This list, which only existed in my head until now, started out with number 3 around 20 years ago and I’ve added destinations and trips to it as I found out about them. In time places moved up and down or disappeared completely as I visited them. There’s obviously many more places I want to see and things I want to do, but there’s got to be something special to make it onto my top 10…
- Travel up the Congo River
The Congo, in the heart of Africa, represents for me the magic I associate with that continent. Lush rainforest, genuine experiences and extremely hard travelling! - Drive from Capetown to Marrakesh
When I was little my Dad always brought travel magazines like Tours back home. A lot of them dealt with off road tours through Africa, how to outfit cars, which routes to take and so on. It obviously left an impression on me. - Hitchhike from Munich to Beijing
I was around 9 years old when I first thought it’d be awesome to drive all the way from my hometown to China. In time this has morphed into hitchhiking, as a cheaper, more flexible, but probably more dangerous alternative. - Dive and travel Antarctica
Huge icebergs, penguins, sea lions and many more amazing animals. Just imagine what the underwater world looks like there… - Navigate the Mekong River
I have crossed the Mekong many times in many countries and the idea to help navigate a boat from China all the way to Vietnam has been growing ever since. - Explore the Bamiyan valley in Afghanistan
Ever since I heard about the huge Buddhas I wanted to see them for myself. Even though they have been destroyed by the Taliban regime I still want to go and explore the little caves left behind by Buddhist monks. - Experience the Hajj
I am not a Muslim or very religious, but there’s something about the pilgrimage to Mecca that I find fascinating. Maybe it’s a couple of millions of people in the same place actually believing in a God. That’s got to make for a special atmosphere. - Live among the Orang Laut for some time
The Orang Laut are scattered all across Southeast Asia. The name literally means ’sea people’. Their way of life, so closely connected with the ocean they live on, has always fascinated me and in a way I can identify with that. - Travel to the (original) Burning Man
Nowadays there’s a few BM branches around, but I’d like to see the original in Black Rock Desert in Nevada. - Cross the Sahara on the back of a camel
Just another one of my weird dreams. Call me a romantic with no sense of realism, but I think this would be a fantastic experience.
Will I ever make it to all of those places, do all of those trips? To be honest, I doubt it. There are too many variables. Some of those countries aren’t really that safe (yet), I am perpetually in a state of near bankruptcy and a couple of those trips shouldn’t really be done. That’s not the point of this list though. My wish list ,or dreams if you like, are an indication for the kind of experiences and adventures I want and seek and usually they push my limits a little bit further out. It’s my minds way of telling me that I’m ready for the next step away from my comfort zone.
It’s important to have dreams as well. Without them I might as well work on my tan on Ballerman 6. What are your travel dreams?
Tags: Adventure, Destinations, Dreams, Experience, Top 10, Wishlist
Sam - 10 July 2008 @ 2:50 PM
The Hajj is definitely up there for me too. Pretty sure that the Mekong is not navigable all the way from China to Vietnam though.
A lot of my travel dreams now pertain to illegal travel as there’s more of a challenge involved. I actually did my first illegal trip recently, entering a Tibetan town called Xiahe here in China that has been closed to foreigners due to Tibetan separatist activity (okay, this was actually pretty tame - we explained to a taxi driver that we had to get around the checkpoint, but after managing that successfully were immediately caught by the cops and thrown out of town).
I’d like to enter Tibet proper by hitchhiking along one of the illegal routes through Sichuan or Yunnan. I’ve talked to people who’ve done both of these routes and they say it’s not hard. A tougher trip I’d really like to do is go from Yangon, Burma to Bangkok, Thailand using Three Pagodas Pass - that would involve illegally traveling about 50 miles through part of eastern Burma closed off to foreigners, sneaking through an unofficial border crossing, and then convincing the Thais that you’re just a dipshit tourist and not a drug smuggler.
In general I think it would be fun to travel from country to country illegally without getting visas/stamps and using only unofficial crossings and seeing how far you could make it before you got busted.
traveljunkie - 11 July 2008 @ 5:05 AM
You make me chuckle, Sam. While I think it’s alright trying to travel to areas shut off to tourists, illegal border crossings is a whole different matter. That kind of stuff will get you into jail sooner or later. Pretty sure you’re right about the Mekong. So you’re in China right now?
Theresa - 11 July 2008 @ 2:05 PM
Number 1 on your list reminds me of a funny story. I was in Omaha, Nebraska with my in-laws and we did a river cruise there. It was terribly dull as you might imagine, but in the middle of the trip, my father-in-law, who is extremely well traveled said that the trip we were on reminded him of traveling up the Congo. In that moment, my interest in the Congo was completely squelched.
Mark H - 21 July 2008 @ 3:04 AM
The Congo trip is worthwhile and not dull as may be suggested by Theresa. I wrote about my trip done some years ago along a section of the Congo recently in my blog at http://travel-wonders.blogspot.com/2008/07/great-congo-river-journey-dr-congo.html.
A superb list of rich experiences by the looks of them.