Travel tips, before you go advice: Why every traveller should have a bucket list

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This was published 5 years ago

Travel tips, before you go advice: Why every traveller should have a bucket list

By Ben Groundwater
Updated
A bucket list will help you get through rough work days.

A bucket list will help you get through rough work days.Credit: Shutterstock

I have a bucket list. I only came up with it a few weeks ago when I wrote a story for Traveller about the idea of a "reverse bucket list" – the things you shouldn't do – and was asked to also list the experiences I genuinely did want to have before I died.

Until then I'd never really, properly, thought about it. I've written about the concept of a bucket list plenty of times. I've advised other people to put things on their list that I've enjoyed. But I've never sat down and thought about the five things I really, really want to achieve in my travelling life.

Doing that was an interesting experience; a fun exercise. If you travel a lot you can get into a rhythm sometimes of just moving from one trip to the next, of planning another trip while you're still away on the last one, of just going and not really thinking.

The world of travel is an endlessly enjoyable place, after all. It's not like there are that many bad experiences out there. I've always found it fine to just go with the flow, to enjoy the things I'm doing and not think too much about the big picture of my travelling life.

Credit: Shutterstock

But there is a big picture. There is a list of things I've already done, and a set of experiences that I still really want to have above all others – even though having a bucket list probably isn't cool among hardcore travellers.

Some people don't like the words; some don't like the concept. There's an argument that having a bucket list encourages a box-ticking style of travel, that you become so focused on getting to places and doing the things you've planned that you miss all the fun, spontaneous, amazing experiences that can be had along the way.

I get that. I understand, too, that platforms like Instagram and Facebook add to the box-ticking obsession, they inspire people to follow such narrow possibilities, to chase one sight, one photo, one experience, to show off and ignore everything else.

Lists can be dangerous things. And yet, I have a bucket list. And I would encourage everyone to do the same.

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Because you need this, as a traveller, to keep you on track. You need the focus. There are so many possibilities out there in the world these days, an almost infinite number of destinations and experiences that are accessible to pretty much anyone. It can help to whittle them down, and to plan your life accordingly.

You need this, too, to realise what it is you want, what style of travel and which types of experiences really appeal to you. If you don't have a bucket list you've probably never thought about what it is that inspires and enthrals you the most, what you should spend your hard-earned money and your short amount of annual leave on pursuing.

You also need this to have long-term dreams, to have really complicated, difficult-to-achieve milestones that you can work towards making happen. Maybe you want to climb Everest – you'll need to do a lot of travel to gain experience beforehand. Or maybe you want to scuba dive on the wreck of the SS President Coolidge in Vanuatu – again, you'll need qualifications and experience. Add them to your list.

You need a bucket list, too, to get you through some rough work days, to have something to dream about, something to plan for, something to know that one day you'll achieve.

Everyone should do it. If you haven't, I'll get you inspired with mine, the five experiences I really want to have – and hopefully will – before I shuffle off this mortal coil.

Live in a non-English-speaking country

Given past failures, it's now my belief that the only way to learn a foreign language is to live in a foreign country, and that is what I intend to do. I also crave that immersion into another culture, the chance to dig deep into another way of life.

Travel the Silk Road by train

Having had a taste of a few Silk Road countries – Iran, Uzbekistan, western China – I would love to recreate that ancient journey in its entirety and do as much of it as possible by train. There's a gentle pace to train travel, as well as the opportunity to meet and mix with locals.

Return to places I've loved

Credit: Shutterstock

It's reasonable to have a bucket list that repeats past experiences, that allows you to go back to places you've loved and find out something new about them. My bucket list includes going back to Iran, Argentina, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and the Palestinian Territories.

Drive the Okavango Delta

I have this one all planned out: the journey will begin in Johannesburg, taking me in a 4WD up into Zimbabwe, through Hwange National Park, up to Victoria Falls, and then down into serious off-road territory in Botswana, driving on dirt and sand tracks from Chobe National Park through the Okavango Delta and beyond.

Drive Italy by scooter

I've seen Vietnam on a scooter, ridden around Sardinia on a scooter, and explored Sicily on a scooter. My dream, however, is to do all of Italy, to cross from Sicily over to the toe of the mainland's boot and then just keep on riding until the bike falls apart, or I'm too heavy from pasta consumption to get back on.

Do you have a bucket list? What's on it? And if you don't, why not?

See also: Five countries that aren't as expensive as you think (and five that are)

See also: The city where the best food is also the cheapest

Email: b.groundwater@traveller.com.au

Instagram: Instagram.com/bengroundwater

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