Don’t you just hate it when you’re completely out of travel ideas? When you’re picking your brain about your next epic journey? And you feel like an epic travel list would be very welcome?

Where to go, where to go..? What’s that? That never happens to you?!

I know, I was just-KIDDING.

Of course, here are always a million more places to go and a million more things to do. And a million more places to see, etcetera, etcetera.

The very cliche is true: The more you see, the more things get added to your list.

In 2010 I made my first big trip and became a full-time dreamer of far-away places. It’s pretty funny to read back to what were once – and many still are! – my dreams. Today I’ll share my travel related bucket list with you. Hmm.. that sounds a little like we’re almost at the end of our lives, let’s therefore call it ‘Epic Travel List’ from now on. Epic Travel… That sounds cool!

Feel free to pick my brain here in case you feel like you lost yours one day! 🙂

I want to go:

Take the Trans Siberian Express from Moscow through Mongolia to Beijing

Spot some whales and penguins

Ride a horse across the plains – to point out: you should know I’m slightly afraid of horses

Visit Up’s Paradise Falls (also known as Angel Falls, Venezuela)

Visit Hang Son Doong cave in Vietnam, the World’s largest cave!

Lock myself up in a remote cabin somewhere in Finland until I see the Northern Lights

Take a husky sleigh ride somewhere in Scandinavia

Live abroad* (1 year in Shanghai, China)

Skydiving and bungee jumping – I bet this is on every single bucket list 😉

Get my advanced PADI diving certificate and find the best places to dive (* Galapagos: Check!)

Give a party in my beach house on some tropical island

Run the New York – or Shanghai, or …. – marathon

Road tripping through the US* and Canada

Pick grapes in Italy

Take the next random flight to anywhere

Bob sleighing

Kayaking in some beautiful tropical place*

Rafting* (again; I love these things)

See Machu Picchu*, the Great Wall* and the Leaning Tower of Pisa* (Ever since I saw a picture of this tower in my dad’s encyclopedia when I was still a little girl, I was completely fascinated and stared at that picture over and over for years. A few years ago I finally visited: not thát impressive ;))

Join a Full Moon Party, which I will without a doubt regret the next day (cause hangover)

Return to Patagonia and explore further (went there once, it’s amazingly beautiful..)

Finish my pilgrims journey from Tours in France to Santiago de Compostela in Portugal (once, I walked from my hometown Woerden in The Netherlands to Tours)

Camping in US national parks*

Go on a safari

And also:

Follow Reese and walk the PCT, or (an) other trail(s) – Since you can wake me up any time for hiking (and wine)

Learn how to sail and sail from one continent to another

Dive with sharks* (check: Galapagos Islands) and whale sharks*

Do a 10 day Vipassana retreat* (did this once, will do it again)

Have a working holiday Australia and/or New Zealand

Climb mount Kilimanjaro (thus tickets are booked for August 2019!)

See Iguazu falls in Argentina

Sleep on the beach* (Hong Kong: check)

Sleep in the desert, under the stars* (Merzouga dessert, Morocco: check!)

See the lava in an active volcano

Paragliding* (Ecuador: check)

Visit all continents (3 more to go: Antartica, Africa and Australia)

Visit Berlin and Hamburg – It’s almost embarrassing I’ve never been to these apparently awesome cities, since they’re in my neighbor country

Go zip lining

Ride a camel* (did that a few times and seem to have found my talent)

Celebrate carnival in da famous Rio!

Dancing in the Cuban streets

Get a motorbike license – Not a moped, but like a real motorbike one

See icebergs in Antartica

Make a cruise – not because I love luxury so much, but working on it as a way to reach new sides of the world

Get a South American sweat lodge treatment

Sleep in a Japanese capsule hotel

Hike the Himalayas

Celebrate Christmas and New Years on a beach on an island

Have drinks in Unicorn Cafe Bangkok

Travel around the Mekong Delta for 2 weeks

To Sapa and Halong bay

Hiking in Pakistan and Nepal – Google pictures, it’s incredibly pretty!

Hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge, China

* means: Been there, done that!

How about visit all countries in general? Like Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia, India, Pakistan, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Alaska, … I’ll just keep counting.

So, what’s next?

