Hitting My Travel Goals: The 60×60 Project

Life is short and the world is large. I’m throwing down the gauntlet and am pledging to hit 60 bucket list travel goals by my 60th year. I’m calling it my 60×60 project and by writing it down, I’m making it real.

Come along for the ride and I promise you that I’ll continue to deliver what I’ve been delivering all along; alternative itineraries and offbeat adventures for those of you who want to explore beyond the obvious.

I’m Creating Travel Goals and Sticking With Them

I’m very fortunate that my lifestyle affords me the time and resources for travel. This website is an effort to pay that forward by offering you inspiration and insanely useful travel advice in return. My appetite for travel has always been vast but, until now, my bucket list has been a fluid mix of twenty or so places that I’m interested in visiting. Things get added, then dropped, and then a location will muscle its way up to the top of the list and off I go.

In January of 2018 , I was flummoxed. My list was as long as usual and I was having trouble prioritizing. I also turned fifty-five that year and had several family members and friends die in the recent months. With that has come the realization my clock is ticking and the world isn’t getting any smaller.

So, I have resolved to become more deliberate about achieving my list of priorities. I don’t feel obligated to visit someone else’s idea of “must-see” sights and it’s not my goal to visit all of the 194 UN nations. (Sorry, North Korea but things are just too whacky over there). However, I have committed myself to making time for the experiences which keep knocking on my brain.

Wayfaring Views 60×60 Project

In addition to my normal goal of visiting 2-3 new countries or territories per year, I’m also going for the stretch with 60 travel goals to complete by the time I’m 60.

These 60 travel goals represent places or experiences that I am itching to do and itching to share with you. Some are niche, some are weird and I’m absolutely certain crossing my fingers that all of them will be interesting.

***Caveats, fine print and exit clauses. Author reserves all rights to totally change her mind about any or all of these bucket list travel goals and has the right herein to add and/or subtract items on the list if she see someone going somewhere outstanding and she experiences FOMO thereby adding said place to the list thereby bumping off some items that would have been cool except that something even cooler came along. Plus also…COVID***

OK. Let’s Get Started!

New Countries in 2018: Iceland (check out these four posts on Iceland), Luxembourg (3-day weekend itinerary, and why to go there) and Estonia (things to do in Tallinn).

New Countries in 2019: Colombia (2-week itinerary and San Andres Island) and Australia.

New Countries in 2020-21: Sadly none.

Complete the US States and Territories

It would be a shame for me to hit sixty without making sure that I’ve seen all of the United States and territories. For the US states, I’m particularly weak in the deep south and northeast. I have also chosen to add the territories because they are all conveniently located in warm tropical climates. What follows includes the states and territories that I have yet to claim.

1. Guam
2. Northern Marianas Islands
3. American Samoa
4. Maine
5. New Hampshire
6. (Done 1/19) Delaware
7. Rhode Island
8. Mississippi
9. Missouri
10. (Done 8/19) Alabama
11. (Done 8/19) Arkansas
12. Kentucky
13. (Done 8/18) Tennessee. Get the weekend itinerary for Nashville)
14. (Done 8/19) Kansas
15. North Dakota (8/21)
16. South Dakota (8/21)
17. Alaska
18. (Done 8/19) Oklahoma
19. West Virginia
20. Vermont

Explore Immersive Literary Travel & UNESCO Cities of Literature

I am a former bookseller, current library lover and devoted reader of over fifty two books a year. I seek out bookstores and libraries when I travel and always read books set in my travel locations. So, for me, making a travel goal full of literary adventures is a no-brainer.

One such goal is to visit many of the UNESCO cities of literature. The Cities of Literature are a global network of cities recognized by UNESCO for their rich history of literature. Even before I had heard of the UNESCO program, I found myself attracted to cities of literature, having already visited Edinburgh, Barcelona and Seattle.

In addition to the cities of literature, I’m also keen to explore an immersive literary experience or a LARP (life action role play). I had an immersive residential library experience at the Gladstone’s Library in Wales and am itching for more. I’m particularly interested in doing a Potter/Wizard themed LARP.

21. (Done 3/18) Reykjavik, Iceland -You should totally go solo to Iceland
22. (Done 7/18) Tartu, Estonia
23. United Kingdom: (Done 6/19) Manchester, Norwich or Nottingham
24. Oceana: Melbourne (Done 4/19), Dunedin OR South America: Montevideo
25. Hit up one more library from the loveliest libraries in the world list: Mafra, Joanina, Admont, Kremsmunster, El Escorial, St Gallen, Leuven, St. Genevieve, Stadsbibliotek, Oodi, Stuttgart, Alexandria, Jose Vasconcelos, Real Gabinete, George Peabody, Seattle

Read More: Find more literary travel and book lists here.

See the Coolest Cities for Street Art

At first glance, pivoting from literature to street art may seem like a non-sequitur. However, they are really two side of the same artistic canvas. Both great literature and street art subvert the norms and provoke cultural exploration.  In fact, there are several cities of literature that have well established (Melbourne) or emerging (Reykjavik and Dublin) street art scenes.

