Ladies Who Travel - Bucket List Dreams: Where We've Been and Where We're Going

Every traveller carries a mental list of places they long to see, from childhood dreams to newly discovered wonders. These bucket lists reveal our deepest fascinations and evolve as our relationship with travel changes.

Tracy and new permanent co-host Melissa share their own wishes, from African safaris to singing along while landing in Anchorage, Alaska. They reflect on how priorities shift over time. Many start with iconic sights, then find deeper joy in slower, more immersive trips to less visited places. As Melissa says of a month in India, “What surprised me wasn’t the destinations or attractions, but the interactions we had with people.”

Our rapidly growing Ladies Who Travel community (5,000+ members in six weeks) echoes this shift. Members are organising meet-ups across continents and joining group trips to Morocco, helping each other realise dreams like the Northern Lights, European Christmas markets, or long-awaited Greece.

Whether you keep a written list or a mental one, this episode celebrates destinations that call to you. As Tracy says of finally seeing the Golden Gate Bridge after nearly forty years, “Sometimes you don’t get to them straight away. But eventually you can, and that dream never went away.”

Ready to turn your travel dreams into reality? Join our vibrant community of women travellers and discover how shared wanderlust creates lifelong friendships and unforgettable adventures.

⭐️ Co-host - Melissa (QueenslandTravelGuide.com.au)
📝  Show Notes - Episode 78

🎧 Listen to next

• Episode #39 - Planning Your Dream Trip in 2025: Expert Tips and Strategies
• Episode #56 – Essential Tips for Surviving Long Haul Flights 
• Episode #47– Pack Like a Pro: Essential Tips, Tricks + Travel Hacks

Chapters

• 0:00 Travel Bucket Lists: Do You Have One?
• 2:32 Introducing Ladies Who Travel Community
• 8:13 Upcoming Tours and Travel Meetups
• 12:00 Bucket Lists: Written or Mental?
• 18:10 Dream Destinations Revealed
• 25:22 When Reality Meets Expectations
• 29:04 How Travel Styles Change Over Time

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

What's on your travel bucket list, or do you even have one? In this episode of Ladies who Travel, we dive into the dream trips we still hope to take, the ones we've already done and how our travel goals have evolved over time.

Speaker 2: 0:12

Welcome to the Global Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is founder of the Global Travel Planning website, tracey Collins. Each week, tracey is joined by expert guests as she takes you on a journey to destinations around the world, sharing travel inspiration, itinerary ideas and practical tips to help you plan your next adventure. Join us as we explore everywhere, from bustling cities to remote landscapes, uncover cultural treasures and discover the best ways to make your travel dreams a reality.

Speaker 1: 0:47

Hi everybody, and welcome to this month's edition of ladies who travel, which is our regular monthly series where we chat about all things travel. But from this month, I just want to announce that melissa has agreed to come on as a permanent co-host for this series, which is really exciting. So I just want to announce that, and also that Shelley has decided that she's going to pursue other projects from now, and so Melissa and I just wanted to wish her well in her continued travels and with her website, which is soloherwaycom. So good luck with that, shelley, and thanks so much for coming on as a guest for the previous episodes of Ladies who Travel. It's been great to chat with you and also Melissa. We've got some ideas from January, haven't we, about how we're going to do these episodes.

Speaker 3: 1:40

Yeah, yeah, it would be really great for those who are listening from our Ladies who Travel group. It would be great to have some of them on and come and hear about their travels or their thoughts about travels.

Speaker 1: 1:53

Yeah, so what we are planning to do next year is that we would like to chat to some of you on our monthly Ladies who Travel series. So we only have 12 episodes in the year so far. You never know, this may become a spin-off podcast in the future of its own, but at the moment we have 12 episodes. So the aim next year will be that we will invite a fellow lady who travels on each month to chat about the relevant topics. We'll come up with the topics actually within our Facebook group and I don't know, Melissa, if you want to just chat about what's been happening in the Facebook group Now. We're recording this in September to go out in October, so I'd imagine by the time this goes live, it's going to have gone even bigger.

