Some call their need to travel wanderlust. Personally, I find that it’s a more of a hunger. A hunger for good seafood to be more specific. I live in a tragically landlocked area and the fish selection is frankly depressing. So much so, I added going to New Orleans, Louisiana to my bucket list. When I told my best friend about my dream of eating charbroiled oysters I did not expect her to be on board, but she immediately was. Thus the fantasy turned into a plan! But there were further plans to be made, plans that conveniently fit into a Bucket List journal.
First we had to set a goal date and a budget based on our activities, which fit perfectly into the planning section. The date was fairly easy to pick, but planning a budget was difficult. We spent hours estimating gas usage, needed supplies, and the price of all of the food I would be inhaling. Planning, depending on the bucket list, can mean different things. For road trip uses it was useful to brainstorm places I wanted to go in NOLA. When setting up a real schedule I used a map and my bucket list to narrow down where we would go and when. For other bucket list items the planning section could be much smaller: Call the skydiving company and then go. Done.
There is also an experience section in the journal where I occasionally jotted down things we did or saw. For a trip I suggest writing down your favorite moments in the bucket list journal but keeping a more detailed record somewhere else if that’s something you’re interested in. One highlight from the trip was a fortune teller inspiring my companion to act more like a… female dog? Another was getting blurred out of every polaroid picture by what I have to assume was a ghost, obviously not the sun or my friend’s lackluster framing.
Finally, you can say if your experience was worth it in the classic rating system of stars. I gave my first road trip a 5 star rating. You might think it would be difficult to come up with other bucket list items, especially enough to fill a journal. And you’re right. It would be hard, if there wasn’t a handy list at the front to get your bucket list juices flowing. If you feel like adding an extra layer of dramatic to trying new things, I highly recommend a Bucket List journal.
Bonus: One of the many blurry photos