Monthly Bucket List for Travel Lovers – June 2020

Bucket lists have always been my jam, you know? Unfortunately, with no one really being able to travel at the moment, my beloved bucket list is collecting dust. If you’re used to globetrotting and experiencing new cultures all the time, it can be a bit tedious to be stuck inside the same four walls every day. But where there’s a will, there’s a way, right? Some of the best parts of travel – experiencing new traditions, tastes, sounds, sights, and smells – can be replicated pretty faithfully at home.

I came up with this monthly bucket list for travel lovers to get my daily fix of cool stuff from around the world, and I thought some of my darling readers might enjoy it as well.

How many things can you check off this bucket list for June?

Scroll to the bottom for a free printable if you want to take the list offline.

1- National Olive Day

Kick the month off with a taste of Morocco – literally – by whipping up this Skillet Moroccan Chicken with Tomatoes, Peaches, and Feta. Put on some chill Moroccan background music while you eat and wash it all down with some iced mint tea.

2- On this day in 1946, Italy became a parliamentary republic.

Skip the usual Netflix binge after dinner and take yourself on a virtual Italian vacation instead. Pour yourself a glass of Montepulciano and curl up with the heartstring-tugging Beautiful Ruins.

3- On this day in 1906, the American-born French media siren & civil rights badass Josephine Baker was born.

Make some of her greatest hits your background music for the day.

4- National Cheese Day

How many different exotic cheese varieties can you find in your local supermarket deli? Put together a fancy international cheese plate for your afternoon snack.

Cheese plate

5- World Environment Day

Fridays should always be for pampering, but we want to be extra eco-friendly today. Transport yourself to one of the best eco-chic spas in the US without leaving your bathroom by copying the signature body scrub at New Mexico’s Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa: mix together prickly pear oil, blue cornmeal, and sea salt for a super-luxe shower experience. For extra credit, light some candles and let this Native American flute music complete your virtual spa getaway.

6- Today is National Pineapple Day and the birthday of Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia.

It’s the perfect day to whip up a batch of Kue Nastar, Indonesian pineapple cookies.

7- Birthday of Paul Gauguin.

Check out the film Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti for an immersive dose of French language, stunning Polynesian scenery, and classic art culture.

8- In honor of World Oceans Day

Dust off that bottle of shells you brought back from your last beach vacation and find a creative new way to use them in your home decor. Coastal Living has some great ideas.

Seashells

9- La Rioja Day in Spain.

Celebrate at home with a bottle of Rioja and some classical Spanish guitar.

10- On this National Day of Portugal

Try your hand at embroidering some traditional Portuguese designs with one of these cute DIY kits.

11- Celebrate Hawaii’s King Kamehameha Day

with your own at-home Hoʻolauleʻa (celebration). Serve some festive Hawaiian Chicken with Coconut Rice and Haupia Pie with Macadamia Crust. Set the stage with a plumeria-scented candle and a luau playlist.

12- This week’s pampering Friday routine celebrates Russia Day.

Russian women take their beauty routines seriously, and many of them swear by sea buckthorn and vitamin C for their flawless complexions. Add this rejuvenating moisturizer to your daily skincare routine (and if you want to mix up a White Russian afterward, it’s only fitting.)

13- Celebrate the birthday of W.B. Yeats

with some classic Irish literature – either Yeats’s own poetry or this enchanting collection of classic Irish fairy & folk tales edited by the Nobel prize-winning author… preferably in a backyard hammock with a refreshing adult beverage.

14- It’s National Bourbon Day

Transport yourself to the bucolic Kentucky hillside while firing up the grill for your Sunday afternoon cookout with a Kentucky Lemonade.

Bourbon lemonade

15- The Magna Carta was signed on this day in 1215.

Travel back in time from the comfort of your couch with a virtual tour of Windsor Castle, near the spot where the famous charter was signed by England’s King John.

16- International Day of the African Child.

