True story: My bucket list is pretty long because I’ve only traveled outside of the United States once in my life. (I know.)
I’ve been accidentally branded as an avid traveler by friends, but really, I spent the past decade primarily bouncing back and forth between 3 places in the United States: New York, California, and Florida. This cycle was mostly due to work travel, but I also regularly fly home to see my family. As silly as it sounds, I feel like I grew up in a place where people vacation, so I always felt like being at home was an adventure in itself.
On my one and only trip outside of the country, I went to Jamaica, specifically to Sandals Jamaica in Montego Bay, because my husband and I are fans of The Office and we thought it would be funny to celebrate our anniversary there. (It was actually really beautiful and relaxing, albeit as gloriously cheesy as you think it would be.)
So, I have a bit of catching up to do in terms of traveling the world. When it’s time to venture out again later on, these are the vacations I want to take most:
An underwater vacation in Rangali Island, Maldives
I love water. LOVE it. This could be because I grew up in a beachy town on the southeast Florida coast or because I spent many summers swimming around in a mermaid tail at Weeki Wachee Springs. Who knows. What I do know is that one of the adventures at the top of my bucket list is staying in an underwater hotel like this room called The Muraka at the Conrad Maldives on Rangali Island. I don’t know how much it costs to stay there and I probably don’t want to know, but if money were no object, this is somewhere I would want to go.
A writer’s retreat in Estes Park, Colorado
One thing I am fascinated by is how, why, and when authors were inspired to write iconic novels. I discovered The Stanley Hotel while lurking the internet for information about Stephen King’s inspiration for The Shining. He said that he and his family were the only guests when he stayed there in 1974. After an intense dream about his son being chased down the hallway, he was jolted awake, then went to the window and wrote the outline for the now classic book. I’d love to go there to discover if the energy feels the same. I’d also be interested to find out if I am inspired to write anything while I’m there. Will I be terrified the whole time? Probably. Will it be worth it? Absolutely.
Midnight in Paris, France
Ok, I know Paris as a bucket list item can sound pretty cliche, but I’m not ashamed to admit I want to go for all of the reasons you think I want to go. I want to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night, get a stomach ache eating croissants all day, and put my four years of French classes to good use. Oh, and also see the Louvre, of course.
Trying new things in Shanghai, China (kind of)
I’m admittedly a creature of habit. I’m guilty of finding something I like and doing it over and over again. I’ve been to Walt Disney World in Florida probably over 300 times. (I used to work there though, so that makes it a little less crazy, right?) In New York, I’ve gone to see Sleep No More close to 20 times. Shanghai has both Disney and a version of Sleep No More that was reimagined for a Chinese audience. I could lie to you and tell you that I’m only going to spend my time in Shanghai exploring all of the culturally awesome things and hole-in-the-wall restaurants the city holds, but I assure you I’ll end up at Shanghai Disneyland and the McKinnon Hotel at least once while I’m there.
A sentimental journey to Hawaii
One of my best friends was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years back. She underwent treatment and beat it once, only for it to return very aggressively last year. When her cancer first came back, we talked about what we’d do to celebrate once she beat it again. We said that Hawaii was it. We talked about Hawaii like it was this magical heavenly place where cancer didn’t exist and everyone looks like Jason Momoa. (In my mind, Hawaii still looks like that.) We never got the chance to take that trip because she passed away in late October 2019. I still plan to go to Hawaii one day to toast to her life with a pineapple cocktail.
What about you? What are your top five bucket list places? You can share them below or write your own post here on Connect. Here are some tips for getting started.
so not included in my bucket 
. But I hope one day I will think to add these places to my bucket list. Anyway, I am already visiting these nice places virtually using Google Maps …
