The Bucket List. To some people, it’s the definitive way to wrangle the most out of the maddening amount of experiences waiting in the big wide world. The idea that there are things you simply have to do before you shuffle off this mortal coil has been in vogue for decades, but with so many people with so many aspirations, the bucket list craze has reached astronomical heights.
There are websites, documentaries and blogs devoted solely to the art of constructing the definitive bucket list. Everyone’s is different, but there are some entries that have cropped time and time again. So, for your reading pleasure, here are the top 10 the world have chosen as the all-time classics to pursue pre-rigor mortis.
Swimming with Dolphins
Seeing the Aurora Borealis
There’s no doubt you’ve seen countless photographs of the Northern Lights, and so it seems, has everyone else – travelling to see the aurora borealis in their full splendour is another contender for the bucket list top spot. Weather systems, travel, and cost can make a trip to see the Northern Lights a hard thing to organise, but that adds even more to its rare charms. There are not many people who get the chance to see the lights in their full glory, so the trip is well worth the effort. There are even cruises that make it easier than ever to cross this off your bucket list – speciality cruise lines such as Hurtigruten have specific itineraries that are just the things.
Skydiving
The idea of it might turn your stomach, but hopping out of a plane at 30,000 feet is the dream of millions of bucketlisters (read: very brave lunatics) whose key aspiration before they hop the twig is to drop towards the ground with a piece of thin fabric between them and the afterlife. I kid. Sky diving is well revered as an adrenaline fuelled activity everyone should try once, and your first dives will always be with a qualified instructor, so why not? Just don’t look down.
A World Cruise
Plenty of cruise itineraries last a couple of weeks, but imagine being at sea for over 100 days. World Cruises are an incredible way to travel the globe, especially when you’re essentially doing it in a floating hotel. Some ultra-luxury cruise lines have itineraries that cost over £100,000 grand to secure a booking, but considering you’d be travelling to every continent in the world, it’s a pitt
ance compared to discovering the greatest sights of the globe. Others, however, have been pricier. In fact, here at SixStarCruises.co.uk, we once created an itinerary that had you cruising to every single one of the finest ports in the world – for the mere price of a million pounds.
Scuba at the Great Barrier Reef
Attend a Fifa World Cup
It’s a hot, sweltering summer and you’ve packed yourself into a local pub to watch the world’s greatest football tournament. Beside you is a contingent of peanut throwing laddy lads who are there for the cheap bitter, trendy people there to sit on twitter, and kids in replica England shirts tripping over bar stools at every opportunity.
That’s the scenario for millions of football fans across the country every four years, which is probably why plenty of them would rather be wrestling with stadium queues than a bitter drunk once we inevitably get knocked by a Central European/ South American team with decent midfielders in the quarter finals.
Visit the Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries
Tibet is a country of impeccable natural beauty, but the bucket list contender turned out to be its incredible monasteries. Set deep within verdant valleys and cloistered in mountain ranges, the ancient buildings of Tibet are frequented by thousands of pilgrims every year, seeking enlightenment, education, and the experience of a lifetime (and maybe a few photo opportunities).
From the legendary Yumbulagang to the multi-tiered complex of Ganden, there thousand year old monasteries are the highlight of many travellers’ adventures in the Far East.
Explore the Amazon River
40,000 species, over 2 million square miles, and just one river. The Amazon’s lush climate helps all kinds of life to flourish, some of which has never been defined by modern science. The epic size and scope of the world’s most famous waterway has been the subject of geological expeditions for centuries, and now cruisers can enjoy their very own explorations of the Amazon.
Drive across the United States
The historic route 66 was edged out by the all-encompassing Los Angeles to New York route when it came to bucket lists – no doubt because of the endless appeal of America’s multitude of states.
Each one has its own character, landscape and climate, meaning a route which spans nearly 3,000 miles and circumvents this vast country has been on the watch list of those with wanderlust for decades. It may seem daunting, and the petrol money fund will have to be monumental, but it’s still a must-experience for bucketlisters.
Ride a camel in the Sahara Desert