I’ve never been one to shy away from learning about the unpleasant historical perspectives of places I want to visit. You can’t, I think, if you truly want to understand what makes a destination tick. Watch Cry Freedom for a poignant look at South Africa’s past, including the Soweto Uprising.

17- Get in the kitchen for Icelandic National Day

and make your own Icelandic Skyr (Icelandic yogurt that’s technically a cheese) at home. Yum!

18- Combine International Picnic Day and Seychelles National Day

with a gourmet Seychellois picnic. You won’t miss the macaroni salad, promise. Try some grilled fish, breadfruit chips, and green pawpaw chutney.

19- Birthday of Burmese political figure Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar will always have a special place in my heart for being the first international destination I ever traveled solo. Aung San Suu Kyi was still under house arrest, the US State Department was strongly cautioning Americans not to travel there, and there was so much mistrust of outsiders that it was forbidden to carry a laptop or cell phone into the country. Good times. Many of the Burmese people I met told me I was the first American they had ever seen. If you’ve been to Myanmar, you’ll never forget the iconic image of Burmese women with their faces carefully painted with yellowish-white thanaka paste to protect themselves from the harsh sun. Embrace your inner Burmese Beauty with your own thanaka face mask (so good for oily skin!).

Woman in pink dress wearing thanaka paste on her face

20- In honor of World Refugee Day

enjoy the cultural or artistic contribution of one of the world’s most famous one-time refugees: Albert Einstein, Freddie Mercury, M.I.A., Marc Chagall, Madeleine Albright, Elie Wiesel, Gloria Estefan, Salvador Dali, or Thich Nhat Hanh.

21- You might not be able to jet off to an Indian yoga retreat at the moment,

but you can still celebrate the International Day of Yoga with a bit of improvisation. Draw the blinds, light some incense, and turn on this beginner yoga video from Sivananda Ashram.

22- Birthday of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.

Let his masterpiece The Wind Will Carry Us transport you to a remote village in Iranian Kurdistan.

23- Today is Jāni, the summer solstice festival in Latvia.

Fancy yourself up with a flower crown, light a fire in your backyard fire pit, drink a beer, and enjoy some traditional Jāņu siers (Latvian cheese). What a holiday.

24- Happy International Fairy Day!

When I travel, I love to explore the traditional folklore and mythology of a place. If it pertains to fairies, witches, ghosts, Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness Monster, I am so there. If I get to participate in any kind of fun ritual regarding said folklore, so much the better. Pour yourself a wee dram to get in the right frame of mind for this interview on Irish fairy lore with folklorist Dr. Jenny Butler.

25- Today is Statehood Day in Croatia

celebrate by trying your hand at cooking peka, Croatia’s national dish.

26- Celebrate Tropical Cocktails Day

by jetting around the world on a virtual cocktail crawl from Hawaii (Mai Tai) to Bermuda (Dark ‘N’ Stormy) to Singapore (Singapore Sling). Don’t forget your (cocktail) umbrella.

Tropical cocktail with starfruit

27- On this day in 1956, the film adaptation of Moby Dick premiered.

If you’ve never seen it, make some popcorn and settle in for a retro movie date night at home with this classic of the silver screen. Bonus: if you had to cancel your Spring Break cruise, this might make you feel better about not being in the middle of the ocean.

28- Today is Family Day in Vietnam,

a sweet holiday celebrating the importance of family life. Gather the closest members of your clan together for a Vietnamese feast of Lemongrass Chicken and Chè Chuối (coconut-banana pudding) before sitting down to play a game of Truyen-Truyen.

29- Celebrate National Camera Day

by finally getting around to pulling all the photos from your last vacation off of your memory card and organizing them somewhere. Extra credit if you do something awesome with them, like having a canvas print made or publishing them in a fancy Mixbook photo book.

30- Today is Independence Day in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Take a virtual reality tour courtesy of the BBC’s VR documentary series. (No VR headset? No problem. You can make one cheaply or view the immersive 360 option.)

June really flew by, didn’t it? How many things did you check off this travel lover’s bucket list this month? Let me know in the comments!