Trains, Planes and Pipedreams, A Travel Bucket List

As a child my parents loved travel and seeing new places, we went to all sorts of places of varying budgets. My fondest memories are from when we had a campervan. A campervan that was bought with no engine, that from what I can remember was parked up in a shed in a random field. Anyway, that’s a story for another day. I used to get off the bus from school and the van would be packed ready to go on an adventure, my cousin (a little older than me and my brother) would get off the train near our house with her sleeping bag full of clothes and wine and jump in the van too. I want to give my children a life of adventure and travel, I want them to have the fond memories that I have. Here is my current travel bucket list in no particular order.

World Tour of France

I have amazing memories of driving around France in our campervan, we’d go from place to place, eating all the cheese, bread and freshly baked croissants, visiting different beaches and attractions each town had to offer. I can vividly remember going to Champagne tour and tasting, I must have been about 5 or 6 and being amazed by the size of a bottle of champagne that was bigger than me. I want to take the Zippy girls on a similar adventure, except we don’t have a campervan. So, this trip would be in the car and staying in air bnb style places. I’d like to start in Calais and work our way down to the south coast and then back up again, with a cheeky stop in Disneyland Paris on the way home, it would be wrong to drive past it and not go in!!

New York, New York!

The Carrie Bradshaw fan in me wants to shop till I drop, see a Broadway show, walk along the Brooklyn bridge, go watch a Basket Ball game, ice skate in Central Park, see the Alice in Wonderland monument in Central Park and have a horse and carriage ride, go to the top of the Empire State building, get a yellow cab, get a slice of pizza (compliments of the Plaza hotel) and eat a proper New York hot dog. Buy something from Tiffany's, go to central perk, have a drink in the Cheers bar. I want to see everything in the city that never sleeps.

The Ultimate Disney Trip

This one I think I’d like to do when I’m 40 which is enough years off to actually save for it! I’d like to fly to Florida and stay on Disney property for two weeks having a ‘as chilled as you can’ time at the parks and soaking up all the Disney magic. By the time I’m 40, the new Universal Park will be open and I’d really like to go to the Nintendo world, as a child of the 90s I grew up playing Mario Bro’s. After two weeks of busy park time, I’d like to then board the Disney Wish and for a cruise around the Caribbean. Not asking for much am I!

Japan

I’d never even thought about Japan until I watched a YouTube series from someone I follow. It just looked amazing. Big cities mixed with beautiful countryside, I need to see the cherry blossom, and put coins in the endless gashapon machines. I want to experience the culture and eat the street food. I think this trip will be one for when the Zippy girls are a bit older and can cope with the crowds.

Planes, trains and automobiles

It goes without saying that I’d love to see where it all began with Disney but there’s so much more to see and do in California. I’d like to hike up the Hollywood hills, I’d like to see the walk of fame, rollerblade at the beach, and everything in between. I would actually like to see the whole of the West Coast of America. My husband is a fan of trains, I think it would be really cool to fly to Seattle and board the sleeper train that goes right down the coast to see all of beautiful mountains and the coast. I’d like to stop in San Fransisco for a day or two and then maybe drive to California.

Hawaii

To be honest, I don’t know very much about Hawaii other than what I’ve seen in films, I’ve just always wanted to go there. I would love to spend a 2-week holiday chilling in Hawaii, have some surfing lessons and enjoying the culture.

The Med by cruise

We’ve been to Spain, Italy and France as a family and I’d also like to try a cruise with the family. The idea of a moving hotel that takes you from place to place really appeals to me. We love hot, sunny weather, we love culture and cities, and we also love beach and pool holidays. A cruise seems like the all the things we love in one. It might not be for us, but it also might be a bit of everything we love all in one holiday.

Lapland

Being a teacher and being stuck to term times, this might be one that we don’t manage to do. I’d love to take the kids to see Father Christmas and the reindeer whilst they’re still little. I want to take them to drink hot chocolates, have a sleigh ride and play in the snow, proper snow. We live by the seaside and when the whole of the UK gets snow, we don’t. If anything we get a light sprinkle that turns to ice. So to see and play in proper snow would be amazing and if the northern lights where included then that would be the icing on the cake, as they are something I need to see in my lifetime.

Ski Trip

Talking about snow, I’d love to do a ski trip. This is not up my husband’s street at all. Drinking coffee, beer and playing in the snow yes, skiing or boarding down a mountain not so much. If we did this kind of holiday, finding the perfect resort would be a top priority. It would need to be a resort that had plenty to do and other experiences than just skiing and boarding. We love sun and sea but I am a girl that loves the seasons, as much as I love soaking up the sun, I also love to snuggle by a cosy fire with a hot chocolate while the snow falls outside.

I’m not sure if we’ll manage to do any of these trips because were busy renovating our home, and we both work full time, but it’s nice to aspire and have targets. We might even end up doing some of these trips when were retired and have grandchildren to bring with us too!