Bucket list items that probably ain't happening

We did a tour with a river cruise that included Kiev, Ukraine, Russia (Moscow and St. Pete and the river cruise between), then the three Baltic countries. It was great, but in 2011 when the political environment was not so bad between the two countries.

If things get better in the future, considering taking the river cruise, it is great to see some of the small and medium sized towns and cities as well as Moscow and St. Pete.

In 2012 we did China and it was great. China may still be an option now?

Looks like you missed it. Was on your list - for decades. You should have moved on it earlier. People dream, they speculate, they do nothing. Things get in the way. And eventually you can’t do them. Might be due to a war. Might be due to health. That is the biggest reason, health. Not necessarily even bad health. Could be simple as now you cannot ever go on that trek because you can’t walk that far. Some maybe can’t even go on a tour and take the excursions. Maybe can’t even go to Disney World. Too much standing, walking, heat, humidity. Your ankles swell up, your back hurts. Things that never even were on your mind when you were young.
Old, that is the big factor.
Before old, it is probably family, job. And for some that have the desire to go to Europe, but they don’t want to go for a week. No, if they are going all the way there, they want to go for month(s). Of course that is probably not going to happen, so they do not go at all.
We all have our impediments. Some just formulated in our minds.
Then again sometimes it is all about money. Most bucket lists entail some spending. And by the time we get to being able to afford it, we are, once again, too old.

Me. I am at that point in age where I realize I am probably not going to climb Kilimanjaro. I am unclear whether I would make it. Something I would not have thought even 5 years ago.

China, probably not good now, with the way they are handing COVID.

St Petersburg and the Great Wall are the first two that pop into my mind. A third is Antarctica, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready to put it on the 'ain't happening' list.

geovagriffith, thank you for that great idea.

Treemoss2, I know.

And there is a great cruise from Kyiv to Istanbul that I would like to do next year.

A few other places probably better done sooner than later for reasons similar to Ukraine / Russia

• The Baltic States
• Serbia
• Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Georgia
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• The "Stans"
• Taiwan

BigMike, you hit it exactly - St. Petersburg (really, the Hermitage) is the biggest Bucket List destination that’s doubtful. It’s unfortunate when things make holes in the bucket, and some of the contents can leak.

I am also sad about Russia--I don't do guided group tours but I had decided I would love to see Russia and had found a company people had good reviews of that would provide a private guide for Moscow, St Petersburg and the Golden Ring. It was a bit costly, so I put it off for...someday. I had also researched Ukraine--Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa--but it seemed a bit daunting so turned my attention to Romania...spring of 2020,obviously that didn't happen but maybe next year.

Well, I’m lucky. As a college student, I minored in Russian, and the summer after my freshman year, my parents supported my going on a six-week study/tour of the then-USSR. A group from my university flew into Helsinki, took the overnight train to Moscow, and then we spent two weeks visiting Moscow, Leningrad (as it was then), Riga, and Vilnius. We then returned to Moscow where those on the tour-only portion returned to the States, and the students stayed in Moscow for a four-week language program.

So I went to Moscow and St. Petersburg long before I ever went to Paris, Rome, Madrid, Vienna, Budapest . . ..etc. Long before I ever went anywhere outside the U.S. but Scotland (where I had lived as a child). Heck I didn’t even go to London until spring semester my senior year of college.

It was the summer of 1988 when we went. Little did we know how soon things would change. We had no inkling of it then. It’s wild to think that next summer it will be 35 years since that trip.

I grew up in a community where hatred (not too strong a word) for Russia and the Russians was deeply ingrained and inheritable. It didnt matter if it was "Russia" or "the Soviet Union" it was always the Russians, and they were not to be trusted. So no. The history is fascinating, but not attractive.

Kim, what a great trip you took as a college student!

In 2012, I bought 2 decorated Russian egg cups, as souvenirs-in-advance - clearly jinxing my travels there.

In 2019, a friend and I signed up for the RS Best of St Petersburg tour for May, 2020, with a pre-tour time in the Baltics and a post-tour extension in Moscow, complete with tour bookings and a couple of days with a private guide. Optimistically, we rescheduled for July, 2020 - hah! In November, 2021, we tried again, booking for the period of the White Nights in the summer of 2022, thinking it was worth the wait to go during that time! We cancelled (third time not a charm) in December, 2021, when services at the embassy in Moscow were diminishing.

