My bucket list for travel

March 16, 2016 • 11:00 am

As I’m about to take a trip, and I ain’t getting any younger, it’s time to make a list of where I want to go before my inevitable transformation into worm food. Although these destinations may change over time, here are the places I want to go now, in rough order of desirability:

New Zealand (Australia). Everyone touts the beauty of New Zealand and the friendliness of its people, and it’s small enough to visit for, say, a month. I’d love to see the keas, the landscape, and (although this would be hard) the kakapos, and I hear one can even hitchhike there. Australia is a place I’ve always wanted to go, too, but have never had the chance. The problem is that it’s so big, and it would surely take several months to see the country properly. But one of its great advantages, beside natural beauty, is its wine country.

South Africa. Again, a lovely country, with wine-growing regions, good food because of its many cultures, and, especially, great natural history. It would be ideal for a one-month visit—or more. The game parks are alluring, there are humane places where one can visit rehabilitated big cats, cuddle small ones, and even walk cheetahs). The history and diversity of this land fascinating, and one can get bunny chow (see also here).

Antarctica. Seeing penguins and the desolate beauty of this continent has always been on my bucket list. I once vowed that I’d never go unless someone else paid for it, as happened when I became a lecturer on a Lindblad Cruise to the Galápagos (a fantastic trip), but it doesn’t look as if anyone’s about to invite me to lecture on penguin evolution! If anyone knows of good but relatively inexpensive trips to the continent (and I mean the continent itself as well as South Georgia and other places), do let me know.

Southeast Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, Angkor Wat, and other locations beckon, and the food will be great.

Bali (Ubud). Yes, I know Ubud is touristy, but Bali has always exerted a strange pull on me, and the photographs I’ve seen of the green rice terraces on the mountainsides are stunning. This might be a good place to go for a month to chill out, or even write, and of course there’s the rest of the island to explore.

70 thoughts on “My bucket list for travel”

  1. I highly recommend Alaska. I have been there twice, and there is no lack of things to see.

    Also,closer to home, the Columbia River Gorgeis also highly recommended. I have been through there several times, both by car and by train, and I never tire of it.

  2. I have not renewed my passport for a few years as I feel guilty about my carbon footprint 🙁
    though I would love to visit many of those places. I would add some islands – Kerguelen Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Ascension, the Kodiak Islands, Wrangel Island, Bear Island, Novaya Zemlya, Tierra del Fuego…

    1. All superb choices! Can’t go wrong with any of those.

      Machu Picchu is on our list, so are the Galapagos.

      I would pick New Zealand over Australia because:

      1. It’s smaller, easier to comprehend in less time

      2. It’s cheaper (at least when I was there)

      3. It’s more temperate

      4. Mountains!

      5. The terrain often changes dramatically in the space of 100km of road. This was especially striking as we were traveling by bicycle (“push bike”).

      I also want to see Greece before the bucket as well. And Turkey. Ah well, it could go on and on and on.

  3. Don’t neglect the wines of New Zealand either. Marlborough, at the north end of south island, is New Zealand’s largest wine growing region. It is said to produce the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world.

    My wife and I flew a Piper Archer over the area and had a warning light flash on the panel. We set down in Marlborough to have it checked and stayed overnight at a vineyard inn. Dinner with a chilled bottle of fine Sauvignon Blanc was a highlight of our trip.

    1. Did you really have a flashing light or did you see that vineyard and something flashed before your eyes?

      1. It was an oil temperature light which turned out to be a problem with the switch not the engine. Our sighs of concern were tempered knowing we were in serious wine country.

    2. I love NZ wine. I also love the bread and cheese there. When I go, I eat sandwiches like crazy which are freshly made at little mom and pop shops all over. I just renewed my NZ passport and it’s en route!

      1. I’d love to return there, but it’s so far, and there are so many other places. Just with I had another life.

        1. I haven’t the energy for traveling lately and I haven’t gone anywhere since 2009 when I went to Australia and Hawaii & had a short stop in NZ for dinner with my Auntie.

          1. My sister in law loves Japan and go their and a couple of other far destinations several times a year. They are saving the local trips within the U.S. ’till when they are unable to make the long flights. It sounds like good planning. Doesn’t that make sense?

  4. To dive Alaska and photograph an iceberg from below the surface is tops on my bucket list.

  5. Australia !

    I was there with my wife in 2011 for a month. Took the train (The Ghan) from Adelaide to Darwin. I’d like to go back and take another train, The Indian Pacific ! That one would take me from Sydney all the way to Perth. What a trip that would be. Maybe one day.

