Latest Bucket List Item Has Clearwater Adventurer Trekking Across U.S. In 1971 VW Bug

CLEARWATER, FL — Although she's only 27 years old, Karla Dana of Clearwater has already managed to check off a number of items on her bucket list.

"I take my bucket list seriously," she said. "To be honest, I’ve already checked off so many items on the bucket list I wrote some years ago, like compose a symphony and conduct an orchestra, live in a foreign country and learn Chinese, I can't remember them all."

But there's one item that's been on her list for a long time, and soon she will check that one off as well.

On Saturday, Dana will embark on a cross-country trip to the Grand Canyon in her treasured 1971 bright orange Volkswagen Beetle, which is nearing 1 million miles on its original engine. That makes it one of the top cars in the world for most mileage on an original engine.

"I'm a lover of vintage cars," Dana said. "And I’d been telling them since I was a kid that one day I wanted to own an orange VW bug. They thought it was a phase, but even into teenage-hood, it was still my dream car."

Knowing this, her parents, Mayer and Lily Dana, surprised her with the orange VW bug on her birthday nearly 10 years ago.

Already restored, the VW Beetle she named Maggiolino was in pristine condition, and Dana has babied the car to keep it that way with the help of the mechanics at Fisher Buggies at 5006 E. Acline Drive in Tampa.

"The most I’ve done is changed the oil myself and changed the battery, and I have a great manual from the '60s called 'How to Keep your VW Alive,' which has been helpful in understanding the mechanics of the car,"she said.

"It’s a great manual, and I think it’s charming that one of the steps it lists as part of fixing up any car issue is 'Love,'" she said. "As a VW owner who has to deal with the idiosyncrasies of an antique car, this hits home for me."

She said the mechanics at Fisher Buggies just gave the bug a tune-up in preparation for her road trip.

"They’ve been supportive of my big road trip, and I have the main mechanic there on speed dial," Dana said.

That's because the little bug faces a tough road ahead.

With her father joining her, Dana will set out on the 2,141-mile journey to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona on what she's calling "The Great VW Adventure 2023."

"I am adventurous, but I don’t think I’d go on a trip like this all alone," she said. "My dad and I are very close, so I’m really happy to be doing a trip like this with him."

She said her parents have always supported her adventurous spirit, which included attending and graduating in 2019 from Long Island University (LIU) Global, a university that offers a four-year global studies degree program in which students are sent abroad to study the language, culture, economies, governments and other aspects of a different country every semester.

"I got to live in Costa Rica, Morocco, Spain, China and took courses in Germany, England, Panama, Nicaragua and Taiwan," Dana said. "It changed me as a person, and I’m so grateful for my education there."

Following the "Great VW Adventure 2023," Dana said she's not sure which bucket item she'll tackle next. But she's certain it'll be another great experience.

Readers can follow Dana on her trip to the Grand Canyon and back on her Instagram page.