The Ultimate Bucket List of Epic Adventures!

I heard one time that having a long bucket list meant you were a very optimistic person. Or, that you’re silly and delusional, I forget which. But the gist is that if you have a long bucket list, you are imagining a future full of life and experiences. And, while a 370 item (plus an extra 42 mountains to summit and 28 long trails to hike/run) bucket list is…more than a bit excessive…I like to think that this list is an aspirational guideline for when I need inspiration.

I think I wrote my original bucket list sometime in late middle school or early high school. It was on some paper printed with the 1997 USPS World of Dinosaurs stamp design (yep, I was a dino nerd as a kid and no, I didn’t grow out of it). It was the size of standard printer paper (8.5 x 11 inches) and I filled it margin-to-margin front and back. I’ve still got that original bucket list tucked away in a notebook somewhere, but I keep a digital copy now and added to it extensively about two years ago. I still add items to it (perhaps at an unsustainably faster rate than I check items off), but like I said, this bucket list is more adventure inspiration.

And because I haven’t written a blog post in a long while, and because it’s the end of the year and I’m reflecting on 2020 and looking forward to 2021, I figured it might be a nice opportunity to share my ultimate bucket list, note what I’ve achieved this year, and what to plan next.

So! Without further ado, I present to you:

The Ultimate Bucket List of Epic Adventures!

  • Trad climb

  • Rock climb a desert tower

  • Climb Devils Tower

  • Climb sea cliffs/deep water solo

  • Go ice climbing

    ✓ Run a half marathon

    ✓ Run a marathon

    ✓ Run an ultramarathon (50K)

    Run a 40 miler

    • February 2020

  • Run a 50 miler

  • Run a 100K

  • Run a 100 miler

  • Do a 24 hour race

  • See Machu Picchu

  • See Egyptian pyramids

  • See Chichen Itza (Mexico)

  • Backpack through Patagonia

  • Hike Everest base camp

  • Climb Kilimanjaro

    ✓ Hike in the Alps

  • Climb in the Alps

  • Do a Via Ferrata

  • Hike the Jurassic Coast

  • Hike the Camino de Santiago

  • See the Acropolis

  • See the Monaco Formula 1 race

  • See the Baja 1000 race

  • See a rally race

  • See Red Bull Rampage

  • Go skydiving

  • Raft the New River

  • Raft the Nantahala River

  • Cowboy camp/Sleep under the stars

  • ✓ Go to an active paleontology or archaeology site

    ✓ Study abroad

  • Live abroad

  • Spend a month in Australia

  • Spend a month in New Zealand

  • See Lake Wanaka

  • Explore Croatia

  • Explore Dolomites

  • Visit Lake Garda

  • Hike Cinque Terra

  • Hike Scotland

  • Hike Ireland

  • Visit Berlin

    ✓ Visit Paris

    ✓ Visit London

    ✓ Visit Rome

  • Visit Venice

  • Visit Morocco

  • Visit Amsterdam

  • Visit Santorini

  • Visit Dublin

  • Visit Edinburgh

    ✓ Go to a medieval city

  • Hike/explore Petra

  • Run Wadi Rum Ultra (now called Ultra X Jordan)

  • Do an adventure race

  • See Ellora Caves

  • See a boiling lake (Dominica)

  • See the Iditarod

  • Do the human Iditarod

  • Visit Prague

  • Visit Nairobi

  • Visit Beijing

  • Visit Shanghai

  • Visit Bangkok

  • Visit Chiang Mai

  • Visit Phuket

    ✓ Go snorkeling

  • Scuba dive

  • Swim with manta rays

    Swim with sharks w/a cage

  • Swim with sharks w/o a cage

  • Swim with jellyfish (Jellyfish Lake, Palau)

  • See flamingos at Laguna Colorada (Red Lake)

  • See Andean flamingos at Chile’s Altiplano

  • See flamingos at Lake Nakuru (Kenya)

  • See Lake Hiller (pink lake)

