Hello World

Hello world...or whoever is reading this. I would hope one is reading this because they have a sense of adventure. Adventure to me is traveling and getting out of our comfort zone. If we stay in our own little bubble, what life are we living? But here is the hard part...how do we travel? In the lap of luxury or backpacking and roughing it? Perhaps a bit of both? Which would you learn more from? But going even further than that where do you go? What places are the best? What experiences should you have before your time is up?

In recent times, making a bucket list is the hip new thing to do. There have been books, movies, and TV shows all based on this idea. Perhaps one of the most popular is the 1000 Places to See Before You Die. People were excited that there was finally a list of the good places - the epic places. The things and experiences one should not miss out on. But what people don't realize is that there have been lists all around us, even before this book was published. UNESCO has a list of World Heritage Sites and there is also a list of Natural Wonders. So I got an idea. Why not combine these lists. See how many things there are that "people" think we should see or have dubbed important enough to be a world heritage site. How many of them overlap? Could one visit all of them in one lifetime?

I celebrated my 25 birthday a few weeks ago. It hit me with a stark realization that a quarter of my life is over. What all have I accomplished in my 25 years? I would like to think that I have made some big impact, but I know that is not the case. However, I realize I am truly blessed and experienced more than most do in a lifetime. I have been to 25 countries (if you include the US and Puerto Rico) and circumnavigated the globe. Those two things are the points I am the most proud of, but I realized I want to do more. I want to experience everything and try and do everything. It sounds so cliche to say I want to travel and have these great experiences, but it is the truth. And thus this blog has been born.

I have compiled and worked on an ultimate list. I took the books 1000 Places to See Before You Die, 1000 Places to See Before You Die: US & Canada, 1001 Natural Wonders to See Before You Die, and the UNESCO world heritage sites and complied them into one super list. I took out everything that overlapped and in the end had a grand total of 4,300 places/experiences. This blog is my own chronicle of the things I have accomplished on my mega list and then my adventures in accomplishing the rest. Each entry will outline the place and it's history and my experience with it. I will also be adding some of the places that I have been that somehow have not been added to list. So I hope you will join me in my adventure. And feel free to throw out ideas!