My Top 5 Tips for writing your Travel Bucket List

2020 was a year where much of our planned travel didn’t happen. 2021 feels tentatively optimistic, but the early part of it at least, feels still very uncertain. So it feels like a good time to give some consideration to what is on our travel bucket lists. A bucket list is defined as “a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime”. A bucket list is not necessarily a list of places you’d like to visit and sights you’d like to see, yet about 80% of all bucket list suggestions are travel related. Many of us will have a few things that when mentioned, we say “Oh yes, that’s on my bucket list”. For most of us this is a figurative list, only in our heads, of things we’d like to do in our lifetime. But as we all know, life gets in the way, the years go by, and 5 years down the line you’ve had some lovely holidays, but have you actually ticked off anything on your bucket list?.....probably not. So here are my top 5 tips for writing your travel bucket list. I’d love it if you would share your completed list with me! 1. Write it down On paper. Put it up somewhere – in your home office, back of your wardrobe door, on your mirror in lipstick. Somewhere you will see it regularly, have something to aim towards, and something to look forward to. Start it now, right now. Go on, grab pen and paper and write down the thing that is top of your travel wish list. 2. Be specific Don’t just write a destination, write what you want to see, how you want to see it, when you want to go. Focus on the experience you want, not the destination. Let’s take a couple of popular bucket list ideas. a. The Matterhorn – one of the most famous mountains in the Alps, straddling the Swiss/Italian border and famously appearing on the Toblerone packaging. If you want The Matterhorn on your list, think about whether you want to climb it, ski on it, photograph it, and whether you want to see it in the summer or the winter. b. What about the Grand Canyon – Carved out by the Colarado River, the Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, and up to 18 miles wide! Think about if you want to hike it, raft down the river, see it from the air by helicopter or plane. See it from the North, South, East or West rim? So take a look at your first bucket list entry that you wrote down and think about whether you need to be more specific. Change it now if you need to! 3. Be unique The world is full of supposedly “must see” destinations like the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, and the Great Barrier Reef, But Think about your own personal interests and likes/dislikes. If you hate flying, there’s no point including lots of these long haul and remote destinations like Easter Island. If you have no interest in architecture, do you really want to make a visit to the Sydney Opera House a priority in your trip down under? Think about your own interests. Do you like architecture or natural scenery. Wildlife or culture. Food or adventure? I’m not saying you shouldn’t see those places, but they’re not the bit that should be on your bucket list. Take a look again at your first entry and make sure it’s something that really speaks to you. If it doesn’t, change it. 4. Consider the act of travelling itself For me, my holiday starts the moment I leave the house, but for many, the journey is a chore. Why not re-frame this and make the journey a part of the experience. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to fly First or Business Class. Maybe you want to take one of the Great Rail Journeys of the world – do you want to immerse yourself in the experience and sleep on board, or enjoy the luxury of a hotel each night? What about travel by sea? There are many different types of cruise these days from all singing and dancing floating hotels, to expedition ships with Scientists on board. Or maybe you want to be captain of your own vessel and explore the Croatian coastline and islands? 5. Be realistic! It’s great to have lofty ideals on your bucket list. Your once in a lifetime dream holidays, but think about more easily achievable things too. I’m guilty of this. I want to go to Hawaii, Costa Rica, Madagascar, Phillipines, which is all very well and good, but I’m also in the process of setting up a business, plus 2020 just happened, so budget is an issue! So I should also be including things like staying in a loch-side bothy, snorkelling in Croatia, and travelling to Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day (my birthday!) So they are my top 5 tips. I hope that they help you to write a kick-ass bucket list, but here is my final, and perhaps most important tip which is… 6. Execute it! Don’t let this be a list that sits on your pin board, never to be looked at again. When you are thinking about your next holiday, take a look at your list, and consider if you can tick anything off. And in doing so, consider the following: Always observe local customs, Learn a few words of the language Try to make sure you benefit the local economy And of course, use a Travel Agent! Particularly after the year we have just had, a good travel agent cares about getting your holiday right for you, and should anything go wrong, they have your back.