One of my friends recently told me she’d read that it takes about 400 days to fulfill 10 Epic Travel List items.

(The thing is, whenever she starts her sentence with ‘I read that…’, ‘I heard that…’ or ‘Someone told me that…’ we all get cautious. Because she’s intelligent; and for the past years she’s been telling us many interesting facts which, we later found out, were often based on articles from some girls’ magazine. Nevertheless, her interesting (but sometimes not so true) facts are, well.., interesting.)

To get to the point, not sure if 400 days for 10 items is true. Since it seems to be just as good as a guideline as any other, I’ll go with it anyway.

For the next 402 days (from today until January 1^st, 2019) I’ll aim to stripe off 10 items. NAY! Those items WILL BE striped off by me!

It’s time for me to go camping in the US, bungee jumping or sky diving, kayaking, join a Full Moon party, see lava, do two weeks of Mekong Delta, visit the Philippines, Taiwan, the Unicorn Cafe and a Japanese capsule.

What does your epic travel list look like?

Want to read more?
Why Everyone Should Travel

In other posts I’ve mentioned reasons to travel. But it never felt like finished business to me, because there’s an endless amount of reasons to travel… In case you’re still searching for some, here are 101 more!

First reasons to travel:

1.  For the interesting and exciting experiences. And to do things you never did before.

2. To grow as a person in many ways. You’ll never be the same.

3. To widen our view of the world.

4. To see new and amazing things.

5. To change our mindsets.

6. To meet new people. Indeed, many! And from different cultures too, so they can teach us a lot.

7. To gather stories to tell in the future.

8. To take beautiful pictures & save those moments forever (but don’t let it ruin beautiful moments). For example: it’s awesome to look back at pictures I took during my first trip 8 years ago.

9. To take fun short videos and create a Quik-video: At this point one of my favorite apps.

10. To let our creativity run free, because the best ideas come to you in the shower & the better than best ideas in an open air shower in Indonesia, with the sound of geckos in the background.

11. For the feeling of complete freedom. After all, you’re free to go almost anywhere!

12. For some future inspiration. Get your mind clear about what you want and what you don’t want in life. You’ll come to realize what is most important to you.

13. To train your patience, because things will not go your way and people will not act the way you’re used to. Maybe they also don’t even speak your language. I must say countries like China are a good choice for this.

14. To eat, because we all love food! Because tapas is the best in Spain and croissants are the best in France. Street food markets give you the chance to explore and expand your comfort zone food wise.

15. To spot animals, because it’s just not easy to spot penguins and great apes in Europe.

16. It’s a challenge. There will be plenty of new situations you’re unfamiliar with, but gotta deal with anyway.

17. To build self-confidence; You’re on your own. YOU are the one making decisions.

18. To escape, from our responsibilities and routines. Because sometimes we need a – short or long – break or we just need to mix things up a bit.

19. To have some fun! Or a lot. That’s one thing that will happen. People are generally happy when traveling, willing to make friends and to engage in different activities. As a result, there’ll be happiness. Relax and enjoy!

20. Because: adrenaline. If you’re a thrill seeker, and maybe also if you’re not: bungee jumping, cliff jumping, diving with sharks, snowboarding, paragliding, water skiing, always something exciting comes along!

21. Easy to get to this point from there: It makes you feel alive.

22. To be more mindful – No experience is good or bad, it’s just your view to it that counts. And everything changes constantly, which stimulates to just enjoy every moment.

23. For the weather! I’m personally not a big fan of Dutch weather (that is to say: chilly and rainy for most of the year). I like the sun and I am basically happier and more relaxed in hot and sunny weather. Therefore I’ll be naturally happiest in tropical climates.

24. For building a network. Even though I’ve ‘only’ been to 31 countries, the people I met along the way were often also traveling, which means I know people from many more countries. Which is perfect: When I’ll be traveling to their country they can give me some tips or maybe even show me around and teach me about their local life!

25. For the job opportunities. Those people from everywhere mostly also have – or had – a job or career. Therefore, they might be able to help you with yours.

26. To find love.

27. & friends. When you meet so many people, one or two will match with you perfectly.

28. Of course: for the best drinks. I love Belgian beers, French wine and cheap but delicious cocktails and fresh coconut.