  7. Australia is great to visit, and there’s something for everybody. We spent 6 weeks travelling around much of the country — 40 degrees C and 400 percent humidity in the north, almost froze in Tasmania.

    But a warning: It’s very hard to get wi-fi in Australia unless you’re in one of the cities. You’re a connected type of person so that might put you off.

  8. One of our favorite trips was a National Geographic, Lodge to Lodge trip to Machu Picchu via the Salkantay Trail. A beautiful hike in the Andes of about 40 miles over 5 days. The difficulty rating is Moderate to Strenuous. The elevation is a killer unless you’re from Colorado, which I’m not. Most of the hike is above 12,000 feet up to a high of over 15,000 feet. I trained my 67 year old body for about 6 months prior to the trip, but was still taking 2 breaths for each small step much of the time.
    The accommodations at the lodges were great, and Machu Picchu was spectacular. If you choose to go sometime, make sure to get up early and climb Wayna Picchu – the peak always pictured behind Machu Picchu. It’s about a 1000 foot climb, and only 400 people per day are allowed up. Well worth the effort as you get a perspective of Machu Picchu like no other.

    1. I did the trek up the mountain behind Machu Picchu, but not the trek you mentioned, which sounds great. I count Machu Picchu as one of the three most beautiful things I’ve seen on Earth (I’ve mentioned this before) along with the Taj Mahal at night during a full moon and the view of Everest and Ama Dablam from the Thyangboche Monastery in the Khumbu Valley in Nepal.

  9. All good ideas. Might I suggest that Botswana makes a good alternative or addition to South Africa? The Okavango Delta is phenomenal.

    As for New Zealand, I doubt that even you will be allowed to see a kakapo, but keas and kakas should be easy enough. Maybe even a kiwi if you have the clout. South Island would probably merit the most time, what with the penguins and fjords and all. And Fergburger in Queenstown does indeed have a very good hamburger.

  10. There are plenty of places Jerry can see Kiwi, albeit in captivity. Since they’re nocturnal, Kiwi enclosures have lighting so the Kiwi (that’s plural as well as singular) have night during the day and vice-versa. There’s one not far from where I live (I’ll send you a link later Jerry). It’s hard to see them in the wild though without some big clout, as mentioned above.

    I also suggest the Waitomo Caves.

    I’ve spoken to tourists from Germany (where they get lots of holidays) who do NZ and Aus in two months. They decide beforehand to do six weeks in Aus and two weeks here because of the size, and always wish they’d done it the other way around because there’s so much more to see here, especially if you’re into natural beauty.

    There are cruise trips to Antarctica to see penguins that leave from NZ. I don’t know much about them. Almost all bases at Antarctica are serviced etc from Christchurch, and there is an information centre. I’ll find out about it for you. (My brother’s company is nearby.) I guarantee it’s expensive though without even checking!

    1. Last I knew, you could see kiwi in captivity at the Brookfield Zoo.

      I did 3 weeks in Australia and 1 in NZ, mostly South Island. While I would not switch the order, I would want to spend way more time in both places. And of course there are several species of penguin in NZ, a couple of them endemic. I saw three species in my one week. So no need to go all the way to Antarctica. Warmer, too.

        1. Just my opinion, but if you go all the way to New Zealand from, well, anywhere except somewhere else in New Zealand, you want to see your penguins in the wild. I saw two species on the Otago Peninsula and one in Milford Sound.

        2. Ha ha! I went there in the 90s. My family was all about going there because they liked seeing the snow. Of course, as a Canadian I thought the snow part was awful because I really don’t like winter. But I did like the Penguins.

          1. It seems to be improving all the time. I first went there just after it opened, which was before they got the penguins. The second time I went, it was a lot better. A look at their website shows a lot of stuff that wasn’t there when I was last there too.

    2. I saw kiwis at the Kiwi House which I forget where that is. I wonder if it is near Waitimo that I’m thinking of. I saw wild pukeko near Waitimo and it was I think st the same Kiwi House that the pukeko lipped me off and I think really wanted to bite me.

      I also think driving through the Coromandels is nice except when it’s flooded and going to Russell to see the pohutakawa trees is awesome too.

      1. Yes, the Kiwi House is at Otorohanga, just north of Waitomo. There are lots of other native birds there too, and some lizards, and some tuatara. Last time I was there I got a great, long look at a tuatara, until my nephew came running up looking for me – then it went off somewhere it couldn’t be seen from the path.

        1. Yes, there are a lot of places in NZ with kiwi houses now. But the real thing can be worthwhile and not outrageously expensive. I recommend Okarito Kiwi Tours in (yup) Okarito on the West Coast of the South Island. A bit off the beaten track but the price is only something like $75 and seeing a wild kiwi is only part of the… I was going to say fun but that isn’t quite right, anyway the guide is a very interesting character.

