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Most of us live with two lists.
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The things we have to do, that one we've been carrying for 30 or 40 years, and the things we want to do, which we've been moving down the page just as long.
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Retirement is the rare moment when those two lists actually trade places.
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And when that happens, the question isn't whether to take the trips, it's which ones, and in what order, and with how much time.
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That's what we're going to talk about today on Let's Talk Travel.
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I'm your host, April Watson, and together with my husband Warren Watson, we're the owners of April Adventures Travel.
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Let's talk today about your bucket list and how to plan it and get the most out of each trip.
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So we put together a framework just from helping clients over the years on which trips to take when.
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And a lot of these trips we've discovered really depend on a couple different variables.
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And we want to share those with you, and then I'll walk through a couple of our bucket list trips and tell you whether I think you can plan them anytime or whether sooner is better and why.
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So the variables that we really look at when planning a bucket list, say a three to five year plan, are first off the distance and the time zones you're going to travel, the climate.
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Now, climate you can often get around by just picking the right season, but sometimes not, and that's important to know.
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Altitude plays a major role with some destinations.
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Infrastructure, and whether you're going to be urban versus remote.
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And then also in some cases, how you travel there actually determines whether it's easy or more challenging trip to take.
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So let's take that framework and apply it to a couple different trips.
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Now these are all trips we've been on, so we can talk about them firsthand.
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The first one I'll talk about is Antarctica.
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So if you really look at all those different buckets, Antarctica looks like it's a pretty challenging trip and you should do it sooner.
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But there's one overarching factor in my mind that makes it a trip you can actually do anytime.
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And that is because the only way to get to Antarctica is by cruise ship.
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And those cruise ships are pretty luxurious and they're very easy, very comfortable.
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And the fact is in Antarctica, well, really one of the most wonderful things to do, of course, is to get in the zodiacs and to get on land and experience it.
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Those trips are short, they're really fun to take, but if that's not you and getting in and out of a zodiac is more difficult, the beauty of Antarctica can be seen from the deck.
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It's extraordinary.
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It's extraordinary scenery.
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You see penguins on the icebergs that are floating right by you.
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It's just a landscape that's almost surreal.
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And I think you can experience that, surprisingly, at any time in your life.
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Now, don't get me wrong, that flight's pretty long, but you're not changing many time zones.
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So you give yourself a day or two in Buenos Aires to get acclimated, your plus or minus two or three time zones max, very different than going to Asia.
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And then you can either fly or sail the Drake, and you're on a beautiful ship.
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So Antarctica, I say anytime.
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Another one, which we've talked about in more detail in a previous episode, is Safari.
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So this one I'd say sooner rather than anytime.
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Doesn't mean you can't enjoy it at any time, but sooner might allow you to get more out of the experience.
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And that's for a couple of reasons.
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One, of course, the distance is long, but mostly because when you're on safari, you're in these jeeps and they're really comfortable.
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You're bouncing around a lot.
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If you're in South Africa, you're crossing the bush and running over these small bushes and shrubs, and it's a bouncy ride from time to time.
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And you're outdoors almost all the time.
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And on safari, particularly in East Africa, you're going to be on smaller planes.
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And I'm talking the bush planes.
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You get on the plane and they say our next stop is in five minutes because you're going from camp to camp.
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So those planes are smaller, they're less comfortable.
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And for that reason, I'd say Africa's probably sooner rather than later.
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I think another bucketless trip we hear from clients a lot is Egypt.
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Egypt, I'd probably say sooner for a couple reasons.
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Well, for one reason primarily, and that is climate.
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The sites you're going to see on an Egypt cruise, and primarily when you go to Egypt, you're going to do a river cruise down the Nile.
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And it's beautiful, and that is very comfortable.
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But the weather in Egypt is pretty hot.
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And all the sites you're going to see are outdoors and require some walking.
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So it's incredible, incredible scenery.
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But for that reason, I would say that Egypt you do sooner rather than anytime.
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And again, I'm not saying that you can't make any of these trips anytime, but that would be my judgment call on that.
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Japan's been incredibly popular lately.
