US Bucket List destinations

[Anonymous]

South Dakota Black Hills

[Anonymous]

If budget is no object, try Dunton Hot Springs

[Anonymous]

Carmel!

[Anonymous]

Alaskan Cruise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Turning 40 next summer and would love to share it with my family at a really special, bucket list destination in the US. Will take any and all suggestions! Open to everything as we are just in a planning/dreaming phase.

Travelers will be myself and DW (both 40), young elementary aged kids, adventurous parents in their 70s and some extended family.

What time of year? And where is everyone traveling from? Do you like national parks, or prefer cities or resorts? And for how long?

I've done family trips to national parks but that involved a lot of cooking in the rental kitchen. Not sure if that's what you want - or if you prefer to treat yourself to meals out.

[Anonymous]

San deigo ( add palm springs or la if interested)

[Anonymous]

I’m in Sun Valley Idaho right now with my parents and sister and her kids and it works well for a mix of ages / interests. The summer symphony is nice as is all the outdoor activity but this time of year the skies can be (are now) smoky.

[Anonymous]

Alaska or Hawaii.

[Anonymous]

Spa/ranch in Colorado. Devil's Thumb or something similar.

[Anonymous]

Kauai or Hawaiii big island is perfect for this.

Alaska could also work— a cruise would be easiest unless you’re okay crowding into a couple of mini vans to do a land tour. A cruise might be easier and more relaxing and you could look into something more active like the Nat Geo tours if the money isn’t an issue.

[Anonymous]

Not many of what's listed are what I'd call bucket list trips, just trips. To me, bucket list is an african safari, Machado Picchu, Galapagos Islands, etc

And, your kids will still be young, I'm not sure they'll even remember. I would do an Alaskan cruise (caters to all ages and there's the kids club so you and spouse can have some adult time).

I wouldn't waste a bucket list trips on kids that age

[Anonymous]

Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Monument Valley, Pacific coast, SF, Niagara Falls, NYC, Key West.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spa/ranch in Colorado. Devil's Thumb or something similar.

Yes, Devil's Thumb. It's really pretty there. More for a couple imo. It's relaxing, there's cross country skiing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m in Sun Valley Idaho right now with my parents and sister and her kids and it works well for a mix of ages / interests. The summer symphony is nice as is all the outdoor activity but this time of year the skies can be (are now) smoky.

Why what causes that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not many of what's listed are what I'd call bucket list trips, just trips. To me, bucket list is an african safari, Machado Picchu, Galapagos Islands, etc

And, your kids will still be young, I'm not sure they'll even remember. I would do an Alaskan cruise (caters to all ages and there's the kids club so you and spouse can have some adult time).

I wouldn't waste a bucket list trips on kids that age

Well I agree that I wouldn’t do something like Galapagos now with kids that age but as a 50 year old with teens I’d say do fun stuff you want to do now. You can do more fun stuff when they are older! We are going to Galapagos next year with our teens. I’m the one that suggested Kauai or Hawaii big island as perfect for this sort of thing and with those ages. There’s so much to do that you can adjust based on ages and preferences. But one more idea is Jackson and Tetons — we too a kid as young as six on the white water rafting in Jackson, and we also splurged on a guided animal safari with the Teton Sciencr School. It was awesome! We also went horseback riding, which was only for 8 and up but the younger kid took an covered wagon ride to the same destination with one adult so then we were all together for a campout dinner in pretty much the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. I think any of those trips would be great with kids that age, especially if grandparents are willing to baby sit if you want to do some longer hikes.