As I scroll through picture after picture on Pinterest and one-by-one post the most exotic and beautiful destinations to my "Adventure" board I have the sad epiphany that the majority of my travel bucket list is outside of my home country. This wouldn't be that big of a deal if I had more travel experiences outside of the Midwest, but I really don't. I've made the easy drive to every corner of my home state of Minnesota as well as North Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and even Michigan. I also spent a long weekend visiting a good friend in Waco, Texas last fall. And sure we've taken family beach vacations to San Diego and Florida, and even a few road trips to places like Colorado, Montana (stopping at Mt. Rushmore) and D.C. (stopping in Ohio and Hershey, Pennsylvania.), but outside of these limited experiences I haven't seen much of the country.
To me, that's a big problem. Especially since the US has so many amazing travel destinations. Sydney, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, and Tokyo are some of the most distant and ambitious cities on my ultimate bucket list, but those flights are all over 10 hours long, easily costing well over $1,000. Not to mention the cost of accommodations and tourist expenses. My goal while traveling is to see new things, explore new places and experience new cultures (oh, and eat delicious, local food!!), but those goals can easily be fulfilled without crossing an ocean, spending enormous amounts of money or stamping my passport.
Make no mistake: This is not to say that international travel will not be in my future. In fact, I plan on going abroad many times to come. I just am now realizing that exploring my own country is a current priority. And maybe this realization occurred before my Pinterest epiphany. In fact, I know exactly when it came to me. It was in Sicily, sitting on a couch in a house full of non-English speakers. One young woman spoke enough English, and I spoke enough Italian, to get some conversation going. She asked me how often I traveled to places like NYC and California. I answered that I had never truly been to either place (unless you count my week-long San Diego vacay when I was little). She looked at me in disbelief and turned to translate to her girlfriends, which followed with more looks of shock and some laughter. I blushed and explained that both were over 3 hours away by plane, and nearly out of reach by car from my centrally located hometown.
With that said here is my current Domestic-Only Travel Bucket List:
•Seattle, Washington - I'm excited to check this city off first as I plan to take part in a class over January-Term exploring the city and investigating successful corporations with one of my professors and a small group of students.
•Austin, Texas
•San Fransisco, California
•Nashville, Tennessee
•The Grand Canyon
•New Orleans, Louisiana (For Mardi Gras)
•New York City, New York
Let me know if you have any additional destinations I should consider adding to my list!
Best, S.
