- – - Written by Victoria Philpott
There are only two certainties in life, we’re born and we die, but it’s what’s in between that makes us. There’s so much to do in this world it can be quite overwhelming. So we’ve come up with 50 of the top travelling experiences, as nominated by our favourite bloggers, by us, and by me, too.
Let us know how many you’ve done at the end, and if you’ve got any good ones we’ve missed.
HostelBookit (ha) list
Top of the bloggers
1. Witness the four Grand Slam tournaments - US Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Australian Open.
- Lois and ChiChi from wearesolesisters.com
2. See a giraffe (my favourite animal) in its natural habitat
- Kristy Macintyre from thegreensombrero.com
3. Spend time in a war-torn country so you learn that war brings only death and destruction; there is never a good cause for it
- Caz + Craig from ytravelblog.com
4. Sleep in an igloo
- Steffy from unusualtraveltip.com
5. Go on an African Safari
- Andi from My Beautiful Adventures
6. Ride a Vespa in Italy
- Carrie from gettincarriedaway.com
7. Take a traditional American road trip – Cadillac, top down, shades on, full cliche required
- Jayne Gorman from 40before30.com
8. A completely debaucherous weekend in Las Vegas – buffets, gambling, spas, shows, the works
- Melanie from missadventures.com
9. Island hopping in the Phillippines
- Paul from travmonkey.com
10. Take a dip in the healing geo-thermal waters of The Blue Lagoon in Grindavik, Iceland
- Cheryl Howard from cherylhoward.com
11. Learn how to surf in wherever I can – maybe California, Australia or even in Taiwan.
- Juno from runawayjuno.com
12. Embrace St. Petersburg – The Hermitage is there – 3 million pieces of artwork. Plus, I think Russian architecture is spectacular. I don’t mind the cold, and I can live with a little vodka.
- Rachel from zipsetgo.com
13. Witness grizzly bears fishing for salmon in Alaska
- Colleen from travelmamas.com
14. Get my PADI license somewhere in the Pacific
- Nicole from womanseeksworld.com
15. Bottle feed a wild baby animal
- Christina from thewanderlust.us
16. Take an evening cruise around Oslo Fjord during midsummer – the sunset goes on for hours and you sail past huge cliffs covered in pine forests and lots of little islands with just one or two colourful houses on them. Plus there are rows of boathouses on stilts in the water, mostly populated by people having parties on them! For a Londoner like me it’s great for having a nosy at a different way of living
- Isabel from anytrip.com
17. Join the Mile High Club
- Chris from backpackerbanter.com
18. SCUBA dive an underwater volcano (Halmahera, Indonesia)
- Jenny from whereisjenny.com
19. See the Egyptian Pyramids/Sphinx/Valley of the Kings
- Dan from adventureswithdan.com
20. Go 4x4ing through Morocco’s Atlas mountains & stay in a Berber village
- Kim from kimmance.com
Foreign language HostelBookers bloggers
21. Visit the Northern Lights
- Gotje Vollert from blog-de.hostelbookers.com
22. See all 7 of the Modern Wonders of the World
- Gabrielle Narcy from blog-fr.hostelbookers.com
23. Go to Tokyo and stay in the hotel featured in Lost in Translation
- Rodrigo dos Santos from blog-pt.hostelbookers.com
24. Go to Australia and scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef
- Mireia Carulla from blog-es.hostelbookers.com
25. Sleep in a luxury house in the Maldives where you can just jump in the emerald sea from your porch.
- Luca Verginella from blog-it.hostelbookers.com
Most popular
26. Go to Antarctica
27. Learn another language
28. Sky dive or bungee jump
29. Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan, Thailand
30. Volunteer either with animals or people
31. Spend New Year’s Eve in foreign city – preferably New York, Times Square to be precise
32. Go on a RTW trip
33. Travel solo
34. Tattoo and/or piercing in another country
35. Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu – Cuzco, Peru
My suggestions
36. Go to a camping music festival – Glastonbury in the UK is the best!
37. Go on a week’s holiday with a group of friends
38. Set yourself up a charity challenge abroad. I cycled 300 miles across France and raised £1000 for Cancer Research UK
39. Work in another country for a few months. Working on kid’s summer camps is a good way to do it, or learn to teach English as a foreign language
40. Travel with your loved one for a long period of time
41. Take a road trip across Australia’s Northern Territory
42. Hop on the train 4,158 m (13,642 ft) up Jungfrau in Switzerland
43. Visit Italy and eat, loads, all the time. You need to visit the different regions to fully appreciate the cuisine though
44. Visit a natural wonder like Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon
45. Party hard in Ibiza or Berlin
A few more from the HostelBookers Office
46. Stay at least one night sleeping in an Indian’s “oca” in the middle of the Amazon forest, in Brazil
47. Go camel or horse riding in Petra, Jordan
48. Eat at the Djemaa el-Fna Market in Marrakesh
49. Visit somewhere insanely rich, like the Palm Islands in Dubai or the Pearl in Qatar
50. Go to Lapland and ride a sledge pulled by huskies.
How many have you done? Let us know in the comments box below…
Thanks to Sarah_Ackerman, mnapoleon, longhorndave, timo_w2s, Philip Larson, Dr. Warner, bobosh_t, Rosino and big-ashb for the excellent images from Flickr! Please note, all images were suitable for use at the time of publication according to the Creative Commons License.
