Exploring the World
20 Places To See Before You Die: The Ultimate Travel Bucket List
Continuing on my goal to work, vacation or live in at least 50 countries before I turn 50. As part of my planning process, I am scouring travel rags for inspiration. In this article, which collected votes from readers of International Business Travelers magazine what were their must see bucket destinations, I was reminded how blessed I have been to have visited 8 of the spots on the list. Wow!! I must never take that for granted. Coming from parents who worked hard to provide for us but could not afford to take us to places like this, I thank God for these experiences.
Seen: 19, 16, 15, 11, 10, 7, 6, 4
19 Sydney Opera House (Australia)
16 The Louvre (France) My absolute favorite visit to this amazing museum was with my mother in 2013. We decided that trip to completely act like tourist and not even try to make “the locals” like us. We visited The Louvre and went straight to Mona!
15 Venice Canals (Italy)
11 Taj Mahal (India)
Astoundingly beautiful as it is perplexing.
10 The Eiffel Tower (France)
I have yet to actually take the trek all the way up. The first time I visited, I could only afford the price of walking up to the first level.
7 The Sistine Chapel (Vatican City)
6 The Colosseum (Italy)
Personally, if you have to choose to visit the Colosseum or spend more time elsewhere in Italy, I would ditch this spot.
4 Pyramids of Giza (Egypt)
Everything about Egypt is old and amazing. Every rock I accidentally kicked made me think I was walking the same footsteps of the ancient Roman Empire. If you only have a couple of days to do Egypt, skip the Pyramids and go to Luxor where you can see the amazing temples and tombs.
Before 50 Targets: 20, 18, 13, 8, 2
20 Angkor Wat (Cambodia) This is non-negotiable. I must get to see this at some point in my life.
18 Easter Island (Chile)
This one is on the before 50 list based on this article only. I can think of a few places not on this bucket list that could knock Easter Island off of the short term target.
13 Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
8 Bora Bora (French Polynesia) I may want to spend my 50th Birthday here, but would have to arrive before that date to make it count!
2 Machu Picchu (Peru)
After 50 Targets: 12, 9, 5, 3, 1
12 Stonehenge (UK)
9 Yellowstone National Park (USA)
5 Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
3 Grand Canyon (USA)
I can’t believe I have never visited this or other major USA destinations and historic parks and monuments. I think that there are places I have never been in the Northwest that might trump this, however. Ugh. Hate that word now.
1 The Great Wall of China (China)
To be honest, this is on again off again. I debate whether I am really interested in seeing this. Amazing as it may be, I am not quite as interested in exploring around the wall. But in trying to pick five from this list for my after 50, this made the cut.
Not really interested.:
17 Berlin Wall (Germany)
14 Mount Fuji (Japan)
What is interesting about this list is how little is on the African continent. The list was voted on by readers and so little is known about Africa, it is not surprising nothing outside if Egypt made the list. But Tanzania and Kenya should have been here for safaris. And I would like to visit Senegal and some of the slave route historical places.
Your thoughts? Any further recommended reading to help guide my selection?
Best,
Adam
Adam L. Stanley Connections Blog
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