What’s more fun than brainstorming about all the cool things you dream about? That’s why I loved creating my bucket list. In addition, it’s also a great motivation to go out there and turn a wish into an actual experience!
My bucket list is continuously being updated as items are achieved and new ideas come up. Some of the completed items are linked to a story, just click on the link to read about it. The links to the scheduled items will take you to a page where you can read a general summary of the bucket list item.
If you have a great idea for a trip or you’ve been to an amazing place, please share in the comment box! I’m always looking for new places to explore and I would love to hear about your favorite adventure!
My Bucket List
Completed
Spot crocodile in the wild
Lobster hunting
Go surfing in Florianópolis
Liveaboard in the Similan Islands
Surfcamp in the Canary Islands
Hiking up the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano
The Yacht Week in Croatia
Scheduled for 2013
Swimming with Whale Sharks
Diving with Manta Rays
Diving in Raja Ampat
Not scheduled yet
Safari in South Africa
Surfing in the Gold Coast
Road trip from Mexico to Colombia
Road trip from Santiago de Chile to Mendoza
Skiing in Whistler
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Visit Suriname
Island hop the South Pacific
Diving in Palau
Hiking in Yellowstone Park
Descend Yungas Road by Mountain Bike
Visit the Grand Canyon
Diving in the Maldives
Hiking in the Amazon
Hiking in Patagonia
Go from east to west diomede island
Northern Light in Norway
Travel on a cargo ship
Galapagos Islands
Comment Section
53 thoughts on “My Bucket List”
By Annelein on 11 December 2012
Op zoek naar het noorderlicht Ongerepte Noorse winterbestemming – Dé Noorderlicht bestemming – 3 locaties Deze afwisselende adventure week brengt u naar de hotspot van het noorderlicht. Op heldere nachten heeft u in de omgeving van Tromsø 90% kans om het wonderlijke noorderlicht te zien. Naast dit natuurfenomeen beleeft u nog vele andere hoogtepunten, zoals een sneeuwscootersafari en huskysledetocht….
By Jasper Ribbers on 11 December 2012
Klinkt erg gaaf! Jij hebt dit al gedaan begrijp ik?
By Annelein on 11 December 2012
Ikke niet maar mijn ouders vorig jaar wel… Die zeiden dat je dat echt 1x gedaan moet hebben 🙂
By Annelein on 11 December 2012
Ik ga zelf trouwens de halve marathon lopen op de Chinese muur in mei 2013.. Dat staat op mijn bucketlist… misschien ook een ideetje, maar dan wel een hele voor jou :P!
By Arwin on 11 December 2012
-route 66 -roadtrip chicago-alaska over banff -groenland -go from east to west diomede island -run antarctic ice marathon (or part of it) -take a train from holland to singapore -join a national geographic photo shooting
By Jasper Ribbers on 11 December 2012
Nice suggestions Arwin! Seems like you have a preference for the colder areas on the planet!
By Arwin on 11 December 2012
Partly true. I just couldnt come up with many warm places you hadn’t visited/already had on the bucket list. Being Dutch you can also think about visiting more places from the Dutch Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Empire) or the Verwantschapslanden. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verwantschapslanden Other cool things are: watching the stars on the Amazon , or in Atacama desert. Maybe not as exciting, but you could join a container ship for a week or two and cross an ocean. A visit to a remote place like Tristan da Cunha would be an option. Not many visitors there…
By Jasper Ribbers on 12 December 2012
I didn’t know you can book a cabin on a container ship! That’s pretty cool. I’ll put that on the list for sure! Thanks for sharing
By Arwin on 12 December 2012
http://www.flightlesstravel.com/plan/cargo-ships/ not necessarily comfortable, but an adventure. you might get into a fight with some somalians if they try to get your iphone.
By Aline on 12 December 2012
Hello Jasper, You should really go to the Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains is one of the worlds most renown ancient cities. You can choose between different kind of routes. A great adventure for sure! If you go, make sure you choose the ”difficult” route. You can go hiking or by bike. Its very crowded and if you go by bike you’ll be one of the first people who arrives at the top! A breathtaking view! Let me know! Greetz, Aline
By Jasper Ribbers on 12 December 2012
Great idea Aline, thanks for sharing!
By Saliba on 12 December 2012
Summit Ol Doinyo Lengai
By Jasper Ribbers on 12 December 2012
Nice one Saliba! The famous volcano in Tanzania 🙂
By Coco Zhao on 13 December 2012
Namtso lake in Tibet – strongly recommended. Altitude 4718 meter, it is the highest salt lake in the world. Its purity and solemnity are symbols of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and it is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet. The meaning, according to local , is ” The Sky lake”, you can imagine the crystal clear blue. You can also ride white yark near the lake, and join the prayer ( in Sep 2009, Kathy was leading a Belgium NGO project , I joined her there for 10 days. Celebrated Yoghurt Festival. Special memory.)
