Everyone should have a travel bucket list.  These are the must go places and must do adventures that we dream about.  Paris, Rome, London, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu in Peru, Carnival in Rio de Janero, Photo Safari in Tanzania... and the list goes on and on.  Creating your bucket list is the first step in making it a reality. 

Start by carrying a small notebook and pen everywhere you go.  You're sitting in a movie theatre watching the latest James Bond film and you see a beach in Aruba calling to you.  Scribble it down.  You're at the hair salon thumbing through a cooking magazine and you see an article on an Amalfi Coast retreat that teaches how to make real Italian pasta from scratch.  Well you've got to do that!  Write it down.  You're watching the History Channel and you see how modern Japanese artisans still make samurai swords in old fashion kilns.  Well, come on! That has to go in the notebook!  For additional ideas, checkout UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It only takes a couple of months until your notebook will be full of ideas.  Find some quite time, pour yourself some of your favorite wine (use the big glass) and make your travel bucket list.  This is a spiritual experience.

Once it's created turn your bucket list into a real plan.  Move the places and events into groups.  It's easy.  Whatever makes sense.  If the Coliseum in Rome is on your list, you might as well throw in the ruins of Pompeii and shopping on the island of Capri on the same trip.  Going to see Big Ben and the Tower of London, might as well take the high speed train to Scotland and see the Edinburgh castle, then take the ferry over to Belfast, Ireland.  Remember, the overseas airfare will be one of your biggest expenses, so knock out as much of your bucket list as possible on each trip. 

Next, do your research and budget your trips.  Build each trip around one or two festivals or timely events.  My trip to Northern Italy was planned around the annual Palio horse race and medieval festival in Asti.  Figure out when are the best and cheapest times to go.  The month before and after the high season should be a good candidate.  However, some exhibits and site may have restricted hours or may even be closed after the majority of tourists leave.  Research transportation, lodging, food and tickets for events and festivals.  If you want to see Mozart's "The Magic Flute" in the Vienna Opera House you'd better check the season's schedule and plan on getting your tickets early.

Now prioritize your list.  Which trips are most important to you?  Which trips do you need to do now while you're young (relatively) and which ones can wait until later in life?  I went on an Alaska cruise with my daughter and while it was really interesting and on my bucket list, it was also was a trip that I should have put off until I was a little older.  I know my daughter would have preferred tanning under a warm Caribbean breeze than chilly Alaskan wind.  What can you afford to do now and what do you need to put off until you can build up your savings account?  As you prioritize your bucket list, start thinking about the other priorities in life.  What is really important and what could you do without?  Could you trade a few of those weekend trips for one of the buck list trips?  Creating your bucket list allows you to focus and prioritize what is really important in your life.  What would you trade to go on one of these trips?  Maybe put off getting that new car?  Could reduce the number of nights dinning out each week?  Could you give a few of those weekend trips in exchange for one of your bucket list trips?

Okay, now for the final step.  GO!  Go now or as soon as possible, and then keep going.  Each time you check off an item on your list you will feel a real sense of accomplishment and the memories will be yours for life.  Like my father always used to say, "Go!  You're not getting any younger!"