Travel bucket list ideas: Trains, boats and planes! Do something you've dreamed of doing

Take the A Train -- or any train! If you've wanted to take a special trip, if you've had a cruise or tour in mind, we remind you of tempus fugit, carpe diem. It's a new year. Dream, plan, act!

Trains, bats, planes! Reach for the sky this year! Plan now to make your Travel bucket list ideas happen!

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS

PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

"The Carpe Diem Kids"

Editor's Note: This piece was updated July 17, 2026

The gorgeous Amalfi coast awaits your planning, with orchards, winding  roads and stately villas. It's in southern Italy overlooking the Tyrrhenian  Sea and Gulf of Salerno. Save by planning your travel bucket list ideas now

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IF YOU have long wished upon a star -- wanting to visit a particular country or island, now's the time to plan it.

• Maybe see Paris or Rome, or take a train trip across Australia or Africa -- time's a wasting.

• Have you dreamed of climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge? Is Hawaii a lifelong dream?

• Why not now? Don't delay. Tempus fugit, carpe diem. "Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera," as the monarch of Siam said in "The King and I."

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   Bruce Keller takes aim at a street scene in Rome

  We're not getting any younger. Planning is part of the fun. It's crucial to plan and narrow the field:

First, make your travel bucket list

Shopping, culture or the rush of discovery?

What's at the top of your travel bucket list ideas? If you like theater, shows, opera or concerts, consider New York, Prague, London, Vienna, Milan, New York, Buenos Aires and Las Vegas. Architecture, antiquities up your alley?

• There are tons of destination travel tips and ideas at whereiscookie.com

• Think Rome, Venice, Petra. Cairo is cleaning up its act after decades of political unrest. Turkey is back on the radar after cruise lines left for a couple years.

• Budget savvy or going for broke? Somewhere in the middle? Make a daily expense plan. Google Expedia for affordable travel.

• Who's traveling? Family, friends,  partners, college buddies, boyfriend, girlfriend? Maybe you're traveling solo and want to meet people? Figure out who can contribute and how much.

Egypt's pyramids are within reach if you begin to plan now. Below right, Alaska's mountains await.

* Want independent travel, with room and time to strike out on your own?  Do you prefer everything organized and pre-paid for you?

* Off the beaten track to a "undiscovered" place? Or do you have your heart set on a tried and tested destination?

BE DARING study travel bucket list ideas and be creative.

• After answering the questions above, settle on basic preferences.

• If you truly want to see a place and can't coax someone to come along, go solo. Look for promotions for "singles" adventures. Be selective.

• Put yourself out there and meet people. Look for singles-friendly tours. Or consider treating a niece, nephew, cousin, sib, friend.

• Most cruises have singles happy hour every day and LGBTQ gatherings. Think outside the box.

• If you have your heart set on Malta -- a clean, progressive and welcoming place with great food, pretty scenery and friendly people -- don't be put off if the flights seem high. 

• Fly to Rome or Sicily, enjoy, then take a ferry to Malta.

Cookie and Keller fulfill a dream to climb Sydney's Harbour Bridge -- they did it more than once!

HIT THE library or book stores.  Stock up on brochures, travel books, magazines.  We keep a huge box of files, newspaper clips, magazine pieces with features on places of interest. We're big fans of Rick Steve's and catch his helpful shows on Public Television.

Enjoying a breezy tour on the Kona coast.

We also enjoy the Lonely Planet books -- and we hold out for the print edition, although Kindle is available. There are bargains to be had for your travel bucket list ideas:

With last-minute bookings. (In travel lingo, that usually means 60-90 days before the trip.) Look at Vacations to Go and other "last minute" websites. 

If you're "bucket-listing" remember the Seven Wonders of the World await:

• Cookie and Keller at sea, exercising at Zuma. Colossus of Rhodes, the Great Pyramid of Giza. Why not take the leap?

  
  

  Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Lighthouse of Alexandria, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. All await your curiosity.

whereiscookie.com recommends:

• More train travel information: 

• www.britrail.com

• www.celebritycruiselines.com

• www.ncl.com

• cunard.com

• expedia.com

• pearlseascruises.com

• vacationsbyrail.com

Bruce Keller ticked off a bucket list item when he piloted an America's Cup yacht in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean and St. Maarten beckoned for Bruce Keller to fulfill his dream to sail an America's Cup vessel.

COMING SOON: While we're on the subject of dreams, one of Bruce Keller's dearest wishes is to sail in an America's Cup yacht.   

To pilot the vessel was even a higher dream.  It came true! Cookie is not a lifelong sailor but Keller is.  He has long followed the adventures of the famed America's Cup racing vessels.  In a bargain with Cookie, he agreed to take tango lessons in return for a promise from Cookie. The deal he brokered was in return for his dance effort,  she would join him on a sail on one of the famed boats. 

He did, she did. He has crushed toes and she has white knuckles to show it. Then we're off to Harrison's Caves on Barbados, a train trip in the British Isles and a visit to three museums in Spain dedicated to the life and work of the eccentric and brilliant Salvador Dali.

Remember to explore, learn and live! Catch us weekly for a fresh spin on travel, art, family, nature and more travel tips for global travelers that want to save time and money:

www.whereiscookie.com

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