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Japan, I'd say anytime.
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Now, we all know that getting to Japan is quite the ordeal from the U.S.
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It can be 20-some hours in flight time.
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But the infrastructure is fantastic.
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Everything's well laid out.
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It's beautiful country, fascinating culture, great food.
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And I think you would find that once you're there, given enough time, that's something that you can enjoy at any time in your bucket list years.
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I'd like to talk too briefly about a type of travel, not a destination, but a type of travel, river cruising.
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Everyone thinks, you know, the river cruises in Europe, they're beautiful.
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They're really easy.
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You unpack once and you travel among the different cities along the Rhine or the Danube, and it's a lovely thing to do.
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And I would say anytime, with one big caveat, and that is if anyone in your party has mobility issues, river cruising may not be the best choice for you.
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That's because the gangways to get from the ship to the dock can be steep, because the halls, because it's a river cruise, are narrow and the elevators are few.
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So for almost anyone, this is a great thing to do at any time.
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But if truly mobility is an issue for someone, I'd recommend ocean cruising instead.
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Let me cover Machu Picchu.
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That one comes up a lot.
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And we've booked a lot of clients there.
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The thing with Machu Picchu, extraordinary, high elevation.
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Oftentimes this is paired with Galapagos.
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And I never quite understood why, because Galapagos, you're obviously sea level, and you can from there to the high elevation of Machu Picchu.
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I would say Machu Picchu experience it on its own and do it sooner.
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Galapagos, anytime.
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But pairing those two doesn't feel like the most natural combination.
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Proximity isn't always everything.
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And then lastly, let's talk a little bit about train travel.
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Rocky Mountaineer, as many of you know, goes through Canada.
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It's also actually in the US, connects Vancouver with Calgary.
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And it goes through Banff and Jasper National Parks.
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Beautiful scenery.
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Trip you can absolutely do anytime.
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Wonderful, wonderful trip.
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In Europe, you've got a lot of train travel as well.
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And when you're traveling by train, a thing to remember is that you're having to take your luggage and card it onto small racks that they're at the end of the train.
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So when you're traveling through Europe, I would say train travel, that's sooner.
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Europe by land, private car, flight, anytime, absolutely.
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But keep in mind the train travel is wonderful, beautiful scenery, but a little bit more complicated than it may at first appear.
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Let's talk a little bit about two things that can make trips easier.
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So as I mentioned, any of these trips, while I say sooner or anytime, even those that are sooner, we have many clients that go on anytime, go on later in life.
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And that's absolutely fine.
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And there's ways that you can make that a whole lot easier.
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These are some ideas and some of the ways that we do it.
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First, if you can, if you're lucky enough, business class flights make a huge difference in travel over those long distances.
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Airport VIP, so there's something called VIP meet and greet, where we have someone meet you right as you step off the plane, whisk you through a transfer, whisk you through customs.
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And boy, that makes it a whole lot easier after a long trip.
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We always recommend longer stays and fewer places.
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So if you're going to do a luxury land tour, stay three nights if you can, two at a minimum.
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The one night stays are the ones that make it complicated.
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And private touring or small group touring allows you to go more at your own pace or at the pace of a smaller group and makes it easier.
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And finally, something to consider is there are ways that you can have your luggage transferred.
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So you don't have to take it with you.
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You can just have it there when you arrive.
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Some clients love to do this and it's really easy, and some just prefer to take carry-on.
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And I really wish we were good at traveling with just carry-on.
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But we're not.
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So as I've mentioned, we've seen travelers do this bucket list destinations at any age, at any stage of their life.
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And all of them can be structured and simplified.
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But if you have choices and you've got the time, we can help you prioritize to get the most out of those trips that are still on your list.
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If you have a list, like we do, like we've had for a long time, we want to help you put it in order.
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Book the Bucket List Planner, a 30-minute call where you tell us your list and we help sketch out against the parameters that we've discussed today, a three to five year sequence with you.
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You can find the link in the show notes, set up a call, and if you found this helpful, share it with a friend.
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Travel for the bucket list years.
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We'll see you next time.