Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Do you remember
being in high school and just
dreaming of the day you could bean adult or dreaming of that
dream college that you wanted toget into?
Or dreaming of finallygraduating from that college and
getting a real job, getting thatquote unquote dream job, or even
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for us women out there findingthat dream man, right?
Well, today I'm going to talkabout how important it is to
allow ourselves to dream when itcomes to travel.
Welcome to Solo TravelAdventures.
I'm Cheryl Esch.
Well, I believe that it'simportant for us to dream about
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places that we would love tovisit.
And we often put a name on thatand we call it a bucket list.
And I believe we should haveone, but not necessarily let our
lives be dictated by it.
Hear me out.
So it's important to dream aboutthese places, to have that
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excitement and even to write itdown.
We may think of things in ourhead, but if we don't actually
write them down, as as you know,when you set goals in your life,
it's important to write it out.
So then similarly with traveland going into those dream
destinations of yours, it isimportant to make a list, a
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bucket list, as we like to callit.
Things you have a strong desireto do or to go need to go on
that list.
I think from a mentalstandpoint, it's important just
to dream.
I think when we get to our agehere, 50 and up, we often forget
how to dream.
And all the examples I gave inthe introduction were, you know,
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when we were younger, we had allthose dreams.
And even as a little kid, youprobably had even more dreams
about doing certain things.
Maybe as a kid, you know, I hearof young kids when during my era
dreaming of going to the moon,right?
Or it just lots of dreams likethat.
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And we get older and we getstuck and we have these
responsibilities and we don'tthink we even deserve to dream.
And so I'm here to encourage youto get out a pen and paper today
because we are going to dream upa bucket list for you of travel
places, things that you havesuch a longing to do that maybe
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they've even been there sinceyour childhood.
So, did you get that pen andpaper?
So you often ask, how do youeven decide what to put on your
bucket list?
Well, I'm going to give you acouple ideas where to start.
I have a bucket list, I do admitthat, and we'll talk a little
bit more as to what I actuallydo with that bucket list a
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little later, but I want you toget pen to paper and decide what
should be put on your bucketlist.
First, I want you to go back toyour childhood and think about
maybe a place or an activitythat you wanted to do as a child
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and that you didn't get to do.
I'll give you an example.
My son, who's now 26, and I alsobring up this episode because I
just had both my adult sons fordinner tonight, and we got to
talking about a lot of these uhsort of bucket list places that
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we want to go, and even like,could we do some of these
together?
But a childhood dream of my sonsand mine as well, I believe,
because I just when he said it,it just sparked this remembrance
in me because we both loveanimals.
Is when he was like four, maybe,he wrote down in this little
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dream jar that we had that hewanted to go to see an African
safari.
He wanted to travel to Africaand see all those wonderful uh
African animals.
And so I joined him in thatdream.
And so that is actually still onour bucket list together.
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So maybe you have a childhooddream of something you wanted to
do or a place you wanted to go.
Maybe there was a book you readas a kid that just got you
longing for something aboutmaybe where the setting of that
story was set.
Go back and think.
And we all have them.
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We all do.
Um, so if something comes tomind, put it down.
If not, give yourself some moreopportunity.
Maybe uh go back and look atsome.
If you have some old pictures,sometimes old pictures might
remind us of certain things.
So that would be one way tostart to build your bucket list
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of places to travel.
Uh, next, you might have somesort of deep connection to your
ancestry.
I know a lot of us are doingthese uh ancestry.com or
23andme, and we're discovering,you know, where we have come
from, where our heritage comesfrom.
And so maybe you have a longingto go to one of those countries
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uh where you know you have partof your ancestry is from.
Maybe it was a great grandparentthat came from this country.
And so maybe that place isactually on your list.
And I do have that on my list.
However, I'm in the researchmode to find out exactly because
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back in that time in Europe, inEastern block of Europe, um, the
the countries were not as splitup as they are now.