By Jasper Ribbers on 13 December 2012
Sounds great Coco, thanks for sharing!
By Maarten on 13 December 2012
Hi Jasper, Hier nog een tip voor je bucket list!! Mountainbike downhill van Bolivia’s Death Road… Dit is een van de gevaarlijkste wegen ter wereld en is heel goed downhill te rijden met een mountainbike en schijnt echt geweldig mooi en indrukwekkend te zijn.. Oja, klein weetje, op deze weg vallen gemiddeld een kleine 300 doden per jaar dus je moet hier en daar wel een beetje uitkijken!! Dit avontuur staat bij mij ook nog erg hoog op mn bucket list dus als je hem gaat plannen, let me know!! En anders verwacht ik wel dat je weer eens langs komt in de Philippines om te kitesurfen 😉 Greetz, Maarten
By Jasper Ribbers on 13 December 2012
Hoi Maarten! klinkt gaaf, m’n moeder is waarschijnlijk iets minder enthousiast 😀 Ik ben waarschijnlijk ergens in maart weer in de Philippines, wanneer ga jij die kant weer op?
By Maarten on 13 December 2012
Haha, ja dat zal best!! Mijn plan was om in Januarie weer te gaan voor een paar weken maar helaas heb ik dat af moeten blazen.. Verder geen idee wanneer ik daar weer ben, maar het zal wel ergens in een wind season zijn.
By Steven on 1 April 2014
Het valt allemaal wel mee hoor op de death road, je moet aardige mongeaul zijn om daar vanaf te donderen (dat wil niet zeggen dat het niet gebeurt overigens). Ik heb zo’n t-shirtje “I survived the death road bolivia’ 🙂
Enige advies wat wel even belangrijk is: niet proberen te besparen door het goedkoopste bedrijf te kiezen voor de huur van je fiets.
By Bas on 14 December 2012
Hey Jasper, cruise bij de Galapagos eilanden en een bezoekje aan Paaseiland mogen niet ontbreken…
By Bas on 14 December 2012
en als je dan toch naar Mendoza in Argentinë gaat, moet je zorgen dat je er heet eerste weekend van Maart bent, tijdens de wijnfeesten, echt een aanrader.
By Jasper Ribbers on 14 December 2012
Goeie tip Bas! Jij bent al geweest begrijp ik?
By Bas on 14 December 2012
Klopt, tijdens onze trip door Zuid-Amerika in 2010. Heb toen ook de hierbovengenoemde Most Dangerous Road in La Paz gefietst, ook zeer de moeite waard inderdaad.
By Jasper Ribbers on 14 December 2012
Cool, bedankt voor de suggesties Bassie!
By Bartmans on 11 January 2013
ja Jappe, een marathon lopen! beetje beweging zal je goed doen!
By Bruno on 24 February 2013
You should definitely try to go to Taroko Gorge in Taiwan, you might rent a bike or even a canoe to go through this beautiful gorge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taroko_National_Park
Also you should try to go visit North Korea!
By Jasper on 25 February 2013
Thanks for the suggestion Bruno, looks amazing! Will add this to the list 🙂
By Eddie on 7 March 2013
Done Taroko, yes it is fantastic! Take a scooter tour and a lap of the island and go on a food mission…you wont regret it!
I like your cargo ship comment…I wanted to be a hobo travelling by train through the US and jumping off where I wanted..
My last top tip is a motorbike ride through Thailand to Myanmar, that was something else!
By Jasper on 7 March 2013
I like the motorbike to Myanmar tip! I haven’t been yet, it’s opened up a bit in recent years I’ve heard. Thanks!
By Daniel on 7 March 2013
Visit Ice Hotel just for the pleasure of having easy access to Vodka.
Scotland – Look for the Loch ness monster (trust me its beautiful and Ill join you on this trip).
By Jasper Ribbers on 13 March 2013
Not surprised your suggestion involves alcohol Daniel! ;-P
By Esy Seatter on 20 March 2013
Jasper….
U should also check out Bali diving.. Mola Mola season July-October….
By Jasper Ribbers on 23 March 2013
Thanks Esy, will add that to the list!
By Naê Cruz on 21 March 2013
If you want to do the Amazon hiking this year u can count on me ;D I live here.. not for long tho ( I hope ahha).
