What’s a country that’s at the top of your bucket list?
I’ve got a problem with bucket lists. I can’t decide what to put on mine. It’s the paradox of choice. Faced with seemingly limitless possibilities, I become so overwhelmed by the options that I struggle to choose anything at all.
There’s no shortage of inspirational noise. Carefully curated collections of extraordinary destinations and once-in-a-lifetime experiences abound in the wild on the socials, complete with totally-spontaneous-and-not-at-all-filtered photographs to remind me that I’ve not been living my best life.
I should mention up front that I have enormous admiration for people who, faced with the knowledge that their remaining time is short, make a bucket list of things they still want to do. Having something to look forward to, a milestone to achieve and memories to make must take on a different and rather beautiful significance.
My problem is rather less profound. I simply can’t make up my mind where I’d like to go.
I’ve travelled quite a bit over the years, much of it for work. I’d find myself somewhere rather wonderful and make a mental note – and probably an Instagram marker post – to return one day with my family. There’s something very different about simply being somewhere together, without a meeting to attend, a presentation to deliver or a flight to catch. Like many of my best-laid nebulous intentions, most of those mental notes remain filed away under ‘One day!’
Meanwhile, back in my reality, I’ve barely scratched the surface of the United Kingdom. There are so many places I’ve yet to explore, and even those I think I know well have a habit of revealing something new every time I return. That’s not to say I’ve lost my appetite for travelling further afield. Quite the opposite. It’s just making an already impossible choice even more difficult.
I’m also slightly dubious about the whole experience of a lifetime business. It places an enormous burden of expectation on a place, a journey or an experience. Having spent months dreaming about it, planning it and paying for it, the bloody thing had better be amazing. And what happens if it isn’t?
I’m more convinced than ever that life’s pleasures have less to do with grand gestures and more to do with the accumulation of small kindnesses, unexpected encounters and moments that catch us pleasantly by surprise. Some of my most memorable experiences weren’t on any list. I couldn’t have planned them if I’d tried.
So, which country is at the top of my bucket list?
I haven’t the foggiest idea.
I’d like to think that when I finally grow up I’ll be sufficiently curious about what’s in front of me that I won’t feel the need to keep a list of what I’m missing. I’m not quite there yet. There are still loads of places I’d like to visit.