The Bucket List and How to Plan a Trip from It

The planning process for a trip is the most important part. You are focusing on all your wants, must haves and how tos. How to get there, how much to see, how to narrow it down….. In this Part I of my Planning Series, I’m going to explain the way I get from idea to traveling. It’s a sort of method to my madness. The most essential part is the “where”, meet The Bucket List.

My Bucket List is a constantly evolving, living list. It gets re-prioritized and additions constantly. Every single trip I’ve ever gone on does track back to the Bucket List. I like to start each New Year revisiting the list and seeing what could/should happen that year.

How do I find things to add to the Bucket List? Honestly, I get inspiration from everywhere! People I meet who tell me incredible stories of places they’ve been. Pinterest and Instagram posts – these are dangerous! I’m dying to check out Giraffe Manor and Sardinia because of the incredible pictures I’ve seen. New places that I get a tiny sneak peek of, but want to explore more – Croatia for example. I want to visit all the islands next time! You name it – there is something on there from each of those categories, plus so much more.

This year, for example, I’m still trying to narrow it down! I’m planning a Girls Trip to Napa Valley in April. This trip has been on my list for quite some time! I’ve not made it for one reason or another, but this year it is underway! For the sake of this series, lets use Napa Valley as our scenario. It comes down to the basics: Who, What, When, Where, How and Duration. Bringing back the fundamentals of our Elementary school writing.

When is honestly what I find the hardest. The more people traveling, the more complicated the trip! Trying to coordinate the schedules of multiple adults is an undertaking! We have collectively agreed on the first 3 weekends in April as our target dates.

The Where was easy. We have been trying to coordinate a trip to Napa Valley for quite some time. The Where to stay is still in process. We know we all like the same type of hotels. We want something nearby that definitely has a Spa and Pool. Of course, a good Bar + Restaurant are required.

What is also pretty easy for this group…we are definitely into Spa, wine tasting and amazing food!

As we move into the second part of this series – the research, we will keep in mind several factors. We need to find where to stay. We should also decide the specifics of what to do. Based on what we want to do, we must decide how long we want to stay.

The Research part of planning is my absolute favorite! I highly suggest you look at Pinterest for inspiration and IG for influencers pictures. I also start to pull up hotels that I think may fit the bill and playing around on booking tools for pricing….that’s just the tip of the iceberg! More to come in Part II!