I class once in a lifetime trips as experiences that require quite a bit of time or money or both and therefore you’re only likely to do them once.
That’s not to say you can’t go back if you loved it so much the first time. And why not! Suck the juice out of this beautiful and fascinating world we live in as much as you can for as long as you can!
Over the last 14 years I have been lucky enough to experience quite a few once in a lifetime trips, like the time I bumped into Mark Zuckerburg on the Great Wall of China, or the time when a Delhi train scam almost killed my sister, or even the times I encountered sharks at the Great Barrier Reef and in the Pacific Ocean in French Polynesia.
But even though I have been fortunate enough to see so many amazing sites, the world is a huge and exciting place with so much more to do and see!
Here are 10 phenomenal once in a lifetime trips I personally can’t wait to take and that I hope inspire your own wanderlust! Add these beauties to your bucket list!
1. Zhangjiajie National Park, China (inspiration for Avatar)
Avatar is one of my favorite movies of all time and although I’m certainly not expecting to come across the Na’vi or the tree of souls on my trip, I would love to see the spectacular mountains which inspired the floating rocks in the movie.
What gives the Zhangjiajie mountains their beauty is their pillar-like formations and sheer majesty. The ‘Avatar Hallelujah Mountain’ stands at 3,540ft!
The Best Way to Experience the Zhangjiajie Mountains
There are varying ways to experience the national park and I want to try them all!
The Baillong Elevator (translated as ‘hundred dragons sky lift” – love that!,) is 1070ft and the world’s tallest lift! Once at the top the views of the park & Hallelujah mountain are said to be stunning.
Then you can hop on one, if not all of the 5 cable car rides around the park, exploring the Huangshi village, The Tianzi Mountains, and the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge at the Tianmen Mountains, the longest and highest glass bridge in the world!
Sounds like fun to me (she says until she gets there!)
It’s a bit of a trek to get there. The most common route is apparently to fly into the city of Changsha and get the train to the town of Zhangjiajie, then get a bus or a taxi from there to the park.
But however you get there, this is definitely a lifetime experience worth adding to your bucket list!
2. Take an Expedition Trip Through Antarctica
I have to admit, I’m not a fan of the cold. On most of my social media profiles it says ‘chasing the sun around the world’. Nuff’ said.
However, a dream trip that’s been on my bucket list forever is an expedition to Antarctica.
I’m imagining the majesty of the icebergs, the landscapes, and the huge waddles of penguins.
I guess I’ll just have to wrap up warm!
The Best Way to Experience Antarctica
Apparently the best time to visit is from October to March and it’s important to jump on an expedition trip rather than a cruise. A cruise is what it says on the tin, it cruises by.
An expedition trip explores the area, giving you the opportunity to get off and walk amongst the penguins and seals and enjoy the immense white vistas around you!
You can also jump on a little dinghy and explore sculpted icebergs, and get up close and personal with whales!
And for the more adventurous (and weather hardy) amongst us, you can even camp overnight, go paddle boarding or head off on a sea kayak!
Not sure I fancy camping, but hey, when in Rome as they say!
Accessible from Buenos Aires, Argentina or Punta Arenas, Chile, (which would also be pretty awesome places to visit), the most fun sounding route to Antarctica departs from Ushuaia, Argentina (3.5 hr flight from Buenos Aires).
From there you jump on a boat that over a day and a half, takes you through the Drake Passage, a 1000km body of water between South America’s Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.
Alternatively, you can fly direct to an island adjacent to the Antarctic peninsula from Punta Arenas.
What an adventure. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
3. Fly Over the Fairy Chimneys, Gerome, Cappadocia, Turkey
Most definitely a bucket list destination, I first saw these on an episode of ‘The Silk Road with Joanna Lumley’ and instantly fell in love with the fairy chimney rock formations she got to explore.
The result of ancient volcanic eruptions coupled with millennia of erosion, the fairy chimneys were originally huge rock structures formed by the hardening of the volcanic ash, which left behind a softer more malleable rock called tuff.
At some point during the Roman period, persecuted Christians made Cappadocia their home and built a network of caves, churches, stables and living quarters all dug into the rock.
In the Joanna Lumley episode, you saw evidence of where kitchen pots would have been placed, horses would have been secured and an ancient rolling security door, which could be used in the event of an attack, giving the Christians time to flee to freedom through caves and narrow passageways.
How Best to Experience the Fairy Chimneys
These days as tourists, we get to explore these magical caves by foot or we can jump in a hot air balloon and view their unique beauty from above.
Of course I’ll be doing both!