Those 2 little Russian egg cups are likely the only "souvenir" I will have from Russia.

We had a three week tour bought when Chernobyl blew. The tour company allowed us to switch to three weeks in China and Tibet. Life got in the way so much so that Russia and Ukraine never happened. Instead, we opted for other destinations such as, Egypt, Galapagos, and South Africa.
I took Russian History and Political science in college and enjoyed it more than I anticipated.

Kim, I had a similar experience, but in 19 68 ! I was a Russian major at the time, and was able to join an academic trip to the Soviet Union. We also started in Helsinki for orientation and testing. As I recall, we were in the Soviet Union for about 6 weeks: language study in Leningrad (as it was then) for about four weeks, followed by time in Moscow, Odessa, and finally Kiev (as it was known at the time.) We flew out to Vienna where we were turned loose, and were to gather again in Amsterdam a week later. It was an amazing experience, and I wish I had taken the kind of travel notes then that I do now. I think Stan may still have the letters I wrote him from Russia -- probably, because he never throws anything away!

Oh my gosh Jane, you have to look for those letters !! Wouldn't they be something to read now.

I have still somehow never made it to Ukraine, but will someday.

Kim, me, too. As soon as it’s possible.

On the other hand, Russia was fortunately never on my bucket list. But I don’t really have a bucket list. There are so many amazing places to see that I will never run short. The ones that probably won’t happen for me are the ones I needed to do when I was younger and more agile - but also when I had young children and no money.

I always wanted to take a walk on the Great Wall of China. I’m fairly certain that’s never going to happen for a variety of reasons. I have been able to spend a little time in Russia several years ago and did love that. I have met my travel dreams except for that Wall. I have taken a few steps on Hadrian’s wall before that was eventually discouraged and in some places, forbidden. I feel am lucky!

We were on a tour that went to Russia in 1990. But for me, Egypt and China won't happen.

I wanted to see The Hermitage, but that's not going to happen. As the grand-child of Finnish immigrants, it was always a little dicey. Another bucket list item that probably ain't happening is Greece. That's a lot of ancient steps without a lot of "ADA" style hand rails.

In Europe ain't happening: Lviv in the Ukraine. I should have seen this city, the former Lemberg in the first years of the 21st century. A good friend of mine did exactly that 20 years ago taking the train from Kviv to Lviv, because he wanted to see traces of Lemberg, the 4th largest city in Austria-Hungary pre-1914. He made the right decision.

Also China with the current political climate and leadership, aside from Corona.

Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, Syria. So many historic places to see in the last three. I’d love to visit Cuba too, other than our naval base that I’ve been to, but that isn’t very promising at the moment.

Maybe I'm in denial but I'm not ready to answer this question. But boy, TreeMoss - did your response resonate with me. I think about all of that frequently. I often wonder, what can I do now at 52, nearly 53, to be able to travel well into my years. Because until recently, I was one of those who couldn't afford to until fairly recently.

Deborah, we were in a similar situation. We did spend some time in Europe 40 years ago for work or school, but never took a European trip just for fun until we were gifted a trip to Italy. We loved it, but travel like that wasn't in our budget. We did finally begin making European trips in our early 60s, pinching every penny.

We're now in a good financial situation, but as I've commented elsewhere, time is no longer our friend. We're mid-70s, healthy, but we can hear that clock ticking. We're going to squeeze as much as we can out of our travel life, adding an extra trip to Europe here and there, and making sure we continue to travel in the States, as well.

Our main problem now is time; not only the ticking clock, but we're involved in a number of other activities here at home that are very time consuming. We're lightening our load there as well, but we have a couple of things we can't walk away from yet.

I have a couple of friends here who are pretty much "footloose and fancy free." One will call the other and say "I'm bored. Let's go to ___________." And they go! I do envy that.

