Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make:
I don’t have a travel bucket list.
Yes, I’d understand if your eyes are saucer wide as mine too. As a travel blogger, I often get asked, “Hey, have you ticked (activity/place) off your bucket list?”
I do feel flattered! For one, that they assume I have a bucket list and second, that they think I’ve already done a whole lot of things.
I may be a frequent traveller, but I’m not a travel lister/ticker. I stopped counting the number of cities I’ve been to 2 years ago. I am not one those travellers who shy away from a country/city because “I’ve been there before”. If I love a city, I will go back over and over (hello, Hong Kong!), and if a certain activity really excites me, I will do it over and over (Hola, swimming with sharks!)
The reason why I don’t keep a bucket list: It makes travelling and adventure (2 things I love dearly!) seem like a chore.
It’s like saying “Alright, I’ve already visited Paris (tick!) and I’ve done a kissing/jumping shot with the Eiffel Tower in the background (tick!)” — crossing out two lines on your list with a fat red marker.
“Yup, Paris, you’re done. Now let’s move on, NEXT!”
I believe in list ticking. For tasks and errands. Not for FUN things.
What I have instead, are vivid dreams and images of places and things I would like to do. I’ve been doing this since young (and boy, we all know that “young” was a long, long time ago) and it has worked quite effectively for me.
I’m a very visual person and I believe that when you imagine it enough, you will make it happen. (Take note I said, YOU will make it happen, not IT will happen). There still has to be enough action and push behind the dreams.
There’s still a lot that I haven’t done and visited, and I would like to share with you a few picks among my travel dreams:
1.) Galapagos Island
This island is still one of the purest places on earth , where creatures rule! I would love to be able to swim with seals and watch sally crabs scuttle along the beach.
The diverse wildlife of the Galapagos is what draws me. Due to their isolation, each of the islands have evolved independently and have adapted to their individual environment (And this is what inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution)
My idea of a perfect Galapagos exploration would involve a 10 day cruise.
2.) Skiing in Japan
There is something different about skiing in Japan than any other destination that makes it unique in my eyes. For one, Japan has about as many ski resorts as the USA. Imagine, such a tiny country having more than 500 ski resorts to choose from! And of course, it’s not that far from Australia, so it’s perfect for just a week-long getaway. (I would love to ski in Europe / America too but the travel time eats up precious days!)
Niseko in Hokkaido is the latest addition to Epic Pass, a lift pass that covers 11 North American Resorts as well as Les Trois Vallees in France and Verbier in Switzerland.
My ideal getaway would be a week in Niseko with a group of friends , where we would hit the slopes during the day , and pamper ourselves in the natural hot springs by afternoon. Niseko Powder Connection offers year long activities be it summer, winter, spring or autumn. Their itineraries suit my style of travel: adventure by day and luxury by night!
3.) Diving the Tiputa Shark Pass in Rangiroa
This is really what propels me to return to Tahiti. Sure I’ve scuba dived (and free-swam) with sharks 2-3 times. But they were either just a handful or 1-2 sharks in one go.
I have read numerous articles of diving experience in Tiputa pass about hundreds of sharks surrounding the divers that they lost count – sharks of different species and sizes, all gathered in one area! I always get a shiver of excitement reading the accounts (and watching the videos!) and imagining how it would be to actually dive there.
My ideal trip would be to visit Tahiti briefly, head to Rangiroa for a week, and another week in Bora-Bora. I’m already in love with Bora-Bora from our last visit and I’m sure I will fall head over heels in love even more with French Polynesia when I dive in Tiputa pass.
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So there you go, these are just a few picks out of my field of travel dreams. A few dreams at a time and slowly it will come true 🙂
It’s not a lot, but they are very specific and vivid!
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What about you? I’d love to hear some of your travel dreams!
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Great post! We can totally relate to not having a bucket list!…I’d love to visit anywhere in Japan as I haven’t been. Bell spent a month there travelling when she was younger so it’s not a priority that we go out of our way together. Same like Turkey- I traveled there and she hasn’t and would love to. Just depends when it works, I would like to go back to Turkey with her some day. But there’s so much to see, so much beauty that we don’t even realize until we get somewhere- frequently that we never even heard of!
Agree that Galapagos Islands would be wonderful, especially as neither of us have been 😉 Cheers! 🙂
Hi Alex! Great to know you guys are ‘non-bucketeers’ as well. I don’t think it makes anyone less of a traveller, it just means you view things differently. I haven’t been to Turkey– actually both Zombie and I haven’t been. But would really love to 🙂 I also think not having a strict list makes you more open to new experience that you would never have thought of otherwise 🙂
Hi Jean, like you I don’t have a bucket list but many notions and long and short term plans. East Timor is right up there. Antarctica is there but in the dim and distant. An urge to live overseas again is there too. But right now I’m on the way to the airport and Good Coast so that is cool enough for today!!