip from Downtown St. Petersburg, FL to Tarpon Springs, FL (90 miles)
12. Tornado Chasing
13. Run a 5K
14. Swim in all five of the Great Lakes
15. Swim in the Dead Sea: Jordan, West Bank Israel
16. Take ballroom dancing lessons
17. Climb a Mountain in The Andes
18. Swim with dolphins
19. Organize and Participate in a Pillow Fight Flash Mob
20. Go rock climbing
21. Sand-boarding
22. Volcano Sand-boarding in Nicaragua
23. Drive a car on a race track
24. Stop biting my nails
25. Ice Climbing
26. Ride a snowmobile
27. Sleep in the desert
28. Gamble in Vegas
29. Visit a Circus
30. Attend an NHL Stanley Cup Game
31. See a Chicago Blackhawks game
32. Go paragliding
33. Play Paintball
34. Play Airsoft
35. Ride a Segway
36. Bike from one country to another
37. Sail on a Junk Boat
38. Trek in Europe
39. Helicopter ride
40. Become scuba certified
41. Receive the advanced scuba certification
42. Climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
43. Firewalking
44. White water rafting
45. Learn to fly a plane
46. Go to a shooting range and learn to shoot a handgun
47. Go Zorbing in New Zealand
48. Travel to the moon with Virgin Galactic
49. Experience Zero Gravity
50. Help someone cross something off their Bucket List
51. Watch a rocket launch, live.
52. Zip-line in the Rainforest/Jungle
53. Go base jumping (Yosemite National Park)
54. Cage diving in South Africa
55. Cliff diving
56. Participate in a Surfing Camp
57. See an inactive Volcano
58. See an active Volcano
59. Participate in a Peaceful Protest
60. Ride on an Airboat in the Everglades
61. Camp in the Everglades
62. Go Ice Fishing
63. Travel by Train in the United States
64. Ride on the Orient Express
65. Participate in a Pride Parade
66. Ride on Trans-Siberian Railway (Moscow to Mongolia); Longest railway in the World
67. Walk through a Corn Maze
68. Walk through a Labyrinth: The Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral near Paris, France
69. Trek the Camino de Santiago de Compostela from France to the coast of Spain
70. Road trip through Europe
71. Hitchhike
72. Stay in a HOSTEL in Bratislava
73. Drive on the Autobahn in Germany
74. Fly over the Nazca lines in Peru
75. Visit a mapped cave system
76. Spelunking
77. Sleep in a treehouse
78. Shower outside in a tropical destination
79. Walk through a field of Sunflowers in the Spring
80. Thai Massage in Bangkok
81. Visit a Coffeeshop in Amsterdam
82. Take a Caribbean cruise
83. Drive Route 1 in Iceland; ‘Ring Road’ around the entire country
84. Visit the most Northern Capital in the World: Reykjavik, Iceland
85. Visit the Smallest Capital in the World: Belmopan, Belize
86. Go Skydiving
87. Visit the countries of my heritage – Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, Lithuania
88. Learn conversational Spanish
89. Learn conversational French
90. Learn conversational Japanese
91. Learn to say “Hello” in 50 languages
92. Learn Cyrillic & the Arabic Alphabet
93. Choose a country and learn not only the language that is spoken there, but also study its customs, its cuisine, its art, and its history.
94. Learn about a different country each month until I have explored each one: Location, population size, flag, main language, religion, & cook a national cuisine.
