Sixty before 60 – the New & Improved Bucket List

Welcome to my Sixty before 60 bucket list!

In 2020, just as Covid hit, I made myself a bucket list of things to do before I turned fifty. I had no idea at the time I would not be able to leave the country for almost two years, and occasionally not even be allowed to leave my house. Needless to say, I did not get to do everything on the list. It was ambitious anyway, to achieve all 50 things on the list in less than three years.

Now I have a whole ten years to get through this 60 before 60 list – so I’ve included all those things I didn’t get to on the old list and a whole pile of new things to make it up to sixty new travel experiences. Surely this time I will get through them all!

If you are wondering what this bucket list is all about, the short version is that I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. I went through treatment and came out the other side with a renewed sense of making the most out of life. It is no surprise I’m sure to hear that travel is my passion. It is what lights me up and brings me joy.

I have always had a (long!) list in my head of all those things I want to do next – now I also have it in writing. There is always more to see and do, but this gives me a list of things I can prioritise, rather than just waiting to see what comes along.

The first section below is carried over from my previous list. I have purposely left three spots blank so that I can add them if I come across something else. Ten years is a long time (yet not so long at all!)

Note: some links below (as I tick things off) go through to my other website, Exploring South Australia.

Current tally: 6/60

  1. Trek in the Himalayas
  2. Walk the Milford Track
  3. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
    a female snorkelling underwater
  4. Eat an insect
  5. Walk on the Great Wall of China
  6. See the Aurora Australis (sort of saw them in Tasmania, but not enough to say “done”!)
  7. Watch sunrise at Mt Fuji
  8. Fly first class (again)
  9. Do a wine-blending class at the d’Arenberg Cube
  10. Cycle the Riesling Trail
    Female in cycling helmet standing under a metal archway with "The Riesling Trail" sign. There is a red bike in the background
  11. Swim with sea lions at Baird Bay
  12. Start walking the Heysen Trail
  13. Go to Womadelaide
  14. Visit Darwin (and Kakadu National Park)
  15. Go on a paddle steamer on the Murray River
  16. Swim in an outback waterhole
  17. Visit my last three South East Asian countries – Brunei, East Timor, Philippines
  18. Ride in a Helicopter
    a blonde female standing in front of a red helicopter
  19. See a Platypus in the wild
  20. Cruise the Nile
  21. Visit Yellowstone National Park (oldest)
  22. See the Pyramids and Grand Egyptian Museum (planned, early 2024)
  23. Visit the Museum of the Future in Dubai (planned, early 2024)
  24. Attend Oberammergau (2030)
  25. Visit continent #7 (Africa – planned, early 2024)
  26. Do an African Safari
  27. Trek to Macchu Picchu
  28. Visit Saudi Arabia
  29. Visit the remaining Great Wine Capitals of the World (Cape Town, Bilbao-Rioja, Lausanne, Verona, San Francisco-Napa Valley, Hawkes Bay – oh no, they keep adding to the list!)
  30. Set foot on Antarctica
  31. Stay in an underwater hotel (like Reefsuite on the GBR)
  32. Cruise to the Galápagos Islands
  33. See an erupting volcano
  34. Go back to Agra and this time actually visit the Taj Mahal
  35. See the Grand Canyon
  36. Explore the Giant’s Causeway in the UK
  37. Walk the Camino de Santiago
  38. Visit the Coral Coast in WA
  39. See the landscape of the Atacama Desert
  40. And the Bolivia Salt Flats
  41. Do a Sydney Harbour Cruise
  42. Drive across the Nullarbor
    A road sign found when crossing the Nullarbor that says "90 Mile Straight Australia's Longest Straight Road 146.6km"
  43. See the Sydney NYE fireworks
  44. Drive the Victorian silo art trail
  45. Hike to the top of Mount Kosciusko
  46. Get to Lord Howe Island
  47. Actually speak in a foreign language (probably German)
  48. Go skiing
  49. Stay in an Agriturismo
  50. Drink a Singapore Sling at Raffles
  51. See how many of the remaining European countries (12 + 1 not officially recognised by the UN – Andorra, Belarus, Iceland, Ireland, Kosovo, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine) I can visit
  52. Go to the Sydney Mardi Gras
  53. Visit the Qantas museum at Longreach
  54. Travel on the Ghan
  55. See the stairway to the moon at Broome
  56. Spend a few days in Robe
    A woman standing by the "o" of the town sign for Robe, South Australia
  57. See the white beaches of the Whitsundays
  58. (blank)
  59. (blank)
  60. (blank)


Learn more about my travels here
My Adult Gap Year in Review
Our Ten Biggest Gap Year Failures
151 Inspirational Ideas for your Best Travel Bucket List

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