Have you ever caught yourself daydreaming about the places you’d love to visit and want to be more organised with your ideas so you can actually make a start on your travel adventures? Travel is one of life’s greatest adventures, and there’s no better way to turn your wanderlust into action than by creating a travel bucket list.
This sounds great, a travel bucket list full of inspiring ideas and amazing experiences. Until you realise that you have no idea where you want to go, how to record it all and what to do with this random list of things you’ve written down.
So where do you start? Writing down everything you’ve ever wanted to do without much research or thought could just end with you feeling pretty demotivated if five years down the line you haven’t managed to complete any of the activities on your list.
A well-thought-out bucket list can inspire you to explore new destinations, embrace unique experiences, and make unforgettable memories. It’s more than just a wishlist, it’s taking that wish list and making sure it’s realistic, achievable and comes with an action plan to help you start planning your trips.
It sounds confusing I know, but creating a travel bucket list doesn’t have to feel overwhelming, by following our simple steps you’ll be able to easily turn your dreams into a reality and make the most out of every trip you take.
What’s in this post?
In this post we run through the 11 simple steps we always follow when creating a bucket list.
From where to start, to how to choose your destinations, and what action steps to take so that you’re able to start ticking things off. We also answer some of your burning questions like how many things should be on a bucket list or how to structure all the things you want to do.
If there’s something on this list you’re particularly interested in you can skip straight there by clicking on that section in the contents below. If not, then scroll down to learn the simple steps to creating a travel bucket list.
- What’s in this post?
- Step 1: Ask questions
- Step 2: Do some research on different experiences and destinations
- Step 3: Make a longlist of ideas
- Step 4: Narrow it down to your unique bucket list
- Step 5: Assign an achievability score
- Step 6: Put everything in order
- Step 7: Include what you’ve already done
- Step 8: Start with the small stuff
- Step 9: Find some accountability
- Step 10: Document and track your travel
- Step 11: Keep your bucket list updated
- FAQs for creating a travel bucket list
- Read these next …
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Step 1: Ask questions
The first thing you need to do when you’re creating your bucket list is ask yourself a few questions to get an understanding of what’s important and your budget so you can set yourself up in the best way with a realistic bucket list.
When you think of a dream destination what comes to mind?
Do you already know exactly where you want to travel in your lifetime? If you do then this step will be easy, just write them all down!
If you have no idea where you want to go then do this activity to figure it out. Sit comfortably, close your eyes and think about your dream destination. What comes to mind? Do you see a white sand beach? A well known landmark like Big Ben? Or maybe a safari to see animals 🦁🐘🦧 in their natural habitat.
This will give you somewhere to start when looking at destinations or experiences that can form the basis of your travel bucket list. If you really have no idea and need to find some inspiration for dream destination ideas you can look at blogs, bucket list books, YouTube, and other social media platforms.
For me it’s a mixture of both. I had a pretty good idea of where I would love to go and just wanted to document it, but I also learnt about so many different things to do and places to visit that have since been added to the travel bucket list I created for my family.
How much can you realistically set aside each year for travel?
This is where you figure out what you can afford! There’s no point in having a bucket list filled with the most amazing and far away destinations if you’re never going to be able to save enough to afford them – it’s just going to set you up for disappointment.
Look at your finances and work out how much you can realistically set aside each month for travel and times it by 12 to get your yearly total. Even if you can only save a small amount don’t get disheartened, you’ll still be able to do some really cool things, you just won’t be able to fly to the other side of the world or go on a safari every year.
If you already manage to save some money then this step will be easier as you’ve already got some of the background. You just need to decide what percentage of your savings you want to allocate to travel.
Step 2: Do some research on different experiences and destinations
Now that you’ve got a list of destinations or things you want to accomplish it’s time to do some research. You can use the internet, grab some travel magazines from a travel agent, or read some books full of travel bucket list inspiration
If you already have a few destinations in mind then spend this time researching what you can do in that destination. Make a note of everything that looks like it could be fun or delicious, from popular activities to the best places to eat, and even something off the beaten track.
If you had visions of a white sandy beach in step 1 then in your research you want to know what places you need to add to your bucket list to visit the best and most beautiful beaches. You can do this with anything, just take your list and search for the best places to do the activity or have the experience you wanted to instead.
Once you’ve done either of these steps you’ll have a list of destinations and experiences to start narrowing down for your travel bucket list.
Step 3: Make a longlist of ideas
Take everything you’ve found in the first two steps and write it all down – all of the destinations, activities, experiences, food, and adventures.
Whilst you can do this in whatever format works best for you I find that this process works best if you use something you can easily edit like a Google Sheets, Trello or Notion. These allow you to move, and merge items without having to cross things out (my fellow Type A list lovers out there are cringing right now) or re-write your list every time.
Step 4: Narrow it down to your unique bucket list
Now that you’ve got your long list we need to narrow it down a bit so it feels achievable and you don’t have tons of things that all crossover and conflict with each other.
Start by looking at your list and grouping things where you can. For instance, if two of the things in your list are to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef and visit a beautiful beach you can quite easily tick these things off together.
Consider that budget you set in step one here too. Are any of your activities or places to visit so unrealistic that you’ll get de-motivated before you’re able to tick them off your bucket list?
An example of this is an African safari which on average can cost around $350 per night, for a family of four this is $7,000 for a five night safari. If you can realistically only save $100 per month this is going to take you years to just tick one thing off your list.
It’s okay to have some of these places on there to have something to really aim for but you need some simple and realistic travel goals on there that you can achieve to keep your motivation going
Step 5: Assign an achievability score
Before you can put your bucket list into order you need to measure how achievable each activity or place is so you know where to start. We do this by scoring three factors of travel,
- Cost: roughly how much will it cost to do the activity or visit the place? Is it something that fits comfortably in your budget or something you’d need to save for a couple of years to manage?
