TRAVEL BUCKET LIST REVISITED: 2 YEARS LATER

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to a friend on my journalism course and she commented on how much I had travelled recently. I personally didn’t think I had travelled that much until had a quick look through my photo diaries that I realised how many places I’ve visited. There are lots of places that I would love to visit in the future, but by the time I write all of them down, this post would be the length of the Oxford dictionary. Almost two years ago, I compiled my travel bucket list (post here), and I’m so happy to say that I’ve been able to tick a few destinations off my initial travel bucket list as well as a couple upcoming trips and a few new additions!

| TICKED OFF THE BUCKET LIST

þ WASHINGTON – OCTOBER 2015

Washington is (or at least at the time I went) quite a quiet place. If I’m honest it’s not really for me, but nonetheless, it was still lovely to visit. Whilst we were there we done all the tourist-y things such as going outside the White House, the Supreme Court, a quick-stop Segway tour around the main tourist attractions of central Washington and of course had to visit a few shops and do a little bit of shopping!

þ NEW YORK – OCTOBER 2015

I loved New York so much, that it’s definitely a place that I would love to visit again. I feel like I could go back repeatedly and never get bored of it. Being a city, it’s somewhat similar to London, but different at the same time. I would love to live there and spend 6 months to a year out in the concrete jungle just to see what it’s like and just embrace a different culture. Everything seems so fast paced and right up my alley that I think I would really fit in there! I don’t think I could live there permanently, as London is, and will always be my home!

þ MALIA – JULY 2016

Whenever I refer back to Malia, I literally call it “the best week of my life” as it truly was. 7 days, 8 friends, in the sun on a boozy island, what more could you want? I feel like we got the right balance between going out at night and doing lots of activities during the day. I can’t wait to go on another holiday next year with my friends, but to another destination!

þ SANTORINI – JULY 2016

Our trip to Santorini was probably the quickest trip in history, but one very picturesque one, just like a postcard. It truly was breathtaking, however my only qualm was that around the time we went, it was scorching hot, like I have never experienced before, and if you’ve been to or seen photos of Santorini, you will know about how many stairs you have to climb. I’d happily Santorini again, however probably just for a long weekend away, but during a slightly cooler time of year.

| OTHER DESTINATIONS VISITED

MADEIRA – NOVEMBER 2016

Another place that I visited at the end of last year was Madeira, which is an autonomous region of Portugal. 2016, was quite a nice and busy year and so my mum and I just wanted to go away during my ‘reading week’ at university (basically a week off timetable) and spent seven days in the beautiful city of Funchal, Madeira. It was a nice little trip away, although I didn't really leave the hotel, except for the odd shopping trip to the shopping centre located five minutes away from the hotel. Madeira is a lovely place, but maybe for someone a little older, either that or I just went at the wrong time of year.

| NEXT TRIP

TENERIFE – SUMMER 2017

A few months back, my mum and I booked a little holiday for the summer. It’s nice to just get away and spend some time away from the everyday mundane. I’ve visited a couple of the Canary Islands before, but never Tenerife. I personally try not to visit the same places twice as I believe there are so many amazing places and unless I really like a particular destination, I’d prefer not to visit the same place, so that I can try and visit as many of them as possible! I don’t plan on doing anything whilst I’m in Tenerife except for lounging by the pool and eating…bliss!

| SOON TO BE TICKED OFF THE BUCKET LIST

I haven’t actually booked any holidays for 2018 yet, but the ones that are well and truly in motion are also places that were on my initial bucket list. I mentioned that I would love to visit Southeast Asia and the main places I would love to go to are Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Bali however Thailand and Vietnam are in Mainland Southeast Asia and Singapore is in Maritime Southeast Asia and it would probably be quite a lot to fit into one trip. So in 2018, we plan to go to mainland Southeast Asia and go to Thailand and Vietnam (and fingers crossed visit Bali and Singapore another time).

I know I’ve kind of already ticked a party holiday destination off my bucket list, but my friends and I loved it so much that we’re planning to go on another holiday in summer 2018 (it feels so far away!) As we’re all finishing our first year of university, this year money has been a little bit tight for most of us, as well as the fact that we didn’t get round to booking a holiday at the end of 2016, so most hotels would’ve been booked. We have decided to go to Aiya Napa next summer and potentially go for 10 days, rather than 7, and as we plan on booking a year in advance, rather than a few months like we did last time, it should be relatively cheap and also give everyone time to save up beforehand.

| NEW ADDITIONS TO THE BUCKET LIST

I’ve decided to add a couple new additions to my bucket list, which is forever growing, but here are a couple of main places I’d love to visit. The first is the Maldives, which looks like such an amazing place. I’m not sure if it’s like it at all of the hotels, but the ones I’ve been eyeing up are very similar to Bora Bora, in the sense that the rooms are directly on the water! The other destination is Cancun in Mexico. Back in 2012, it was a tossup between Cuba and Cancun and we chose to go to Cuba, however I’ve still always wanted to go to Cancun. Maybe I’ll go to celebrate my 21^st and celebrate spring break. My birthday is actually in December, but it could be a belated trip to celebrate proper adulthood and the end of university!

What are some of your favourite destinations?