Honestly it's still a place you can go relatively easily if you have a visa. My girlfriend lives in St. Petersburg and I go in and out once every two months even now. Right now it is much harder to go absolutely. Right now you can take the bus from Helsinki (LuxExpress, Ecolines, and a Russian bus company), Tallin (Lux Express, and Ecolines), Riga (LuxExpress) and that's just for St. Petersburg. As far as air service you have Turkish, Air Serbia, Qatar, and Emirates operating into Moskva or St. Petersburg.

Also I would expect that sometime in the next year or so we will see some major political changes to the country. Definitely a country worth seeing.

You guys with long bucket lists impress me. It couldn't be without intellect and a desire to have a full life.

I need to start building a longer one.

I don't have a bucket list but I've always fancied Dordogne and some of the Loire chateaux, plus a return trip to the Merano area and the Garden of Ninfa.

"As the grand-child of Finnish" - me too, but mine (on my father's side) were both killed by the Soviets. My view of Russians is the same as that of the community in which Stan was raised. But, as soon as the war is over people will be tripping over themselves to get to St Petersburg again.

We took a Baltic cruise 4 years ago out of Copenhagen and found that the only way to visit Scandanavia reasonably is on a cruise ship. We flew over to Norway and took the Norway in a Nutshell trip thru the fjords to Bergen.

We had two days in St. Petersburg, and the city is incredibly beautiful. I was expecting a bunch of old Ruskie cars, but all the vehicles were new Volvos, Mercedes & BMW's. We were thrilled to not need any Rubles as the restaurants at that time took credit cards and even our ATM card. We found the palaces and museums to be world class. Their Russian Orthodox churches might have a whole lot more Christians if they had pews and didn't have to stand so long.

We were scheduled to go back to St. Petersburg on another Baltic cruise June, 2022, however the political situation turned south. Since we're retirees, we doubt that any Russia trip is in our future. We instead took a cruise out of Greece ending in Italy.

If you get down to it, St. Petersburg is like a "show dog". It was built on the backs of peasants living in very undesirable conditions--and it was a city built for show. Paris of the late 1700's was the same way.

Turkey. I saw "Topkapi" as a little kid and I honestly think that was the first movie that made me so interested in travel, I had never seen anyplace like that before. I just can't support their dictator and the limitations he is placing on civil rights. I feel like if I visit and spend money, I'd be enabling and saying those violations are fine. Same reason I struggle with China, Cuba and parts of Asia/Africa with discriminatory laws on the books. If people aren't able to be themselves and live their lives, I can't just fly in, spend my money, then fly out back to a place where I had those freedoms. I'm 31 so I still have time but I don't see the politics of those places changing this century.

I cancelled a 2019 trip to Hong Kong and China due to the protests in Hong Kong. This was a trip to visit family in both places, and I have already been to both. I still hope to make it happen eventually.

In the 1970s the idea of visiting Vietnam was crazy. But now it is a popular destination, and I have been there. I have also been to Croatia which seemed impossible in the 1990s. We often think gloom and doom, but there are also cases where situations improve.

RafaFan, I respect that.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses. Yes, keep hope alive. Maybe a country like Russia will have a reform-minded Gorbachev in the near future. If, so, St. Petersburg and Moscow, here I come. Perhaps Ukraine could benefit from tourism dollars, eventually.

Mike, I also have Moscow and St. Petersburg on my bucket list. LIke you, I love Russian history (I actually took a course in it when I was in college) but I also love the beauty there. Other bucket list places are Egypt (hopefully in 2025), Norway and Sweden, South America and New Zealand.

Mardee, you have a lot to look forward to.

In particular I'd like to see the WWII sites/museums in Russia.

We were fortunate to go to Moscow and St. Petersburg in 2005. Now I can stop dreaming about going to Machu Picchu.

I have been in the midst of planning a two week trip to Peru. Now, sadly, that is off the table for now, as Machu Picchu has been closed to tourists. I am very hopeful however, that we will get there eventually.

China is also on our list, but at least 5 years away.

We were fortunate to visit China and Cuba in the decade preCOVID. My wife's ancestors are from Belarus and Ukraine. We may never get to visit Belarus, but hold out hope for Ukraine. Travelling is getting harder and I'm looking more at going back to the places that have great memories.