29. For the natural phenomenons: of course the Northern Lights have to be on that bucket list!

30. To see other people’s normal. Whatever my ‘normal’ is, is super strange to some others. Open your eyes to their world and find out that, apparently, not everyone’s world is like yours.

31. To go back in time. Some places seem to be behind of your country in terms of architecture, culture, language, habits or daily life in general. For me it would be awesome to travel to South Africa, where people speak Afrikaans (which sounds like my grandma’s grandma’s speaking).

32. To learn new languages and skills.

33. For all of the mountains, rain forests, seas, beach, volcanoes, caves, hot springs, salt lakes, and jungles on this earth. They need to be seen.

34. To find out more about your roots. Maybe your grandma grew up in Indonesia and your other in Germany, like mine? This is still on my bucket list.

35. For the unexpected things, because unplanned and unexpected is often more fun!

36. To let go of control. For those of you who find this difficult: It’s worth doing it a little. Traveling helps, because sometimes it’s your only option. It might take you somewhere magical.

37. For the sports: canyoning, surfing, diving, fishing, snowboarding, hiking, marathons…

38. Quiet time. Some places are almost meant to be for just you. Let the silence in, and work on your relationship with you.

And some more reasons to travel:

39. Party. No need to explain.

40. Shopping.

41. One of the better reasons to travel: To become the person you want to be.

42. To visit places from movies.

43. To learn some important lessons.

44. To get more faith in life. You’re going where you should go, start to believe in it.

45. Just for all the beauty of the world.

46. Adventure.

47. For overcoming fear. There’s more in us than we know. Experience it firsthand. I’m grateful for every moment of sincere ‘I can do this!’-feeling I ever had (mostly related to insects ;))

48. Eating out. You get to be adventurous and it’s usually much easier.

49. For the cheap.. Traveling doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s really not about how much money you have but about how you spend it.

50. Living the luxury life. More often than not sleeping, massages, cocktails and activities are cheaper and more easily accessible than in my home country. Might be the same for you!

51. For the wonderful Christmas atmospheres and markets; Merry white Christmas!

52. Because pictures never show the whole experience.

53. For architecture’s sake.

54. For music’s sake.

55. For art’s sake: millions of galleries, exhibitions and museums on this planet.

56. To realize how good home is. You already know? Knowing and feeling is not the same, my friend.

57. To miss your friends and family, which will happen. And even though I could do without this particular feeling of homesickness, I never appreciated seeing them again more!

58. For the special New Years in different places.

59. To make a lot of mistakes; Because that’s how we learn and when we do more, the chances of making mistakes increase.

60. For the impressive sunrises and sunsets.

61. To experience more gratefulness. Yes, we are fortunate. Appreciate everything more.

62. To explore new cities and discover new territories.

63. To make more future plans. The more you see, the more you realize there’s so much more to see.

64. To realize the world is a playground. Life is not complicated, it’s simple. Not always easy, but simple. We are the ones making it complicated. Play more and think about what you CAN do instead of what you can’t.

65. To learn about history. Trips are more effective than the history classes I got in high school.

66. To get to understand other cultures, races, ways of living and religions. Interesting!

67. For the magnificent man-made wonders in this world: Machu Picchu, the Great Wall, the pyramids,…

68. To join worldwide celebrations and festivals: Brazil’s carnival, India’s Holi and Mexico’s Day of the Dead,…

69. For the excitement of planning and preparing, for what’s waiting. The anticipation of yet to visit places.

70. To get lost.

71. Enjoy the fact that you can’t understand anyone. Sometimes a burden, sometimes a blessing.

72. To wake up in amazing places: Wake up above the clouds. With your feet sticking out of a tent, to climb out only to find a donkey which appeared out of nowhere.

73. To expand your comfort zone and push your limits.

74. To learn that you’re more than you think you are.

75. For that feeling of freedom when all you have is your backpack and no money and you realize things will always be fine anyway. There’s nothing to be scared of. Just you and your freedom. No need to fear.

76. For that funny feeling when a Chinese kid stares you right in the eyes and completely amazed tells you your eye color is different.

