There’s cruising, and there’s cruising. There’s a style of cruising that I do enjoy, on small ships with a maximum of 100 fellow passengers, vessels that go on expeditions or visit small ports, rather than the model of mega-ships spewing forth thousands of passengers into already crowded destinations. And the idea of circumnavigating the entire globe on one of those things, essentially calling it home? Not my thing.
Climb Mount Everest
A long queue of mountain-climbers line one of the two popular routes on Mount Everest in May 2019. Credit: AP
You’ve seen the photos by now: long queues, hundreds of people waiting below the summit of the world’s highest mountain, slowly shuffling forward for their moment at the top. Mount Everest is a circus these days, filled with so-so climbers who possess the one key factor necessary for success: money. Get money, get training, get equipment, get permits, get Sherpas, get to the summit. And for what? To say you did it?
Visit every country
This strikes me as another competition in travel, another way to “beat” other people, which is not what drives me in this pursuit. The challenge of visiting every country also encourages a box-ticking mentality, to see the world not as a set of unique destinations, but a to-do list that needs to be managed. I would love to see as much of the world as possible in my lifetime, but I don’t ever anticipate visiting every single country.
Ride animals
I’ve done my share of this in the past, though I’m not exactly proud of it. I rode elephants in Laos a long time ago. I’ve sat atop many a horse. But it’s not something that appears on any of my wish lists these days. For a human to be able to “ride” any animal you have to break it to your will, and that’s not something I want to involve in my travel experiences. The only thing I plan to ride is a bike.
Fly Sydney to London direct (in economy/with my kids)
It’s coming. Qantas’s Project Sunrise – direct flights from Sydney to New York and London – was announced in 2017, and though various delays have slowed its progress, the flights are scheduled to begin in 2026. Sydney to London direct will be 20 hours in the air, with extra time on the plane before and after. That’s a huge flight, and one I would be more than happy to tackle – in business class, without my kids to entertain. Otherwise, I’ll take a stopover, thanks.
Put myself in life-threatening danger
This used to be something I was relatively comfortable with, but you have to change as your life’s circumstances change. Since having kids I’ve become far more risk-averse, and have to think pretty carefully about where I’m going to go and what I’m going to do when I get there, and whether it’s a responsible choice for someone with a family to support and grow old with. It has meant missing out on some things, but I’m comfortable with that.
Eat at Alchemist/Sublimotion/Mugaritz
Eye for detail: Chef Gregor Power at work at Alchemist.
There’s a certain brand of restaurant around now that’s all about pushing the boundaries of the eating experience, creating multi-sensory meals that involve video-screen tables, flavoured smoke, edible clouds, dishes shaped like tongues and faces, dishes that need to be licked off fake belly buttons and casts of the chef’s lips … and all of this, obviously, costs an incredible amount of money to experience. I’m not into it.
Visit Venice in July or August
Venice recently introduced a charge for tourists to combat over-tourism.Credit: AP
No one should have this on their bucket list. Venice is amazing, and there are ways to see the floating city that are enjoyable, but visiting in the height of tourist-heavy summer isn’t one of them. Go in the off-season, go to parts of the city no one else visits. Go to the surrounding areas. And this advice goes for any tourist hotspot in Europe, from Barcelona to Prague to Rome to Ibiza. I have no intention of going in July or August.
Get to the South Pole
The South Pole: just leave it untouched.Credit: Getty Images
Maybe there are some places that tourists just shouldn’t go. There can be parts of the world that are off-limits, and that’s OK. And to be fair, the South Pole currently is not a place regular tourists can visit. But how long before that changes? It feels inevitable to me. Still, I won’t be joining any queues of people desperate to visit the southernmost point on Earth – some places should just be left untouched.
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Take supported journeys from questionable regimes
I want to visit Saudi Arabia, to see the country with my own eyes. Just as I want to go back to Iran sometime, as I would like to see North Korea for myself, not to mention Afghanistan, Myanmar and more. But I won’t visit those places in my role as a journalist as a guest of their governments, to participate in junkets, essentially taking money and favours to act as a shill for a highly questionable regime. There are other ways to visit.
Say anywhere is “done”
If I ever do this, please pull me up. One of my core beliefs about travel is that no destination is ever finished with. There’s always more you can experience, more you can discover, more pleasure you can derive. No destination, no city, no region, no country, can ever be written off as done, and I don’t intend to ever do that.