95. Get traditional Indian henna on my hands or feet
96. The National Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, DC
97. Loy Krathong, the Sky Lantern Festival in Thailand
98. Gasparilla Pirate Invasion in Tampa, FL  
99. Holi Festival in India: February/March on the Last Full Moon Day
100. Patrick’s Day in Chicago: March 17^th
101. Koninginnendag (Queen’s Day) in the Netherlands: April 29th/30th
102. Sandfest in Port Aransas, Texas
103. Running with the Bulls: San Fermin Festiva in Pampalona, Spain: July
104. FantasyFest in Key West: Last Week of October
105. Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany: Last week of September
106. Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta: Early October
107. Brazilian Carnival, Rio de Janerio
108. Mardi Gras, New Orleans: February/March
109. The Day of the Dead, Mexico: November 2nd
110. Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada: August/September
111. La Tomatina, Valencia, Spain: Food fight in the town of Bunol (Last Wednesday in August)
112. Chinese New Year in China: January 21st- February 20th
113. Go to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
114. Go to Times Square on New Year’s Eve
115. Attend an Indian Wedding in India
116. Ice Skate at the Rockefeller Center & Central Park during Christmas time
117. Visit the most Southern Point in the United States (Key West)
118. The Grand Canyon
119. The Sahara Desert
120. Scuba Dive in the Galapagos Islands
121. Marble Caves, Chile
122. Havasu Falls, Grand Canyon, Arizona
123. Lake Retba, Senegal
124. Sanibel Island, FL known for their Seashells
125. Glow-Worm Cave, New Zealand
126. White Cliffs of Dover, England
127. Zion National Park, Utah
128. Binalong Bay, Bay of Fires, Tasmania
129. Glass Beach, California
130. Bio-luminescent Bay, Puerto Rico
131. Olympus, Greece
132. Everglades National Park, Florida
133. Angel Falls (Venezuela), World’s Highest Waterfall
134. Victoria Falls (between Zambia and Zimbabwe)
135. Iguassu Falls (between Brazil and Argentina)
136. Visit the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
137. Visit the Belize Barrier Reef
138. The Northern Lights (the Aurora Borealis)
139. The Fjords of Norway
140. The Amazon Rainforest
141. The Perito Moreno Glacier: Patagonia, Argentina
142. Take pictures in the Bluebonnets in Texas
143. Travel to Antarctica
144. Travel to Greenland
145. Visit Tibet
146. Visit Negorno-Karaba, Azerbaijan
147. Visit Kubal, Afghanistan
148. Travel to the city of Chernobyl, Ukraine
149. Visit Kosovo right after they declare their independence
150. Morocco
151. Explore Tuscany
152. Visit a Ghost Town
153. Blue Lagoon, Iceland
154. Visit All 7 Continents (4/7) – Africa, Antarctica, Australia, North America, South America, Asia, Europe
155. Visit every country in the world (34/196) – Albania, The Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia I Herzegovina, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Iceland, Jamaica, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam
156. Live in a foreign country for one month
157. Live in a foreign country for six months
158. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
159. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Mausoleum
160. Attend the Srebrenica Memorial on July 5th
161. Swim in the Indian Burial Caves, Grand Bahama
162. Visit Lester Joseph Gillis (Baby Face Nelson) Grave
163. Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
164. Pamukkale, Turkiye
165. Floating Villages in Cambodia
166. Mud Volcanoes, Azerbaijan
167. Cappadocia, Turkiye
168. Great Blue Hole, Belize
169. Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, California
170. Devils Tower, Wyoming
171. Spotted Lake, Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada
172. Tulum, Mexico
173. The Maldives
174. Seychelles Islands
175. Santorini, Greece
176. Cuba
177. Ibiza
178. British Virgin Islands: The Baths
179. Visit all of the Seven New Wonders of the World
     • Christ Redeemer: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
     • Great Wall of China: China
     • Machu Picchu: Peru
     • Petra: Jordan
     • Pyramid at Chichén Itzá: Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
