My friend Lois Alter Mark wrote an article for Forbes about travel bucket lists and quoted me about the importance of writing down your goals and how creating a bucket list can actually make you accomplish them. Here’s what she has to say on the topic – (To view the online version, click here.)FORBES – published Jan 7, 2019, 12:50pm
It’s not surprising that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February. I mean, who really wants to give up sweets and wake up with aches and pains from the gym in order to get in shape or spend hours making harrowing decisions about which precious memories to throw out in order to get organized?
Instead, consider creating a travel bucket list which will constantly inspire you and which will actually be fun during the process of working toward your goals.
After seeing how putting my dream trips out into the Universe made many of them come to life in 2018, that’s what I decided to do officially this year, and it’s made me so excited about the year to come.
“Writing down goals and making bucket lists are ways of setting our intentions,” says life coach Bonnie Olson. “There is nothing more fulfilling than going into our hearts, discovering what our true self desires and then taking it into reality- with the first step being to write it down. We can’t achieve what we can’t imagine.”
According to Olson, travel is the perfect subject for a bucket list. “Surprisingly, science suggests that we get more delight out of dreaming up and planning our adventures than actually experiencing them,” she says. “So, even if you never make it to some of the destinations on your list, you’re still getting something satisfying out of it.”
Last year, I was able to check off these items on my list:
. Volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand
. Cruising through Norway into the Midnight Sun
. Touring the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont
. Taking a transatlantic cruise on the iconic Queen Mary 2
I’ve now started a travel bucket list that will be a living document I’ll add to – and hopefully subtract from – throughout the year. I started with 50 items but can easily see this growing to twice that size.
I certainly don’t expect to knock through the whole list any time soon but, like Olson says, just thinking about these experiences has already made me happy.
Here’s my list-in-progress. What’s on yours?
- Hang out with the Newfoundlands at the Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland
- Sleep in Cinderella’s castle in Disneyland
- Do a Beatles tour and take an Abbey Road photo
- Watch the ducks parade at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis
- Visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
- See the polar bears in Churchill
- Tour the world’s best libraries
- Take a luxury train ride outside of North America
- Attend a tennis match at Wimbledon
- Cruise the Amazon
- Galapagos
- Attend the Hay-on-Wye book festival
- Stay at Giraffe Manor
- See the mountain gorillas in Uganda
- Take a river cruise to the Christmas markets in Vienna
- Experience the Great Migration in Africa
- Visit Unclaimed Baggage in Alabama
- Stay in an over water bungalow
- Play with a panda in China
- Take a Vietnam/Cambodia cruise
- Visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- Do the Donut Trail in Ohio
- Swim with manatees
- See the cherry blossoms in Japan
- Spend a week at Miraval
- Cruise the Nile
- Sleep in an ice hotel
- Swim in the Dead Sea
- Stay at all of the 5 star hotels in New York City
- Spend a month in a Paris apartment
- Attend the Sundance Film Festival
- Antarctica
- Spend a week in a cottage in the Cotswolds
- Visit Mount Rushmore
- Take my husband to St. Andrews and the Ryder Cup
- Sleep in a treehouse hotel
- Cuba
- Indulge in everything chocolate at Hershey
- Spend a week at Golden Door
- Glamping in Africa again
- Visit Lions, Tigers & Bears
- Stay in 21c Museum Hotels
- Asheville
- See a sea turtle hatching
- Watch my son take batting practice at Yankee Stadium
- Experience the tasting menu at Eleven Madison Park
- Sleep with a dog in my room at Best Friends Sanctuary
- Cruise the Panama Canal
- Spend a weekend at PAWS Wildlife Sanctuaries
- Do a Viking World Cruise
I believe the world would be a better place if we all traveled more, and I write about everything from luxury spas, cruises and hotels to quirky museums and street food in order to encourage people to get out and explore. When I’m not traveling around the globe—and even when…
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