Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Bucket List


The Morning Walk

When Anne and I go out a walk,
We hold each other's hand and talk
Of all the things we mean to do
When Anne and I are forty-two.

And when we've thought about a thing,
Like bowling hoops or bicycling,
Or falling down on Anne's balloon,
We do it in the afternoon.

            ~  A.A. Milne


That has been one of our favourite poems since we were courting. In fact, I think I have a card somewhere in which Steve changed "Ann" to "Nan," one of his pet names for me.

Indeed one of the pleasures of being a couple is the idea that we can make long-term plans together.

As Steve's retirement draws closer (summer of 2014), we've started talking "of all the things we mean to do when Steve and I are fifty-two." Chief among those things is travel (like 99% of the population of retirees). So while we soaked up some sunshine this past weekend we contemplated our "bucket list" of places we want to see.

We do have slightly differing travel styles.

Steve likes a more adventurous excursion. He would gladly backpack across Europe, staying in hostels, and flying stand-by. He will eat from roadside vendors in developing countries. He would enjoy a bicycle-camping tour or a hiking vacation.

I am a more cautious traveler who likes her comforts (and no insects!) and likes to know where her next bed will be. I will happily try new foods, but get rather anxious if I'm not sure the kitchen is clean. I enjoy a little walking, but am not up to a full-day (or full-week) bike or hike trip.

Neither of us particularly wants to go anywhere where there is political unrest.

Wherever we go, we would like to stay for several weeks, since that is the real luxury of retirement.

With those things in mind, here is our [first draft] travel bucket list.

TOP PRIORITY

Greece
London, Paris, Rome (though not all in one trip)
Scotland: distillery tour, Glasgow, Hawick (pronounced "hiyke," whence the Sibbald clan came)
Ireland and the Hebrides
Florence & Venice
Peru: Machu Picchu  (we want to go there while we are still young and mobile enough to climb those mountains), Amazon, Galapagos

NEXT TIER - in no order

St Petersburg
Prague & Vienna
Southern France, wine & cheese!
New Zealand
Arctic
New York City
Cape Cod
Egypt: Nile cruise, Valley of the Kings
India
Auschwitz
Ireland, Hebrides
Trans-Australia
Trans-Canada by train
Newfoundland: L’Anse aux Meadows
Hawaii
Kenya
Thailand
Yucatan ruins


That's the list, so far. What's on your list? Are there places you recommend we go (that we've missed on this list)? Where would you go AGAIN?

4 comments:

  1. Egypt or Greece I think are my priorities for one of my next trips.

    I recommend Costa Rica. Absolutely gorgeous! There is so much wildlife to see (literally walking within feet of monkeys and sloths) and so many different types of landscapes- beach, cloud forest, swamp... It's easy to do a little bit of adventure travel but with comfortable accommodations too! My grandma Paulen even came for a visit when I was staying there and loved it!

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  2. Greece has been at the top of our list since we were newlyweds. Hadn't thought of Costa Rica, but will look into it.

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  3. In case we run out of ideas, we can also look at these:

    http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/You-re-Gonna-Need-a-Bigger-Bucket.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Melanie here! I enjoyed this piece, please email me--I have a question about your blog. MelanieLBowen[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete

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