The more I travel the longer my list becomes. While I have done the typical “college Eurotrip,” hopping from city to city every few days, I’m now more about slow traveling. Spending at least a week in a city. Putting less emphasis on capital cities and getting to know local culture and the natural landscape of each country.
Not necessarily in any order, definitely not by magnitude:
- Live abroad Done!
- Walk El Camino de Santiago Done!
Get a tattoo- Be a couchsurfing host
Work for accommodation via Workaway, Helpex, HousesittingDone all three!- Go to Iceland
- See the natural wonders of the Western US (especially the Grand Canyon!)
- Do a cross-country road trip of the US
- Backpack through South America
- Spend a significant amount of time in New Zealand (possibly on a working holiday visa), including seeing the LOTR sets
- See the kangaroos and koalas (and everything else!) in Australia
- Travel continuously for a year
- Fly in a hot air balloon
- Get EU citizenship (my grandfather was Hungarian – hopefully it’ll happen!)
- Scuba Dive (this one kind of scares me, but also seems amazing)
My UNESCO List
UNESCO is dedicated to preserving the cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. Currently there are 981 sites listed in 150 countries, which is a lot of sites to protect. Unfortunately some sites are even endangered, due to destruction of the natural environment, terrorist activity, construction and other factors.
As a lover of list making, travelling, archaeology, history, I’m keeping track of all the UNESCO sites I’ve been to, although it does seem strange to group such a tremendous experience (El Camino de Santiago) in the same category as an unimpressive palace (Aranjuez). But I still like looking at my list, even if some mean more to me than others.
So far, I’ve been to 58 sites in fourteen countries.
Sintra, Portugal
Austria
Historic Center of Vienna
Belgium
Belfries of Belgium and France
Flemish Béguinages
Historic Centre of Brugge
La Grand-Place, Brussels
Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta
Stoclet House
Czech Republic
Historic Center of Prague
France
Paris, Banks of the Seine
The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes
Palace and Park of Fontainebleu
Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière, and Place d’Alliance in Nancy
Hungary
Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment
Fertő/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape (shared with Austria)
Netherlands
Seventeenth-century canal ring area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht
Norway
Bryggen
West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord
Poland
Historic Centre of Kraków
Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
Historic Centre of Warsaw
Portugal
Cultural Landscape of Sintra
Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon
Spain
Historic City of Toledo
Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct
Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín
Works of Antoni Gaudí
Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches
Old City of Salamanca
University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares
San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries
Monastery and Site of El Escorial
Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture
Vizcaya Bridge
Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona
Historic Centre of Córdoba
Cathedral, Alcázar, and Archivo de Indias in Sevilla
Aranjuez Cultural Landscape
Archaeological Site of Atapuerca
Burgos Cathedral
El Camino de Santiago
Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain
Monuments of Oviedo and the Kindgom of Asturias
Roman Walls of Lugo
Santiago de Compostela
Tower of Hercules
Sweden
Rock Carvings in Tanum
Turkey
United Kingdom
Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret’s Church
City of Bath
Old and New Towns of Edinburgh
Tower of London
United States
Statue of Liberty
Historic Center of Philadelphia
Redwood National and State Parks
Mesa Verde National Park
Taos Pueblo
University of Virginia
