“100 places to Travel / Dive / Surf / Hike / (Insert Action Verb Here) Before you Die”.  We own books and magazines with titles like this, and we enjoy reading them.  We’re just not sure we really “must” travel to all of these places.  You don’t have to go far to find media telling you where to travel, must-see places, influencers telling you spots that are so breathtaking you absolutely cannot miss them… 

Travel bucket lists are fine.  Just make sure your bucket list is your own.  No one can tell you where you absolutely must go.

As seasoned beach bums, Maria and I can share the example of beach comparisons. We live close to Clearwater Beach, which is supposedly the #1 beach in the US according to whoever makes those lists.  We’ve been there a few times, and it’s OK, but there are many other beaches in Florida that we enjoy more.  If a doctor told me I had two weeks to live, and I could choose to spend those last two weeks of my life on any beach I’ve ever visited, Clearwater Beach would not be very high on the list of choices. 

On the other side of the planet,  Jeju Island, South Korea -  my home for five years - has 22 or 23 beaches. I visited all of them and found my favorites.  Later on, I discovered that one of my favorite beaches was referred to as a “dumpy little poo-poo beach” on some anonymous foreigner’s blog.  Other bloggers claimed that there was only one “real” beach on the island. Everyone is entitled to their preferences, but no one gets to create their own reality for the rest of the world, and I don’t think that last dude ever saw the dictionary definition of beach from Merriam Webster.

Of course, just because a destination is a stereotypical bucket list travel hotspot doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go there.  Paris, the Grand Canyon, and Hawaii are all worth visiting, but take with a grain of salt the advice that others give you about how to travel to those places.  That snob who thinks the Eiffel Tower is too touristy?  Let them book their own trip to France.  That elitist who thinks the Grand Canyon’s South Rim is inferior to the North Rim?  It’s the Grand Canyon, for crying out loud.  But if someone has lived in a place and traveled there extensively, they may just know what they’re talking about.  For Hawaii, Erica and Jordan from The Hawaii Vacation Guide are awesome.  I mean it.  Check them out, please, even if you’re not traveling to Hawaii anytime soon.  And no, that’s not an affiliate link at the time I’m writing this.

Imagination exercise:  walk away from this blog post, get a pen and paper, and write down your own top 10 travel bucket list destinations.  Don’t think about money, time, or logistics - just ideate.  What does your list look like?