Planning Your ‘22 Vacation Bucket List
Take a deep breath. Hold it. Now let it out. 2021 is almost over. Repeat slowly… 2021 is almost over. 2021 is…almost over!
As the New Year starts creeping forward, you are starting to reflect on everything you wanted to do this year. Did you run that 5K you were planning on? Have you completed your yearly Goodreads challenge? Did you get to travel to any of the places you wanted to go?
While running and reading may have been the more accessible items on your resolution list this year, perhaps you still got to do a little bit of traveling, but not to the extent you would have liked.
Here’s how you can change that in 2022:
Think about the trips you did get to go on. Write out a list of the positives and negatives of each trip. What made the positives positive and the negatives negative? Consider the positives as something to repeat in future travels while the negatives as something to avoid.
Where have you always wanted to visit, but have never set the time out to go do it? If it’s someplace more accessible, then it’s about time to set a date and make a plan for your visit. Once you’ve made a plan, your trip will be easier to execute.
Do you have a dream vacation in mind? A destination more thought of in wistful thinking? What you need to do is to start saving for it now! Maybe you won’t be boarding the plane until 2031, but your 2031-self will be grateful you started planning for the trip in 2021.
If you’re unsure of where you want to go but you desperately want to go somewhere, it’s time to start thinking about your home state and all the hidden gems it may offer. Discover your local great outdoors, a small town, or a wacky roadside attraction.
Accept to let go of expectations. Nothing is as grand as it is imagined in your head. Let each destination you visit make itself known to you, get out of your comfort zone and learn to vibe with the local culture.
The year is drawing to close. This is not a time to think about all you didn’t get to do, but instead to look toward the future and everything you will accomplish. Happy traveling!
Anna Swenson is an advocate of “bloom where you’re planted” and hopes to illustrate the specialities present in destinations close by and far away.
