My Ultimate Travel Bucket List: Places & Experiences

I want to experience so many different things! When I’m reading travel blogs or watching YouTube videos, I write down the travel destination or adventurous activity and have kept this master list of things to do and see!

I watched the movie The Truman Show in my mid-20s and related so much to Jim Carrey’s Truman. In the film, he wants to visit Fiji and but unbeknownst to him, he’s trapped in Seahaven.

I just had finished college in Portland, Oregon and completed writing and self-publishing my book about dreams. I was feeling a little trapped and stale in the United States and this movie pushed me to move abroad! A friend told me about Working Holiday Visas, and then I planned to leave.

When I was a kid, I watched a lot of movies with ocean settings and always felt like I wanted to live in Australia. Movies have obviously guided my travel experiences, since I’m now on the path to becoming a permanent resident in Australia and Fiji is number one on my travel bucket list!

I wish I had started traveling sooner; I hope this list inspires you to get the heck out there!

Spiral sun graphic

Tasha’s Bucket List

  1. Go to FIJI!!
  2. Hike the Pacific Crest Trail!
  3. Go to 10 Burning Mans ✓
  4. Become a (monetized) YouTuber
  5. Write a book (I self-published a book about my dreams in 2018 before I started traveling!) ✓
  6. See any north or southern lights and be better at photography to capture
  7. Visit the Amazon
  8. Hike Machu Picchu without fainting!
  9. See the Angkor Wat temples (Since I first saw Tomb Raider, I’ve wanted to go!) ✓
  10. Do the Ha Giang Loop Vietnam! and take photos!
  11. Stay in an overwater bungalow in a tropical country with turquoise water 
  12. Go to a pink lake!! – Done in South Australia ✓
  13. Celebrate my birthday at an aquatic or amusement park
  14. Ride on a glider plane at Burning Man ✓
  15. Swim in cenotes in Mexico
  16. Visit the Grand Canyon ✓
  17. Visit the Everglades in Noosa, Australia
  18. Visit the Everglades in Florida, United States
  19. The Chinny Charge (a small hill to hike in my local Australian town, open to public only one day a year!) ✓
  20. Do river guide training
  21. Hike El Caminito del Rey in Spain (I’m afraid of heights so this is a big accomplishment!) ✓
  22. Sail a long distance
  23. Learn how to fix a bike
  24. Visit Caddo Lake (like the movie with Dylan O’brien!)
  25. Go to Mount Tambourine, Australia to see where they filmed the movies Jungle, Ticket To Paradise, The Ruins, The Shallows, and the live action Dora The Explorer movie
  26. Go to Lord Howe Island, Australia (filming location for The Shallows)
  27. Visit Airlie Beach for filming location in the movie Fool’s Gold
  28. See Tangalooma Island, filming location for the Scooby Doo live action film
  29. Mai Chau, Vietnam hot springs
  30. Visit Uluru in Northern Territory, Australia
  31. Take photos at Karijini National Park, Australia
  32. Visit a silk farm in Vietnam 
  33. Skydiving with friends – I did this when I was 18 with my Dad and my friends. ✓
  34. Go on a very long zip-line
  35. Go to Purnulu National Park in Western Australia
  36. Stay in Fiji underwater hotel
  37. Visit Las Grutas de Tolantongo hot springs in Mexico
  38. Visit glow worm caves in Australia
  39. Be fluent in Spanish
  40. Go paramotoring in Vang Vieng, Laos
  41. See the underwater waterfall from a plane in Mauritius
  42. Visit the Dong Tac Market for the ceiling-high secondhand clothing in Hanoi, Vietnam
  43. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef ✓
  44. Take artistic beautiful photos of Mt Fuji on film
  45. Swim with sharks
  46. Buy a drone for photography
  47. Travel to all 7 continents (I’m at 6 continents!)
  48. Climb Sigiriya in Sri Lanka (I’m afraid of heights so this is a maybe but I like a challenge) 
  49. Visit New Orleans and take photos at Mardi Gras ✓
  50. Live on a different continent (Uruguay in South America and Australia) ✓
  51. See a butterfly migration! Borneo, Mexico, Australia
  52. Go on the famous spinning basket boats in Vietnam!
  53. Paragliding (I did this in Mexico!) ✓
  54. Visit Palestine
  55. Visit Namib Desert of Namibia 
  56. Visit the sand cave behind the Shell gas station! ✓
  57. Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala
  58. Trek in Borneo
  59. Arctic swimming or plunge (I have fainting history)
  60. Visit Iceland –get better at photography
  61. Visit an onsen in Japan
  62. Learn how to surf (I’m trying, haven’t stood up yet)
  63. Learn how to snowboard or ski and go to a fancy resort in New Zealand or Switzerland or Japan
  64. Practice jiu-jitsu
  65. Hike near an active volcano
  66. Kayaking next to dolphins – I did this with my partner in Adelaide, Australia ✓
  67. Road trip through the U.S. American Southwest
  68. Go on a hot air balloon ride
  69. See Japan’s famous novelty vending machines
  70. Go to Karijini national park Australia and take photos 
  71. See a Moorish Idol and Clown Fish (like Gill and Nemo from Finding Nemo) ✓
  72. Visit a swamp – I went to one in New Orleans ✓
  73. Take artistic photos of a solar eclipse
  74. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower (I was too scared and running out of time last time I was there!)
  75. Learn how to windsurf
  76. Visit more and more nude beaches around the world
  77. Go to the Florida Keys
  78. Learn how to drive a motorcycle
  79. Hike Tunnel Falls in Oregon
  80. Visit all the major hot springs in Oregon
  81. Learn how to take photos and time lapses of the night sky
  82. Visit Fern Canyon in Humboldt, California where they filmed The Lost World: Jurassic Park
  83. Visit Bentonite Hills in Utah (looks like Mars)
  84. San Jose del Pacifico in Mexico for healing energy
  85. Playa El Valle in Dominican Republic (used for filming the movie Old)
  86. Arcadia water slide at the hostel in Kampot, Cambodia
  87. Go to a waterpark hotel in Cambodia
  88. Battambang 7-hour boat trip to Siem Reap
  89. Take cool photos at Salar del Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world in Bolivia (very similar landscape to the Black Rock Desert of Burning Man and pink lakes!)
  90. See the Moai stone figures at Easter Island
  91. Soak in Lisong hot springs in Taiwan
  92. Photograph wild animals in Africa
  93. Explore Phong Nha Cave in Vietnam
  94. See crocodiles at Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin, Australia
  95. Stay at a mirror cabin in Estonia
  96. Visit Bora Bora to see where Couple’s Retreat was filmed
  97. Swim in blue water in Sardinia, Italy
  98. See the stone houses in Pampachiri in Peru (Bosque de Piedras)
  99. Take photos of Mirador de Hornocal in Argentina
  100. Kayak the Futaleufu River in Patagonia
  101. See some beautiful lakes in British Columbia
  102. Go to Greece

I hope you can add a few of these to your bucket list! I’ll come back to cross them off when completed.

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Tasha Jacobs

Tasha Jacobs, the author of Tripping in the Tropics, is an adventure solo nomad from Oregon. She has traveled to over 15 countries and has lived abroad for the last seven years. Her goal on her blog is to give advice to travelers about tropical destinations, budget travel, and sustainable travel. Tasha is on a mission to show that it is possible to see the world without being rich. When she isn't writing about her favorite places, she is hiking, swimming, and making comedic travel videos.