My top 10 places on my travel bucket list – 2023

Since I visited many places that were written on my old travel bucket list, I have to make a new one. In this article I will take you with me to the new destinations.

What to expect in this article:

So in 2018, I wrote an article about my top 10 destinations I would like to visit.
By now (September 2023) I have visited 5 of those. I visited Sri Lanka (2023), India (2022), Cambodia (2022), the United Arab Emirates (2022), and Morocco (2018). 5 out of 10 I visited, not bad right?
As Sri Lanka always be my nr 1 destination, as my dad was born there, I have to make a new travel bucket list. Now let’s see how many of these I will visit in 5 years and let’s follow up in 2028!

And to be honest, the whole world is on my list. Nex to the places I wrote about below, I also would love to visit Vietnam,Nepal, Laos, Cuba, Iran (but you can’t enter the USA anymore after), and Uzbekistan… okay I will stop now, as my list keeps growing 🙂

1. Northern lights in Iceland

Iceland must be like you are stepping on a different planet. The landscapes are absurdly beautiful. Whether you come in the winter, when it’s a winter wonderland, or when you come during springtime, when everything is lush and green. Both are beautiful!

Next to that, you have a big chance of seeing the northern lights, which I have to witness once in my life!

2. Colombiaaa

I haven’t yet had the chance to visit South America, and Peru used to be super high on my list, but Colombia is raising on my list more and more.

As I see this country more and more often on Instagram, I am wanting to go there a lot!

”Colombia is one of the world’s most diverse countries with two oceans, a range of climates, energetic cities, astonishing wildlife and things to do’ – aka Colombia.co

I want to go for its beautiful nature, the colorful cities, and the amazing coffee, but also for its interesting history about Escobar (which apparently the locals don’t like to hear about, so I am sorry Colombians!)

3. Explore high-tec Japan & South Korea (& Taiwan)

Whether it be for the food (Sushi, Ramen, Bibimbap!), the high-tech climate, its nature, or the traditional culture. Japan and South Korea are super high on my list for these reasons! (Taiwan as well).

One of my friends recently visited Japan and told me about the rules, how people are so polite and Tokyo is super clean, even though it is one of the biggest cities in the world. I want to witness this with my own eyes.
Don’t forget I loved seeing the series ‘Squid Game’ 😉

Taiwan is the birthplace of Tina (my dear friend) and she has told me everything about Taiwan nature, and hikes and made me crazy about bubble tea 🙂 Read her blog about it.

And sorry for the people to call these 3 countries in 1 go, as I know there are many differences. Still, I would love to hop on a plane and visit all of them in 1 go!
As these countries are not the cheapest, I will have to save a lot of money for it 😉

What’s it like to live & work in Taiwan?

4. See the Taj Mahal / Sikkim/ Kerala in India

As I visited India in 2022 and 2023, India is not a new country for me. But as India is massive and nature, people, and languages differ in every state, there are too many places in India that I want to visit.

First of all, the Taj Mahal. I believe everyone has heard about this place and how stunning it is. I have not been to the north of India yet, and I feel like Agra, and Delhi are completely different places as the south, where I have been.

Other places in the north are Assam and Sikkim. Incredible nature, clean, rhinos, close to Bhutan… Do I need to say more?

Then let’s go all the way to the south. I have been on the east side, to Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu, but never to the west side, where you have the state of Kerala. Waterbodies, nature, and peace. That’s what I think of when I hear Kerala.

As my boyfriend is from India, I am sure (and hoping) we get to see much more of India. To be honest, one year in India still is not enough to see everything, but I hope I can go to at least the places I mentioned above.

A must-do: Bicycle tour in Pondicherry (India)

8 things I don’t like about India

Click Here

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5. Climb Table Mountain in South Africa

Cape Town, Table Mountain, seeing the big 5 on a safari, the interesting history… can I go now, please?!