I too always wanted to go to Russia and see St.Petersburg.
Also Egypt...where I should have gone when I worked in the Middle East back in the 80's.
It was an easy hop over back then.
Too dangerous in some places these days.

Right now, the only item in my bucket is Sicily.

Yes, glad I made it to Russia a few years ago. Now it’s really only Greece, and more of France!
But those should be doable if nothing changes.

I had a literal bucket list, and I've more than completed it. My mother died when she was 6 years younger than I am now. Her father died at the same age. 9 years ago, I had a health scare that made it seem as if I would suffer the same fate. At the time, I had been only to Hong Kong and Tokyo (which hadn't been on my radar, but DH's work opened up an opportunity) and to Paris and London. (I didn't travel anywhere outside of North America until I was in my 50s, although I'd been to most places in Canada and to many states.) I really, really wanted to see Prague before I died. Of course, there were many places I wanted to see, but Prague was at the top of the list, followed by Machu Picchu. This was early January, 2014. My husband and I booked a trip to Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Salzburg and Munich for that July. I had an MRI scheduled for late July.

Well, it turned out that the MRI showed that nothing had progressed (and hasn't so far, touch wood), but I have been acutely aware that any trip I take could be my last, so I try to make the most of each one. This is probably why my travel style differs from that of many posters here. I have no interest in taking things slow and absorbing the feeling of living someplace else. I am very happy to be alive where I'm living, and I am very happy and privileged to be able to be a tourist. That doesn't mean I never want to go off the beaten path, but it does mean I want to see as much as I can in the time I have, and I frequently try to visit multiple countries in one trip, because just getting overseas is a long, expensive flight. And, of course, I never, ever assume that I will be back.

Since that 2014 trip, I've been to Portugal, Spain, the South of France, Denmark, Norway, Scotland, southern England (not London), Mainz, Namibia, Costa Rica, Ecuador (esp. the Galapagos Islands), Peru, Amsterdam, Italy, Croatia, and Ireland. I'd like to go to Southeast Asia next, but the serious illness of a close family member means that we're staying closer to home this year: Mexico (Yucatan).

So, I do have a list, but it is no longer a bucket list. If something happened that meant I could no longer travel, I would be content to know that I've seen the places I most wanted to see. Of course, I always want to see more places, and I'd love to visit Greece, Turkey, Egypt, China, New Zealand, St. Petersburg, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and more places in Africa, to name a few (LOL), but my philosophy is now to do what I can while I can. In answer to your question, I will probably never get to visit mainland China or St. Petersburg.

I'll be 65 in a few weeks. Yes, growing old might limit what I can do when I travel, somewhat. But, I'm okay with that, because I'm acutely aware that growing old is a privilege not everyone gets to enjoy.

So sorry douglas. As many families found out during Covid, many workplaces in the US expect their employees to prioritize work over family. I recently read an article that said women in the US are choosing jobs or leisure activities instead of having babies.

BB, very well said and a poignant reminder to be grateful of each day we have.

As a teen and into my 20s, I’d often read Lonely Planet books on Asia, Africa and other developing nations and think how cool it would be to do independent travel in areas like that.

Now, getting older, I realise that at this stage, I just can’t deal with barebones budget travel and I wouldn’t have the patience to deal with bribe seeking border guards or the other interesting aspects of travel in developing countries.

I don’t need 5 stars but I also need some comfort and some degree of organisation

Work, kids, and money kept us from traveling when we were younger. We are in our 60’s , retired, nice enough savings to allow us to travel. We do have obligations and stuff that keeps us from traveling whenever we want. We watch our grands. I wouldn’t give that up for a million bucks. I was a working mom and did not get to stay home with our boys. When we go now, I want to be gone 3-4 weeks . We will be gone this year 41 days. The longest we have been gone. I have been blessed to have been to about 17 countries, some multiple times. So I think my main bucket list is the Camino walk. Don’t know when or if that will happen. I would love to go back to Italy, RS Easter Europe tour. Redo RS Scandinavian tour. We had to go home due to death in family this past summer. We went to our financial advisor review of our portfolio last month…. I told him we would need to increase our $$$$ travel budget!! Lol

I've moved Taiwan up on my list, out of concerns that it could go the way of Ukraine. Some of the analysts I've read speculate that it will be several years before things reach a breaking point, so I'm hoping to visit sooner rather than later if we can, maybe in 2024 (of course, timing is everything, and we will be following developments).

