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Brittany L. Bergman

Savoring motherhood, building marriage, and living simply

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A Wanderluster’s Travel Bucket List

Jun 17 72 Comments

As someone who loves traveling and experiencing new things, I’ve done a lot of mental “filing” of my dream destinations. It’s not that I’ll never be content if I don’t see the places on this list; quite the opposite. My love for simple, contented living applies to travel, too. I don’t need bigger, newer, better in my travels. I just love to travel. But you better believe that when someone asks me where I’d most like to go, dozens of locations come to mind. This is my attempt to boil it down to my top 10, just for fun. I’m sure this list will change over time, and I’m sure I’ll never make it to all (or even most) of these places. And that’s just fine with me.

Of all the places in the world to go, how can you narrow it down to 10? Top destinations for one wanderluster at TheNestedNomad.com

Also, it’s worth noting that for some of these, I’ve lumped together a couple of locations into one “trip.” It may be cheating, but it’s my bucket list so I’ll do what I want. But really, these are places that I would be able to see all in one trip, so I think it’s okay to put them into one.

Ireland

Ireland

Blarney Castle

My Irish roots run deep. Three of my mom’s four grandparents emigrated from Ireland, and several of my dad’s relatives did as well, though we’re not sure exactly how many. I was raised to be deeply proud about my heritage, and we still have quite a bit of family near the northwest coast. I’d love to visit the homeland someday, and I hope that when I do, I have enough money to take my mom with me. It’s been a dream of hers since she was little to see our family’s beloved country.

Southern Spain

Spain - Grenada

Grenada, Spain

Seville - Spain

Seville, Spain

My friend Jess (the one I visited in Seattle) studied abroad in Valencia during our senior year of college, fell in love, and moved a city called Jaen shortly after graduation. She raves about the beauty, culture, and food of southern Spain, as well as the low cost of living. You can actually buy a beer at a local bar for just 1 or 2 euros, and you get a whole plate of tapas (appetizers) with it. I’d most like to see Jaen, Cordoba (especially during the Patios Festival in May), Seville, and Granada.

Bavaria, Prague, and Budapest

Bavaria

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Prague

Prague, Czech Republic

I’ve always wanted to do a backpacking and train trip through Eastern Europe, but I’ve heard that Bavarian Germany is so beautiful that it would absolutely have to be part of this itinerary. Great beer, dark coffee, and endless pastries? Plus cobblestone streets, tiny cafes, and castles in the mountains? Count me in!

Italy and France

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terra, Italy

Colmar

Colmar, France

I would be fine never experiencing the hustle and bustle of Rome, but I’d love to see the Roman countryside, the Amalfi Coast, Florence, and Cinque Terre. Then I’d make my way to Paris for a day or two, just to get my fill of pastries, before exploring the French countryside. I’d wander the streets of small towns like Colmar and Riquewihr, and pretend I’m Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

Patagonia

Patagonia

This is like the mecca of hiking and snowboarding. Not that I have the skills necessary to stay alive while snowboarding in Patagonia, but it’s fun to imagine. I think I’d keep my feet separated and touching the ground for some hiking instead. I first discovered the beauty of this place while watching The Art of Flight on Netflix, and I can’t get it out of my mind. If you have any interest at all in beautiful destinations or even a mild interest in extreme sports, go watch this documentary right now. It’s incredible.

Zion National Park

Zion

I’m so longing to do the subway hike here. And how stunning are these red rock formations? I’ve only had a small taste of this kind of desert beauty in Colorado, and while it’s not my first pick (I’ll take water and forest first), I’d love to see more!

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

As you know, I love-hate all-inclusive resorts . . . but I do love a good beach getaway, as long as it has some adventure built in. It seems like Costa Rica is the perfect place to find that balance. Dan’s brother and sister-in-law have done a few trips there — staying in local hotels, taking public transportation, and exploring the jungle and the beach — and we’d love to join them on one someday.

Turkey

Istanbul (both photos from my own trip)

Cappadocia

Cappodocia

This one is kind of cheating because I’ve already been to Istanbul, but I’d go again in a heartbeat. The food is unbelievable, the people are the friendliest in the world, and the whole city just buzzes with life. There is so much rich church and modern history stamped all over this city, and the amount of stuff there is to see and do there is endless. I’d also love to get out and see more of this gorgeous country, especially Antalya, Bodrum, Cappodocia, and Ephesus.

Israel

Jerusalem

I’m a history nerd who loves Jesus — of course Israel is on my list. These trips are so expensive, but I would love to do one of those tours with Dr. Michael Rydelnik from Moody. I can’t imagine anything better than walking where Jesus walked, sitting where thousands listened to Him teach, and praying in the spot where He was crucified. Also, I love Middle Eastern food, so there’s that.

Alaska

Alaska

I don’t know that I’d really want to do a Caribbean cruise (you might be able to convince me after a couple of sleepless months with a newborn), but an Alaskan cruise up there on my list of travel priorities. You have all the luxuries of a cruise — unlimited food that someone else cooks, a bedroom that someone else cleans, hot tubs, entertainment, amazing sites — but with so much more majesty and adventure. Also, you don’t have to wear a bikini. You get to wear a hoodie. That means the overindulging that’s likely to happen each morning at breakfast won’t show later in the day at the pool. Score.

Are any of these destinations on your travel bucket list? What else would you add to this list?

