Caveat — before we even look at the list, I want to stress that I know not everything on here will be possible. Maybe not even a third of it. It’s pretty extensive, and requires a LOT of travel. Yes, we are traveling full-time, but who knows if or when we’ll be able to get to many of the places below. I hope to use the list as a bit of a planner, but a lot more goes into determining where to stay than just a box to be ticked. There are quite a few items on the list that will require a decent level of health, stamina, and athleticism too. And while we do hike regularly and work out even more regularly, nothing can stop the progression of time (and, ugh, joint deterioration). Which is a total bummer because look at that list – it’s AWESOME!!

And here we go!! (Note, I’ll update as more things come to me, but like I said before, this list is AWESOME and extensive!)(Note 2, can you tell how much I love this list? 😄)

✓ = we did it!!

Long Distance Walks / Current European Adventure

• West Highland Way in Scotland (quarter ✓ / we did two days with one overnight)
• Spain’s Camino de Santiago (Frances route, with a finish to Finisterre)
• Sweden’s Kungsleden trail
• England’s Coast-to-Coast Trail
• Tour du Mont Blanc (France, Italy, Switzerland)
• Rota Vicentina, Portugal
• King Ludwig’s Way, Germany, with John ❤️

Epic Day Hikes / Current European Adventure

• Samaria Gorge, Crete, Greece – rated one of the 10 most beautiful hikes in the world. 10 miles. Best time of year is spring (flowers/plants).
• Terrasses de Lavaux, St-Saphorin to Lutry, Switzerland – Swiss Wine Trail over Lake Geneva. 11 km. Easy/Moderate. Best time of year in Fall (re: harvest) but will be busier.
• Five Lakes Trail, Zermatt, Switzerland – 10km, easy/moderate, summer (could also do late spring/early fall). Need to take a funicular and then a gondola to get to trailhead. Matterhorn views.
• Seven Lakes Valley, Triglav National Park, Slovenia – 28km/17.5mile out-and-back (do over two days, there are huts). Moderately difficult. Summer. Can shorten to a 15.2km out-and-back.
• Seven Rila Lakes Loop, Rila National Park, Bulgaria – 10km, moderate. Can take the chairlift or hike up.
• Preikistolen, Norway – 6km, moderate.
• Puez-Odle Altopiano, Dolomites, Italy – 17km, moderate/difficult. Can take chairlift up.
• The Ladder of Kotor, Kotor, Montenegro – 12.8km, strenuous. Walk the Kotor Castle walls back down.
• Fira to Oia, Santorini, Greece – 10km, moderately easy. Includes towns to walk through.
• Ben Nevis (mountain track), Scotland – 10.5 miles, moderate, late spring to early fall.
• Seven Hanging Valleys Trail, Algarve, Portugal – 12km out-and-back. Easy-moderate. Spring or fall.
• Red Wine Trail (Rotweinwanderweg), Ahr Valley, Germany – 35km, two days. Easy. Summer or early fall (harvest). Pinot Noir!
• Snowdonia, Wales

Living Experiences / Current European Adventure

• Stay on a sailboat and sail Mediterranean islands (Greece, Croatia, Turkey?).
• Stay on a river houseboat (England, Netherlands, France? / Thames, Rhone, Rhine, Danube?)
• Campervan (Iceland, the Nordic countries, Scotland?)
• Stay in a fishing village in Spain’s Costa Brava (with day trips down to Barcelona)

Other Adventures / Current European Adventure

• ✓ Whisky tastings in Scotland ✓
• Oktoberfest in Bavaria Germany
• Blue cave boating in Croatia
• See the Northern Lights / overnight in an ice hotel
• See the Templar’s castle in Chartres France
• Visit Dracula’s castle
• Thermal baths in Iceland (Mývatn Nature Baths?) or somewhere cold (Norway, Sweden, Finland?)
• Sauna and cold dip in Sweden (Norway/Denmark?)
• Have a soak at a Prague beer spa (maybe)
• See a Shakespeare play at London’s Globe Theater
• ✓ See a play at a regular London Theater ✓
• Visit the ruins of Pompeii
• ✓ See the ruins of Rome ✓
• Ruins at Athens
• Go the the Glastonbury Music Festival
• See the tulips in the Netherlands
• ✓ Have beers in classic Irish/Scottish/English pubs (with live music) ✓
• See polar bears in Norway (Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard?)
• Spend the night in a castle
• Visit an American WWII cemetery in France
• Medieval Week in Visby, Sweden (island of Gotland)
• Visit many of Europe’s best bookstores (Juristische Bibliothek, Munich Germany; Juristische Bibliothek, Maastricht Netherlands; Tronsmo Bokhandel, Oslo Norway; Shakespeare and Company, Paris France; Otherwise Bookshop, Rome Italy; Blackwell’s Bookshop, Oxford England; La Biblioteca de Babel, Palma, Mallorca, Spain; Atlantis Books E.E., Oia, Santorini, Greece; Les Insolites, Tangier, Morocco)
• Visit the ruins of Troy (Hisarlik, Çanakkale Province, Turkey)
• See additional Roman ruins in Turkey (Constantinople / Eastern Roman Empire)
• Visit the ruins of Carthage (Tunis, Tunisia)
• Visit bazaars in north Africa

Long Distance Walks / Future Adventures

• Walk the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu / see Inca ruins
• Hike the Nakasendo Trail in Japan

Hike Bagging / Future Adventures

• Hike Mt Kilimanjaro

Living Experiences / Future Adventures

• Live on a sailboat in the Caribbean

Other Adventures / Future Adventures

• Train ride across Canada
• Ride the Orient Express
• African Safari
• See the Great Pyramids in Egypt
• See Emperor penguins on Antarctica
• Tour the Galapagos
• See the moai on Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
• Snorkel somewhere tropical
• Kayak in a bioluminescent bay
• Visit Nova Scotia – find site of Nana’s old cabin, paddle on the lake, and hike to the river
• Go to the Andaman Islands 😄
• Visit the rest of the world’s best bookstores (re: list on gMaps – Mexico City; Tokyo; Bangkok; Mumbai; Lagos, Nigeria; Buenos Aires)
• Zip lines all around the world
• White water rafting all around the world

John: uh… what she said!