We’ve noticed an increase in the number of women travellers planning ‘bucket list trips’ recently. Trips you’ve dreamt of for years are finally happening.
Perhaps it’s the turn of the decade that’s spurring you all on. The end of the year is always a good time to plan your travels for the year ahead, so maybe the end of a decade increases this urge to do something tenfold!
Thelma & Louise members appear to be planning a significant number of trips to South America and South Korea right now – and as a savvy group of women who love to travel, this trend is surely one to watch!
2. Make it all about the journey
Forget airport hassles and try focusing on the journey as much as your destination. Cruises, barge trips and railway journeys can be a great way to let someone else do the hard work while you soak up the views and/or sun, sea and excursions!
Expect “5.5 star comfort” on this Alaska cruise and stay trip, or spend 24 days on board the Oceania Insignia on a luxury cruise from Miami to the Brazilian Amazon. If luxury is your thing, don’t be fooled by the misleading title of ‘barge’ on this canal cruise through Burgundy, France. There’s a spacious saloon and hot tub on the deck of the “handsome vessel” in question!
Alternatively, explore countryside and small towns on a hop-on, hop-off train tour of Sweden, with “some short hikes, and some paddling included.” It’s a significantly more affordable journey than your average cruise, too.
3. Connect with the locals
The way you interact with the locals can make or break your trip. Jumping out of a taxi to snap a few pics before climbing back onboard to be driven to another place is a completely different way to experience a country than when you take the time to talk to the people who live there.
As Ana says in her piece about how to connect with the locals on your trips: “Travel is about people and visiting a place is enhanced by meeting locals. I love talking to them and meeting people wherever I go, and therefore most of my memories of places are connected to the people I met there.”
If this is how you like to travel, check out this trip to Morocco: “I have found a little gem in southern Morocco. I stay with a family that has a small riad (guest house). I live like a local and get to know people and the culture. The family lived a nomadic life in the desert until recently. The town is on the edge of the Sahara Desert and not touristic. The people are warm and extremely hospitable.”
4. Have a theme
You can put an adventurous spin on virtually any destination when you travel with a theme in mind. Going back to Malaga for the billionth time? Try seeing it through the eyes of Picasso, who was born in the city. Visiting Edinburgh but want to avoid the usual tourist traps? Read up on Harry Potter and join a wizarding-themed tour to see the places that helped sparked JK Rowling’s imagination.
How about going to see the spring blossoms in Japan, or exploring Peru on a spiritually minded tour? If you love trying new foods on your travels, check out these culinary-themed trips.
5. Travel for an event
Timing your trip to coincide with an event or festival is a sure-fire way to meet like-minded people, have fun and see something unforgettable, whether that’s Berlin Film Festival, the Great Migration in Tanzania or taking the Orient Express to RHS Chatsworth flower show.
See all Festival and events trips
6. Get active
Cycling, hiking, canoeing, yoga – getting active on your next trip is sure to up the adventure ante! How about yoga, “walking in tea plantations, cycling, canoeing” on this 10-day tour to Kerala that’s suited to “more active ladies who are also interested in exploring the local culture, cuisine and travelling around”? Or you can trek the Dolomites, hike Turkey’s Lycian Way or walk along Hadrian’s Wall in England. Better break in those hiking boots!
7. Go somewhere completely unexpected
If you’re set in your ways when it comes to choosing a destination, be brave and try somewhere new – or at least slightly novel. It doesn’t have to be somewhere completely off the beaten path (although if that appeals, take a look at this trip to Mongolia). If you’re comfortable exploring the Lower 48, how about checking out Alaska and the Yukon? Or heading to the other side of the Mediterranean to tour Egypt and Jordan instead of staying in Europe?
8. Go for a loooong time!
It’s simple maths really. The longer you travel for, the more likely it is that adventure will strike! If you can stretch your usual one or two weeks to a month or more, you’re well on your way to a life-changing adventure in 2020!
Those with a penchant for spontaneity could spend a month in Rajasthan: “I won't be planning to the last detail as I want to be free to stay and linger, or move on if I like or dislike a place”. If you’re time-rich, how about spending six months exploring South America “at a reasonable pace, stopping where we fancy for as long as we fancy.”
See all adventure trips being planned by members of Thelma & Louise.
Are you planning a life-changing trip in 2020? What would be your ultimate adventure, if money and time were no issue?