Here’s my bucket list for people like me who love to travel but are also broke college students.
If traveling had 1,000 fans, I would be one of them. If traveling only had one fan, it would be me. Basically, travel fuels my soul and my life, and I love it.
One of my favorite things to look at each year is travel influencers’ travel bucket lists. It sounds stupid, but I love seeing what countries they want or plan to visit. However, my budget and schedule as a college student are not as accommodating as theirs. Instead, I wanted to make a college student version, or at least my own version of my bucket list of my top 11 travel destinations. Who knows? Maybe I’ll revisit it next year and see what I crossed off.
1. Slovakia (Bratislava or Tatra Mountains)
I’m starting off strong with Slovakia. Though it may seem quite random, I am from the Czech Republic, and the fact that I have made it 19 years of my life without ever going to Slovakia is, well… weird. So, as I’ve been saying for the past four years, I would love to finally go to Slovakia. Whether it’s the Tatra Mountains or Bratislava, I just want to be able to finally see the country.
2. Austria (Vienna)
Vienna, Austria is another city that is so close to me over the summer, yet I’ve never gone. This past summer I almost made my way to Austria on a family trip, but the trip was canceled instead. This year, I would really like to finally go to Vienna. I believe that with a mini family trip, I will (hopefully) be able to do it.
3. A new Czech City
The Czech Republic may be a small country, but it still has a lot to offer, and I have yet to see all or most of it. I always like trying to visit at least one new city, just to get a better layout of my own home. In my dream world, I’d want to visit a city in Moravia or Silsila. But realistically, both of those are really far from my family in Bohemia, so any Czech city will do. Right now, I’d love to visit Liberec (it’s been on my list for ages), but that’s up in the air.
4. A New continent
A new continent is my big one. I visited two different continents before the age of three, yet I haven’t visited any new ones since then, which is super sad because they are all so different. This is one goal that I will hopefully be able to accomplish, as long as my visa gets approved. I am planning on studying abroad for the first semester of school in 2023. This way, I can check off visiting a new continent from my list.
5. Three Australian states
Since I’m planning on studying abroad in Brisbane, Australia, I want to see some more of the country too. In my ideal world, I would visit each of the six Australian states. Realistically, though, the country is huge and there’s so much to see, so it probably won’t happen. I’ll be happy if I get to go to three states (I haven’t decided if that includes Queensland yet or not…). But New South Wales and Victoria are high on my list, since they include the cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Getting to go there would be a dream come true.
6. At least three places in Queensland
As stated in the last paragraph, I will be in Queensland, so I’d love to explore more of the state! I hope to see the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and the area near Cairns, though there is so much more to do, too. I hope to see at least three of the top sights in Queensland. These will be local for me, so hopefully this goal will be doable.
7. Somewhere new in Wisconsin
Now obviously I go to school in Wisconsin, but I haven’t actually seen much of the state. I went to Door County and Devil’s Lake for the first time this year, and next year I hope to explore more places. Whether that be New Glarus (a cute German town on my list), Stoughton (a fun J202 class inside joke), or my friend Paige, Drew, or Laurel’s hometowns, I’d love to see just a tad bit more of the state.
8. London or Amsterdam
London and Amsterdam are two large cities in Europe that I have been told I would really like. I want to visit them to see if I would actually like them and whether I would consider moving there in the future. However, both are super expensive, so realistically I would not be able to afford to go to more than one of them (hence the or). But both cities are unique and cool, so I would love to be able to see them in the future.
9. Slovenia
Last year my friend Andrea and I were planning and hoping to go on a trip to Slovenia but that sadly never happened. In my ideal world, I would love to actually travel to Slovenia with her! Slovenia seems like such a dream, so it has really risen on my travel list over the years.
10. Five new countries
My first goal in life is to be happy, but my second big goal is to travel the world – and by travel the world I mean traveling to every single country. To help move towards that goal, I would like to visit some new countries next year, and I believe this is possible. Last year, I visited a lot of old favorites, but only two new countries. This year, I want to make it to an attainable number of new countries, and five seems doable. Though it may seem crazy, when I go to Queensland in Australia, that’s already one. If I go to London or Amsterdam, that’s two. Slovakia is the third, and Slovenia is the fourth. That leaves one more country, which could be attained either on a hiking trip in Austria (Lichtenstein is super close), or on a layover to or from Australia, or even during a break in Australia.
11. a New U.S. city or an old fave
Lastly, I want to explore a new U.S. city, or revisit an old favorite (which is the more realistic option). I would love for 2023 to finally be the year I get to go to Boston, New Orleans, New York, L.A. or another big city. But realistically, I might revisit an old favorite instead. I mean, I’m two hours away from Chicago and I love it, so I feel like I have to go at least once. Another option is to visit my friend in Seattle (though that is a more expensive trip).
The point is, I have options for travel in 2023.