Goodbye, summer!
Golden Gardens Park in Ballard, Seattle, WA at sunset

Summer seemed to go by so quickly! It’s been a crazy summer for me – my brother’s wedding, only a few things off the summer bucket list (I’m never good at finishing those!), and a 3 week road trip with a person I barely knew (we met on my Austin, TX trip in the hostel a few months ago)!

There’s no way I can tell you all the good stuff (recommendations, travel stories, pictures, etc) in just one post, so keep an eye out for future posts as they come. For now, I want to give a quick recap of this season and a sneak peak at what’s coming up this fall.

Summer Bucket List Progress

Of the 15 items, I did 3 that I feel are actually accomplished:

• participate in a flash mob
• learn to do a magic trick
• write a letter to a stranger

There are a few others I sort of did but I’m not sure if I’m going to count them:

• look out the window on the top floor of a downtown skyscraper (went to the top of the Stratosphere in Vegas, but I’m not sure I’d consider that “downtown” and went to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, but wouldn’t exactly call either a skyscraper in the way I was thinking of it – super tall office buildings in a place that gives you a perspective of the downtown/business district of a city that you wouldn’t normally see)
• write an article for publication (I wrote a more in-depth article about the floating sky lanterns for an online publication, but what I was really thinking when I put this on the list was an article in print)

Do you have things you want to do, but only a certain way? Sometimes I’m more picky than others, for example, I counted riding a camel at the State Fair, but didn’t count the skyscraper thing.

Road Trip… by the Numbers

• 21 days, drove 3007 miles, visited 3 states (but mainly California)
• Slept in 11 different places, plus 1 more if you count the one place we stayed up all night instead of sleeping
• Met 2 famous people
• Accomplished 5 official list items, and added many more retrospective list items
• Have infinite stories to tell

Road Trip… by the Favorites

• Favorite attraction/single location: Alcatraz – really want to go back during the day and see more/spend more time there (we did the night tour)
• Favorite city/town: Las Vegas – this was my second time in Vegas and it still had its magic. We stayed with family and it was the first time on the trip we’d stayed in one place for longer than one night, so we felt really relaxed and welcomed. One of the best nights on our trip happened in Vegas. (Do you have a travel story of when everything worked out so perfectly and you had the best time?)
• Favorite bucket list item accomplished: learning to surf (yes, even more fun than skydiving!)
• Favorite “craziest thing that happened” story: You’ll have to ask me in person someday 😉 (it’s mean to tease, I know, but some things are just better told in person… or, if I eventually change my mind about sharing, I’ll still wait to get permission to share on the blog)

Of course, I’ll be updating you over the next several months on this trip and the rest of the things that have happened, but for now I’ll leave it at that.

What were some of the highlights of your summer? Did you accomplish any bucket list items?

Fall Sneak Peak

Every day can’t be an amazing bucket list travel adventure, but we can choose to be a little adventurous every day. Starting November 1, I’m going to be hosting a 31 Days of Everyday Adventure challenge here on The Goal List. If you are interested in learning more and/or want to join me, sign up for the Insiders list to stay updated. (The Insiders list also gives you access to cool bonuses throughout the year, so there’s plenty of reasons to sign up!)

Looking forward to hearing about your summer adventures and supporting you in your goals for fall!