Go Big, Spend Big: Why I'm Joining the Bucket List Travel Trend

2022 has been the year travel returned. Cast your mind back to the first few months and we were stuck in yet another bleak cycle of variants, infection rates and border-crossing restrictions but, as winter drifted off in our rearview mirror things got progressively better. People were making their first international trips in over two years, confidence continued to grow that plans would no longer be scuppered by a new wave, and the travel industry bounced back big, so much so that many airports couldn’t even handle it.

Back in January, a CNBC report predicted that 2022 would be the year of bucket list travel, with starved travellers ready to go big and spend big to make up for lost time. It makes sense, right? Only a truly epic adventure could satisfy two years of simmering travel urges.

And while many suffered huge financial losses throughout the pandemic, there are others who saved up some spending money, be it thanks to working from home, spending less on social activities or simply having two or three years worth of holiday savings pile up into one big kitty. So why not release your frustrations and spend it all at once? That’s certainly my plan.

As an early Gen Z-er, with the looming shadows of student debt and sky-high rent prices, such exuberant expenditure has rarely entered my mind outside of purely fantastical daydreams. Not to mention that the pandemic has taken away two years in that early 20s sweet spot – boundless energy to explore, fairly minimal adult responsibility and finally some well-earned cash to spend.

I never did the whole “gap yah” in Vietnam or Australia thing, nor did I go on any remotely extravagant holidays with my family as a kid. Instead my travel map looks like one of those graphics used in WWII documentaries – yet another European city falls as Gethin steadily makes his way across the continent.

That was all supposed to change, mind you, in early 2020, when me and my partner were bouncing off the walls with excitement at the prospect of exploring New York City, a big bucket list entry for the two of us. We were due to fly from Heathrow on the 23rd of March. When did the UK go into lockdown for the first time? Yep, that’s right, the 23rd of March.

So now I’m ready to bounce back with a vengeance. I’m sitting on the front row of the bucket list bandwagon. Solidarity with fellow travel nuts – let’s go big.

I have eased myself in with a continuation of the European campaign, a couple of small trips in late 2021 and a few more significant escapes throughout 2022, but now I’m ready to go all out. My next trip, in November, is as out-there as it gets – 10 days in Qatar.

Keen sports fans will have clocked that I’m going to the men’s football World Cup, and keen sports fans will also know that, as well as an ethical minefield, this tournament is a logistical nightmare, with eye-watering finances and a real sense of the unknown. But, as a proud Welshman seeing my team qualify for the first time in 64 years, this is once-in-a-lifetime stuff. To see my tiny little nation compete in the world’s greatest football festival? That’s priceless.

I don’t see my appetite for bucket list box-ticking waning after 10 days in a desert metropolis. In fact I think this trend will continue into 2023 and beyond, not just for me but for thousands of fellow travellers all over the world.

Things might have opened up again but we’ve learnt a valuable lesson over the last few years, one that many of us had never considered in our lifetimes, that global exploration is not a given. It has never been an option for many people, but even those who can afford to see the world have now been shown that this incredible privilege can be taken away from us very easily, and very quickly.

So let’s make the most of it. If you can afford it, if you can dream it up, then let’s do it. I haven’t decided on my next adventure, but I’m fairly certain it’ll be with Culture Trip. Our Epic Trips are the exact kind of once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences I’ve got a hunger for. The hardest part is choosing where to start.

Japan and South Korea are huge bucket list destinations for me, while the Costa Rica itinerary is about as wanderlusty as it gets. Georgia and the Caucasus look utterly beautiful, and culturally fascinating.

I might have to keep the Middle East theme going with a trip to Jordan. There’s the ancient city of Petra, sunset cruising on the Red Sea and Arab Street food in Amman, not to mention the vast expanse of Wadi Rum, a must-visit for film fans like myself, as the filming location for several Star Wars entries, as well as Lawrence of the Arabia (1962) and Dune (2021). Perhaps a trip to Arrakis in 2023 is the perfect way to preview Dune: Part Two (2023).

Whatever 2023 holds for me, I do know that I’ll be putting travel at the forefront of my plans. No inhibitions, let’s dream big. I suppose I do need to reschedule that trip to New York at some point…