And so I'm still trying todetermine exactly, you know,
where my uh great-grandparentsuh that are quote unquote
Slovakian uh truly came from.
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So we're still uh trying topinpoint what countries.
So, yes, I have a desire tomaybe go back and um you know
sort of find that region andexplore that region that my
ancestry is from.
So maybe that also calls you uhto a region that you want to
visit.
Um, thirdly, maybe there is aspecific activity or event that
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you have a desire to see.
And this could be maybe it couldbe a music event, it could be um
maybe it's the uh blooming of inApril of the blossoms in Japan,
right?
Maybe that's something you'vealways wanted to see, or the
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tulips in in Amsterdam in April.
For me, I have one, and it isactually to go to Mexico,
somewhere outside of MexicoCity, to see the migration of
the the butterflies, um, themonarch butterflies.
And so I have that on my list,you know.
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So it could be something likethat, some sort of uh natural
phenomenon or some event, itcould be a huge music event.
Uh maybe you want to go toBurning Man, right?
So there's lots of differentevents that could take you to
travels uh local and far.
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So maybe that's and if you thinkof something, then put it down.
Have you always wanted to go tomaybe the hot air balloon
festival, you know, inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, or uh,
you know, so things like that.
Or maybe you'd rather go do thehot air balloon ride thing in
Turkey, right?
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So those kind of things mighttake you or have you dream about
going to certain places.
And then there is, of course, umInstagram or magazines, or maybe
a movie or a show has inspiredyou to go to a place.
And there's plenty of shows andmovies that might be set in
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certain countries that you'relike, wow, I want to go see that
country.
Put that on your list, and thenfinally, uh, another way that I
have put things on my bucketlist was through word of mouth.
So maybe someone has been thereand they just talk a lot about
it.
Um so Japan actually is one ofthose places that you know, I
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just hear so many people talkabout how they have positive
experiences there.
And so that is on my bucketlist, and even spoke to my two
adult sons tonight that maybethe three of us could go because
my oldest has been there twiceand he wants to go back.
And my younger one and myselfhave not been to Japan.
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And we talked about uh not in2026.
We both all of us have alreadysome travel plans planned.
So I don't know, we're aimingfor maybe 2027.
We'll see, but that would be asuper fun trip.
So, yes, word of mouth could be,and some of my best places that
I have visited um have turnedout to be surprisingly uh kind
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of the best places, and thoseplaces were typically word of
mouth.
Like someone told me about acertain city that maybe I didn't
even consider, and when I didactually go, I was so happy I
went, pleasantly surprised.
So, did you create your bucketlist?
Maybe you already have one, andif you do, maybe you need to go
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back and revisit it.
I do that quite often.
I revisit my bucket list andmaybe change things, take
something off, put a new one on,you know.
Um, it can be always evolving,especially as we as people
evolve as well.
And you know, now that you havethis list, what are you gonna do
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with it?
Well, I like to say it's it's ajumping off point for you to
decide where your next travelswill be.
It doesn't have to dictate whereyou go, though.
Meaning, yes, it's a lovelyresource.
It's this dream listpotentially.
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Maybe some of the places you puton there are a bit of a stretch
because maybe they're expensive,like my safari that I want to go
on.
Or maybe they're just so faraway and you would need more
time off than you maybe have.
I I would say use the list justas a jumping off point, not to
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just go down the list and checkthings off, because then it's
not as meaningful.
And so what I mean by that issay you find yourself in a
position uh to take a trip.
You're ready to travel andyou're trying to decide where to
go.
You look at your list, so maybenone of those are hitting home
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for you at the moment, andthat's okay.
Maybe you are feeling pulled tosomething else, a different
environment, a different settingthat maybe anything on your list
may have to offer you.
And that's okay.
I think it's important for usto, you know, base our travels
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maybe on what you need, whetherit's what you need physically,
mentally, spiritually,emotionally, uh, picking a place
that is, you know, definitelythe right time and the right
place.
But also maybe you base whereyou go on budget.