77. For the things that bring you to tears.

78. To gather smells and sounds that bring you back somewhere buried deep down in your unconscious.

79. For the surprises along the way. I miraculously walked into Sting’s concert in the middle of Venetia.

80. To play and get that careless feeling of being a kid again.

81. Just to get the dust off your travel guides.

82. Because some seasons are better somewhere else.

83. To finally visit the thing you saw in that picture.

84. To appreciate your own culture more.

85. Looking for more reasons to travel? I got 2 words for you: bucket list.

86. Because leaving the old makes space for the new.

And even more reasons to travel:

87. For room service (mom, I’m not saying the occasional coffee you bring me in bed is not much appreciated!)

88. To always find the good in things. All situations have a positive side. You can’t be brought down every time something doesn’t go your way, so you will learn to deal with it.

89. To feel brave. Nothing better than feeling on top of the world and believing you can handle anything.

90. To find the home within ourselves. Because in the end, that’s all we have and it’s all we need. It’s all there, we just need to get in touch with it.

91. To discover new cozy little cafes.

92. Because everyone back home just love my postcards from anywhere.

93. To detox from social media. Absolutely healing for me. There’s no need to constantly be connected. Sometimes unplugging can be all we need.

94. To create memorable moments, because that’s all there is to life right? Eventually your moments and memories turn out to be much more valuable than stuff.

95. One of my favorite reasons to travel: To slow down. What’s the rush?

96. To breaks old habits and create new, improved ones.

97. To improve communication skills, become more socially confident and open to contact with other’s who seem not much like you at first sight.

98. Because the ‘Do one thing every day that scares you’-challenge is easier to complete when traveling.

99. To feel comfortable with yourself and learn to trust in your own strength. The further I travel the closer I feel to myself. Very cliché, but true.

100. Because it’s easy! Very easy. Whenever you have any questions, talk to me or other travelers.

101. You’re still wondering about reasons to travel? Really??

Because we can!

So you know all about me now. What are your reasons to travel? Let me know in a comment, I’m very curious! 🙂

What’s more:
Why Everyone Should Travel

Sure. Someone – like me – told you you really should travel! Because it will be the experience of a lifetime. Because, that someone tells you: ‘When you die, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do. Not the things you did.’

And íf you go, you should go to this place, or there. Because the people are so friendly, the food is amazing, the views are incredible. Or your friend’s picture caught your eye and you gotta admit: it could’ve been straight out of a magazine.

Of course you want to go there!

But I can’t just leave everything!

Because you have responsibilities here too. Your boss might not be happy with you asking for a few weeks (or months, or years) of drinking cocktails under a palm tree. You might have a not so willing to travel partner. Or maybe you just bought a house, you have to finish your studies, you’re just too busy. Maybe you’re a little (or a lot) scared. Of the unknown, of leaving things behind, of your financial situation, of getting lost, of flying, of spiders, of …. you name it. There are many reasons to stay in safe and not to go travel.

Luckily, there are way more reasons to do so. To pack your bags – or suitcase – and venture off into the great unknown!

Now, I know there’s a time and place for everything. And I’m not telling you you should’ve left yesterday. But I AM telling you you should highly consider taking a trip if you didn’t already decide to do that.

Why?

That’s one of my favorite questions. Because for me it’s not a difficult one to answer! While there must be a 1000 reasons to finally depart on that adventure you’ve always dreamed of, for now I’ll try to inspire you with some major ones.

Experiences are why you should travel

When I asked people why they travel, the most common answer I got was ‘experiences’.

That feeling of being free.

Of continuous anticipation of the things we are expecting to find. The excitement of finding things we didn’t expect to find. Strolling through new cities, getting lost and finding our way back again. Doing the countless things you never even considered doing before; like sleeping in a room with 19 others, diving with sharks, canyoning, hiking glaciers and 5800m high mountains, cliff jumping, camping on volcano rims, taking a 50-hour bus ride just for a few days of snowboarding.

You’ll see things you never saw, smell things you never smelled, hear things you never heard and feel things you never felt.

My absolute favorite feeling is simply the feeling of being on a bus to a new destination, listening to music, the sun warming my face.. I would always be trying to imagine what the new place would be like and I would never be able to.

Wonder, adventure and amazingness awaits us!

Personal growth

My travels taught me more than my entire time in university. I know it sounds like a cliché, but clichés are clichés for a good reason: they are true. In school they don’t usually teach us how to be brave, independent and courageous. We learn how to read and write and we learn about math, geography, history, art… Which, I admit, is not unimportant. But even those lessons about geography, history and art become much easier and more fun when experienced first-hand, outside of the classroom.