     • Roman Colosseum: Rome, Italy
     • Taj Mahal: Agra, India
180. Virgin Mary’s House, Turkiye
181. Cu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam
182. Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Poland
183. The Panama Canal
184. The Christ of the Abyss in Key Largo, FL
185. Dubrovnik, Croatia
186. The Emerald Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand
187. The Eiffel Tower  
188. The Leaning Tower of Pisa
189. Mecca
190. The Terracotta Warriors
191. Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris
192. Ankor Wat, Cambodia
193. The Big Ben in London, England
194. The Sydney Opera House, Australia
195. Stonehenge, United Kingdom
196. The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
197. The Kremlin in Russia
198. Hagia Sophia, Turkey
199. The Statues of Easter Island, Chile
200. Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
201. Visit the Sistine Chapel
202. Experience a traditional Tea Ceremony in Japan
203. Watch Cormorant Fishing in the Nagaragawa River in Gigu, Japan
204. The Outer Hebrides, Callanish Standing Stones, Isle of Lewis (Scotland)
205. Anasazi Cliff Dwellings in Arizona
206. Walk across Abby Road in London, England
207. The city of Troy in Turkiye
208. Hear the Call to Prayer in Istanbul
209. Visit Pompeii
210. The Alhambra in Spain
211. The Acropolis in Athens, Greece
212. Stari Most in Mostar, Bosnia I Herzegovina
213. Kiss the Blarney Stone
214. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, Rome
215. Caracol Mayan Ruins, Belize
216. The Basilica di San Marco, Venice
217. El Prado in Madrid, Spain
218. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA
219. Visit the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL, USA
220. The British Museum in London, England
221. The Tate Gallery in London, England
222. The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Holland
223. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo
224. The Art Institute of Chicago
225. The Smithsonian Museums in Washington, DC
226. The Louvre, Paris, France
227. See the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
228. See Mount Rushmore
229. Visit monuments in Washington, DC
230. Visit the Sears Tower  
231. Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
232. Glacier National Park (Montana)
233. Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes (Alaska)
234. Go to the top of the Empire State Building
235. Visit the Statue of Liberty
236. Visit the highest point in the Smoky Mountains: Clingman’s Dome
237. Visit Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
238. Visit Disney World
239. Drive from San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA
240. Visit all Fifty of the United States, Puerto Rico & the US Virgin Islands (28/52): I’ve visited Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas.
241. Create a Butterfly garden
242. Have a Vegetable Garden
243. Take a course in photography
244. Learn to make pottery
245. Plant a Tree
246. Build a Fort in the Living room
247. Make stained glass windows
248. Learn to make candles
249. Build a treehouse in the Backyard
250. Build and/or paint a birdhouse for the Yard
251. Learn Calligraphy
252. Master Scrapbooking
253. Paper Crafts (origami)
254. Paint a picture on canvas to hang in my home
255. Read every novel that has won a Pulitzer Prize in the Fiction Category
256. Watch 100+ Movies in Theaters
257. Be on the Oprah Winfrey Show
258. “The Mona Lisa”by Leonardo da Vinci, The Louvre
259. “The Scream”by Edvard Munch, National Gallery, Oslo
260. See graffiti by Banksy
261. See Joan Baez perform in Sarajevo, Bosnia I Herzegovina
262. Read a book a month for a year
263. Travel Solo
264. Volunteer with the American Red Cross (ARC)
265. Respond to a Fire on the Disaster Action Team for the American Red Cross
266. Deploy to a Natural Disaster Event
267. Deploy to an International Disaster Event
268. Become a public speaker
269. Couchsurf
270. Host someone through Couchsurfing
271. Make loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries through Kiva
272. Join the Peace Corps
273. Spend a week at a Silent Retreat
274. Learn to forgive