So maybe as you look at yourbucket list, maybe you see
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really good airfare for one ofthose places on your list.
Ha! There you go.
You can take advantage of that.
Right.
Or you have a friend maybe thatis showing interest in one of
those same places, then thatmight be a great opportunity to
share the joy, share the dreamwith somebody.
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It could be many differentreasons that you have either
used your bucket list or not.
So I don't want you to use itlike it's set in stone or like
it's the law, right?
It is a jumping off point.
It is something to reflect on,remember.
I think it's more important todream and to have those dreams
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put on your bucket list.
Okay, well, what about you getto a point in your life, you're
like, I haven't done anything onmy bucket list.
Well, yes, then you can maybestart going, okay, I need to,
you know, maybe life has gottenin the way, right?
And you haven't had time to doany travels.
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Then maybe you sit down and go,okay, I'm doing this trip, and
just decide because you've putoff maybe doing any kind of
travels for a while.
And yes, I always say we, youknow, life is short, and it's
important that we do things thatuh sort of spark us, right?
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That that we're living, we'reliving in the moment, we're
living life instead of justgoing through the mundane and
the staticness of maybe yourday-to-day.
So travel can kind of sparkthat.
Travel can mix that up.
So maybe that's when using thatbucket list could be helpful.
You know, when you're not sure,maybe you're just drained
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mentally as well, that you canutilize the list as, you know,
maybe they it can give youideas, maybe not necessarily the
ones on your list, but maybeit's oh, maybe it's some country
near that.
And you know, as you're doingsome planning or looking, you
go, oh wait, what about thisplace?
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So important.
Important that we have thisdream bucket list to reflect on,
to uh dream and explore anypossible future trips, but to
only use it loosely, meaningthat we're not, I don't like the
idea of just checking thingsoff, folks, because when we have
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that mentality of that's allwe're doing, we're missing the
beauty and the essence of thewhole purpose of travel, the
whole um the preparation, even,and then the actually being
there and being in the momentinstead of going, oh, I've
checked this off, I'm I'm done,right?
But enjoying it, getting themost out of it.
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And then even when you comeback, there's should be some
reflection time as well aboutthat trip.
And maybe that helps you alsodream about future destinations
and add them to your list.
Well, sister travelers, I hopeyou develop your own dream
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bucket list and keep it tuckedaway.
I keep mine tucked away actuallyin my daytimer, and I have some
notes in my phone as well ofsome places that are.
I have a top 10 list that I keepon my phone, and it does change
a little bit here and there.
And as I get to some places,some some have been on there for
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for years, and I haven't evengotten close to getting there.
But for example, Australia,that's on there, and man, that's
that's gonna require um a bigtrip for me, and you know, it
just hasn't happened yet, butit's been on there for years,
and I'm not not sweating it.
I'm you know, it's still a dreamdestination, of course, for me.
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And if you don't have your list,as I said, get a pen and paper,
write these down, and keep themsomewhere where you can
occasionally refer back to them,especially as you're thinking
about doing a trip.
Well, go ahead and dream.
Get out there and dream.
I love dreaming.
I think it's importantsometimes.
We forget how to dream in ourlives and we get so bogged down.
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So carve out some time.
If you didn't actually do thisduring the podcast, maybe go
back and listen and sit downwith actual pen and paper,
especially if you're driving,and give yourself some space,
some margin to really reflectand you know, see what resonates
with you, uh, with your soulhere in places that you'd love
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to see.
And if you want to know moreabout travel, I am going to be
speaking at a virtual travelsummit.
I will put the link in the shownotes.
It is a free event, it'shappening on November 15th.
It does start at 11 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time.
Um, and it's free.
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And so there will be about 20speakers during the event, all
talking about travel.
So if you're just wanting somemore resources and some more
inspiration on maybe places togo, even take a listen, go ahead
and get signed up, and you'llsee the link in the show notes.
And get out there and have thosedream adventures.