What does traveling teach you?

You will learn how to be flexible and patient (since buses won’t have the punctual schedules we’re used to, people live life in a slower and more relaxed way and due to funny language barriers you might end up ordering a tasty cucumber juice instead of that much wanted lime margarita). Becoming more flexible is not a choice, it’s a necessity and therefore will happen.

Your communication skills will improve because you’ll meet tons of new people. You will find out more about who you are, because as soon as you leave your familiar environment, routine, habits, relations and possessions behind, you will be alone. (Most of the time) not in a lonely way, but in a way where you’ll find out that you’re capable of much more than you thought you were. You’re gonna have to make choices by yourself and with that your self-confidence will grow. You’re gonna have to overcome your fears and learn to have faith in that things will always work out. You’ll find your boundaries and learn how to protect them; and you’ll get the opportunity to learn plenty of new skills and languages.

The ultimate realization

The ultimate realization I had, was when I just arrived in Shanghai. I’d been stuck in a hostel in Datong for a week (a Chinese city with not much going on), because I had no money for an expensive train ticket during the Chinese holidays. The owner let me stay there for free in exchange for some cleaning, which I’m still grateful for. Then, after two consecutive nights in a night train (I had no money for hostels so I decided to sit in a hard seat for 16 hours – NOT one of my recommendations) I arrived in Shanghai.

It was just me, my 35L backpack with ragged clothes and my very empty bank account.

Walking the streets searching for my hostel, it was there: the feeling of complete and utter freedom. My only thoughts were: There’s nothing to fear. Nothing people can take away from me. There’s nothing more I need.

In the days after, I met the most amazing people who offered me places to sleep and took me out for dinner. I found a great job and as soon as I got my first salary I repaid them in more cozy dinners together.

Oh, how great life is!

People

Traveling is the ultimate way to meet some of the amazing and kind people on this earth, make long-lasting friendships and maybe even find love. Some of the best times of my life I shared with my friends I met along the way. I met many others with different and very interesting views on life. Their stories or comments were sometimes so inspirational or eye opening. Also, the fact that no one knows you where you go, gives you the chance to break out of your habitual behavior and to try out some new mindsets. As it’s easy to feel happy when traveling, it’s also easy to meet upbeat people.

Good attracts good.

Story from Morocco:

During my time in Morocco I met a very inspiring guy who always has a smile on his face. When pulled over for speeding, he kept smiling. When the police lady handed him his ticket, still smiling and joking! I noticed something interesting. The lady had been shouting when she pulled over our car, she was frowning and looked like she mentally prepared herself for yet another argument. However, after a few minutes of smiles from my new friend, she started to lighten up. He sweetly kept joking with her, paid his ticket, and by the time we drove off, her frown had turned into a smile. Wow, what a way to make someone else’s day! When I asked him about it, he told me:

‘Why be angry and sulky when it won’t help anyone? Especially yourself.’

He explained that to help others is 1 of the 5 pillars of the Islam and since he’s a vigorous practitioner, he feels like it’s his duty to make other people’s day a little better if he can. Such a beautiful view on this religion.

Wonders of the world

For me this is certainly one of the main reasons I travel. Multiple times I felt like I had reached the end of the world. Standing on a mountain top, being able to see as far as the horizon, overflooded me with awe.

I just now learned about the word ‘awe’, but it’s definition: “Reverential respect mixed with wonder” tells me this is indeed the word I was looking for.

I know that traveling through jungles, forests, seas and caves; and over mountains, volcanoes, beaches and salt lakes; every now and then took my breath away. I came to realize that there is so much beauty out there, and that it would be such a waste to never see and experience it. And not to mention the unimaginable amount of animal species and man made wonders there are still left for us to discover. There must be a million more paradises on this planet.

Can’t wait to go and see!

Food

With travel comes great food, mostly delicious. Sometimes not so yummie, but then at least different and adventurous. Churros in Spain, Rfissa in Morocco, Croissants in France, Risotto in Venice, Sashimi in Japan, Dumplings in China, Tom Kha Kai on a beautiful Thai beach,… No restaurant in the world beats the real deal! Whether you’re a foodie or not, any journey will tickle your taste buds.