4. Dune Buggy Around Huacachina, Peru
Number 4 in my list of breathtaking once in a lifetime trips takes us to Peru!
There are many things to do in Peru, like hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, head to the rainbow mountains, see the sacred valley, get lost in the colca canyon, and more.
Once we get there we’ll probably stay a while and do as many of them as we can.
However, I really fancy experiencing Huacachina. A desert oasis in the Southern end of Peru not far from the coast, it sounds like a fun place to visit.
How Best to Experience Huacachina
Firstly, it’s a village with a huge natural oasis at it’s centre completely surrounded by huge sand dunes.
If that’s not enough, for the adventurers you can go sand boarding or dune buggying, head to the seaside town of Paracas and see some wild penguins and sea lions, go on a Nazca lines flight (one of the most famous historical sites in Peru) or sample the local wines at the Pisco Vineyard (oh yes!)
Or you can simply climb the dunes and watch the most beautiful and unforgettable sunsets over the desert.
It sounds like bliss! Also any place that is the result of a legend sounds worth exploring to me!
The Legend of Huacachina
Source – https://www.huacachina.com/info/
It is said that the oasis originated from the tears shed of a maiden from the town of Tacara who mourned the death of her beloved, a young Inca warrior. After crying for days and nights, the lagoon was created, until one day before nightfall a warrior passed through the lagoon and saw the girl.
Feeling observed, the young woman threw herself into the water to hide for hours until the warrior left and when she tried to leave she realized that she had transformed into a mermaid. The girl’s name was Huacachina.
The legend says that every night of the Full Moon, the young woman leaves the lagoon to continue crying to her beloved dead in the war.”
5. Witness the Great Migration at Serengeti National Park
Going on safari has long been on my bucket list. However, I don’t just want to do an African safari, although I’m sure that’s an amazing experience.
No, I want to see masses of Wildebeest galloping across the planes, fighting crocs in the rivers and desperately trying to outrun the dramatic meal time attacks by groups of lions!
I want the immersive Lion King experience!
The good news is, it’s available (at a price).
How Best to Experience The Great Migration
Most tours start at around $9k per person but that includes full board, safari tours and experiences and transfer flights (not international flights).
An example trip might be starting in Kenya, heading to the Masai Mara for a few days, then onto Tanzania to spend a few days on the Serengeti, followed by a big 5 safari!
Unfortunately, due to climate change, the rains are not as predictable as they used to be so the migration times are more variable.
Plus the wildebeest can just wander about at the water’s edge for a couple of weeks before crossing so there’s definitely some luck involved.
August is generally considered the best time to witness the river crossings, however there’s a chance you could see thousands of wildebeest stretching as far as 40km anytime from May.
Alongside the galloping Wildebeest, you may also encounter elephants, hippos, zebra and giraffes as well as apex predators including lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas.
Hakuna Matada! When can I go?
Due to the unpredictability of the weather and the inability to control the behavior of wild animals, a lot of this trip relies on luck. Hence why this is on my list of once in a lifetime trips.
6. Scuba Dive the Cancun Underwater Museum
One of my more unique once in a lifetime trip ideas is The Cancun Underwater Museum is the brainchild of a chap called Jaime Gonzalez Canto, the director of the Cancun National Marine Park.
With the goal of saving nearby local coral reefs, damaged by tourism, he wanted to create a man-made area of ph-neutral concrete structures, with some well placed corals, to draw tourists away, mainly from the popular Manchones Reef.
Unfortunately artificial coral gardens take years to flourish, so after some lengthy research he found artist & sculptor Jason Decaires Taylor, already experimenting with underwater sculptures in the Caribbean.
They teamed up to create what is now called MUSA and in 2010 opened the ocean doors to an initial installation of almost 500 statues!
How Best to Experience The Museum
The main collection is called Silent Evolution and includes some 450 statues which over the last decade have become a haven for corals and marine life.
There is also a submerged Volkswagen beetle now covered in plants and underwater life and other scenes and collections created by a variety of artists.
There are a couple of sites, one recommended for scuba diving as the statues are between 8 – 10m and one for snorkelers, with statues sitting at 2 – 4m.
In my experience if the waters are clear and it’s a bright sunny day, you’d likely have no problem snorkelling and seeing the statues at 8-10m. It’s just not that deep.
There’s also a glass bottom boat tour if you don’t fancy venturing into the water at all.
The pictures of this hidden gem look amazing and as a diver, I can’t wait to get my scuba gear on and go exploring!
Plus I’ve never been to Cancun, or Mexico for that