          1. I didn’t know about Okarito – I’ll have to keep it in mind. There are lots of interesting places on the West Coast, and when I finally went there for the first time in my 30s, I was surprised how beautiful it was too. I could have stayed much longer. I was thinking of the island sanctuaries which are so hard to get to.

          2. A problem with the West Coast of the south island is weather. We flew west from Cristchurch but didn’t make it all the way to the west coast due to weather – which, we learned, was a common problem. By car it would not have been as much of a problem – but I recommend flying, myself. We ended up turning south and exploring Stewart Island.

          3. Yeah – it’s rained all the time I’ve been there too, even in the middle of summer.

        2. As I remember it, that Kiwi House required visiting by night to see actual Kiwi. I think we considered staying until dusk and had to skip it for the sake of our schedule.

    3. Native birds, other than water birds and shore birds, can be hard to find in NZ. Best place I’ve seen for variety of species is Shakespear Regional Park near Auckland; nearby Tiritiri Matangi (an island; ferry from Auckland) is supposed to be even better. Nothofagus forests on South Island are good too, notably for rifleman (that’s a bird: Acanthisitta chlorine).

    4. Never done New Zealand (it’s on my bucket list), but it looks so much more interesting than Australia geographically-speaking.

      1. I’ve not been to AU so I can’t be sure, but my thought is that AU is so large and spread out that the critical spots you may want to see are so far apart that it adds days to your limited time budget. NZ on the other hand is nicely compressed. I would not want a first time traveler to spend less than 3 weeks in NZ. 4 might be optimal.

        Also worth noting, is the B&Bs are all terrific. They apparently have a national agency which specifies high quality for all B&Bs. You can’t go wrong. Staying in a hotel in NZ is a tragic waste of time.

        1. Agree on the B&Bs. Had a wonderful 4 weeks in NZ in 2000. Like Scotland but better weather (although similar to Scotland at times – as Heather says, it can rain a lot even in summer) and even more scenery. Lovely people!

  12. All good fun. You can meet some of your Antarctic aspirations by going volcano-bothering to Iceland.
    Try checking the look-ahead for solar eclipses. Sky & Telescope frequently do cruise liners to chase eclipses, and you do have the academic chops to wangle a guest-lecturer post if there is one in the offing. You might only get your ticket cost rather than a fee, but that’s still a good deal.

  13. As someone who has spent pretty much all their life in Australia, what still blows me away about nature is the birds. Our mammals are interesting, but are pretty much in direct competition with humans. But the birds are everywhere, and they are so colourful and have such interesting calls.

    1. As someone who was there for only three weeks, I agree. Three weeks, 285 species.

    2. Indeed. I am in a country area and the birds are amazing.
      And the Kangaroos and Wombats and Echidnas and, with a drive, Penguins.

    3. That would lure me. I currently watch Aussie web-cams, but there’s not a lot of species variety with them.

      1. Poorly placed web cams. I didn’t count the mammal species (in my 3 weeks), but it was around 15-20.

        1. Not really poorly-placed, just not enough! Just 2 that are not nest-cams, for the most part! There’s also the limitation as to what species will show up to a feeder cam in the first place.

  14. Jerry, you should just book your flights to SA, NZ, Oz etc, and announce the dates on this website. You would be guaranteed as much help, hospitality and transport from your appreciative readers as you could possibly want.

    And yes, go to Vietnam. It is a remarkable country.

  15. Jerry,
    If you come down here to Wellington you should visit Zealandia a large urban nature reserve surrounded by anti-predator fencing- they of course have website which lists a quite impressive list of birds etc. If you do a circular trip around the South Island via Arthur’s Pass you should see kea.

    If you want any tips/help I am sure you have the email addresses of a fair number of New Zealanders (we tend to be an approachable lot).

    Aussie is big but the middle bit is basically flat, red and fairly srcubby. Well worth a selective look but I wouldn’t see the need to see it all. Try in and around Broken Hill

  16. Why not tour some of Britain’s crappiest towns (listed in a popular book over here). A few weeks visiting Middlesborough, Cumbernauld, Basingstoke, Ebbw Vale etc (preferably in a wet November), will make you realise how lucky you are to have visited all the wonderful places you have already been to.

    1. For some reason that sounds appealing. 😀 At least you’d probably get away from the crowds.

    2. When we were in North Yorkshire several years ago our host took us on a trip to Middlesborough — he was an engineer and wanted to show us the Transporter Bridge. Different people, different interests.