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Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: adventure, backpacking, contentment, cruise, culture, dreams, europe, experiences, food, fun, hiking, nature, travel, vacation, wanderlust

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brittanylbergman

Brittany L. Bergman
✔️ Kamala shirt ✔️ Kamala pearls ✔️ Ka ✔️ Kamala shirt
✔️ Kamala pearls
✔️ Kamala mug 
✔️ Kamala curls

It’s a great day to witness the shattering of a glass ceiling, to embrace empathy and decency, and to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

The work is only just beginning, but today, we celebrate. Congratulations, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris! 👏🏼🎉💙
What a beautiful, exhausting, festive, heartbreaki What a beautiful, exhausting, festive, heartbreaking, cozy, chaotic-but-strangely-quiet Christmas we had. ✨🎄✨

That’s a wrap for me on 2020—I’ll be off social media until sometime in January. May you be filled with peace and hope as we close this year but still wait for the close of this chapter in our history. 💜
I have faced Christmases full of grief and loss; d I have faced Christmases full of grief and loss; depression and rage; exhaustion and loneliness. But I can honestly say this is the weariest Christmas I can remember. I say that not to shine a spotlight on me, but to say that I have a feeling this might be your experience too. I’m with you.
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And so the words to my favorite Christmas hymn hit me different this year. They resonate in a place much deeper, more tender and true than ever before. I rejoice in the giggles of my meltdown-prone child. I rejoice in stolen moments alone in the dark, the room lit only by the glow of the Christmas tree. I rejoice in every video and every social media post I see of a frontline worker receiving the COVID vaccine, our ticket out of this nightmare. I rejoice in the vision that next Christmas might look more familiar than this one does. I rejoice in the hope of Christ, whose universal, creative, motherly love holds the whole universe together.
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On this Christmas Eve, I’ll leave you with this quote from Howard Thurman. I hope these words bring a slant of light to your day.
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“The symbol of Christmas—what is it? It is the rainbow arched over the roof of the sky when the clouds are heavy with foreboding. It is the cry of life in the newborn babe when, forced from its mother’s nest, it claims its right to live. It is the brooding Presence of the Eternal Spirit making crooked paths straight, rough places smooth, tired hearts refreshed, dead hopes stir with newness of life. It is the promise of tomorrow at the close of every day, the movement of life in defiance of death, and the assurance that love is sturdier than hate, that right is more confident than wrong, that good is more permanent than evil.”
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Whatever and however you celebrate at this time of year, I’m sending you all my love and peace. 💫
I found my Christmas spirit this weekend, just in I found my Christmas spirit this weekend, just in the nick of time.

I baked cookies with Selah without getting frustrated (first time ever?), took the kids on drive to see Christmas lights, and wrapped a bunch of gifts.

But here’s what I think did the trick, and please do steal this idea (because I stole it from someone else but have no idea who): Magical Movie Night™️.

On Saturday night, I stealthily placed a golden ticket under Selah’s pillow (which I printed from the internets and colored quickly with a yellow marker; good enough is good enough for Magical Movie Night!). We put Eamon to bed and got Selah ready for bed too, going through all the normal motions of brushing teeth, putting on pajamas, picking out a book. When we climbed into bed, I told her to look under her pillow.

She was confused when she found the ticket, and I told her it was for a Christmas movie night. “When?” she asked. “Right now!” I said. “What do you mean ‘right now’?” When it dawned on her that she was going to stay up past her bedtime to have a special movie night with Mommy and Daddy (sans Eamon), she lost her mind with excitement.

Bonus: Gramma was waiting downstairs with a bag of popcorn and Swedish Fish!

We snuggled under blankets, turned on Elf, and laughed our festive butts off. (This was her first time watching Elf, and it felt like the dawning of a new era. It’s such a big kid movie! And she loved it! Hold me. 😭)

Deck the halls, bring on Christmas, fill my mug with holly jolly goodness. 

I also acknowledge this has been a crappy year in so many ways, and I know many of you are not going to be able to access Christmas cheer this year. That’s okay. The real spirit of Christmas is light breaking through the dark, love making a way, and the beauty that can’t help seeping through the dirty, messy, horribly human moments of our lives. So you’re covered.

(And if you want to fake it ’til you make it, give Magical Movie Night a try. It’s the actual easiest.)
In which I couldn’t come up with a clever captio In which I couldn’t come up with a clever caption. There are signs of life but my brain is dead. 💀
“This is what I find most mystifying about Adven “This is what I find most mystifying about Advent: the period of waiting ultimately ends in great joy, but we can’t get to that great joy without intense, active, unbearable pain. In Advent we sense the mingling of anticipation and anxiety, excitement and disappointment, joy and pain, hope and fear.
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“On this side of history, we have the luxury of waiting with great hope, great joy, and great expectation. We know Jesus will be born, we know he will save us and redeem us, we know he will die and rise again, and we know he will set all things right one day.
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“But before Christ came, Advent was dark. It was lonely and unknown, as the Israelites waited in faith to hear from God, and all they got was… nothing. Silence.
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“Isn’t this more characteristic of the waiting we usually do? The waiting seasons of our lives are less often marked by joy and hope and more often marked by pain and fear. They are not often cozy or comforting but difficult and dark and even laborious.
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“We wait as a pregnant mother waits for her child to be born—there’s a vision of the joy to come, to be sure, but in the throes of gut-wrenching labor pains, we think we might actually die before we see that joy fulfilled. After a long season of pregnancy, when the fullness of time has arrived, the advent of labor ushers in the real period of waiting—and it is active and painful and raw.”
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// From “In the Fullness of Time,” a new blog post on @first15. There’s a link in my bio to the whole piece, with thoughts on pregnancy, Advent, and waiting well in an exceptionally hard year. 💜 Thank you so much to @first15 for publishing this post!
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Brittany L Bergman is a for-profit blog. Any company that I collaborate with is chosen by me and fits the theme and readership of my blog. At times, posts may contain affiliate links or sponsored content, which is never at any charge to you.

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