2018 Bucket List Experiences

Every day, travelers share their dreams with us—whether it’s a lifelong urge to see Machu Picchu or to hold a delicate Costa Rican hummingbird in the palm of your hand. Wish fulfillment is our specialty, and we handcraft our trips to 82 destinations to create the kind of experiences you have in mind. And if you don’t find an exact match, never fear! We can create a Private Journey with the moment you’ve always hoped for. Without further adieu, here’s our guests’ 2018 bucket list moments:

#1 CAMP LIKE A SHEIKH IN THE SAHARA

First, you sway into the red Moroccan dunes on a camel. Next, the native Berbers lead you to a luxury encampment. You sup on kebabs grilled on an open fire and refill your wine glass to watch the desert sky puts on a star show like you’ve never witnessed.

 

#2 SEE SEA LIONS UP CLOSE

We’re talking very close, as in eye-to-eye in the Galápagos. That mission is easy to accomplish on the north shore of San Cristóbal Island. You slip out of your kayak into a quiet cove. And the sea lions swim up to check you out and blow your mind just like you hoped they would.

 

#3 CATCH DAWN AT THE GRAND CANYON

Sip a coffee and watch the show. The mind boggles at how the rising sun can tint the Grand Canyon so many shades of red, orange, and purple. It’s a real spectacle as the edge of day slides across the plain and down into the canyon. You’ve never seen anything like it.

 

#4 TASTE PORT IN PORTUGAL

For 20 or 30 years, that port wine has rested in a barrel, getting ready for you. Of all of Portugal’s charms—regal cities, posh family estate-hotels, the Douro River—sipping port in the vineyards where it’s grown with the food it was born to accompany is more than you imagined.

 

#5 CRUNCH ONTO A GLACIER

As rivers of ice inch back up their valleys, Norway’s Austdalsbreen Glacier is one of the finest places to still experience this force of nature. Crampons on your boots and an expert guide in the lead, you step onto the eerily blue icescape that is one of the world’s greatest spectacles.

 

#6 SNORKEL THE BAY OF PIGS

Your friends won’t believe it, but you know it’s for real. The collision of familiar history and undisturbed nature—the bay has a thriving coral reef—is amazing. And it’s a major bonus to see the invasion from the Cuban perspective at the small museum.

 

#7 SLIP INTO STONEHENGE AFTER HOURS

You’ve waited so long, so why should you share? With the right connections (us), it’s possible to wander Stonehenge when the hordes are prohibited. It’s just you and the stones on the vast Salisbury Plain. What a happy shock to have the circle to yourself.

 

#8 GLIDE IN A VENETIAN GONDOLA

Fun? Absolutely. But a gondola ride is also an amazing way to slip away from the Venice bustle into the real world of everyday life. Schoolchildren skip across tiny footbridges. Your canal laps at the secret steps to palazzos. It’s as timeless as you always hoped it would be.

 

#9 FEEL THE SPIRIT OF ANGKOR WAT

Prepare to shiver in Cambodia’s tropic warmth. Angkor Wat does that to you, especially as the sun sinks into the jungle. That’s the moment when the temple stops being a magnificent relic of Khmer history and inspires the sort of spiritual wonder that we get to feel all too rarely.

 

#10 SIP CHIANTI ON THE TERRACE OF MY TUSCAN VILLA

Well, yes. You should. You must. You can. Your hosts are a count and countess. The views across the silvery olive groves and the cross-hatched vineyards are exactly what you dreamed of. The contentment is so complete that you may even forget to wind that last ribbon of pappardelle onto your fork.