Speaker 3: 2:32

It's crazy, isn't it, tracey? Like we did start the group some time ago, but I think it was only really early August that we really started focusing on it. And, yeah're, we're almost up to 2 000 members already, so yeah, in about six weeks we've got to about 2 000 members and it's just growing every day, isn't it?

Speaker 1: 2:52

it's great, it's it's fantastic. So if you're listening to this podcast and you're a lady who travels, come and join our facebook group.

Speaker 3: 2:59

It's so exciting, we're loving it, and melissa's already had one meetup in brisbane already yes, we met last saturday and I think there was 10 women plus me, so 11 Excited. We're loving it, and Melissa's already had one meetup in Brisbane already. Yes, we met on Saturday and I think there was 10 women plus me, so 11. It was wonderful to meet some local women and we've already got a couple more, you know, in the progress of getting set up. So, yeah, we hope to meet more of you around the world.

Speaker 1: 3:22

Absolutely, and I'm setting a meetup in Perth which hopefully will have taken place by the time this podcast goes out, and I've also said I'll be over in the UK in March. So we're looking at dates there as well and different venues. So get in touch. Get in touch, let us know where you are via Speakpipe, where you'd be interested in having a meetup, and then we'll see what we can sort out. We you'd be interested in having a meetup and we'll see what we can sort out. We're also very excited to share with you that we have some tours in the offing as well and, um, we are looking for ideas of where you would like to go, where would you like to travel to? Um, and at the moment we we have a morocco tour in march, which is nearly full, uh, which is going to be so exciting. I'm really looking forward to go back to morocco, so that would be really, really cool, and we're looking at other other ideas as well.

Speaker 3: 4:06

Melissa yeah, yeah, um, like tracy said, um, by the time this episode comes out, we would have closed our vietnam trip. So that will be happening in march. But, like tracy said, we imagine morocco might still be open unless it's full. But if you are interested, now is the time to sign up. But, yeah, we need to plan some more trips for ladies who travel. So we want to know where do you want to go, like where have you always wanted to go, but with, too, you know, afraid to go on your own, because now's the time, because now you've got like 2 000 friends to travel with. So, uh, yeah, you'll never have to travel alone again.

Speaker 1: 4:41

I know it's amazing, so come and join the group. I'll put the link in the show notes. Let us know via speakpipe. We love hearing from you as well, and we might get a shout out on the podcast as well. And that leads us really well into this month's topic, actually, which is about bucket lists. So been there done that, or have you? You know what is your bucket list? Have you got an idea of the places that you really want to travel to?

Speaker 1: 5:05

And this is a great chance for you to actually share this information with us as well. Whether it's in the group, whether you send an email, whether you leave a message via Speakpad, we want to know where is it that you want to go. Anyway, I'm going to start out by asking you, melissa do you have a bucket list? Do you hate the term bucket list? Is it in your head? Do you have it written down? How do you feel about bucket lists?

Speaker 3: 5:25

Yeah, I don't mind the term bucket list and I am. I'm definitely one that I'm not really a fan of buzzwords and stuff, but I think bucket list is okay. I'm okay with that. Do I have a bucket list? I do. It's not a formal one, though. It's not written down. It's not a Pinterest board. It's kind of not even clear in my head. There are just some places I want to go to, but, yeah, there are some people say, oh, what's on your bucket list? And I might rattle off a few things, but, yeah, nothing formal, not. Like. You know, our friend, josie from Josie Wonders, like she always has like her bucket list up on her website and I've read it a few times and I'm like, yeah, maybe I need to get around to something like that. What about you, tracey? Like, do you have anything formal?

Speaker 1: 6:10

or Well, I'm glad you've mentioned Josie, actually, because Josie was on episode 28 and talking about her travels and she has a 60 by 60 bucket list and she really inspired me to kind of. And also I will mention with Josie's as well is that it's not all big ticket things that she puts on her list. A lot of things can be local to her that she hasn't done obviously experiences and she always leaves a few places free because you never know what's going to come up. Um, and, honestly, josie inspired me to do it and I still haven't. I have to tell you this is typical me. This is like this is what I'm going to do, and Josie's asked me a few times who's it coming along? How's it going along? I'm like not written down yet. Maybe by the time this episode is out it will be done. I'll see.

