Seeing as we can’t live forever, it’s important to make the most of every day we have. That’s why people come up with bucket lists. These help you to consider the things you most want to achieve in life, and they push you to do them while you still can. A lot of people who make these lists include various travel destinations as essential places to visit before they pass away. However, is it a good idea to do this? There are several good reasons for and against, but which of them should you listen to?
It allows you to prepare
Anyone who likes to be prepared will likely look to lists to help them stay organized. They’re a great way of ensuring you don’t miss anything and stay on top of whatever you’re doing. When it comes to bucket lists, these can be useful for ensuring that you never forget to visit the places you’re most intrigued by. They can also help you make the most of every trip by checking you’re prepared for each vacation. There’s nothing worse than forgetting something when you’re halfway across the Atlantic!
However…
When you rely on plans too much, you can end up losing the authenticity of your experiences. You won’t know everything there is to see and do in a destination before you visit it, and a bucket list can stop you from discovering that. After all, if you rely too heavily on what you’ve planned in advance, you’ll be afraid to let loose and go somewhere outside of your comfort zone. So, while you might visit the country or city you wanted to, you won’t get the full experience of being there.
It helps you remember places
Have you ever been inspired to visit somewhere after a friend told you about the place, but then forgotten about it later? If so, a bucket list would probably come in handy. It’s hard for something to slip your mind when it’s written in black and white before your eyes. These lists are a great place to keep adding new destinations to explore every time you learn about them. As long as you keep on top of these vacations and don’t just let them pile up, this can be a great way to stay focused on your ambitions.
However…
When does it end? Given there are so many places in the world to visit, at what point do you say enough is enough? The likelihood is that you won’t be able to explore everywhere you want to, meaning your bucket list will always remain unfinished. Rather than adding destinations to a list in the hope you might travel to them one day, why not add a little more excitement to your life? Go ahead and book that vacation spontaneously and just enjoy the adventure it takes you on. Don’t do later what you can do now because it will just leave you feeling unsatisfied.
You can easily argue for and against both sides, but a lot can be said for being less organized and seeing what life throws at you. It might be daunting going into a vacation completely unprepared, but at least it will save you any disappointment once you’re there. If you have no expectations of your trip then you can’t go home feeling like you’ve been let down.