Do you feel that?
That burning desire to explore the world.
But do you also feel that little nagging feeling in the back of your mind that it really isn’t going to happen?
We all make bucket lists.
“I would LOVE to hike the Inca trail to Machu Pichu” or “Wouldn’t it be amazing to eat pizza in Italy?”
Are we going to make ALL the things on our list really happen?
Probably not…. (But I’m still not taking “go into outer space” off mine…)
It would cost A LOT of money and take time, effort, and know-how we just don’t have.
But what if there were three easy ways to make your bucket list actually happen, and change it into a “let’s actually do this” list. And start checking things off this year!
**For inspiration check this out:
We just got back from the beautiful bucket-list destination of Maui. For two weeks, with four people and a baby.
(Yes I took my 3 year old and 3 week old!)
The average cost of a Hawaiian vacation for two people for one week is $3,760. So, we should have spent around $15,040. *gulp*
We spent less than $3,000. For EVERYTHING.
Direct flights both ways. Beach front property.
With minimal searching and planning time.
(And you could do all this too!)
#1 Focus on saving on the big-ticket items
It’s better to save THOUSANDS in one go, than to spend HOURS stressing to find deals to save $50 here and $100 there, because your time is more valuable than that!
So, what are these big-ticket items to focus on?
Airfare and hotels/lodging.
And my best secret is…I don’t even really search for these deals. I let them find me. And I get them for 50%+ off what other people pay for them.
- Use a flight-finder site to find all the deals from your airport and have them sent right to you. (Here’s the best four to sign up for *psst! They are all either FREE or very very cheap*)
- Sign up for airline memberships and then will send you when there are flight deals. (Southwest and Frontier and both great at this.)
- Ditto for hotel chains.
#2 Be a bit flexible
Ok, hold your horses!
Now, I DON’T mean that you now have to only travel last minute or take crappy flights or stay at hostels.
You can plan things on your schedule and do it in YOUR style.
I do mean, if you can wiggle your dates by a little (sometimes just a day or two) … boom, cheaper. Fly into a different airport, cheaper. Go to a tropical beach vs a specific beach, waaay cheaper.
Little changes in itinerary and searches can result in massive savings on your vacation.
Like THOUSANDS of dollars cheaper.
And best of all. You choose what you want to be flexible on. Some changes will be worth it to you and others aren’t. You get to find your personal balance for YOU!
But you’ll be shocked how very little changes can actually save you a ton.
Read more about the tweaks you can make in this blog post.
#3 You have to start thinking that checking experiences off your travel bucket list can actually happen!
We all suffer from a “vacation-bias”.
We look at the people around us that look like us, work jobs like us, live in our neighborhoods, go to our schools. And we compare ourselves. We do this ALL THE TIME. Even with vacations.
“If the Smith’s can afford or do this sort of a vacation…I guess that’s the kind of vacation we can do too.”
Or we think of all the reasons to not do something override our confidence. I’m too young, I’m too old, my health isn’t where I want it to be, I have young kids, I work a lot. And so on…
So, we fail to dream big.
We don’t let ourselves think that the DREAM VACATION that we really want is possible for us so we don’t even shoot for it.
This was 100% my family growing up.
Big family. One income. “Oh boy, I guess Europe isn’t for us”.
How do you fix this?
- Start looking at what things actually cost! If you use the tips I shared above…it’s going to be A LOT cheaper than you are thinking it is.
- Think of ways you can make that trip fit your lifestyle now.
Sure, you don’t get enough vacation days to tour Europe for a month. Go for what you can.
Your knees can’t take walking the cobblestone Paris streets all day? Tour it on a river boat.
Have babies and little kids? Plan itineraries that will work with their age. (I started international travel with my first at 6 months old and now bring two with me where ever we go!)
I promise it will still be rewarding and amazing to be checking off that bucketlist.
You can make this happen! No more wishing for “maybe some day”.
How amazing would it be to say, “Oh yeah. Snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef? We did that!”. Or, “We’re going to find our favorite gelato flavor when we go to Venice this year!”.
You can actually start putting things on your bucket list…and then checking them off!
What would be the first thing you’d check off your list?
