Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Get rich, and see the world

According to an article published earlier this year in The Daily Mail, most of the dreams and wishes on people's bucket lists involve travel or some kind of adventure activity. The top 10 items, in order:

1. Become a millionaire
2. Travel the world
3. See the northern lights
4. Trek the Great Wall of China
5. Be mortgage free
6. Walk the Inca Trail
7. See the seven wonders of the world
8. Visit the Egyptian pyramids
9. Invent something that changes lives (like an iPhone?)
10. Visit Antarctica

Unfortunately, the study (a survey done by Helly Hansen of 2,000 people) also found that most people will only fulfill five of their dreams. If travelling is such a popular dream for so many, why don't more people pack a bag and get on with it, then?

If this survey is any indication, human beings think getting the most out of life means seeing the world and having a big bank balance. Maybe that's just because getting rich means having the means to travel? Thing is, though, you don't need a lot of money to go walkabout. Here is a great article from Verge Magazine about how to travel cheap or even free. I particularly like the last suggestion – enter contests. If you don't enter, you can't win, and if you do enter, you've got nothing to lose; so why not?

If I won the Biggest, Baddest Bucket List contest, which is a really great marketing campaign by MyDestination.com, I'd basically be living the ultimate dream and getting a taste of what it's like to cross off the top two fantasy items on most people's lists: get rich and see the world.

I'd also potentially get to cross off a few of my own bucket list items, all within six months:

#17 - raft down a world-class river
#27 - drive the Autobahn
#29 - ride a camel through a desert
#32 - ride a helicopter and a hot air balloon
#61 - go dog sledding
#65 - visit St. Peter's Basilica
#79 - best suite at a five-star hotel
#85 - kickboxing in Thailand
#86 - experience a dude ranch
#93 - see the Aurora Borealis
#96 - sky diving

...and I'd be a lot closer to #14 - visit every country!


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