You can’t be a travel blogger without a post detailing your bucket list — places you’ve been and want to go. My blog wasn’t complete without one, so I’ve taken an inventory of my travel dreams to share with you. As I have written before, a Bucket List should be more than a list of destinations — it should be filled with experiences!
This is a wheelchair travel blog, meant to help disabled travelers plan accessible vacations. Prior to my car accident and disability, I traveled A LOT, but the memories from those trips reveal nothing about accessibility. Traveling is different now that I use a wheelchair and, when I started this blog, I erased all the checkmarks on my Bucket List — I went back to square one, intent on experiencing all of those moments again as a wheelchair user.
Without further ado, here’s my list, in no particular order. My current Top 5 are bolded. I also included crossed off the ones I’ve already completed, and provided links to the relevant blog posts. This list was last updated on April 5, 2023.
My Bucket List of Travel Experiences
Soak in and explore antiquity in Athens, Greece.
Immerse myself, for a time, in a community along the Swahili Coast of Africa.
Attend the Midsummer Solstice Baseball Game in Nome, Alaska.
Sit atop the Great Wall of China. (My first trip abroad in a wheelchair!)
Ring in the New Year at Epcot in Orlando, Florida.
Explore the medieval town center in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Watch the Florida State Seminoles win the College Football Championship.
Visit Pyongyang, North Korea. Yes, I know it’s risky.
Take a selfie at Peyto Lake in Canada’s Banff National Park.
Cross the English countryside on a horse- pony-drawn carriage.
Visit Mount Sinai, the place Moses received the Ten Commandments. (St. Catherine’s Monastery is a treasure to behold!)
Go skydiving in Nepal, with a view of Mt. Everest.
Go plane watching and see the monkeys in Gibraltar. (There’s no better backdrop for spotting.)
Figure out how to visit Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – and do it.
Go to the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. (It was SO awesome!)
Swim in Devil’s Pool at Victoria Falls in Zambia, Africa.
Be humbled by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (I’ve seen it from a distance and from a helicopter.)
Tour the temples of Angkor Wat in my wheelchair.
Explore the Qadisha Valley in Lebanon.
Take a relaxing ride on the Amsterdam canals. (A lot of fun with friends!)
See the Terracotta Army in Xi’an, China.
Explore Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia.
Visit the Old City of Jerusalem, and tour the Holy Land.
Go back “home” to Rome, and use my disability to get a papal handshake. (Here’s how to meet the Pope in Vatican City)
Attend an Opera performance at the Arena di Verona.
Go Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda’s rainforest.
Explore Botswana’s Okavango Delta on a mokoro canoe.
Take a trip to Timbuktu, Mali.
Go horseback riding in an exceptionally beautiful place.
Tour the Taj Mahal in India.
Take part in Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement. (Everyone deserves a voice!)
Cruise and (attempt to) kayak the Aliak Bay in Alaska.
Go paragliding along the New Zealand coastline.
Antarctica. Duh.
Visit The Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. (A dream come true.)
Party it up in Cancun, Mexico. Drink Corona on the beach.
Ride a camel in a (real) Middle East desert. (Egypt counts, right?)
Visit Egypt, and see the Great Pyramids of Giza. (They didn’t see me rolling 4,500 years ago.)
Fly into Jackson Hole, Wyoming and explore Grand Teton National Park.
Roll down the Langkawi Sky Bridge in Malaysia.
Tour the Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul, Türkiye.
Admire Cape Town, South Africa from the top of Table Mountain. (A breathtakingly beautiful scene.)
Visit Borat’s homeland, Glorious Kazakhstan.
Ride Amtrak from sea to shining sea.
Watch the final stage of the Tour de France from the Champs-Elysées. (Check!)
See the Aurora Borealis from somewhere secluded.
See (and ride a boat on) Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia.
Visit the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
Go boating on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.
Watch the sun rise at Stonehenge.
Tour the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. (A humbling & emotional experience.)
Visit & explore Patagonia, because EVERYONE is talking about it.
Spot the Big 5 on a wheelchair accessible Safari. (Kenya is the place where it happened!)
Dive from South Point on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Vacation in Bora Bora, in French Polynesia.
Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Take a helicopter ride in a spectacularly gorgeous place. (Québec City, you pretty.)
Watch the Formula 1 race live in Monaco.
Watch tennis at the Olympic Games (Perhaps at Paris 2024?)
Attend the Australian Open in Melbourne (2023 was 💯).
Take a trans-oceanic cruise.
Be a true aviation geek on an inaugural flight. (Sunflower, you beautiful Zonnebloem!)
Ride a train on the Alaskan Railway between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Explore the Babur Garden in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Ride the Glacier Express through the Swiss Alps.
Visit every country recognized by the U.N.
Orbit the Earth in a spaceship (Help me out, Elon!).
Now that I’ve revealed my most closely held travel desires, WHAT’S ON YOUR BUCKET LIST? Let me know in the comments below!
In case you’re wondering which of the things on my list are coming next — I’m not sure. In 2023, I already crossed off one item when I attended the Australian Open in Melbourne, but I may seek out another bucket list experience later this year. Perhaps a trip to Greece will be in the cards! 🙂
