The Ultimate (and updated) Solo Travellers Bucket List

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The last time I sat down and actually wrote down my bucket list, it was 2017! Two years later and I have actually managed to tick off quite a few more of these items, and added even more things to the list, because of course I have!

So, here is an updated bucket list with the things I have done at the top in the order of which I did them, and all the things that I’m dying to do listed further below.

I am also going to make this a permanent page (right next to the ‘Where Next?’ page) so I will be sure to update it regularly and keep you all in the loop.

Ticked off the list!

Release my inner witch at Harry Potter Studios in London

Visit the Isle of Skye

Party my way into a New Year at the Edinburgh Hogmanay

See the Northern Lights

Take a dip in the Blue Lagoon

Climb an ice wall

Swim between two tectonic plates

Go back to Ancient Rome at the Coliseum

Get fat(ter) in Italy

Hike to the top of Table Mountain

Fall in love with Cape Town

Sleep inside an igloo

See icebergs up close

Actually go inside a volcano

Visit Fingals Cave

Island hop in the Philippines

Sleep in an overwater bungalow in the Maldives

Visit Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

Become the happiest human alive on Bunny Island

Experience the unique Tokyo nightlife

Watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat

Swim with humpback whales in Tonga

Swim with manta rays

Explore the ancient temples of Bagan

Visit Greenland in winter

Experience the polar night

Sleep in an ice hotel

Explore the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Marvel at the Turkish architecture inside the Blue Mosque

Backpack through Iran

Experience the magic of Nasir-ol-Molk in Shiraz

See the Pyramids of Giza

Go hot air ballooning

Pretend to be Indiana Jones at the Lost City of Petra

Float in the Dead Sea

Increase my blood alcohol content in Mendoza

Visit Iguazu Falls

See a glacier calve

Take a penguin selfie in Antarctica

Visit all seven continents

See a leopard seal in the wild

Visit Machu Picchu

Eat all the things in Vietnam

Visit Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival

Drive the ring road in Iceland

Visit Robben Island

Road Trip through Namibia

Go on a luxurious safari

Take a splash in the Devils Pool

Take a ride in a helicopter

Learn to scuba dive

Eat breakfast with giraffes

Dip my toes in the Bimmah Sinkhole

Look for Bilbo Baggins at Hobbiton

Go on a helicopter pub crawl

See gorillas in DR Congo

See the pyramids of Meroe in Sudan

Hand (and mouth) feed a hyena in Harar

Marvel at the magic of Lalibela

Go on safari in Madagascar

Soak in a Japanese onsen

See snow monkeys in Northern Japan

See Mt. Fuji

Take a quokka selfie on Rottnest Island

Road trip around Tasmania

Still yet to do…

Swim with whale sharks in Djibouti

Swim with orcas in Norway

Go on a yoga retreat in Bali

Get off the beaten track in West Africa (especially Ghana, Sierra Leone and Cameroon)

Take a cooking course in Spain

Visit the Faroes in winter

Head north to Canada’s Inuit territories

Throw tomatoes at La Tomatina

Go on a multi day dog sledding adventure

Swim with sharks in Costa Rica

Do the worlds highest bungee jump

Swim in the ocean trenches of Samoa

Skydive over Dubai

See Komodo dragons (from a safe distance)

Watch the sunset over Uluru (Planned for 2022)

Get messy at Holi in India

Do an Antarctic polar plunge

See evolution in the Galapagos

Go on a multi day kayaking expedition in Greenland (Planned for 2023)

See a polar bear in Spitsbergen

Go heli-kayaking in Canada (Planned for 2023)

Go zorbing in New Zealand

Play a game of Quidditch in the UK

See Wicked on Broadway

Visit the tribes of Papua New Guinea

Stay at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore

Eat and drink my way through the Amalfi Coast

Be a contestant on The Amazing Race

Go diving at Raja Ampat (Planned for 2022)

Spend a full and consecutive 12 months in Greenland

Do the Gibbon Experience in Laos (Planned for 2023)