Street art has evolved from being a thuggish gang warfare into a legitimate art form that demands attention. Well, it demands my attention anyway. My travel goal is to visit a few well-established street art cities like Bristol and Melbourne in addition to smaller towns or cities which have an emerging scene. I’m also interested in timing some of these visits to coincide with street art festivals.

26. (Done 7/18) Tallin & Tartu, Estonia- Take Estonia street art tour.
27. (Done 7/18) Bristol, England- Take the Bristol street art tour.
28. (Done 3/18) Reykjavik, Iceland- Read the Reykjavik street art guide.
29. (Done 4/19) Melbourne, Australia
30. (Done 6/19) Berlin, Germany
31. (Done 2/20) Attend a major street art festival (Honolulu 1/20)
32. (Nashville 8/18) North America: Nashville, Miami, and/or Montreal
33. New York City (1/20)

Read More: Start here to find more street art cities.

Experiencing Man-Made Wonders

The man-made wonders that most intrigue me all have an air of remoteness and epic scale. These sites were hard to make, are usually hard to get to and I would like to discover their mysteries. I’ve been to and marveled at Chichen Itza, the Colosseum and Sigiriya and am interested in learning about the cultural conditions and craftsmanship that have created the following landmarks:

34. Petra, Jordan
35. Macchu Piccu, Peru
36. Easter Island, Chile
37. Mount Rushmore (8/21)

Support Wildlife Conservation

I’m a nut for wildlife and supporting wildlife conservation has been an important part of my personal philanthropy for many years. I’m a fond supporter of the Wildlife Conservation network and am inspired by their efforts to blend wildlife conservation with community development programs. I have been fortunate to visit the programs for fishing cats, wild African dogs and Magellanic penguins and want to do more.

I’m also dying to see some very specific animals in their natural environment. I’m less interested in these sketchy “animal encounters” and am more keen to meet the animals on their own turf. My wildlife travel goal is to visit either one conservation program or have one special wildlife experience per year.

38. (Done 3/19) Whale watching in Baja California- Learn more about glamping in Magdalena Bay Mexico.
39. (Done 3/19) Whale sharks in Mexico
40. One other WCN program (Cheetahs in Botswana, revisit Painted Dog Conservation, ?).
41. (Done 2/19) Cotton-Top Tamarins in Colombia (with Proyecto Titi)

Read More: Find more articles on wildlife and conservation here.

Exploring Offbeat Attractions, Urban Grit and Unlikely Locations

I simply like weird things. I want to see that oddball museum, the abandoned building, or even the independent micro state of wherever, which was established by some iconoclastic crank. Of course, there was that time I accidentally took a porn studio tour (yes, I totally did that and was mostly confused the whole time).

Of all of the goals on the 60×60 list, these are the most likely to shift around. There are a few that I definitely want to do, but I also reserve the right to be moved by Atlas Obscura and my fellow travelers, to try some new garbage patch or the world’s largest whatever.

42. (Done 3/18) Penis Museum in Reykjavik- It’s of many cool things to do in Reykjavik
43. (Done 6/18) Sewer Museum of Paris- It’s part of my 4-day Paris Itinerary
44. Open slot: some offbeat random abandoned town or site, Atlas Obscura-style.
45. Open slot: totally weird museum that most people wouldn’t visit.
46. The Independent Republic of Molassia in Nevada USA (8/21)
47. (Done 12/19) Slab City, California.

Journey Through Epic Landscapes and Outdoor Adventures

Look, I’m not an adrenaline junkie. I’m not going to jump out of a plane or summit all of the world’s highest peaks. But I do love an epic landscape, especially one that surprises. The surprise could come from its unlikely location (like the great hiking in Hong Kong) or a spare landscape that reveals itself slowly (like the Atacama) or because it’s so gobsmackingly beautiful in pictures that I have to see it for myself (like the ice caves in Iceland).

48. (Done 4/19) The 12 Apostles and Great Ocean Road in Australia.
49. Atacama Desert in Chile.
50. 2-3 day trail hike on a long-distance US trail.
51. (DONE 3/18) Ice caving and glacier walking in Iceland (and why you should do Iceland in the winter).
52. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.
53. Snorkel in the South Pacific.
54. Hike Eastern Europe: (Plitvace Lakes in Croatia, Lake Bled in Slovenia, Tatra Mountains in Poland?)
55. (Done 6/19) Revisit a section of the Camino de Santiago Frances.
56. Do the Camino Primitivo.

Do Something Decadently Luxurious

I don’t consider myself a luxury traveler because I like to optimize for volume. This is to say that I’d rather spend my money traveling modestly to many places rather than traveling in luxury to a very few places.

That said, I will spend the bucks if it’s the best way to have my desired experience. For instance, I bucked up for the full Galapagos cruise because it offered the widest range of landscapes and animal spotting. Then, there are those things worth experiencing simply for the pure indulgent luxury of it, like the following:

57. Fancy over-water bungalow (somewhere in the Maldives, Caribbean or the South Pacific).
58. Luxury rail journey (India, Europe or Canada).
59. Sleep in a castle.
60. Full-in first class on a transoceanic flight. Hello, Singapore Air or Ethiad, are you listening?

The 60×60 project is officially ON. I think that these travel goals are do-able. What do you think? I’m going to keep this list updated as I chip away at the list so check in periodically for updates. Happy trails!

Your Parting Shot