For those of you who don’t know, I am taking one whole year off life. That means I am taking one whole year to do whatever it is my little heart desires.

There are some problems of course. For instance: the current global pandemic. However, I am remaining positive in the face of these current circumstances. I believe that the vaccine will soon allow for a greater flow of travel between nations, even with health precautions like mask wearing and social distancing continuing on.

Here are some of the burning bucketlist items that I can’t stop thinking about.

My 2021 Travel Bucketlist

1. Walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain

This has been on my list ever since I read Paulo Coelho’s The Pilgrimage. The Camino de Santiago is a 500 mile trek across Spain. It is also know as the Way of St. James and lasts about 35 days.

The Camino is a product of early modern history. It was once part of a network of ancient pilgrim routes back in the 9th century. People believed that St. James the Apostle was buried in Santiago and would make the pilgrimage for religious purposes.

Nowadays, people do it for all kinds of reasons whether it be religious, spiritual, for personal fitness, or even just for fun.

I hope to be able to walk the camino in August or September, when the hot summer is just beginning to cool down.


2. Go to Hawaii

My stepmom is turning 50 this September and wants to take a family trip to Maui. We are planning on renting a jeep and driving around the island ourselves, exploring all the beautiful nature Hawaii has to offer.

I believe interstate travel is going to be possible very soon and have high hopes that our trip will happen.

3. See the pyramids in Egypt

This has been at the top of my bucket list for as long as I can remember. The pyramids in Egypt have always been of great fascination to me. Egypt is currently allowing tourists in, which is a good sign. I hope to take my best friend Ana with me to Cairo to see the pyramids and ride camels.

If I end up doing the Camino de Santiago in fall, I will probably end up heading to Egypt as winter comes rolling in.

4. Volunteer Abroad

I would like to participate in a work away program or some kind of volunteer program. I want to give back a bit to the community as I travel and feel like I did something that made a difference in someone’s life.

I know there are many problematic volunteer programs and if I do decide to do one, I will pick carefully and make sure that I know it has only had positive effects on the community it is involved in.


5. Meet a bunch of new friends 🙂

This is the best thing about budget travel and staying in hostels. There’s already a little community when you arrive ready to take you in. Last time I backpacked Southeast Asia, I met tons of cool new people from all kinds of different countries. I hope this will happen again and that I will be able to build deeper connections with people through the bonding experiences of travel.

6. Practice new languages

I wish I could speak every language. It makes me sad that there is always going to be a bit of meaning lost in translation between people that have two different native languages. I feel that learning another’s native language will be able to partly knock down some barriers and create more understanding between one another.

I know a bit of Chinese Mandarin, but I would like to become more fluent. I would also like to learn Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, and Hebrew. And maybe Russia and German, too. We’ll see! My first mission is to sharpen up my Chinese and learn some basic Spanish.

7. Backpack South America

I have seen so many magical looking pictures of South America. My soul is calling for me to explore that part of the world that I have not yet gone to. I would love to spend as many months as I can backpacking from country to country, taking my time and slowly traveling through the towns. It would also be great for my Spanish learning!

8. Try a meditation retreat

It’s either this or stay with Buddhist monks for a while (I’m not sure I can do this as a woman). I have this intense desire to explore mediation more deeply. I often meditate in my daily life for short periods of time, like 10-20 minutes. However, meditation retreats are a hell of a lot more intense than this. You often meditate for hours and hours every day, which adds up quite a bit over the course of 7-10 days.

I am also always very curious about the extent of human willpower, including my own. I wonder how much of something I can handle and how long it would take until I break. I would like to test this in terms of meditation and going deeply into my own mind. Perhaps I will have a Dante-esque journey into my self through the many circles of hell. Or perhaps I will fidget in place for hours on end, thinking only of how the hard floor is hurting my butt. I don’t know what it will be like, but I intend on finding out.

9. Travel through Italy

Italy has also been at the top of my bucketlist for quite some time. I feel a slight affinity for the country because of my family’s Italian roots. But I also think the country looks mesmerizingly beautiful. The renaissance era architecture and art work, the amazing cuisine, the coastline, the beautiful people, the beautiful language, and so much more. There is a heap of culture and history in every city or town and I would just love to explore it all.

I hope to hit up Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, Milan, Cinque de Terre, and more.

10. Live without a plan. Live to Live.

One of the things I am trying really hard not to do is plan. This is quite difficult for me because I looooove planning. I am an over-planner. But not anymore (hopefully!).

I don’t want to know where I am going in a month. I just want to go with the flow of the universe and head wherever the wind may take me. I want to be forever in the present moment, as much as humanly possible, living life not for any reason except to live. To live because it is beautiful to live.