275. Speak in front of an audience about my travels/experiences
276. Take a 365-Day Challenge to perform an activity every day for 365 days
277. Get my Motorcycle license
278. Get AFF Certified – 25 jumps
279. Receive an Associates degree in Business
280. Receive Undergraduate Degree
281. Receive an Undergraduate Certificate/Minor
282. Receive a Master’s Degree
283. Obtain Graduate Certificate(s)
284. Teach at a University
285. Receive my Doctorate Degree
286. Become a CNA/EMT/Paramedic
287. Speak at a Conference
288. Take the HELP Course
289. Get Certified in Public Health (CPH)
290. Have Specialization letters after my name
291. Get an article published in a major journal
292. Publish 10 articles
293. Write/co-author a book
294. Write a book about my travels
295. Reach 25,000 hits on my blog
296. Help make a documentary film
297. Conduct Epidemiological Health Assessment & Research in a Refugee Population
298. Explore another country with my brother Michael
299. Visit Jim Morrison’s Grave at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris with Michael
300. Travel to the Greek Islands with my Mom
301. See my Great-Great Grandfathers signature in Ellis Island
302. Set up a Roth IRA by age 35
303. Get married
304. Make a lock with my husband’s name, my name & with our wedding date engraved on it. Then lock it to a bridge and throwing the key into the water below
305. Make a bucket list with my husband
306. Have a child
307. Buy a house on the water
308. Have a canvas painted that represents my love for my husband
309. Make a scrapbook/journal for my child(ren)
310. Bike ride across a country or state with my significant other
311. Kiss by the Kissing Post outside of Ellis Island in NYC
312. Watch a meteor shower with my family
313. Pretend to film a cooking show in our own kitchen together
314. Bury a time capsule for someone to find in the future
315. Go on a hot balloon ride
316. Drive Cross-Country on a road trip
317. Take a cooking class with my significant other
318. Running with the Bulls
319. Mush a Dog Sled
320. Watch turtles hatch and run toward the ocean
321. Go whale-watching
322. Scuba dive with a Whale Shark
323. Go cage diving in South Africa
324. Pet a Spider Monkey
325. Go on Safari in Africa
326. Go Scalloping
327. Spear-fishing
328. Learn to Milk a Cow
329. Watch a Cow give Birth
330. Ride a Camel in the Sahara desert.
331. Track Gorillas in Uganda
332. Swimming with the manatees
333. Conduct Manatee Health Assessments with National Geographic & USGS
334. Meet the President
335. Meet the Dalai Lama
336. Meet the Pope
337. Bushman from Papua New Guinea
338. Māori
339. Geisha
340. Paul Farmer
341. Pauly Shore
342. Gogol Bordello
343. Svetlana Broz (Tito’s Grand-daughter)
344. A Broadway Play/Musical
345. See a Ballet
346. The World Cup
347. Attend an Olympic Event
348. The Kentucky Derby
349. Attend an Opera
350. Watch the Tango in Argentina
351. Attend the Cannes Film Festival & the Sundance Film Festival (Utah: End of January)
352. A Cirque du Soleil Show
353. Performance of the Water Puppet Theatre; Thang Long: Hanoi, Vietnam
354. Whirling Dervishes: Turkiye
355. Aspara dance; Khmer Classical Dance: Cambodia  
356. View a Solar Eclipse (August 21, 2017)
357. See a Lunar Eclipse
358. Make a traditional Romanian Dish
359. Make home-made Perogies like my Grandmother
360. Make Homemade Ice Cream
361. Taste Wine in the Napa Valley
362. Stomp Grapes for Wine
363. Pick my own Blueberries
364. Smoke a Cuban Cigar
365. Try Frog Legs: Cambodia
366. Have a beer at Delirium Cafe (Guinness Book of World Records for Most Varieties of Beer on Tap; over 3000 types)
367. Eat Lemon Ants: Cambodia
368. Eat Escargot (Snails)
369. Sample Crab Cakes in Baltimore, MD
370. Try Icelandic Hákarl (Rotten Shark)
371. Try Cuy (Guinea Pig): Peru
372. Eat Alpaca: Peru
373. Go to a Beer Hall in Munich
374. Eat Baklava in Greece
375. Eat real Peruvian Ceviche
376. Eat Cactus Salad
377. Eat Chicken n’ Waffles in L.A.
378. Enjoy Crawfish Ettoufee in the French Quarter: New Orleans
379. Have Beignets at Cafe du Monde: New Orleans
380. Try Ostrich Eggs
381. Eat Termites: Belize
382. Eat Belgium Chocolate in Belgium