The bucket list

Having logged so many travel adventures over the years, I’m often asked, where to next? I’m quick to reassure people that there’s plenty left to explore. In fact, I have a five-page bucket list I’ve maintained for more than a decade, which I’m keen to complete. However, it's fair to say that Garry and I have already ticked off most of the world's easy-to-reach and cheap-to-explore destinations. As a result, completing our bucket list is an increasingly expensive proposition.

So what's on the list?  For example, it includes a tour through the “Five Stans” in Central Asia: Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. I’m keen to see the flaming Darvaza Crater; Samarkand, Uzbekistan’s fabled turquoise city; and the marble city of Ashgabat. These days, several Middle Eastern airlines fly there, making this elusive region much easier to reach.

I’m also keen to see the Skeleton Coast of Namibia, explore the Okavango Delta and experience the Serengeti. I’d also like to see Zanzibar, visit the famous Masai-Maji tribes and encounter Gorillas in the mountains of Rwanda. I recently met a man originally from Ghana, who convinced me to add his home nation to my list. Equally, I’d love to visit Timbuktu. However, the rebels in Mali first need to stop kidnapping tourists. 

Garry and I are both keen to visit the Galapagos Islands, and while we’re in the region, explore a few Mayan ruins in Central America. Everyone says the birdlife in Costa Rica is unrivalled, so that’s also on the short list. 

A cruise down the Mekong, Vietnam and Angkor Wat top our list of must-see destinations in Asia. I’m still keen to visit North Korea and explore central China. You can only reach the hermit nation via flights from Beijing, so why not see the best of Zhangjiajie on the way? Garry and I have also talked about visiting the Philippines.

On a more conventional note, we’re both keen to explore more of France, including the Atlantic Coast and the Pyrenees, plus a few days in Andorra. Elsewhere in Europe, we’d like to visit Monte Carlo, see Albania and possibly explore the Italian Lake District. Luxembourg is also missing from our list of countries visited in Europe.

Closer to home, Garry and I want to cross the Nullarbor, visit Southwest WA, the Kimberleys and swim with whale sharks at Ningaloo. Garry hasn’t seen Broken Hill, and we’re both keen to tick Birdsville off our bucket list. I’m also keen to visit Cape York, which you can reach from Thursday Island, rather than driving 1000km overland from Cairns.

Finally, there are a few more exotic and remote locations on my shortlist. This includes the dramatic Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic (see the Google Street View screenshot above), St Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic and even further south, the Falkland Islands. Garry and I have also talked about visiting Palau, Tuvalu and Kiribati to round out our Pacific Island adventures.

So next time you ask, here’s the blog post I’ll refer you to. Let the fun begin.

Where to from here?

Garry and I will be on the road again later this month. I have three trips planned over five weeks. You could say that every time the diary empties, Garry and I find an excuse to fill it.

On 25 July we’re flying to Ballina to spend four nights staying with Liz and Adam Benson on their hobby farm near Alstonville. When last caught up with them in Sydney, we decided it would be fun to celebrate Christmas in July together. This will be our second such event this month as Garry has already scheduled our own Christmas in July event at our place next weekend.

I then fly to Melbourne in early August for an annual industry tradeshow we’ve been attending for more than a decade. I hope to find time to catch up with my niece and her boyfriend, and touch base with a few Melbourne colleagues.

My travel schedule is then rounded out by a long weekend in New Zealand at the end of August. This will be my annual pilgrimage to visit family in the Bay of Plenty. For most of my life, my parents were the primary catalyst for booking a flight to New Zealand. Now they’re gone, I need to make more of an effort to stay connected.

This trans-Tasman trip is one of many subtle and not-so-subtle lifestyle changes unfolding these days. All around me, friends and family are becoming empty-nesters, transitioning into retirement and reinventing the purpose and meaning in their lives. If I’m honest, this change has crept up on me. It’s akin to that classic trope of boiling a frog. Over time, small changes accumulate until one day you wake up and realise the world you once knew has gone.

For more than three decades, my life has been fairly predictable, at least in terms of building a career, saving for retirement and striving for traditional milestones such as debt-free home-ownership. Now, as I approach the final decades of my life, and these milestones are achieved, my priorities are shifting. My life’s purpose is quietly changing, and I’ve yet to work out what it all means for me. It’ll be interesting to see how my blog posts evolve as this journey unfolds.