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Travel Tips

How To Create Your Travel Bucket List

January 15, 2019 /

We have all heard of a Bucket List. That infamous list of all the things you want to accomplish before you die. For some that may sound morbid. None of us really likes to think about death.

But for many of us, a bucket list can be empowering. It can help us decide what is really important to us. Physically writing out our bucket list can help us establish meaningful goals. And with some effort (and a bit of luck) we can start checking things off our list long before the grim reaper comes knocking.

Tanya

What about a Travel Bucket List? Same concept, but this list focuses on the places in this world that you want to visit and the adventures you hope to have in those destinations.

Have you created your Travel Bucket List?

There’s no time like the present! The start of a new year is a great time to dream about the trips you want to take…and to begin planning so those dream vacations will become a reality.

** Get Traveling Tanya’s Travel Bucket List Workbook to guide you through these steps! Available on Etsy as a digital download. Use Promo Code TTTribe to get $2 off!**

7 Steps to Creating a Travel Bucket List

1. Select a Travel Journal

The first step in creating a travel bucket list is deciding where to record your list. Rather than simply jotting your list down on a random piece of paper, select a travel journal that fits your personality and style.  This will help ensure you keep track of your list, and you can use it to plan your trips and monitor your progress. It will also serve as a wonderful travel keepsake!

If paper and pencil note-taking isn’t your thing, you can always create an electronic travel journal. Be sure to keep your list stored online where you can easily find it or print it out and start a travel scrapbook.

Regardless of where you choose to keep your travel bucket list, the fact that you have written it down and stored it in a meaningful place will improve your chances of actually getting to your desired destinations. And that is kind of the point, after all!

2. List the Places You’ve Already Been

It can be helpful to start by thinking about past vacations and the cities and countries you have already visited. Now write them down.

NYCThis process may reveal the type of travel you enjoy most. Are road trips your passion or jetting off to exotic locations? Do you prefer camping or luxury accommodations?

You might reveal destinations that you want to revisit. And you may recall parts of the world that you are just fine never seeing again.

Been there, done that!

This first list could serve as a reminder that you have already visited some pretty amazing places. Or it could confirm the fact that you have yet to venture far from home. Either way, this process should help fuel your desire to see more of the world and help pinpoint the kinds of travel you truly desire.

3. Brainstorm Destinations

This is the step you have been waiting for! Let your imagination run wild. Think of all the places on earth you have ever dreamed of visiting, and jot them all down in one big brainstorm.waterfall

You can choose to start big. Think of far away exotic lands that appeal to you as well as more well known but distant destinations. Then bring it a little closer to home and identify cities in your own country or state that appeal to you.

If you consider yourself more of a realist than a dreamer, you might want to reverse the brainstorming process. First recording local places of interest and gradually expanding your scope to the more exotic.

During the brainstorming phase, don’t let fears and potential travel barriers creep in. There will be time later to pare this list down and do a reality check. For now, simply ask your heart where in the world it wants to go…and write it down.

4. Identify Experiences

In addition to brainstorming locations you want to visit, also think about (and write down) the experiences you want to have.

gondolaDo you desire to go on a mission trip in a 3rd world country? Have you always wanted to zip line in the Amazon? Want to experience New Year’s Even in Times Square? Or go on an African safari?

Do you dream of swimming with the dolphins, studying great works of art, or learning to cook authentic French cuisine?

By brainstorming and recording the experiences you want to enjoy, it will help you identify even more destinations to add to your list.  This list will also be useful in the more practical steps (coming right up!) as your desired experiences may dictate the time of year or stage in life when you can best enjoy them.

5. Prioritize Your List

Chances are by this point you have a very long list! This is when we start to get a bit more practical.

Review your brainstorming and circle 3-5 destinations and/or experiences that you consider absolute musts. Write these down on a new list under the heading Tanya’s Travel Bucket List (except write your own name!).

Return to your brainstorming and circle 3-5 more locations that seem plausible in the next few years and get you excited about traveling. Add them to your list.

Give your brainstorming entries one more pass. Anything pop out that you really want to move over to your bucket list? Select 1-3 more destinations to complete your list.

Congrats! You just created your Travel Bucket List with about 10-12 places you can’t wait to explore!

6. Make a Timeline

But don’t stop there. With a bit more planning, your travel bucket list will be much more than a piece of paper identifying your travel dreams. It will be your roadmap to some amazing adventures!

Consider the time and money you can currently invest in travel. With these practical elements in mind, begin to create your travel timeline.

Maybe this year a roadtrip to Seattle is feasible and you will save up vacation time and funds for a European tour next year.

Write in the year and season you think you could reasonably get to each of your destinations. If you aren’t quite ready to place each in your travel timeline just yet, that’s OK. But be sure to at least establish a timeframe for a few destinations now so you can begin making those trips a reality.

7. Start Checking Items Off Your List!

Now that you know where you want to go and when, it’s time to make it happen!rainbow

Continue to use your travel journal to document your vacations, and take pride as you check each destination off your list.

And don’t worry if life gets in the way from time to time. This is your Travel Bucket List, and you can change it at any time!

Edit your timeframes as necessary, adjust your list as priorities change. And as you cross destinations off your list, embrace your growing wanderlust and dare to add new ones!

Bon Voyage!

Wondering what is on Traveling Tanya’s Travel Bucket List?! It’s still a work in progress, but keep following the blog, and you will see all the highlights.

** Ready to create your own Travel Bucket List? Get Traveling Tanya’s Travel Bucket List Workbook today, available on Etsy as a digital download. Don’t forget to use Promo Code TTTribe to get $2 off!**

Tanya in VeniceWherever the road takes you, make it a joyous journey,
Traveling Tanya

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Learn the steps to create your Travel Bucket List and then start exploring the world! | Traveling Tanyatravel bucket list workbook

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