  • See Lake Natron (Tanzania)

  • See Plitvice Lakes (Croatia)

  • See Lake Bled (Slovenia)

  • See Lake Baikal (Siberia)

  • See Door to Hell (Turkmenistan)

  • See Centralia burning coal seam

  • Climb K2

  • Hike 14ers

  • Visit the Amazon

  • Eat something really weird

  • Go skiing

  • Go snowshoeing

  • Go luging

    ✓ Go dog sledding

  • Go horseback riding in wilderness

    Bushwack with just a map and compass

    • 2020 x 2! Ruben Mtn summit and NRG, WV

  • Get wilderness first aid training

  • Sail around the world

  • Sail the Mediterranean

  • Sail the Caribbean

  • See an oasis

First time lead climbing outdoors! At Red River Gorge, KY

Second lead climb outdoors! Eureka 5.6 classic route at Red River Gorge, KY

Is it just me, or is it hot in here? (Hanging out in a bakery in Pompeii)

My study abroad group in Rome

Climb at Yosemite

  • Climb at Hueco Tanks

  • Climb at Joshua Tree

    Climb at New River Gorge, WV

    • June 2020

    ✓ Climb at Red River Gorge, KY

    • October 2020

    ✓ Climb a 5.10 outdoors

    • October 2020

  • Climb a 5.11 outdoors

    ✓ Learn German

  • Learn French

  • Learn Italian

  • Learn Spanish

    • In progress 2020

  • Learn Chinese

  • Learn Japanese

  • Learn Swahili

  • Learn American Sign Language

    ✓ Donate to charity

  • Build something

  • Live zero waste

  • Save a life

  • Change a law

  • Change someone’s mind

  • Share experience with someone in need of mentorship

  • Backpack through Europe

Whitewater rafting at the US National Whitewater Center!

✓ Go whitewater rafting

  • Go on a safari

  • Visit a European Christmas market

  • Visit Japan

  • Visit Fiji

  • Visit Borneo

  • Visit Turks & Caicos

  • Go to Costa Rica

    ✓ Go to a bioluminescent bay

  • Go cliff jumping

  • Go to Norway, stand on edge of Trolltunga and Preikestolen

  • Go to Iceland

  • See the Northern Lights

  • Spend a night in an igloo

  • Spend a night in an ice hotel

  • Spend a night in a yurt

    ✓ Spend a night in a houseboat

  • Spend a night in a tiny house

  • Spend a night in an airstream

  • Spend a night in a treehouse

  • Spend a night in an over-water bungalow

    ✓ Spend a night on a swamp platform

  • Go to Giant’s Causeway

  • ✓ Swim in the Atlantic Ocean

    ✓ Swim in the Pacific Ocean

  • Swim in the Indian Ocean

  • Swim in the Arctic Ocean

  • Swim in the Southern Ocean

    ✓ Swim in the Mediterranean Sea

  • Swim in the Red Sea

  • See Grand Canyon

  • Run R2R2R

  • Raft the Grand Canyon/Colorado River

  • Raft the Ocoee

  • Raft the Chattooga

  • Hike Angel’s Landing

  • Hike Cotopaxi

  • Hike Na Pali coast

    ✓ Go to a coffee farm

  • Learn how to roast coffee beans

  • Learn how to make latte art

  • Go to a pineapple farm

  • Mountain bike in Moab

  • Explore Badlands

  • Bike across America

  • See a coconut crab in the wild

  • Trail run Art Loeb Trail

  • Trail run Shut-in Trail

    ✓ Go to a luau

  • Attend High Tea

  • Attend a traditional Chinese tea ceremony

    ✓ Attend a Native American Pow Wow

  • Visit Galapagos

  • See baby turtles hatch

  • See Old Faithful erupt

  • See Grand Prismatic Spring

  • See Blue Grotto

  • See Marble Caves (Chile)


