Bucket list - places to go

Working in a map-based job means my bucket list of places to visit grows on a daily basis. I spend everyday looking at maps of far-flung, beautiful places other people have been to – holiday destinations, wedding venues, and honeymoon spots – and I often end up Googling the locations, especially if they are a little unusual. Although I love history and culture I seem to be drawn more towards places of outstanding natural beauty rather than manmade ones. Also for me, mountains and lakes hold more interest than white sandy beaches and palm trees, although having said that I wouldn’t mind a short stop in the Maldives, but then again who wouldn't? So currently and in no particular order, my list of desirable places to explore looks like this:

Dalmatian coast, Croatia
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Banff, Canada
Queenstown, New Zealand
Lake Bled, Slovenia
Reykjavik, Iceland
Galapagos Islands, Pacific Ocean

Croatia

I like to kayak, hike and climb and Croatia seems like the perfect place to do all of these things as it has stunning coastlines, mountainous ranges and beautiful lakes. It is home to Plitvice Lakes National Park, which is an amazing collection of lakes, rivers and caves.

Yellowstone National Park, USA

The chance of seeing grizzly bears in the wild is my main reason for wanting to visit Yellowstone. After years of watching documentaries about the wildlife which live there I’d like to go see them for myself. The scale of the scenery, especially the rivers and the geysers, is just awe-inspiring.

Banff, Canada

I love to ski and I'm guessing as Bombus receives many orders featuring maps of Banff it appears that it is worth a visit. The mountain ranges in Canada are just incredible so Banff is definitely a top, wish-list destination for me.

Queenstown, New Zealand

As you might have guessed I kind of have a thing about mountains! I have actually been to Queenstown before. I did a ski season there with my boyfriend a couple of years ago and it is by far my favourite place in the world (so far) and so makes my list as I would love to go back. Queenstown is situated on the edge of Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by mountains. There are two ski areas; Coronet Peak and The Remarkables. The view from the top of the Remarkables is just superb and so far nothing has beaten it.

Lake Bled, Slovenia

This is somewhere I had never heard of until I had to find it for a customer. The island in the middle of the lake looks beautiful and intriguing, with the castle looking like something out of a fairytale.

Reykjavik, Iceland

The city of Reykjavik looks lovely and picturesque but my main reason for wanting to go is I want to see the Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis are such an extraordinary natural phenomenon that I think they should be seen at least once in a lifetime.

Galapagos Islands, South America

The Galapagos Islands hold an interest for me because of the role they played in Darwin’s work. I’m a bit of a science/history geek so would love to visit the different islands and see all the variety of species that live there.