Speaker 1: 6:53

Um, I think for me, yes, I've always had a bucket list. In fact, since I was eight years of age, I had a bucket list. I only had two things on it. Uh, one was to stand at the top of Table Mountain. The other was to see the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I was eight and I kind of was like those are the two places and yeah, there were places I wanted to see. I did eventually see them stood at the top of Table Mountain when I was about 15. And I saw the Golden Gate Bridge. I think it was just before I was 50. So it took a long time to get there, but I did see it and I do have some things that are always hovering in my mind about what I want to do and see.

Speaker 1: 7:30

I think Josie made a really good point when she was talking about the bucket list and she said it really helps you when you're going somewhere to kind of think, oh, what other places that I want to go and see that I could kind of get to, or easily, you know, easily reach. I think that works really really well. Um, I think I suppose where bucket list can have a bit of downfall when it's just seen as ticking something off, like a list that you've got to obsessively get through and tick off, and I like to have some kind of flexibility and kind of fluidity around. Uh, my bucket list.

Speaker 1: 8:01

It was really interesting because we we asked in the the ladies who travel facebook group yesterday, um, and wendy said yes, she has a bucket list, but the order keeps changing and new places get added, depending on who she talks to, what she sees or what she reads, and I can totally understand that as well. You do that, don't you see? Somebody else has been somewhere and you go. Oh, I really want to do that as well, yeah. But yeah, I know, I spoke to Tanya recently in episode 70 and 71, and her big of her, top of her bucket list for a long, long time was an African safari, which she did, and those are fantastic episodes to listen to, and I know that's one of your uh bucket list items, isn't it?

Speaker 3: 8:43

yeah, do you want to share where it?

Speaker 1: 8:44

is yeah, you want to go?

Speaker 3: 8:47

definitely yeah. Whenever anyone says to me oh like, what's on your bucket list, the number one thing I always say is an african wildlife safari. Um, and I know africa is a very big place and I'm I probably haven't really narrowed down where, um, probably it'll just depend on the time of year I go and where the best place is to see the animals, but, um, I just love seeing animals, uh, in the wild. It is just super exciting to me and, yeah, so Africa is an African wildlife safari is high on my list, so I really, really hope that some ladies who travel might like to come and, um, do that one with me at some stage.

Speaker 1: 9:24

Well, I mean I have done more African safaris than I can count, because I grew up between Southern Africa and the UK. So from quite a young age I was in fact I took my daughter, I think, when I had a first African game drive when she was five, and I'm lucky enough to actually own a timeshare in a game reserve as well, so not that I've been for quite a long time.

Speaker 1: 9:50

So, um, but I understand. I understand the draw. I'm hoping to get over there myself next year and I think hosting a, a tour of southern africa maybe botswana, namibia would be so exciting. So if that's something on your bucket list, let us know we can all go? Yeah, I think so. Should I share one of mine because mine's awesome? I'm going to start out with a bit a bit of one. That's a bit left field actually. I suppose, um in, and that I have wanted to do this forever. Right, and it is.

Speaker 1: 10:23

I wanted to sing along to the lyrics of anchorage alaska by michelle, shocked when I land at anchorage airport that is a really weird one, I know, but I love the song so much and I've wanted to go to alaska forever and just for me, the reality will be listening to her song as I land at the airport. So that's a very, very weird one. But there you go. It's not always about places. Sometimes it's about, like, the experience.

Speaker 3: 10:55

Do you want to sing Alaska or just land, and then go back again and sing the song and turn around?

Speaker 1: 11:01

Oh, no, no, there's loads of things I want to do in Alaska. So I used to love Ice Road Truckers and I I want to do in alaska, so I, I used to love um ice road truckers and I'd like to do the dalton highway.

Speaker 1: 11:10

I I just would love, love, love, love to do that so yeah, that would be a great trip, and I'd love to then do an alaskan cruise as well. Look, I've not done a cruise and I've always been a bit about cruises, but I have to say, if there's one cruise that I would like to do, it would be the.

Speaker 2: 11:24

Alaska one.

