How much Long Islanders spent on their bucket list trips

The bucket list trip is different from a vacation. It's the one you've been talking about for years — the safari, the river cruise, the place you've always meant to get to before you can't.

For these Long Islanders, what finally makes them book it is a milestone or a window of family time that won't come around again.

'We put ideas in a box'

Michelle Weinsteinof Dix Hills, didn't always think of herself as an adventurous traveler. For years, family vacations meant Mexico and the Dominican Republic — warm, familiar, easy. But as her three children grew older and headed to college, she and her husband  began reimagining what travel could look like.

"We'd sit down at dinner each year and ask: where are we all dying to go?" she said. "We'd put ideas in a box and start planning from there."

The answer, increasingly, was somewhere that offered what Weinstein describes as "a little of everything" — animals, snorkeling, hiking, cultural immersion. About seven years ago, that led the family to Belize, where they boarded a small plane to Ambergris Caye, rode ATVs, went cave tubing and snorkeling. They went back a second time.

From there, the destinations grew more ambitious. South Africa — planned for 2020, delayed by the pandemic, and finally taken in 2023 — became the family's signature trip. The total cost came to roughly $55,000, including intercountry flights.

The itinerary reflected Weinstein's meticulous approach to planning. Four days in Cape Town took in the coastal scenery, a long mountain hike, a visit to a local winery region and what she describes as one of the city's more unexpected attractions: a neighborhood beach where penguins live among the homes. From Cape Town, a small plane carried the family to Kruger National Park, where they stayed at a lodge inside the park itself and went on safari drives twice a day — before sunrise and at dusk.

"We saw a lion kill and a hyena trying to take it," she said. "It was exhilarating and amazing at the same time."

Weinstein credits a combination of travel agents for larger logistics and her own extensive research — blogs, Facebook travel groups,  travel magazines — for piecing together the right tours and guides. For South Africa, she hired a local guide to drive the family through Cape Town and provide historical context. "I wanted a one-on-one, individualized, personalized experience."

The family's most recent major trip, to the Galápagos Islands in December, followed a similar model: six to seven days aboard a live-aboard boat, three days in Quito, Ecuador, guided rainforest tours, snorkeling with wildlife and waterfall hikes. A trip to Thailand is in the planning stages.

For Weinstein, the motivation is not abstract. Her children are now 21, 26 and 28, and she is acutely aware that the window for this kind of travel — with everyone available, her husband still working and the family's finances intact — will not stay open indefinitely.

"We want our kids to have memories of these trips forever," she said. "These are the trips we're doing now, while we can, while everyone has quality time together."

We want our kids to have memories of these trips forever. These are the trips we're doing now, while we can, while everyone has quality time together.

— Michelle Weinstein, of Dix Hills

'Life is too short'

Robin Grossman, 62, of Jericho, and her husband Jack  have been cruising since 1992, starting with ocean liners and eventually becoming devoted Royal Caribbean regulars. The perks, she said, have only deepened the attachment.

But this summer, the Grossmans are departing from the familiar. In July, they will board a Tauck river cruise through Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and France — a 15-day journey they describe as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The total cost: approximately $40,000.

The trip came together quickly. When Grossman saw the itinerary — it departs July 5, their wedding anniversary — the decision was made before she'd finished reading it. "I said yes immediately," she noted.

The shift required some adjustment in expectations. Tauck river ships carry between 130 and 180 passengers; the Wonder of the Seas, her usual Royal Caribbean vessel, holds 6,000. The onboard entertainment will be considerably more subdued. Grossman said she has made peace with that tradeoff, partly because she understands what river cruises are designed around.

"Everyone who's been on one says: you'll be busy exploring the cities," she said.

Airfare from Kennedy  to Zurich on Delta in business class cost $5,000 for two people — though Grossman booked refundable tickets and was able to rebook when prices dropped, saving $1,400. The return from Amsterdam on JetBlue, with a layover in Boston, cost $5,800 for two. Three additional days will be spent in Zurich and Bern before the cruise departs, staying — per Grossman's research into Tauck's reputation — in what she describes as "a palace."

For Grossman, this trip is one milestone in a larger personal project: visiting all seven continents and all 50 states. She has reached 38 states, with Oregon coming in late September via a cruise to Vancouver. The river cruise will add three countries she has never visited — Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany — to her itinerary.

She and Jack started early. Their daughter took her first international trip to St. Martin at 4 months old. Their son was 3. The philosophy underlying all of it, she said, is uncomplicated.

"Life is too short to not experience the sights and sounds of the world if you can do it," she said. "There's no better education. There's so much to do and see outside a Long Island bubble."

Life is too short to not experience the sights and sounds of the world if you can do it. There's no better education. There's so much to do and see outside a Long Island bubble.

— Robin Grossman, of Jericho

'It's opened my eyes'

Linda Roslow, of Merrick, has a similar philosophy about the kind of travel she and her husband Bruce have been doing since they retired in 2010 from the education field. 

"I realized if we don't do these trips we might not be able to do them in a couple of years," she said.

In the 15 years since, the couple, both in their early 70s, have visited roughly 15 countries — Tanzania, Egypt, Patagonia, Ecuador, the Galápagos, Portugal, Paris, and more. Their first trip, a Royal Caribbean cruise departing from Venice that stopped in Turkey, Egypt and Israel, set the tone. Standing before the pyramids, Roslow said, was something that couldn't be replicated by a photograph.

"To see what you've only read about and seen pictures of, it was remarkable," she said.

But what has stayed with her as much as the landmarks are the people. In Venice on that first trip, she and Bruce found themselves lost and walking in circles at 8 a.m. A woman sitting outside a cafe noticed, came out and walked them back to their hotel. Last April in Paris, they signed up for a croissant-making class and the Uber dropped them at what they thought was the right building, but no one answered the door. They wandered into a nearby picture shop, where a woman who spoke only French listened, left her store open and walked them back to the building, then waited outside until someone let them in. Roslow brought her back a bag of croissants after class.

"It's just so fun to connect with people like that," she said. "It helps make the trips special. You realize people all over the world are the same."

That conviction has deepened with each trip. In Patagonia in 2023, the couple was invited to dinner in someone's home and did the same with lunch in Tanzania in 2019. On a safari there, their jeep was stopped by a group of lions, and one came so close to the vehicle that they could have reached out and touched it.

"My husband still says he never knew elephants had eyelashes," Roslow said, "because that's how close we were."

A Seine River cruise this past April took the couple to Normandy for the first time. The experience left her with goose bumps: veterans on the tour read poetry, taps was played on a bugle and a Royal Air Force plane flew overhead.

The couple typically spends $10,000 to $12,000 per trip for two. She's expecting to spend more in Japan, which is booked for later this year. October will bring a trip to Lapland, where Roslow is hoping to finally see the Northern Lights after missing them in Iceland.

Roslow spends considerable time researching and planning each trip, including studying the local language beforehand — she spent three months learning Portuguese before visiting Portugal. She describes the preparation as part of the pleasure.

"I love the culture, learning the language," she said. "I love tasting different foods and meeting people. It opens your eyes. The world is beautiful outside of the U.S."

I love the culture, learning the language. I love tasting different foods and meeting people. It opens your eyes. The world is beautiful outside of the U.S.

— Linda Roslow, of Merrick

What travel has given her most, she said, is a revised view of humanity.

"It's opened my eyes to the fact that most people are generous and kind and friendly," she said. "If you say hello to someone in their language, you get a great reaction. It's shown us that people are people, wherever you go."