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July 14th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Thanks for the shout out!
July 14th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Walk on the Great Wall of China!
July 14th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
14! Hopefully more to come soon
July 14th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Thanks for including me on your list! I really hope to make it to the Blue Lagoon someday.
July 14th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
7 – but I’m working on it! Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro/other continent’s highest mountain? (will be doing so this time next year!)
July 15th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
Thanks for the shout out! This is a great list! Hope to complete mine (#2) soon!
July 15th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
How disappointing! I’ve only done 3 thus far. Looks like I need to get my butt in gear!
July 15th, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Thanks for including me, and for the travel inspiration!
July 15th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Only done 9 – how disappointing! Better pull my finger out. Thanks for featuring me
July 15th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Thanks to include Runaway Juno in the awesome list!!
July 16th, 2011 at 6:22 am
Thanks for including us on this list of awesome world travelers. We hope to accomplish our wanderlist very very soon!
July 17th, 2011 at 5:33 am
Oh wow! So many places to see and things to do. We’re still working on our #1. Thanks for the mention!
July 22nd, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Swim in a mountain river in Austria.
July 29th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
18 and counting!
August 1st, 2011 at 3:58 pm
I have done 11 and 2 halves (I have been to Tokyo but didn’t visit the Lost in Translation hotel and I have been to Lapland but didn’t go on a husky sledge).
Looking forward to doing a few more in South America next month!
September 16th, 2011 at 1:41 am
8 – and still planning on doing more! At number 1 to do is the African Safari!
November 3rd, 2011 at 5:07 am
Geez…as if I don’t have enough goals on my bucket list. Now, you gave me a dozen more to add
Thanks for the great ideas!
January 12th, 2012 at 4:46 pm
11.. getting there!
January 22nd, 2012 at 3:36 am
I’ve done 8 so far, but I feel like some of these are far too specific for a bucket list for me. I’ve been to Tokyo but did not stay at the hotel from Lost in Translation.. so I cannot count that.
January 22nd, 2012 at 4:02 am
14, including Niagara falls AND Grand Canyon (will that count as two?)
I’ve also hiked up that sand dune in Namibia that’s pictured, and I’m sitting on a bus to montreal as I type.
January 22nd, 2012 at 5:23 am
Only done 4 so far but we are planning to eat AND ride a vespa in Italy this fall and do a proper road trip across America… But we’re doing it Harley style instead of top down- we think that’s the REAL way to do it! Love your blog!!
January 22nd, 2012 at 12:56 pm
My bucket list – 24. Howdy mite ?
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:28 am
Thanks Robyn. That sounds amazing! Love those Vespas, few tight corners to challenge yourself on in the Italy cities
January 24th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
glad you like my photo of the Blue Lagoon, howere you appear to have missed me off the credits.
thanks,
big-ashb
http://www.flickr.com/photos/big-ashb/535904273/
January 25th, 2012 at 10:03 am
Sorry Ash! You’ve been added in now.
Isabel from HostelBookers
January 27th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
I’ve done 1 – visit niagara falls…and that’s because I live an hour away. Oh how lame do I feel.
I intend to change that – this summer I’m going traveling alone to Europe – hopefully work somewhere there as well. That should give me some time to knock some off this list
March 9th, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Love this list – plenty to add to my own! http://12monthhoneymoon.blog.com/2012/12/30/jacqui%E2%80%99s-ultimate-bucket-list/
March 23rd, 2013 at 11:42 am
Wow! have done 1 or 2 in the list above and way a lot more to come! been wanting to skydive, though I’ve fear or heights! yikes!
March 26th, 2013 at 6:20 am
Drive a motorcycle until the end of the world (Ushuaia/Arg)
See the sunrise at Torres Del Paine/Chile
I did this and all the history is at my blog http://www.mochilaecapacete.com.br
March 31st, 2013 at 7:22 am
“Join the Mile High Club”….Haha. That always makes me laugh when I see that on anyone’s bucketlist because I used to work for an airline and one of my many jobs included cleaning the airplane lavatories and let me tell you, 99 percent of the time people never cleaned them…we just sprayed a little air freshener in their and emptied the trash.
I suggest wiping the bathroom down before and after your mile high club experience.
April 10th, 2013 at 11:59 pm
11 down….39 to go. My goal in life is to experience at least half this list if not more. I can’t imagine life without traveling, this list just gives me more excuses and motivation to keep doing it!
April 13th, 2013 at 4:09 am
Seeing the northern lights is really the top of my list! I’m glad I’m not the only one who wish to see it before we all die!