I'll soon have a visit from my sister-in-law, who went as an exchange student to North Korea when she was in high school. She has some good stories to tell from those days (she did mention that the food wasn't a highlight...). I'll be keeping North Korea off my list.

growing old is a privilege not everyone gets to enjoy.

BB, thank you for this. I have been practicing gratitude, and this resonates.

I realized a couple of years ago that I had always thought that when my husband and I retired that we would buy a place in France, live there @ six months of the year and use it as a base to travel from to other European spots. It must have been in my subconscious because I didn't realize it until I realized that I couldn't do it! I have children and grandchildren who I can't be apart from that long. I still struggle with it. I have been lucky, though, to spend 3-4 weeks at a time in Europe, but oh, the desire for the pied à terre. . .

A few other places probably better done sooner than later for reasons
similar to Ukraine / Russia

• The Baltic States

Visiting the Baltic states is a good idea in general, but I don't think there is any risk Russia might try something there.

I've always meant to climb Mount Rainier, but now every time I see it it looks taller and taller.

I don't have a bucket list but three places I would like to visit but probably won't is Japan, South Africa and Turkey.

We did a Baltic cruise a few years ago St Petersburg was so awesome I did plan to return. I read everything I could as I kid about Nicholas and Alexandra. Being there was magical - lots of tears welled up in my eyes with each travel stop. I would return IF ever possible.

Well, as I mentioned we can be hopeful for a reform-minded moderate like Gorbachev to bring Russia back into the community of nations. I'm optimistic that will happen once Putin is gone.

Putin might have another 25 years. Plenty of autocrats hold power for essentially a lifetime.

Or he could be gone tomorrow, hard to say. Autocrats also are suddenly swept away

Hank: Keep hope alive.

For the latter.

The Russians have a long-standing taste for autocracy. Witness the nostalgia for the days of Stalin. It's a mistaken Western notion to believe that everyone everywhere longs for democracy, when most people will gladly trade it for stability and security.

Putin might have another 25 years. Plenty of autocrats hold power for
essentially a lifetime.

In 25 years, Putin will be 95. While it is certainly possible, I don't know how likely that is.

In 25 years, Putin will be 95. While it is certainly possible, I don't
know how likely that is.

Maybe all the judo has worn him down? I will reset his over-under lifespan to 16.5 years.

But I'm taking the over

I have some bad news for freedom-loving people everywhere, and those who look forward to visiting a post-fascist Russia (or those who simply wish a better life for people in that long-suffering country):

As eager as I am to see Putin "go", there's no reason to expect that The Next Guy will be any better. He could easily be worse (if that seems hard to imagine, work on your imagination a little...). Russia does not have (and has never had) what we would call an orderly "succession process", there's no Vice Tsar standing by to take the oath of office. More likely there will be a very nasty power struggle (see The Death of Stalin for one brutally satirical view of what we might expect based on a previous succession - what an amazing cast in that film!...highly recommended BTW, and a useful reminder).

Maybe the world will get lucky and the younger, more educated urban population will rise up and help democracy take root - maybe Alexei Navalny will survive his time in the gulag and eventually come to power (don't know who Alexei Navalny is? watch the very excellent documentary, Navalny, just nominated for an Oscar for best Documentary, and now streaming on HBO Max, it's an incredible film. Can't access HBO? Check out Navalny interviewed on 60 Minutes ). Unfortunately, many of those younger, more enlightened Russians have understandably fled to Istanbul and Phuket, and may not be going back.

I hope things will eventually get better in Russia (though things need to first get a lot better for Ukraine), but the track record is not encouraging. Against that we have the moral arc of the universe, and some incredibly brave Russians (see them in Navalny's videos) so there's some hope...but it may take a long time. Until then, Russia will be off my bucket list.

Definitely more places always sneak in. Besides, there are so many wonderful places in the world. I don't know how one could see them all in one lifetime.