  17. For some classic Australian big fat shiraz go to the McLaren Vale and Clare Valley in South Australia (and I’m from NSW). If you like the pinots, go to Mornington or Tassie.

    1. The Canberra district is starting to shoot out really nice shiraz. Though it’s hard to beat a Barossa shiraz for the full-bodied flavour.

  18. If you visit NZ, South Island is the place to go for scenery (and I say that as a (North Island) Aucklander).

    Especially the southern end of the West Coast and Fiordland (i.e. Milford Sound).

    Also, South Island has more than half the land area but only 1/3 of the population (or something like that) so the wide open spaces are wider and emptier. Somehow scenery seems better with less people in it.

    Arthurs Pass is far the best route from the more populated east coast to the west, Lewis Pass at the northern end is pretty tame. If I was time-limited I’d maybe start in Wellington and go across on the Cook Strait Ferry (are you a good sailor?) – the trip through the Marlborough Sounds to Picton is worth it – down the Kaikoura (east) Coast to Christchurch, across Arthurs Pass to the West Coast, down and across the Haast Pass to Queenstown and round to Milford Sound. That’s if you’re driving yourself. If you like trains (slow but comfortable) the Coastal Pacific from Picton to Christchurch and the Tranz Alpine from Chch to Greymouth via Arthurs Pass are good, and they have open-air viewing cars. For the rest of the route regular buses (coaches) are also quite comfortable.

    cr

    1. Sounds like the route we took in a rental car. Also recommend doing a Milford Sound cruise. We did one with bunkhouse type accommodation (on board) overnight – wonderful. The local equivalent of midges made us feel right at home 🙂

  20. Please do consider including OZ in Your itinerary! And do come to Adelaide — we can offer you Kangaroo Island, the Flinders Ranges (not high but very rugged), and the wine regions including Barossa, Clare, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hilss, and so on and on.
    We could even provide you with the company of three cats.

  21. Bali has a lot to see, but if you have a few extra days I would suggest Central Java (Yogyakarta) if you like ancient buildings. Prambanan temple complex, Ratu Boko monastery ruins overlooking the city, and temple mountain Borobudur are all magnificent. (Chances of encountering xenophobia/Islamism in this area are no higher than Bali.)

  22. Iceland. Wonderful scenery, but go in the summer. Not the cheapest destination though.

    Oman. Lovely place, friendly people. Again great scenery. An oasis of calm too in an otherwise oft-insane region.

    Israel. Visited Jerusalem many years ago now, an incredible city to visit, with all its history and contradictions.

    Reading the other comments has added Alaska and New Zealand to my list…

    1. Can you elaborate on Iceland a bit?

      I’ve flown over it many times (at low-ish altitude) and been in Reykjavik several times. I’m puzzled by the appeal of a treeless place (almost vegetation-free place) without high mountains (OK, I’ve seen photos of a couple of attractive volcanic crags). Hot springs can be found in any beautiful mountainous area.

      Is it just the strangeness of the landscape?

      (Maybe I’ve just been in tundra too much (seen it too many times): On high mountains and in the Arctic).

      Iceland used to have trees; but it was deforested (almost completely) by the Norse settlers.

  23. I can’t travel these days due to responsibilities at home. My bucket list sprang a leak and is therefore short and modest, with only Costa Rica for the wildlife and rainforest, *maybe* Turks and Caicos for the beaches and the quietude, and somewhere like Portugal so I can try each and everyone of these 😀 :
    http://www.google.ca/search?q=biggest+seafood+platter+in+portugal&rlz=1C1DVCJ_enCA447CA447&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=634&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDxvrW4MfLAhXEnYMKHcg1DeUQsAQIGg&dpr=1.5

  24. Hi Jerry — I’ve never commented on this blog before (although I’ve been reading it for years), but I really wanted to put in my two cents regarding this post. My husband and I have been to the Antarctic peninsula twice and would go again in a heartbeat. There is nothing like walking with penguins or having a humpback whale surface right next to your Zodiac. And then there is the incredible pristine beauty and wildness of the place itself. Cruises are not cheap, but you can often get last-minute deals at a substantial discount. Check out this website: http://www.oneoceanexpeditions.com/. After my first trip, I mentioned to a friend that Antarctica had always been first on my list of places I wanted to see. She said, “Well now you can cross it off.” My response was that I had crossed off everything else. My advice to you: GO!!!!!

  25. So many places to consider!

    I want to get to the Canadian Arctic sometime (even just Iqaluit), but I don’t know if I can make the trip, since I get motion sick and small planes sound awful for that reason …

    1. I’d like to go to the far north as well but every time I look at prices, it’s the same price to go to Hawaii, so you can guess which one I pick! 🙂

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