I have never seen the fishing harbour on any bucket list. But it's one of my favourite place in the world.

I have never seen the fishing harbour on any bucket list. But it’s one of my favourite place in the world.

I travel more than 300 days a year and has been doing that for well over a decade. But I am not doing this because I am ticking off some bucket list. Here is why I have no bucket list.

I see this again and again. People showing me a bucket list of things they have to see and do. I really want to see and do a lot too, but I do not have a specific list of things that I want to see and do. What should I do when the list is full, if I had one? Stop traveling and get married and have kids and end up like just another brick in the wall? Or should I just lay down and die, cause I am done with the list?

Taj Mahal is nice. But it's not everything when you travel to India.

Taj Mahal is nice. But it’s not everything when you travel to India.

I think Indian cow dung is very interesting, but i have never seen it on any bucket list.

I think Indian cow dung is very interesting, but i have never seen it on any bucket list.

Filling a list will never be why I travel. Lists of interesting things can inspire me and give me ideas to do things I would otherwise not have done. But this does not mean that I am not ambitious when I travel.

I always try to make sure that I see at least  a couple of new countries every year. The world has almost 200 countries, so it takes time to run out of countries to visit. But it’s not like I have to visit them all or visit certain countries. I have been 16 times to Brazil and 26 times to Vietnam for instance and that has not stopped me from visiting new countries every year.

I have been to Brazil 16 times.

I have been to Brazil 16 times.

I also find that my best travel experiences are almost always the unexpected ones. And often in places where I had few expectations. And they often evolve around interesting people I meet. No monument in the world can match the people that I meet from around the world when I travel. I actually mostly base my travel plans on where I know some really interesting people that I would love to meet.

Meeting some random strangers often leads to the best travel experiences.

Meeting some random strangers often leads to the best travel experiences.

Now I am not saying that things like the great wall of ChinaTaj Mahal and the Amazon jungle was not nice. I really enjoyed visiting all three places and they rank very high on my travel memory list. But I do not want my travels to turn in to a contest here I have to tick off a number of places in order for me to feel that the trip was a success. So I have no bucket list for my travels.

Travel is first of all about leaving my comfort zone, meeting people who are from vastly different backgrounds than myself and enjoying the feeling of not knowing where I will be tomorrow. All while I am getting wiser about the wonderful world we live in.

At least for me it is 🙂

Claus.

I'm a happy traveler, even if I have no bucket list.

I’m a happy traveler, even if I have no bucket list.

Walking down an unknown road, in an unknown country, is one of the best things you can do.

Walking down an unknown road, in an unknown country, is one of the best things you can do.

4 Comments

  1. wonderful post, claus. i feel the same way. love the cow dung, btw…thanks for the laugh.

  2. I’m glad you’re still active. I just found your post on cycling in the Philippines today. I had started mountaineering lately because I finally had the money to do so. Your posts are an inspiration, happy travels!

    P.S. I also find having bucket lists weird… It’s like anticipating an experience, when an experience only becomes real in the moment you experience it. I hope you get what I mean. For instance, there was a time when I didn’t read the itenerary and was surprised when we arrived at a pier to ride a boat. The mountain it turned out was on an island. Arriving at an island is a surreal experience. Like entering another world.

  3. Those piles of cow crap are hilarious.
    We use the term “bucket list” generically to describe the ever changing collection of places we would like to visit, not like a form or list to complete.

  4. Amen, Bruddah. Not having a b%$@#$@% list makes me a happier traveler.

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