Rip Up Your Travel Bucket List! Start Afresh

Close to 70% of people in my Insta story polls (aka market research) said they want to travel more after the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps it isn’t just time to travel more, perhaps it is time to take it one step further. Rip up your travel bucket list and paint a different vision of travel for yourself and for your family. The world is not the same, why should your travel dreams be? Here are seven tips on how to create a new travel bucket list.

1. Take A Leave of Absence or Gap Year

Fast travel can be great; I’m a testament to that. In 2017 alone, I went to 25 countries! Fast travel can also be exhausting and there’s only much one can accomplish under such time pressures. What if you could take a leave of absence or gap year and travel for a bit longer than the 1-2 week trips you’ve previously taken?

Trips like this require advance planning and saving. The earlier you put it on the list and start planning towards it, the more likely it’ll happen for you. I took a short 7-week leave of absence in 2018 in between living in the UK and moving back to the US. I saved and planned for this trip of a lifetime for three years leading up to it. 

After that experience, I promised myself that I wanted to build a life where I could take 2-3 months off every few years. I don’t want to wait until retirement to take the time to see the world, spend time with those that matter the most, and to do the things I was created to do.

There are certain transition points that are a great time to take a leave of absence or a gap year. Some of these points are: graduation from high school and before going to University, in between university and joining the workforce, or in between jobs. However, with appropriate saving and planning, and with the option to run digital business remotely, several others have been able to quit their jobs to travel for a year or longer.

2. Travel Deeper

A search for the hash tag #traveldeeper on Instagram and you’ll find a lot of beautiful travel images. Traveling deeper is more than a hashtag. To travel deeper is to really get to know your destination. Do something to understand the culture, history, everyday life, or cuisine of your destination. Plan your travel and activities with intention. Go ‘off the beaten path’ at home and abroad, but also revisit the beaten path if that’s what you love. Go one more step beyond the top-rated restaurants in a listicle and the Instagrammable spots. 

Talk to strangers and ask for their favorite spots and experiences. Add those to your travel plans. Get lost for a few hours in a new country and observe your environment. Seek out travel blogs/narratives like this that share these experiences for ideas on how to incorporate this into your new travel style. 

To travel deeper is to be intentional about letting go, leaving space for the luxury of unexpected immersive experiences. I promise, you will not be the same.

3. Go Solo

‘Only put off until tomorrow what you’re willing to die living undone’ – Pablo Picasso

2020 has been the reminder of all reminders to step forward and DO. Do small things, do big things. Do kind things. Do bold things. Do the hard things, Do things we so often push off until later.

Perhaps you’ve always wanted to travel but you’ve never found the right travel buddies to go along for the ride or you’ve never found the perfect time to go. Or you’ve been a traveler but have never tried to venture out solo. 

Either way, it is time to add a solo trip to your new travel bucket list. Try a solo trip just once, even if it’s a staycation close to home. My first trip was an unplanned solo trip and it led me here today. The hardest part about going on a solo trip is actually deciding to go solo. Plan your first solo trip with these four steps

4. Get Specific About Your Destinations

The next thing to do as you create a travel bucket list is to update your list of destinations. My list is endless and I keep adding to it. My list is varied and very specific in parts and I love it. Here are four ways to get specific about the destinations on your travel bucket list:

• Update your list with more destinations e.g., add more cities and countries
• Update your list with specific activities e.g., hire a private chef in Bali, scuba dive the great barrier reef, bungee jump over Victoria Falls
• Update your list to include repeat destinations because some destination demand that you return
• Update your list to include specific people i.e. Go back to Cappadocia with Bae, Rent out an entire Riad in Morocco with my girlfriends, Have a ‘crazy rich Asian’ inspired experience in Singapore with the Thailand crew.

5. Travel With & To Your Loved Ones

Yes, I just asked you to travel solo and I’m also going to ask that you consider traveling with your loved ones. Take your kids to the city their great grandparents grew up, take your parents on a milestone birthday trip or on a ‘just because’ trip. Travel with your siblings, cousins, or friends.

For expats and immigrants living thousands of miles away from your families, refresh your bucket list to prioritize specific plans to see your loved ones. Sometimes, this will mean skipping on a trip to other ‘exciting’ destinations.

Whatever your situation, add making memories with those that matter the most to you to your travel bucket list.

6. Set Sustainability Goals For Every Trip

All over the world, we have let the earth breathe more than ever before in our lifetimes. Over the past few years, I’ve made small personal commitments to being a more sustainable traveler.  I’d like to invite you to join me in setting big or small sustainable travel goals on every trip you embark on. Here are some things you can do as a sustainable traveler:

• Carry your own reusable water bottle
• Support locally owned businesses
• Be picky about your vendors, select eco-friendly companies
• Add on a road or rail trip to your travel list each year
• Sign up for carbon offset programs

7. Negotiate Working Remotely For A Summer

I’d have never considered this to even be a possibility until I saw someone in my network doing it a few years ago. I’d love to have her share on the Travfessionals series sometime. She worked for a US based company at the time, however she negotiated working remotely over the summer. In that time, she spent time in a few different European countries exploring during the evenings and weekends without giving up her full time salary. Pretty genius, isn’t it? Since the pandemic, many companies have learned that a lot can be accomplished remotely. You’ll never know if you don’t ask but you’ve got to deliver on your work first. 

8. Move Abroad

A medium to long-term move abroad is as immersive as it gets when it comes to travel. Are you one that has always dreamed of a move abroad alone, with your partner, or with your kids? Would you consider this as an option for you or your family, would you add it to your new travel bucket list? For some this means:

• Applying to go to school abroad
• Learning new skills to be able to work remotely from countries that are great for remote workers
• Applying for an international opportunity at your current employer
• Applying to jobs in other countries

This is a life-changing dream, but you’ll never know what lies on the other side until you take that leap. What can you do today towards that move abroad that’s been on your travel bucket list for a long time?

BONUS: HELP SOMEONE ELSE SEE THE WORLD

This space was always meant to be a window into the world, a window into what can be possible FOR EVERYONE. As I think about my refreshed travel bucket list, my travel bucket list includes helping more people (Black, female, working professionals) find ways to see the world and partake in the luxury that travel is for a lot of the world. I’m inspired afresh to remain focused on my ‘why‘ for this blog and for everything I share about traveling publicly. The blog posts may not be as frequent as I’d like, but the goal remains the same, and my commitment to using this platform to the best of my ability is just as strong.

There we have it, 8 (+1 Bonus) ways to refresh your travel bucket list, inspired by the rude awakening we have had in 2020 so far. What other things are you going to add to your travel bucket list? Which of these ideas resonated with you the most? I’d love to hear from you!

Till next time, 

Dee (Ms. Heels)