Eat my way through Hong Kong

Trek through landlocked Mongolia

Complete the Arctic Circle trail

Backpack through Afghanistan

Catch buses around Pakistan

Hike to Tiger’s Nest monastery in Bhutan

Catch the train to Ella in Sri Lanka

Bungee jump out of a hot air balloon

Go crazy for everything Korean in Seoul

Travel on the Trans Siberian

Warm up at the Gateway to Hell in Turkmenistan

See the Red Square by sunrise in Moscow

Take a tour of communism personified in North Korea

See Lofoten under a thick blanket of snow

Spend a summer hiking around Norway

Sail, drink and eat my way around the Greek Islands

Drive the Gibb River Road

Hike Jatbula Trail

Visit the red centre of Australia (Planned for 2022)

See the staircase to the moon at Cable Beach (Planned for 2022)

Feel the rhythm in Cape Verde

Swim with basking sharks in Scotland

Explore the Amazon

Trek the W in Chile

Work with MSF

Backpack through Colombia

Spend a year travelling through Central America and learn Spanish

Visit Kruger National Park

Move (permanently) to Scotland

Go to Iceland Airwaves

Visit the Orkney and Shetland Isles

Contemplate life on Easter Island

Go full Man v Food in the USA

Combine travel and midwifery at The Farm in Tennessee

Do the whole Bolivian Salt Flats thang

Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando

Go hiking through Utah

Travel back in time in Cuba

Drive from Edmonton to Calgary via the Icefields Parkway (Planned for 2023)

Explore the Yukon in winter (Planned for 2023)

Hike around the Pacific Northwest

Go to a Disneyworld (or land)

Learn a second language (I am currently learning Dutch)

Fly in a private jet (a gal can dream)

Camp on a glacier (Planned for 2023)

Go to a full moon party

Experience the midnight sun (Planned for 2023)

See a glacial moulin

Witness the red crab migration on Christmas Island

4wd through Kakadu National Park (Planned for 2022)

Visit South Georgia and the Falklands

Road trip from Margaret River to Broome

4wd through the highlands in central Iceland (Planned for 2023)

Ride the iron ore train across Mauritania (Planned for 2023)

Camp in Egypt’s white desert (Planned for 2023)

Snorkel in Lake Malawi

Go on a luxury safari in Zambia

Experience real life Star Wars in Tunisia (Planned for 2023)

Go back in time in Syria (Planned for 2022)

Dive the red sea (Planned for 2022)

Marvel at the architecture of Uzbekistan (Planned for 2022)

Experience the remote islands of Palau

Chase waterfalls in Costa Rica

Slow travel through France (Planned for 2023)

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30-something year old Australian backpacker writing her way around the world.

16 thoughts on “The Ultimate (and updated) Solo Travellers Bucket List

    1. Thank you! I love South Africa and Namibia so bloody much – they are some of my favourite places in the entire world!

    1. I did know! Luckily there are other spots other than that one famous island where you can see them. I have locked in a visit to Raja Ampat so I figure it’s an ideal time to explore more of Indonesia.

    1. In Iceland, there’s a spot called Silfra where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet, and there is a 1-2 metre gap between them which is filled with glacial meltwater – it’s amazing!

  1. Oh I love your list! I love how specific it is hehe. So many of them that I’d like to do as well! Saw post on Instagram about your birthday. Happy Birthday, Ellen! Having turned 26 few months ago myself, I feel kinda oldish too, hehe. You’re one my favorite travel bloggers for sure 🙂 Annnd I hope your fella does propose you this year or next so you can get married in the Highlands! (It’s so funny you write these things on here that he probably has no idea about haha) What a romantic spot to get hitched in <3 <3

    1. Thanks Pooja and Happy Birthday to you too! Did you have a great 26th? Hahaha you are right, he only reads a post once in a blue moon so he’d have absolutely no idea hahaha

  2. Great list. I adored Australia’s Red Centre and Rottnest Island. Hope you get to do them soon. A few things on your list I’d like to do myself. My own list also grows the more I explore.

    1. I hope so too! I know the feeling, every time I ‘tick something off’ I feel like I add 2-3 more things!

  3. Always great to see your posts and get more inspiration for my own bucket list. Glad to see I’m not the only one with South Georgia on the list. I would definitely recommend you tick off Rapa Nui (Easter Island) – it is one special place. Hope your wedding wish comes true (I’m a Scottish resident so a little biased!).

  4. Ellen, this is amazing. You have done some incredibly amazing experiences already. Wished I had done even a tiny portion when I was 20. I have backpacked and rock climbed in the Canyonlands in Utah way back in 1984 before this area was well known. It was so spectacular. You will really love it! 🙂

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