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Health & Fitness

What's On Your Bucket List?

Everyone should have a bucket list - plan your dream holiday - it will make you feel better, give you something to look forward to.

Everyone should have a bucket list, or a dream file for the trip of a lifetime.

It is not a specific destination, it is an experience, a feeling and memory that will last forever and become a part of a person’s history.

When you have had a bad day, have a cup of tea and jot down your wish list.  It will make you feel better.

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This will be different for every individual. The reasons for taking the trip will vary, but the end result should be the same, that they have had their expectations exceeded and perhaps did something outside of the box.

We can thank the Internet, reality television shows, social media, travel shows and travel websites for the content they provide. Watching shows like the Amazing Race exposes my clients to world travel and exciting destinations.

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Top trips include calling on all seven continents, renting a European villa, visiting all Seven Wonders of the World, photographing the Big Five animals on an African safari, renting a private island, chartering a private jet and dining through Paris’ best restaurants.

Also on the list was a world cruise, which gives you lots of bragging rights, and gives you exposure to many different lands and cultures. One which comes up on many lists is sailing the Mediterranean on a private yacht. With no outsiders on board, it’s a romantic getaway, you eat the kind of food you wish and generally live the life perceived as “rich and famous”.

The top ten dream destinations are Australia and Italy in No. 1 spot, and South Africa, New Zealand, Greece, Antarctica, France, French Polynesia, China and Ireland are in No. 2

Paris is the No. 1 dining experience, and Tuscany Italy, Bordeaux France are the top wine destinations.   

Many people want to visit the land where their ancestors came from.

And then, there are some that are completely idiosyncratic. One night my husband Roy and I were caught in a terrible snow storm when they closed Highway 80 to Lake Tahoe. To pass the time I said, "I am going to give you my Bucket List," and went thru 13 places, including Petra, Jordan, the Northern Lights in Alaska, Glacier Express train in Switzerland, hiking the Routeburn Track in New Zealand, to name just a few.   

When I asked Roy for his list, he said “South Bend.”

I am British, and I thought, "Where on Earth is South Bend? I knew the Grand Canyon was in Arizona, but what was there in South Bend. I asked for its location and why did he wanted to go there?

He said, "In 1960 U.S.C. got murdered by the Notre Dame football team. I want to go back and see U.S.C beat them something like 79 to 7."

Since South Bend was not somewhere I wanted to ever go to,  I decided to go to sleep. 

So, you just never know what are on others' lists. But you should know your own.

I ask every new client for their Bucket List. Then I keep watching. One couple in their 80s told me that before they met me, they only could afford to take one trip a year. Now, they take three or four, since I am always on the lookout for great value trips to places which are on their list. 

I do a lot of trips for people who are on their own. I can always find a trip with other singles, or a small group tour and age has nothing to do with it. I get e-mails every day with outstanding offers. Everyone should take the trip while they are in good health and not put it off.

One lady told me she had cancer and wanted to see New Zealand before she died and have her birthday looking at the Southern Alps. I wrote to every hotel general manager and told him the story and promised him dinner the next time I saw him. Each one upgraded her to a suite, and gave her a birthday cake, champagne and flowers. She had 20 birthday cakes, and was thrilled with the trip. She passed away six months later but she had her dream holiday.

Her husband told me before she slipped into a coma, she was smiling. When he asked her why, she said "I am thinking of New Zealand."

Maureen Jones is the owner of All Horizons Travel in downtown Los Altos.

 

 

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