By Jasper Ribbers on 23 March 2013
Good suggestion, I’ll be in South America later this year so hopefully I’ll be able to fit that in 🙂
By Andrei on 6 April 2013
Dude it was nice to meet you in Vanuatu! Check this video, maybe you can add this to your bucket list:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFhbMaYTwCE
By Jasper Ribbers on 7 April 2013
Yo Andrei thanks for the tip bro, looks amazing! Will definitely add that to my list!
By Andrei on 7 April 2013
I made a video from Vanuatu by the way, my first use of the GoPro and first try at video editing: https://vimeo.com/63494322
Keep sharing those stories Jasper!
By Jasper Ribbers on 8 April 2013
Cool, I’ll check it out once I’m back in Hong Kong. I’m on the mainland right now and Vimeo is blocked here lol.
By Yulia on 9 April 2013
– Madurai temple during monsoon with thousands of piligrims.
– jump naked from the bridge into Krka lake
– get served unlimited gratis beer in one of Sanya’s posh clubs only because you are white skin:)
By Chubby Bunny on 1 October 2013
Your travel bucket list is a lot more exciting than mine 🙂 I’m a travel foodie, so something on my wish list would be having the opportunity to taste some of those amazing dishes prepared by contestants on Iron Chef America! But otherwise travel location wise, making a trip to Israel is still on my bucket list.
By Jasper Ribbers on 16 October 2013
Yeah I still need to check out Israel as well actually…
By jennifer on 16 October 2013
A couple suggestions:
Oregon Coast: Breathtaking…and as a Dutchman you would likely enjoy seeing this from a bike 😉
Rockies: Road trip from Waterton National Park to Montana on the road to the sun.
Vancouver Island: West Coast Trail.
These are items I need to repeat on my bucket list!
By Jasper Ribbers on 16 October 2013
Thanks Jennifer, great suggestions!
By Sam on 10 November 2013
Amongst other travel I did a trip some years ago overland from Beijing to Islamabad, following the Silk Road. Not always comfortable travel, but some of the best travel I’ve done. I liked especially the part in Western China (Khotan, Kashgar, Karakoram) and Northern Pakistan’s NWFP (Hunza Valley, Gilgit, Chitral, Peshawar; Khyber). Very nice people, even though they seem to like Mr. Bin Laden. Also traveled Nepal to Lhasa overland: highly recommended.
Another suggestion would be Ethiopia, easily one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever seen, with lots of history and an amazing variety in landscapes.
For desert travel I can recommend Namibia (very nice), Libya (a bit unstable but actually much safer than people make it out to be) and the south of Morocco. North West Kenya is also interesting desert.
Make sure you put the great plains of East Africa on your list, Serengeti, the annual trek of wildebeest, etc.
Fishing tigerfish in Lake Cahora Bassa in Mozambique is also not to be missed: much better than anywhere else on the Zambezi.
If you can get a visa: Mukubal country in the deep south of Angola, the Pedras Negras and the Calandulo waterfalls in Malange province are well worth the effort.
If you want to see something odd, go to Yamoussoukro in Ivory Coast.
You are young, and these are places you can visit now. You can leave the more comfortable / easier to reach places for when you are old and infirm. Everyone does the Inca trail, Macchu Picchu and the salar de Uyuni.
By Jasper Ribbers on 10 November 2013
Hey Sam, thank you so much for such an extensive list of suggestions! Have you done all these yourself?
By Sam on 10 November 2013
Yes, and some other places, but there still remains a lot to see. For instance, I would like to travel to Iran, the length of Vietnam, the south of China, and cross the Nullarbor plains. Then I would like to go to places like Bora-bora, Vanuatu, New Zealand and Lord Howe Island, and Tasmania, of course. Or Sierra Leone (very beautiful, a friend told me). Iceland should be interesting too, and of course the US and Canada, but those I can travel when old. I still have an invitation to sail to Antarctica, so that will happen one day. But the most elusive prizes are still Yemen and the Hadramout, and Sar-I-Sang in Afghanistan, both a bit too complicated at the moment.
By Jasper Ribbers on 10 November 2013
You certainly have a lot of plans! Thanks for the suggestions, I will check out the places you mentioned.
By Sam on 11 November 2013
I realise that it remains to be seen of course if all plans can be realised, but it’s still better that to have no plans at all.
By Ashraf Khan on 27 January 2014
Hi Jasper, come to Pakistan and you will be amazed by the Glaciers, Mountains, culture, history, hospitality and deserts!
By Jasper Ribbers on 15 February 2014
Sounds like a plan Ashraf!
By Introvertly Bubbly on 15 February 2014
Very adventurous list…What are you targets for 2014?
By Jasper Ribbers on 15 February 2014
I don’t plan to far ahead, but will most likely knock off the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and hopefully the Galapagos!