- Time: what are the time constraints involved in planning and visiting? Some places you may be able to go on a day trip, it could be a weekend city break, or it may require a two week break.
- Excitement: how exciting is the activity or place? Is it something you’ve always dreamed about or something you’ve spent more time researching than anything else?
Score each of the things on your list out of 10 (1 is low and 10 is high) for each of the three above factors. Once you’ve done this just total all three scores for your overall achievability score to assign to each item on your bucket list.
If you have 5 things you may want to skip this step as it’s probably a bit long winded when you only have a few things to pick between. However, if you’ve got 10 plus I’d absolutely recommend you take the time for this step so you have some direction.
Step 6: Put everything in order
You’ve got your specific list, you know how achievable it all is and now you need to get it into some form of order, how you do this is really up to you but you have a few options.
The simplest way to do it is to just order them based on the achievability score and start with the most achievable first. But, what do you do if everything on your list is grouped pretty closely in the achievability scoring?
If the achievability score doesn’t make sense as a way to order your list then you can choose something else to put them in an order. Perhaps the excitement level would work and you just order them by the things you want to do the most first. Or, by time constraint so you put the things and places that will take less time to visit at the top of your list.
Step 7: Include what you’ve already done
Are you that kind of person that writes a list then adds the stuff they’ve already done just so they can cross the action off and feel like they’ve accomplished something?
Same here! Starting with the awesome stuff you’ve already achieved is the easiest way to start your bucket list so add them on and you can start ticking some bits straight off.
Step 8: Start with the small stuff
I get it, planning travel to tropical and exciting destinations is fun but if you’re not someone who is used to the logistics of traveling and having to communicate in a different country then it can be pretty overwhelming.
Get yourself started with the smaller stuff on your list – the stuff that’s easier to tick off and accomplish.
Maybe it’s a road trip in your home country a few hours away, going on a short hike or testing out flying with a short flight to a long weekend city break. There are so many simple travel goals you can add to your list that don’t take loads of money, time or effort to tick off.
Step 9: Find some accountability
There’s no point in just writing a bucket list and forgetting it exists, you need to make a plan to start completing the list and keeping yourself accountable.
To achieve your bucket list you need to make a plan, this is especially true when you’re working on a budget or have more than 10 items on your bucket list.
There are a few simple ways you can keep yourself accountable to achieving your bucket list,
- Create a plan with specific deadlines and goals to give yourself something to aim for and keep yourself on track.
- Share your bucket list with friends or family so they can support you and help keep you accountable.
- Celebrate your achievements by post pictures of your travel on your social media accounts or share them with your friends and family.
This is just a few ideas to get you started, if you need more a quick Google search will give you tons of ideas of how you can be accountable for completing your bucket list.
Step 10: Document and track your travel
If you’re spending all this money, time and effort travelling you need to document it or track it in some way so you can look back on what you did, share with others and use it to plan your future travel
There are tons of ways you can document your travel and experiences but here are a few to get you started,
- The route you took if it’s a road trip or multi-destination
- Photos or videos of your travels
- A diary style account of what you did and where you went
- Stories of funny or inspirational travel moments
- Tips and tricks you’ve learnt along the way
- The lessons you’ve learnt or what you’d do differently next time
How you do this is really down to personal preference – some people prefer printing pictures and keeping a written diary, some may prefer to use an app or you may want to use social media.
Step 11: Keep your bucket list updated
Our situations change all the time, maybe you get a promotion or change jobs and you can now afford to contribute more or less than you could when you first made your bucket list. It could also be a change in priorities, do you now have young children and you’re not ready to trek through a rainforest with them?
✨It’s okay to re-evaluate your plans ✨, in fact it’s a good thing to be flexible and change to meet the needs of your life at the time. Continuously review your bucket list either just changing the order of the things already on your bucket list or completely rewriting it starting with adding some new ideas.
FAQs for creating a travel bucket list
There isn’t a set number of things that should be on a bucket list, this is personal preference. You could have a specific list of 10 items or a broad list with over 50 locations and experiences. The key thing to remember is that it needs to be manageable and achievable so consider this before you make a list that’s too long or overwhelming.
There is no perfect way to arrange a bucket list as it can be filled with just locations, experiences, food or a mixture of everything travel. You may prefer to have a numbered list in order of priority for you or you may want to group them by location so it’s easier to achieve multiple things in one trip.
Starting your bucket list seems like it’ll be this really difficult thing that will take ages and you end up procrastinating, but there are some simple tips to help you create your bucket list without feeling overwhelmed. Ultimately, the best way to start your bucket list is just to get started! The steps in this post take you through the process with simple small steps but ultimately just start easy – write everything you want to do down somewhere, figure out your budget and then make sure your inspiration and your budget match.
Summary of how to create a bucket list
If this looks like a lot and 11 feels a bit overwhelming for your first try then I’d focus on these three steps to give yourself a good base and make a start.
- Ask questions: You’ve got to have some form of an idea of where you want to go or what you want to see. You also need to know if it’s realistic for your budget so you can make sure it’s actually achievable.
- Start with the small stuff: Your bucket list needs to feel achievable so start with the small stuff that’s easier to tick off. Maybe it’s somewhere close to home or a destination you’ve already booked to visit.
- Document and track your travel: There’s nothing more motivating than being able to tick things off your bucket list and look back at all the amazing memories you’ve made so far.
By following these 11 simple steps to creating a travel bucket list you’ll be able to create your bucket list, make an action plan of how to achieve it and start ticking things off in no time!
