As you’ve probably guessed, I love to travel. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that my whole family loves to travel. My daughter has traveled the world with us as we explore as much of the world as we can. Our family put together Our Family Bucket List of all the travel-related things we want to accomplish together.
Our family has six bucket list travel goals. I’ve created a series of posts that will go over those goals in more detail, which will also share with you our progress, why it’s one of our goals, our biggest challenges and our favorite things.
- Visit All Fifty States (of the United States of America)
- Visit All Ten Geographical Regions of the World
- Dip Our Toes in All Five Oceans of the World
- Visit All Seven New World Wonders
Goal 3: Visit All Ten Geographical Regions of the World
First, a quick note that we’re considering the ten regions as follows: Africa, Asia, Central America, Eastern Europe, European Union, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America, and the Caribbean. Depending on who you ask, different geographers have different ways of dividing the geographic regions of the world. (And each geographic region listed here has its own geographical regions, etc.).
Progress and Status Report:
Want to know how we’re all doing on this bucket list goal? See below.
- Geek Girl: I have visited 9 of the geographical regions of the world. I’m only missing the Middle East. As of January 2023, I do not have a trip planned to the Middle East but we are looking at what we can see in 2024.
- Geek Husband: He has visited 8 of the geographical regions of the world. He’s missing Asia and the Middle East. As of January 2023, we have a trip to Asia planned and are looking into visiting the Middle East in 2024.
- Geek Daughter: She has visited 8 of the geographical regions of the world. She’s missing Asia and the Middle East. As of January 2023, we have a trip to Asia planned and are looking into visiting the Middle East in 2024.
Why Did We Pick This Bucket List Goal?
There are a number of reasons we included all the geographical regions on our bucket lists.
- To learn. Travel is about education for us. We love to learn more about people, places, food, and art. While we already have visiting the continents on our bucket list, that has more to do with stepping foot on a land mass and less to do with exploring cultures. This bucket list item has a lot more to do with exploring and experiencing more cultures.
- Photography. Exploring different geographical regions lends itself to the photography and videography that matters a lot to us. The world is full of so many stunning landscapes and it’s unfortunately easy to get more fixated on certain regions and not explore all of the beauty the world has to offer. Not every region is touristed equally.
- Authenticity. As travelers, we are tourists. No getting around that. But travel with an off-the-beaten-path mindset lends itself to a more authentic experience. So often, tourism isn’t actually managed by locals or even fully supporting the local community. It’s extremely important to us that we get the most authentic experience while also supporting the right people.
- The food. As a family of foodies, exploring different cultures and regions through their food is something that is significant for us. We will also search for the local dishes that folks feel are their very best representative of their culture. We love looking for restaurants that are locally owned, run, and locally supported.
Hear From the Family:
We all have different reasons for this being on our bucket list. Hear what we all have to say.
- Geek Girl: “I haven’t always felt connected to the culture I was born into. On my father’s side of the family, I’m only first generation American. On my mom’s side of the family, I’m second and third generation American. My heart has always had this indelible wanderlust that’s also looking for more connection to deeper roots. Exploring every region is my way of exploring those possible connections.”
- Geek Husband: “To experience the different cultures.”
- Geek Daughter: “I think it’s a lot of fun to visit a bunch of different places and get to see places that aren’t the US, where we spend most of our time.”
What Are Our Biggest Challenges or Concerns About This Bucket List Goal?
As with anything, there can always be potential complications.
- Accessibility. While putting together a list of trips is fairly easy to do nowadays, not every location is equally accessible, whether that pertains to transportation, funds, language barriers, cultural barriers, or even tourism visas.
- Time of year. Since we are a family that travels with folks who are in school, that really limits when we can take vacations, which doesn’t always line up with the best time of year to visit different regions. We tend to avoid on-peak travel, but we’re also limited to more typical vacation time available to students.
- Fluidity. At the end of the day, there are so many ways to determine and categorize geographical regions, whether that’s based on similar ethnic groups, similar geological features, political boundaries, etc. So, while we have a goal of visiting “all” of the geographical regions, there isn’t truly one definitive list we can follow.
What Are Some of Our Favorite Things About This Bucket List Goal?
There is a lot to love about visiting every geographical region. Here’s what we love.
- Awareness. All spaces and places have this history that deserves to be explored. It’s about geography, people and culture. Having an awareness of how geography has shaped human connection and development feels really important and powerful.
- Middle East. It’s very important for us to visit the Middle East and explore this region and its diversity. It includes the Northern Tier, Arabian Peninsula, Fertile Crescent, Nile Valley, and the Maghreb. There is so much to experience and we’re anxious to learn more.
- The adventure. We are a family with adventurers. We have such a strong wanderlust and want to take in all this world has to offer. And while visiting every single country might be a tall ask, we can definitely visit every region.
- The landscapes. The world is full of stunning landscapes and we are beyond excited to see them all. And photograph them all.