Arundel Castle in UK

✓ See a castle

✓ See Biltmore Estate

  • See Neuschwanstein

    ✓ See a black sand beach

  • See a green sand beach

  • See a pink sand beach

  • Go to the equator

  • Go to the South Pole

  • Go to the North Pole

  • See Nazca lines

  • Hike in a bamboo forest

  • Feel zero gravity

  • See wolves in the wild

  • See a snow leopard

  • Walk on a frozen body of water

    ✓ Do an overnight backpacking trip

    ✓ Do an overnight paddling trip

  • Do an overnight climbing trip (sleep on the wall)

  • See the Great Wall of China

  • See terracotta soldiers (Xi’an)

  • Climb the Stairway to Heaven

  • Mountain bike in Whistler

  • See Angkor Wat

  • Go bungee jumping

  • Go base jumping

  • Jump into a cenote

  • Slide down a waterfall

  • Go canyoneering

    ✓ Go spelunking

    ✓ Go spelunking in Mammoth Caves

  • Go spelunking in Carlsbad Caverns

  • See an atoll

  • See a ghost town

  • See the running of the bulls

  • See a BPL soccer game

  • See a German Bundesliga game

  • See a La Liga game

  • See an All Black game

  • Bike through Tuscany

  • Bike through Provence

  • Bike the Danube Bike Trail

  • See lavender fields in Provence

  • See tulips in Amsterdam

  • See Holi

  • See Diwali

  • See an eagle huntress in Nepal

  • Go hang gliding

  • Go skateboarding

  • Hike a knife edge ridge

  • See Watkins Glen

  • See Thor’s Well

  • See Erawan waterfalls

  • See Multnomah Falls

  • Touch a dolphin

  • Touch a whale

  • Touch an elephant

    ✓ See a lunar eclipse

    ✓ See a meteor shower

    ✓ See a solar eclipse

    ✓ Feel an earthquake

  • Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway during peak fall foliage

  • See synchronized fireflies

    ✓ Touch a glacier

  • See Glacier NP

  • Hike in Yosemite

  • Hike in Alaska

  • See a wild Komodo dragon

  • See a spirit bear

  • See grizzlies catch salmon

  • See a narwhal

  • See a mustang round-up

  • Explore Dominica

  • Explore Reunion Island

    ✓ See Mont Blanc

  • See Matterhorn

  • Run UTMB

  • Run Hardrock

  • Run Leadville

  • See where oceans converge

  • Go to the top of a lighthouse

  • Go glamping

  • Collect honey from a beehive

  • Forage wild mushrooms

  • Stomp grapes

  • See wild chimpanzees

  • See wild mountain gorillas

  • Kayak the Everglades

  • Explore the coast of Maine

  • Go surfing

  • Follow the Tour de France

    ✓ See a Women’s World Cup game in person

  • See the Olympics in person

  • See a Wimbledon game in person

  • ✓ Visit Pompeii

    ✓ Visit the Vatican

    ✓ See the Coliseum

  • Visit the Sagrada Familia

    ✓ Visit Notre Dame cathedral

  • Visit MOMA

    ✓ Visit British Museum

    ✓ Visit Louvre

  • See glow worms!

  • See Mont-Saint-Michel

  • See Forbidden City

  • Hike Haiku Stairs

  • Hike in the Black Forest

  • Visit Medina

  • Float in the Dead Sea

  • Explore Greenland

  • Bathe in a hot spring

  • Summit a high mountain

Mountains to Summit:

  • Aconcagua

  • Andrews Tarn

  • Annapurna trek

  • Aoraki/Mt Cook (New Zealand)

  • Carstensz Pyramid (Indonesia)

  • Cerro Chirripo (Costa Rica)

  • Cotopaxi

  • Denali

  • El Capitan

    ✓ Flatirons

  • Fuji (Japan)

  • Half Dome

  • Kilauea

  • Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)

  • Kirkjufell (Iceland)

