The world is a big place and it can be quite daunting to try and figure out which parts of it you most want to see. Most people only have so much money and only so much time. This is one of the reasons that I recommend making a ranked list of where you want to visit. This list does not need to be based on any conventional logic and should be personal to yourself. It can be tempting to try and visit places you have seen other people go just because they are popular now, rather than putting in the effort to figure out what exactly it is you want in your holiday.
Everybody’s travel preferences are different, if you like to be pampered then walking the entire length of the Camino de Santiago is probably not for you, likewise if you need to be kept entertained, then you probably shouldn’t book three weeks in the Maldives.
A year and a little bit after we got married we decided to make a list of where we would like to travel over the course of our marriage. My wife thought this was fanciful but I treated it as a goal. The fact it was ordered meant that we knew what things we would be willing to save up for and prioritise whilst other things we were more willing to do if a chance opportunity arose.
The list was as follows:
The first list was for long haul destinations, whereas the e (for Europe) list was for short haul.
Over the years the list has gone through several iterations and we have added a new section for dive holidays, where our intention is just to dive rather than to fully explore. To date we have managed to visit 14 of the locations on our original list and I still use it for holiday planning. I will be blogging about several of the holidays we went on to tick items off this list so hopefully you will stick around to read about them.
The point of all this is that your time is precious and whilst it is quite possible that going back to the same place repeatedly will allow you to have many great holidays, it is probably a noble thought experiment to rank where you want to go either by yourself, with a travel buddy or even as a family. You will then be much more likely to make it there one day.