The only place in Africa I have visited so far is Morocco, so I would love to see more of the immense continent.

Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Reunion, and Seychelles are all super high on my list. But I had to choose one of these, so I ended with South Africa. For nature, animals, history, authentic experience, and safaris I can go to any of these countries and be amazed. Yes, I really have to start visiting Africa more! The only bummer is that it is often pretty expensive to fly there.

6. Sleep in the desert of Oman

Ever since I was planning to visit Oman in 2022, but it got canceled as we didn’t realize it would be Ramadan (so nothing would be open apparently), my eagerness to go to Oman has not gone down.

It is actually a quite safe country, not yet discovered, but it has beautiful architecture, nature, and a welcoming culture. Oman is a photographer’s dream!

‘Many visitors are drawn to Oman for its pristine landscapes and nature experiences, but Oman is also a modern Gulf country with a vibrant cultural heritage. This heritage is apparent in the many languages spoken in the country, forts and archeological sites along ancient trading routes, and traditional practices such as rosewater distillation.’ – aka Lonely Planet.

After having visited the Middle East more often (Jordan, UAE), and working a lot with Syrian people, I am starting to love the welcoming culture more and more and can’t wait to go to beautiful Oman! Oman belongs on my travel bucket list.

7. Admire historic places in Egypt

Pyramids, Tutankhamun, archaeological, Nile, Sphinx, temple, Hieroglyphs, kings and mummies… 9 words that make Egypt interesting for me.

I would love to be part of history and see all the incredible archeology. During primary school, we had history classes about Egypt and I could read in hieroglyphs, only because I found it so fascinating.

Not at all, am I able to read it now, but maybe I can learn it again in Egypt, who knows… 🙂 It’s just as much of a mystery as how the pyramids were built. Only will I find out in (hopefully) less than 5/10 years’ time.

Is Egypt also on your travel bucket list?

8. Go to the Machu Picchu in Peru

The Machu Picchu has been on my list for as long as I can remember. It was actually nr 2 on my travel list, after Sri Lanka for a long time.
Now it dropped a little, as one of my friends visited Peru last year and told me that Machu Picchu is super touristic, expensive, and overly crowded, that it kind of takes away the magic for me.

Next to that, altitudes in Peru sound difficult to me. It is actually one of the things that make Peru so beautiful. But as my friend is suffering from long-covid, I only heard her suffering.

Still, Peru is magical, the history is amazing, the locals are interesting and they have one of the cutest animals; the alpaca!
Still, I think I hope and will be amazed if I get to see the Machu Picchu with my own eyes.

Did you know that I find Alpacas so cute, that I did an Alpaca picnic for my birthday last year? You can read about it here.

9. Visit Buzzing New York

Eventhough the USA is not super high on my travel bucket list, I have been wanting to go to New York for a long time.

Like I mentioned in this article: One of my favorite Dutch vloggers Claire Lucia has lived there for a few years and has documented all. Every time she tried something tasty or went to a cool place, I wrote it down on my list. Because of her, I am dying to go to Artichoke and have a slice of their amazing pizza! I already created a food list due to her.

I would love to wander around here and see all those incredible sites that I have seen on TV so often.

The only pity is that the city is costly + I can’t go to countries like Cuba, Iran, or Algeria beforehand, or else I wouldn’t be able to enter the USA anymore as a tourist.

10. Speak Spanish in Guatemala

Guatemala, a Central American country south of Mexico, is home to volcanoes, rainforests, and ancient Mayan sites. Next to that, it is not yet discovered by the public, which makes it super interesting for me to go here.

You often only hear about the bad side and that it is dangerous. Still, I see more travelers visiting Guatemala. I believe, if you do enough research about where to go (and NOT go), and what the rules are, you should be fine. Just use your right mind.

When I think of Guatemala, I think of color (see the photo) and nature. How amazing would it be to hike the famous volcano that still erupts!? With a guide of course. See you!