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. Explore the Huasteca Potosina region and waterfall in Mexico
  17. Capture a photo of the full moon behind the Byron Bay Lighthouse!
  18. Visit the Grand Canyon ✓
  19. Visit Paronella Park in Australia, a Spanish-style castle with moss covered ruins built in the lush rainforest.
  20. Visit the Everglades in Noosa, Australia
  21. Visit the Everglades in Florida, United States
  22. The Chinny Charge (a small hill to hike in my local Australian town, open to public only one day a year!) ✓
  23. Do river guide training
  24. Hike El Caminito del Rey in Spain (I’m afraid of heights so this is a big accomplishment!) ✓
  25. Sail a long distance
  26. Learn how to fix a bike
  27. Visit Caddo Lake (like the movie with Dylan O’brien!)
  28. 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
  29. Go to Lord Howe Island, Australia (filming location for The Shallows)
  30. Visit Airlie Beach for filming location in the movie Fool’s Gold
  31. See Tangalooma Island, filming location for the Scooby Doo live action film
  32. Mai Chau, Vietnam hot springs
  33. Visit Uluru in Northern Territory, Australia
  34. Take photos at Karijini National Park, Australia
  35. Visit a silk farm in Vietnam 
  36. Skydiving with friends – I did this when I was 18 with my Dad and my friends. ✓
  37. Go on a very long zip-line
  38. Go to Purnulu National Park in Western Australia
  39. Stay in Fiji underwater hotel
  40. Visit Las Grutas de Tolantongo hot springs in Mexico
  41. Visit glow worm caves in Australia
  42. Be fluent in Spanish
  43. Go paramotoring in Vang Vieng, Laos
  44. See the underwater waterfall from a plane in Mauritius
  45. Visit the Dong Tac Market for the ceiling-high secondhand clothing in Hanoi, Vietnam
  46. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef ✓
  47. Take artistic beautiful photos of Mt Fuji on film
  48. Swim with sharks
  49. Buy a drone for photography
  50. Travel to all 7 continents (I’m at 6 continents!)
  51. Climb Sigiriya in Sri Lanka (I’m afraid of heights so this is a maybe but I like a challenge) 
  52. Visit New Orleans and take photos at Mardi Gras ✓
  53. Live on a different continent (Uruguay in South America and Australia) ✓
  54. See a butterfly migration! Borneo, Mexico, Australia
  55. Go on the famous spinning basket boats in Vietnam!
  56. Paragliding (I did this in Mexico!) ✓
  57. Visit Palestine
  58. Visit Namib Desert of Namibia 
  59. Visit the sand cave behind the Shell gas station! ✓
  60. Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala
  61. Trek in Borneo
  62. Arctic swimming or plunge (I have fainting history)
  63. Visit Iceland –get better at photography
  64. Visit an onsen in Japan
  65. Learn how to surf (I’m trying, haven’t stood up yet)
  66. Learn how to snowboard or ski and go to a fancy resort in New Zealand or Switzerland or Japan
  67. Practice jiu-jitsu
  68. Hike near an active volcano
  69. Kayaking next to dolphins – I did this with my partner in Adelaide, Australia ✓
  70. Road trip through the U.S. American Southwest
  71. Go on a hot air balloon ride
  72. See Japan’s famous novelty vending machines
  73. Go to Karijini national park Australia and take photos 
  74. See a Moorish Idol and Clown Fish (like Gill and Nemo from Finding Nemo) ✓
  75. Visit a swamp – I went to one in New Orleans ✓
  76. Take artistic photos of a solar eclipse
  77. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower (I was too scared and running out of time last time I was there!)
  78. Learn how to windsurf
  79. Visit more and more nude beaches around the world
  80. Go to the Florida Keys
  81. Learn how to drive a motorcycle
  82. Hike Tunnel Falls in Oregon
  83. Visit all the major hot springs in Oregon
  84. Learn how to take photos and time lapses of the night sky
  85. Visit Fern Canyon in Humboldt, California where they filmed The Lost World: Jurassic Park
  86. Visit Bentonite Hills in Utah (looks like Mars)
  87. San Jose del Pacifico in Mexico for healing energy
  88. Playa El Valle in Dominican Republic (used for filming the movie Old)
  89. Arcadia water slide at the hostel in Kampot, Cambodia
  90. Go to a waterpark hotel in Cambodia
  91. Battambang 7-hour boat trip to Siem Reap
  92. 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!)
  93. See the Moai stone figures at Easter Island
  94. Soak in Lisong hot springs in Taiwan
  95. Photograph wild animals in Africa
  96. Explore Phong Nha Cave in Vietnam
  97. See crocodiles at Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin, Australia
  98. Stay at a mirror cabin in Estonia
  99. Visit Bora Bora to see where Couple’s Retreat was filmed
  100. Swim in blue water in Sardinia, Italy
  101. See the stone houses in Pampachiri in Peru (Bosque de Piedras)
  102. Take photos of Mirador de Hornocal in Argentina
  103. Kayak the Futaleufu River in Patagonia
  104. See some beautiful lakes in British Columbia
  105. 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.

Recent Posts

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.