I know I know: I’m getting ahead of myself here. The Top 10 finalists for the Biggest Baddest Bucket List contest (#myBBB) won’t be announced for another 5 days. However, you also know from my life dream post that I already had not one RTW itinerary, but 2 full blueprints planned out to the date…
So! For Travel Bucket List Wednesday this week, I decided to share all the details of one of the blueprints with you 😀 Granted, 6 months will only allow me to scratch a tiny surface of my Biggest Baddest Bucket List. For this reason, I will include the most epic (and toughest!) experiences in my itinerary if I were to win 😉 And now, with no more preambles, I present you RTW itinerary A!
My Biggest Baddest Bucket List: RTW itinerary A
RTW itinerary A map of my biggest baddest bucket list! (CLICK to enlarge)
List of stops: RTW itinerary A! (CLICK to enlarge)
Ambitious, I know! This RTW itinerary includes almost 40 countries (39 when not counting Puerto Rico) which, divided by 6 months, averages out to about 4.5 days per country. Fast-paced indeed, but this was always meant to be a sampler anyway! 😉
For lack of space, I will only be listing the Biggest Baddest Bucket List items from this RTW itinerary today. Are you ready for this?! 😀
Monastery of Meteora, Greece (Didrik Johnck, Flickr)
- Climb to the spectacular monasteries of Meteora, Greece.
- Discover Eastern Europe’s unique hidden gem: Ljubljana, Slovenia.
- Bathe in Pamukkale’s cotton-like pools & Cappadocia hot air balloon, Turkey.
The stunning pools of Pamukkale. In Turkish, it means cotton castle! (Ray Wewerka)
- Witness Great Migration at Masai Mara & Serengeti, Kenya/Tanzania.
- Ancient kingdoms and African Christianity pilgrimage around Ethiopia.
- Photographic nirvana through the eerie landscapes of Madagascar.
“The Avenue or Alley of the Baobabs is a prominent group of baobab trees lining the dirt road between Morondava and Belon’i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region in western Madagascar.Along the Avenue in some 260 m long segment are remaining some 20 – 25 trees about 30 meters in height, of the species Adansonia grandidieri, endemic to Madagascar.” – Ralph Kränzlein, Flickr
- Stay at one of the most expensive hotels in the world: Burj Al Arab, Dubai.
- Go sandboarding in Sharjah, UAE.
- Overland trip from Dubai, across historic cities in Iran, through Silk Road!
Guri Amir Mausoleum, Samarkand, Uzbekistan (Fabio Achilli, Flickr)
- Silk Road overland: Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
- Be one step away from the Door to Hell in Darvaza, Turkmenistan.
- Spend the night in a yurt by the mountains of Almaty, Kazakhstan.
A yurt in Kazakhstan: traditional housing throughout Central Asia and Mongolia! (Irene2005, Flickr)
- See the bright sights of Rajasthan + relax in a houseboat in Kerala, India.
- Get a cameo in Bollywood film in Bombay.
- Experience the Kingdom of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness vs. GDP!
Bollywood movie poster (tajai, Flickr)
- Take a ride on a traditional Chinese Junk in Hong Kong + Macau day trip!
- Take part of an intriguing indigenous ritual in Papua New Guinea.
- Hop on a liveaboard to scuba dive sites along PNG & Great Barrier Reef.
Huli Wigman Sing Sing in Papua New Guinea (Drew Douglas, Flickr)
- Experience g-force aboard an aerobatics flight in Sydney, Australia.
- Bathe in gorgeous beaches and visit a glacier in one trip to New Zealand.
- Swim with sharks + stay at overwater bungalow in Bora Bora.
- Mingle with unique wildlife in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.
- Paraglide over Christ the Redeemer & Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Spectacular dunes & waters at Dos Lençóis Maranhenses Park, Brazil.
Finish in Puerto Rico so I can show you the cheeriest Christmas in the world! 😀
Dos Lençóis Maranhenses Park, Brazil (Iain and Sarah, Flickr)
RTW itinerary A: the conundrum
I’m still debating whether to include that many cities of Eastern Europe on my final RTW itinerary. It is such a (relatively) easy continent to visit from Puerto Rico! But contest rules state that the winner must include at least 2 destinations from each continent + 25 destinations from their network…
That being said, many cities I plan to visit in Europe are part of My Destination’s network. Concurrently, many of the off-the-beaten-path places on my biggest baddest bucket list are not part of said network! 🙁 So I must compromise: shorten my European itinerary, while adding other “easy” destinations from Southeast Asia such as Thailand
OR
shorten some of my time in Asia, which would mean shaving off a week from India or my epic Silk Road itinerary through the ‘Stans…eek!
Honestly though? Charming Ljubljana can wait…! (Krister, Flickr)
Of course, it would all depend on the My Destination team (haha, I’m already writing as if I won…). But if I have a say on the matter, I will probably be shortening my European itinerary, choosing to visit the French Riviera/Monaco and Moscow only (connecting in London). Eastern Europe and the Greek islands can wait, no?
And so, this is why RTW itinerary B comes to play 😀 Yet, you will have to wait until next week to get the full scoop 😉 Let’s hope that by then, I will also have a VERY exciting announcement to make!
Hi, I’m a fan of Chickibus and saw your blog and have been reading it. I signed up for your updates. Are you still blogging? Hubby and I traveled a lot when we were younger and healthier. Now, we stay at home and visit FL in the winter : ). I relive some of my travel days through travel blogs. Yours is very interesting and the photos are also great. Keep your dreams alive as I can see the talent in your writing and pics.
Joann
Of course I’m still blogging! Just the other day I wrote a blog post about my hippie hajj — you should check it out! 😉
Thanks for reading btw 🙂 hope I can make you smile as much as possible!
Fingers crossed!!! How will you sleep these next days?
I didn’t! 🙁