SANspotter

Air travel wise, I just want to experience as many different premium cabins as possible.

But one thing that I've been itching to do for years is to take a long and slow drive across the continental US. I've driven from Michigan to California once, but I was in a hurry and wasn't able to stop and look around to see all the interesting things along the way. Unfortunately my schedule is really busy so it's difficult to take the 2-3 weeks necessary for an adventure like this. :-(

rankourabu

Trust me, the magic wears off....

BigOrangeTerp

Let's see...

Reached:
Be a business traveler
Get status with something

Bucket list:
All 50 states
All seven continents, for at least four days (except Antarctica). Just need Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.
Top tier airline status
Travel in first for a very long haul flight (West Coast to Europe, or USA to Asia)
International business travel
See an aurora way way up north
Drive across the USA
Drive up to Alaska
Drive the entire Pacific Coast Highway from the South to the North
Ride one of those scenic passenger trains in Canada

84fiero

^ We (wife, teenager, and myself) just did the Southwest Chief in July, Chicago-Flagstaff then Albuquerque-Chicago...absolutely loved it and a great value. We may do the Empire Builder next summer or perhaps the Zephyr. My dad's side of the family is a long line of railroaders so I have some other rail journeys in mind but haven't decided yet - Canadian Rockies, one of the long Australian trips maybe.

As for other goals, none of which I've made terribly great progress on yet:

- Each continent including Antarctica. Still need S America, Africa, and Antarctica.

- Visit each extreme point of the 50 states and of U.S. territory in general (most are different locations). I'm just getting started on this one having only made it to the southernmost point in the 50 states on the Big Island.

- All 50 states and every U.S. territory. I still need 12 more states and all the territories. I may add each Canadian province and territory.

- Space. It's looking like somewhat affordable (relatively speaking) tourist spaceflight - even if only sub-orbital - may be viable in my lifetime (I'm 40).

In addition there are a whole lot of just individual countries, cities and places. I'd like to visit as many countries as possible but so far haven't tried to set a specific goal such as 100 countries...I may though.

I'm undecided what to concentrate on next, though - in fact I sort of have the equivalent of writer's block in trying to decide.

jewels421

I don't do a lot of international travel for work (only do maybe once a year or every other year for pleasure), so for several years my goal was to ride in the upper deck of a 747. Finally did it last summer on a trip from Tokyo to BKK and was so tired I conked out and did not get to enjoy it...

I'm also at 49 of 50 US states - only New Mexico remains. So, that's on my list for the next year or two...

jrl767

even better if you can do this in a convertible with a standard transmission ...

CMK10

Doubt my rental car will be a convertible and I have to make a confession...

...I don't know how to drive stick

CX HK

Fill up a 48 page passport before its expiry.

A difficult task given that I am a dual national, which splits it up and since one of them is a EU passport I don't get stamps to a lot of countries. A lack of visa's needed - while it can be a blessing sometimes - doesn't help with my goal.

365RoadWarrior

Done:
Perpetual travel (no home)
170 countries (missing only the impossible, those lacking meaningful modern local culture and those that force every traveler to be a tourist). Must also ride a bicycle in each of those countries.

Future:
Actually fly somewhere in first or business class (not a spontaneous upgrade on an LAX to SFO or during a medical evacuation)
Visit a really nice hotel / really nice place (I'm overwhelmed by a place like the Park Hyatt Chicago, but I know it isn't "luxury" by many people's standards.)
Ride in a town car/black car.

The latter three goals are inconsistent with my work life. Someday.

krawin

I'm planning to become a travel blogger some time soon. I know it will not be easy especially in financial terms but I'll find new ways to travel cheaply. In a third world country where I belong, visas are hard to get, we have to have a lot a money and of course good record before we are given the visas to travel the countries that requires them. With passport, our travel goals are limited to few but hopefully, time will come that our country will be allowed to travel to more countries without visas. My travel goals is to reach every country in the world. My ultimate travel goal is to ride the Virgin Galactic. I know they are not easy but I do believe that I will be able to achieve them!!!

drvannostren

Argh, I have so many travel dreams.

I want to visit every NHL arena. So far I'm at 17/30. I'll be at 18 by the end of the year. As a Canadian, you might think I would've been to all of ours. Not so. It's much pricier to go to Toronto than it is to LA (from YVR). Even going to somewhere like DC or NY is often cheaper than YYZ (even if you have to connect there).

I'm interested in visiting every continent...not much progress there. Europe/South America/North America annnnd I'm stuck lol.

Desperately wanna go to Russia. Every time I start kinda planning it out I get stuck on the visa and the red tape. 2015 might just be the year. I'd really love to ride the Trans-Siberian Railway across the country as well, but that's a long shot since it takes so long. Also, I'm oddly curious about visiting the border region with North Korea, I just think that'd be fascinating.

I decided I wanted to go to Colombia. That was 10 trips and 6 years ago, I'm hooked, bought an apartment. As the slogan goes "the only danger is not wanting to leave". It's held me back from going elsewhere because whenever I get time off the first thing I think is Colombia.

Having been to an Olympics, albeit in my own city, I'd love to go to a world cup. Might be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone if they don't pull the event from Russia.

drvannostren

This one makes me chuckle because at lots of airports it's cheaper than a taxi! Come to YVR and take a cab downtown in rush hour, guaranteed the limos/town cars outside the airport woulda been cheaper

CL87

That's nice that you interacted with your grandmother!

I haven't lost track of the exact number. My original goal was 50 countries, 50 U.S. states. I am almost there. Now my goal is to just have time to go some place once a year, even to a country and city that I've been to before.

I enjoy going to a place that I've been to before, even if it is common, like London. Merely going to a new country to reach the old goal of 50 is no longer a goal.

darthbimmer

I'm perplexed at how you've lived a life of perpetual travel (no home) and visited 170 countries yet haven't done any of these three things. These are simply matters of choosing to spend money. Yes, visiting 170 countries usually requires spending money, but it also requires significant time and effort. Whereas staying at a luxury hotel simply requires a person who's already traveling to decide, "Hmm, I'll opt to spend $400/night to stay at a luxe hotel on this trip instead of $150/night." Riding in a town car is even more trivial, as calling ahead for an executive car service to ride to/from the airport is in many places cheaper than hailing a taxi.

McNandez

What a cool thread! The replies have been thought-provoking.

For me, thinking about travel goals is at once overwhelming and exhilarating. I think I'm struggling with an old mindset that allowed me to make all kinds of excuses for not traveling; that, by choosing a goal or a destination, I'm shunning all others because of limited finances. I guess it's a scarcity mindset, which I'm not proud of.

Anyway, thanks to miles & points, I just got back from my first trip to Europe, and now I'm hooked. One day I want to have very specific goals like a lot of other people here, but for now, my biggest one is:
* at least one new stamp in my passport every year (I live in Los Angeles and haven't been to Mexico since we needed a passport / have never been to Canada, so this one won't be too hard )