Besides, when traveling to many places in Asia or South America, eating out is generally the standard for travelers. For the obvious reasons of it being cheaper (for the €20 you’ll pay for a standard restaurant meal in The Netherlands, you’ll be eating delicious dinners for a whole week in many other countries) and easier (read: no grocery shopping, cooking and doing dishes!).

Also, even foodwise you get to be as venturesome as you wish. Did you already try snake, crocodile, frog, grasshoppers, lamb brains, fish eye, octopus and rotten egg? Or Google ‘most disgusting foods’ if you’re feeling very adventurous. I’m sure you’ll find something to your liking.

Also interesting for you:
101 Reasons To Travel

** All pictures in this post were taken by Jon Liong. Please have a look at his website where you’ll find many more beautiful shots that’ll tell you why you should travel!

It’s midnight on February 13, 2010. I find myself standing at a Wi-Fi point, trying to fight back my tears, hopelessly trying to get ahold of just one tiny piece of that world wide web. ‘World wide’ doesn’t seem to include Madrid Airport. Fear and misery ruled my world.

At that moment, the only things on my mind were my phone and my useless attempts to connect to home: the place I had just left for my first very exciting 6-month adventure in South America.

It was just me and my backpack.

No excitement, just fear. Oh, and my diary. So, as soon as I realized the chances for any connection were zero, I sought refuge in my precious little book and wrote:

‘Being alone and away from home, is way harder than expected. I just want to cry. My flight is delayed for 4 hours. This place is too big and too Spanish for me.’

But somehow somewhere after this transfer something changed. On my second flight from Madrid to Quito (Ecuador), I was just thoughtlessly staring at our flight route, when it suddenly dawned on me that we were not heading towards Quito. Just to double check I took out my Lonely Planet, which showed me the same: Quito was clearly not that far south.

Was I flying to the wrong city?!

Overcome your fear

After a second of panic and a deep breath, I finally regained my composure. I asked myself the magic question ‘What’s really the worst thing that can happen?’ and answered myself with ‘I’ll land in another city. I’m going to have to cancel the 2 weeks of language school that I booked and find another hostel. I will be lost. And unable to talk to ANYONE’.

This didn’t exactly strike me as ideal, but also not as life-threatening, so I smiled, sat back, relaxed and waited. My fear faded, just like that. From then on I did the only sane thing you can do in situations like these:

Keep calm and go with the flow.

Don’t stop reading to cancel your flight now please! To summarize: Yes, I still remember being that fearful, scared to death 19-year old at Madrid Airport very vividly, regretting ever leaving home and not knowing what got me into that situation in the first place.

But.. now I know, I understand completely and I’ll be grateful forever that I took that very first step of many.

Go for it

It took me to places I could never even dream of, it helped me grow in many ways, and it gave me countless precious memories. I met the most inspiring people, some of whom became my good friends. It gave me more self-confidence. Beautiful pictures and stories. Over and over it filled me with gratitude, laughter, courage.

I’ve felt like I reached the end of the world a few times and I’ve been deeply impressed by the places on our planet.

I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened if I would’ve turned around that night in Madrid. Definitely I would never have gone to live in China. I would never have met all the people I met along the way (like my current boyfriend). I wouldn’t be writing this story in Shanghai and I also wouldn’t be planning my next trips to Taiwan, Indonesia and Japan right now.

Also, I wouldn’t have been the person I am today!

You know.. It’s completely normal to be scared, and it’s OK to have doubts. But just remember: The things we fear often turn out to be the things we have to do most.

So what’s next?

As many travelers I experienced the fears, doubts and difficulties of taking a trip first-hand. I also experienced all the wonderful things it will bring you. That’s why I hope to encourage as many travelers to go and explore the world! There are many reasons why you should go on an adventure. Whatever your destination, goal, budget and travel style: there’s a perfect way out there for you.

Also read:

Why Everyone Should Travel

The world is waiting!

* Wondering if I really landed in the wrong place? I did. We landed in Guayaquil. Luckily the same country, but the ‘wrong’ city. Turned out it was just another transfer. My ability to speak zero Spanish made it a huge-ass challenge to find out, too!