After a year of pandemic bans and travel restrictions, many people in the United States are finally enjoying a return to normalcy before COVID, especially when it comes to travel. In a survey of 3,000 people, American Express Travel’s Global Trends Report found that 78 percent of respondents would like to travel in 2021 to reduce stress from 2020 onwards. And for a number of people, short trips are travel on the bucket list.

According to Merriam-Webster, a “bucket list” is “a list of things you haven’t done but want to do before you die.” Bucket list trips are often reminiscent of features that are not the most easily accessible, such as remote, luxurious, time-consuming, and expensive. But in the case of post-quarantine travel, a bucket list vacation doesn’t have to mean flying to Africa for a safari or jumping off a plane over Dubai’s Palm Island. Instead, it’s about having an experience that is real means something for you. And that importance doesn’t have to come at the expense of all of your vacation days or life savings.

This shift is a direct result of the loneliness and isolation many suffered while quarantined amid the pandemic. “What people want from travel now is what was withheld from them – spending quality time with their family and friends,” said Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, in a statement in the company’s 2021 travel report is presented, which forecasts 2021 to 2021 to be the year of “meaningful travel”. “Travel is seen as an antidote to isolation and separation,” he added.

And while it makes sense that after almost a year and a half at home, people want to get on a plane to fly anywhere, the desire for meaningful, life-affirming travel on the bucket list goes much deeper than the simple cabin fever, according to professionals.

Why people long for unique experiences

According to Michael Brein, PhD, known as “The Travel Psychologist” for his expertise in travel psychology, people are rethinking their general priorities after the lock – and removing items from their bucket lists – especially those related to travel – has the best Billing. By March 2021, one in five Americans had lost a relative or close friend to COVID-19, and he notes that even those who haven’t lost a loved one faced the idea of ​​their own mortality as they watched death rates on the tick all over the world. “We were forced to look at the essentials and make a decision about what is most important to us because we are not sure what the result will be,” he says.

“We were forced to take a closer look at the essentials and make a decision about what is most important to us because we are not sure what the result will be.” —Michael Brein, PhD

Dr. Brein says that the collective grief we experienced during the pandemic inspired many to “take up the cause of the greatest importance,” which in turn has led many to simply stop talk about the trip that you always wanted to make and actually book.

“COVID made me realize that happiness is the ultimate goal … and that’s why we’re making this trip,” says Bonnie Azoulay, a freelance writer who has just returned from a road trip along the California coast with her husband. For them, the vacation was an opportunity to “get out and see the world”, which in this case did not require a passport.

While the vacation planning app TripIt lists Italy, Greece, Spain, France, and Scotland as the most desirable travel destinations for Americans who want a vacation on their bucket list, Dr. Brein that we will visit a number of different visitors in whole new ways to destinations around the globe in the coming months and years. “Those of us who have had the travel bug or the wanderlust will have that even more, but I think we will be qualitatively more involved in how we want to satisfy this wanderlust,” says Dr. Brein. For example: “Many will look for trips that are more meaningful to them personally. They will choose not to go to Paris and stand in a long line in front of the Louvre just to go in and see the Mona Lisa, but rather they will take a deeper look at the kind of transformational experiences they want. “

The latter type of bucket list travel has the added benefit of being good for your mental health, which we could all Use a little more of it after the hellish landscape in 2020. According to Jennifer Tanner, PhD, developmental psychologist at the Institute for Health at Rutgers University, when you experience trauma or stressful situations – like so many Americans have since the pandemic began – your brain turns on its defense mechanisms and pushes in anything you can’t handle , into your subconscious. And when you leave your everyday life and embark on a new adventure, such as paragliding from the cliffs in Peru or a weekend road trip to a national park, you switch on completely new senses that give your brain a chance to adapt and become more resilient to become.

This phenomenon was very helpful to Nicole Caruvana, a healthcare worker who felt burned out for most of the pandemic and traveled to Cape Town and Botswana to go on safari after being vaccinated. “The trip was part stress relief, part recovery,” she says, recalling the bucket list experience of sitting half a meter from a pride of lions. “I’m as good as the best of me when I immerse myself in a new experience and learn new things – it helps me re-focus and practice gratitude.”

Traveling on the post-pandemic bucket list is more about the journey than the destination

“I think people take these once-in-a-lifetime trips because they’ve been stuck in the house for the last year and the value of friends and connections has become more important than ever,” says Erina Pindar, the managing director of SmartFlyer, a travel company that specializes in planning specializes in luxury adventure travel. “People are more willing to spend their money on experiences that matter with the people they love,” she says, adding that she has noticed an increased interest in this type of travel after the pandemic.

Mimi Levine, a New York City publicist, is preparing for just these kinds of connection-driven adventures. She spent a lot of quarantine watching Stanley Tucci eat his way through Italy Stanley Tucci: In search of Italy. Then, directly inspired by his delicious looking travels, she booked a trip to Sicily with two of her best friends after receiving her COVID-19 vaccine. “I wouldn’t call this trip a ‘bucket list’ destination [for me]“I’ve been to Italy before – but I would definitely call it a trip on my bucket list,” says Levine, who plans cooking classes and diving in the Ionian Sea during her time on the Italian coast in August. “[My friends and I] are It itches after travel and adventure and gives three very eager best friends the opportunity to reconnect and travel together after such a long separation. “

Pindar says a lot of the post-lockdown vacations she’s been planning for clients lately have been multigenerational trips for families who can finally get together after a year apart, adventures for groups of best friends who maxed out the Zoom Happy Hours, or month-long short breaks for couples who want to find themselves in a new place after a year at home with their children. “People come together because they are more aware of the loss, and that’s why it has become even more important [to spend time with the people you care about]”Says Dr. Brein. “It applies to so many aspects of our life, including when traveling.”

Ultimately, the “why” is far more important than the “where” – which means that every trip that matters to you deserves a tick on your proverbial bucket list.

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