How To Make a Prioritized Travel Bucket List

I’m sure everybody has heard of a Bucket List. But how many of you have actually created one? Today I will teach you how to create your own travel bucket list. It will help you organize your future travels in the most efficient way possible. Keep in mind, this method can be applied to areas outside of travel as well. It’s quite universal.

Before you begin, you need to determine what excites you in life. Pick a general category. If you asked me about my major interests, it would be about meeting people/understanding the culture. So, of course, my list would be about traveling. 

Here Are The Key Steps To Building An Awesome Travel Bucket List:

1. Ask yourself the 2 most important questions
2. Make a small Bucket List
3. Add with who, what, where, how, why, which, when to each idea – if applicable. 
4. Then also add how it would make you feel. Be specific.
5. Rearrange list in order of excitement (most exciting at the top). Make a copy.
6. Rearrange list in order of ease of attainability (easiest first). Make a copy.
7. Compare the lists to determine, logically, which bucket list items should be accomplished first.
8. Start accomplishing your bucket list goals as if your time is running out – because it is!

1) Two Important Bucket List Questions

Time to get real with yourself, even if it means that you must ask yourself two pretty disturbing questions. 

• If you had 30 days to live, where would you go and what would you do with unlimited money?
• If you were on your deathbed, what would you regret about your past?

These questions are pretty deep and they are quite thought-provoking. Most people live their life assuming that they will always have more time. I think everybody is guilty of this at some point in their life. It is important to understand that our lives are not only limited, but the date at which the light switches off is unknown to everyone. By asking yourself these questions, it helps to set the tone for the list that you are about to create. Let’s get started.

2) Make a Short List

You can always create a longer list later, So start small and get the hang of the method and then eventually, you can create a longer list. 

How To Get Bucket List Ideas

Sometimes it’s difficult to pull ideas out of nowhere. It’s easier to research a topic to get some ideas. https://bucketlist.org/ Is an interesting place to start. There are millions of ideas that will help you create your list.

If you want to visit a specific country, for example, type in Google “things to do in (country). There will be more than 1,000 ideas for each country. Browse through them swiftly and write anything down that seems incredibly interesting to you.

3) Be Specific About Each Bucket List Item

 If you want to visit Ireland, Don’t just say ‘visit Ireland’. Be more specific. Say something like ‘visit the Cliffs of Moher’ or ‘take a road trip from Dublin to Cork’.

After you have finished creating a small list of ideas, then add ‘who, what, where, how, why, which, & when to each, if applicable.

• Visit the cliffs of Moher, becomes: Visit The Cliffs of Moher with my best friend by taking the bus during the winter. I want to get drone shots of the cliffs.
• Take a road trip from Dublin to Cork, becomes: Take a road trip from Dublin to Cork with my best friend in a rental car during the summer and we can try jumping in the water when we get there.

Did you notice how specific that was? When you envision something, specifically, it will be more likely to manifest. 

4) Add ‘How It Would Make You Feel’ To The Bucket List Items

This also seems like a bit of a strange thing to add. But it is quite effective in helping to manifest your dreams into reality. The deeper that you think about your dreams, the stronger that your desire will be to accomplish them. Adding an emotional attachment to a futuristic plan will only help ignite the fire of motivation. 

After the previous step, it is now important to add how each scenario would make you feel. Try not to be too brief.

• Visit The Cliffs of Moher with my best friend by taking the bus during the winter. I want to get drone shots of the cliffs when we arrive. +It will be amazing to see all of the beautiful scenery from the window of a bus as we drive by. I hope we arrive at the cliff when there is snow. These are some of the most beautiful cliffs in the world and I have wanted to see them since I was a child. I want to get the most epic photo using my drone with me and my friend standing on this cliff. 
• Take a road trip from Dublin to Cork with my best friend in a rental car during the summer and we can try jumping in the water when we get there. +The last time my best friend and I went on a road trip we laughed so hard for countless hours. He/She has a huge sense of humor and I think we will laugh for days and days during our trip. He/she also has a huge sense of adventure and I think we will want to stop and explore many places together. I expect to smile and laugh a lot. 

5) Rearrange The Bucket List In Order of Excitement

If you use a computer to create your list, everything will be easier. Give each bucket list item a number. Item #1 is the item that would bring you the most joy and give you the most excitement. Item #2 would be the second-place item, #3 would be third-place and so on until you are finished. This will take a bit of time to rank each item. Once finished, rearrange this list so that 1 is on the top, then 2,3…and so on (this is why it’s easiest to do on a computer). Save this as a copy and name it ‘Order of Excitement’.

6) Rearrange The Bucket List In Order of Attainability

Make a copy of the previous list and rearrange the list in order of attainability. Maybe this is attainable based on your current work time constraints, or maybe this is based on financial constraints. Maybe there are other constraints as well. I’m not sure about your particular situation. Use the same format. 1 being the most easily attainable, 2 being the second easiest, and so on.. This will take a bit of time to rank each item. Once finished, rearrange this list so that 1 is on the top, then 2,3…and so on. Save this and name it ‘Order of Attainability’.

7) Compare The Bucket Lists To Determine The Logical Order To Achieve Them

Now I want to teach you something magical. I am going to show you how to create a master list. We will rearrange the list in the order of which you should try to obtain your bucket list items. 

After you have the two separate lists next to each other, look at item number 1 on any list, and find that same bucket list item on the other list. What is the number of the bucket list item on the second list? Let’s say 8, for example. Now 1+8 = 9. 

How about item number 2? Find it on the second list. Let’s say it’s 3. 2+3=5.

Now rearrange your final list by ordering the list items from smallest to largest. 

After you have gone through and created your final list, you will be able to see which bucket list items are the most attainable and the most exciting to you. The items with the smallest number are the items that you should do first. Pretty cool, huh?

8) Begin Accomplishing Your Bucket List

Now that you know the exact order in which you need to start scratching off items from your bucket list, it is time to actually begin. This may be rather exciting and daunting at the same time, especially if you have never gone on a solo trip before. Maybe you want to plan the entire trip yourself, or maybe you want to experience solo travel through a group tour. The choice is obviously yours. 

Just remember that time is the most valuable commodity and nobody knows how much time we have remaining. It’s important to take action and try to scratch off as many items as possible before we, well, kick the bucket. “Time is running out, start living!”

Start planning your trip today!