  • Longs Peak

  • Maroon Bells

  • Matterhorn

  • Mauna Kea

  • Mauna Loa

  • Mont Blanc

  • Mount Saint Helens

  • Mt Mitchell

  • Mt Elbrus (Russia)

  • Mt Hood

  • Mt Katahdin

  • Mt Kosciuszko (Australia)

  • Mt Logan (Canada)

  • Mt Temple (Banff, Canada)

  • Mt Toubkal (Morocco)

  • Mt Whitney

  • Mt Washington

  • Pikes Peak

  • Presidentials

  • Shasta

  • Snowdonia (Wales)

    ✓ Table Rock

  • Torres del Paine (Chile)

  • Vinicunca (Peru - rainbow mtn)

  • Vinson Massif (Antarctica)

    ✓ Wilson Ridge (Grayson Highlands)

  • Zhangjiajie (China)

Halemaumau Crater in Hawaii

Swimming in the Mediterranean Sea at Capri

  • See Great Barrier Reef

  • See African Rift Valley

  • Explore Marieta Islands, Mexico

  • Hike the rainbow mountains

  • Hike Antelope Canyon

  • See Niagara Falls

  • See Victoria Falls

  • See Kaieteur Falls

  • Hike in Sahara

  • Hike in Death Valley

  • Hike in Kalahari

  • Hike in Gobi

  • Hike in Sonora

  • Hike in Namib

  • Visit every state in USA

  • Run a marathon in every state in USA (aka 50 States/50 Marathons)

  • Run an ultramarathon in every state in USA (aka 50 States/50 Ultras)

  • Run all the World Majors marathons

  • Do an Ironman

  • Run a 5:30 mile

  • Go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans

  • Go to Carnival in Venice

  • Go to Carnival in Rio de Janeiro

  • Go to Oktoberfest in Munich

  • Go to Dia de los Muertos in Mexico

  • Drink absinthe

    Drink Pernod

    • January 2020

  • Go to a burlesque show

    ✓ See a Broadway musical

    ✓ See Wicked

    ✓ See Hamilton

  • See a space shuttle launch

  • Chase a tornado

  • Ride Amtrak across America

  • Go fly fishing

  • See the red crab migration at Christmas Island

Backpacking with Ryder at Black Balsam Knob

 
 
Hiking up Mont Blanc up to La Jonction (where the Les Bossons and La Taconnaz glaciers meet!)

Hiking up Mont Blanc up to La Jonction (where the Les Bossons and La Taconnaz glaciers meet!)

 

See the Seychelles

  • See the Redwoods

  • See the Taj Mahal

  • See Christ the Redeemer

  • See Stonehenge

  • Visit Easter Island

  • Explore Turkey

  • Visit a Tibetan monastery

  • Visit the Wailing Wall

  • Explore Iguazu Falls

  • See salt flats

  • Skinny dip

  • Learn archery

  • Learn sabrage

  • Learn how to lockpick

  • Learn jumpers (on a horse)

 

Long Trails to Hike:

  • Appalachian Trail

  • Pacific Crest Trail

  • Continental Divide Trail

  • Mountains-to-Sea Trail (NC)

  • Long Trail

  • Lost Coast Trail

  • Ice Age Trail

  • Foothills Trail

  • Benton Mackaye Trail

  • Wonderland Trail

  • R2R2R

  • Camino de Santiago

  • Allegheny Trail

  • Art Loeb Trail

  • Bartram Trail

  • Colorado Trail

  • Florida Trail

  • Iditarod Trail

  • John Muir Trail

  • Long Path

  • Oregon Coast Trail

  • Ouachita Trail

  • Ozark Highlands Trail

  • Ozark Trail

  • Palmetto Trail

  • Tahoe Rim Trail

    ✓ Uwharrie Trail

  • Virginia Creeper Trail

Conclusion

So what do you think of the list? Okay, yes, this list is very excessive, but like I said, it’s more aspirational/inspirational than achievable, lol. But out of this list, what have you done? Or, what did I miss?! Let me know in the comments!

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