Speaker 1: 11:25

I've heard it's amazing, and so I think flying into Anchorage, maybe doing a bit of the Dalton Highway, then taking a cruise, would be a pretty amazing experience.

Speaker 3: 11:37

Yeah, I did see also Iris in our group. One of her bucket list items was to go to Greece. She said it's been on her bucket list for more than 50 years. So, iris, I hope you get there one day. But yeah, I have been to Greece a few times. That on my bucket list is to do a bit of island hopping around Greece. That would be. Yeah, I did actually have it planned a while back and I had to cancel it, unfortunately. But yeah, um, that's something I really like to do, I, to do an island hopping um trip around, uh, greece, so maybe iris and I can go one day well, I see, actually I was just going next year.

Speaker 1: 12:19

She said that her son got there before her. Yeah, um. So greece we we actually did travel the grisa four years ago, which was really cool, and I have not been to the islands now. I have always been a fan of Gerald Dorrell and my family and other animals. He grew up on Corfu and actually Corfu has been on my to visit list forever.

Speaker 1: 12:40

I actually managed to go visit the zoo in Jersey that Gerald Dorrell set up and actually managed to to visit his grave, which was a Gerald Dahl set up, and actually managed to visit his grave, which was a big thing for me. I actually did cry Because I've been a fan since I was about eight or nine, of Gerald's or also. That was amazing. So, yes, I'd like to go to Corfu and see the, the white villa and the strawberry villa. So if you know my family and other animals, you'll understand all about that. Um, but I know I think having a bucket list does does focus you as well and make you think about, uh, places that you, you want to go. And again, what is really funny about my list I was thinking about this last night is that because I don't like the cold and we are going to Antarctica in November, which was also on.

Speaker 3: 13:22

Well is on my bucket list, but it won't be soon because we'll have gone there.

Speaker 1: 13:27

So we'll be able to tell you all about that and how that goes. But I notoriously don't like cold weather, right, even though I was British. I was born in the northeast of England, so maybe that's what it was. I was just like, no, get me away from this cold weather. But, interestingly, the next thing on my bucket list is actually to see the polar bears and Churchill. So you know, I've wanted to do that forever, again, having a real interest in seeing animals in the wild, and I know that with, with with the climate change and and things changing, it's becoming much more difficult for the polar bears. Um, so it's something that I really would like to go and experience. Um, but well, wrapped up, I will say, um, and I'd be really interested. If anybody has done this, is anybody in the group or anybody listen to the podcast. Have you been to Churchill? Can you let us know? In fact, I fact I'd like to come on the podcast and talk all about it, because I'm a bit obsessed with it. I just think it will be amazing.

Speaker 3: 14:22

The other thing in our group, gloria. I know that she said India is on her bucket list and that was also on my bucket list until last year, where I was lucky enough to go on a trip to India with you. Well, I actually invited myself. You said you were going. I was like can I come?

Speaker 1: 14:42

I know it was really. Actually it was really cool. Yes, because at the time my brother and sister-in-law were living in India, so I knew they were moving back to Denmark where they live and it was my last chance to go over. So I planned a six-week trip but I wanted to do two tours. I didn't feel confident to visit india on my own and so I I kind of reached out and said, do you want to come? And you? I think I maybe I was discussing it with you and you kind of like, can I call my bike? Yeah?

Speaker 2: 15:06

do you want to come?

Speaker 1: 15:07

absolutely come um and we had just, we had the best time we really did, we did, we did two interpreters, we did south India and then we flew up to North India and did the two tours. Actually, the North India tour that we did with Intrepid was women only. It was fabulous, absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 15:25

We should definitely look into putting that trip on for ladies who travel, because that was so good.

Speaker 1: 15:31

Oh yeah, absolutely. And also, if we're looking at India as well, I have Marianne as well, who has been on the podcast to talk all about. She also has a tour company in India and I'd love to chat to Marianne about that and she focuses on it's basically India for beginners and she looks at kind of preparing and planning bespoke trips for women who want to travel India. So that would also be awesome actually to chat to Marianne and see if we could organise something. So if India's on your bucket list, let us know. And Sandy, who in the group she was actually sharing, that she wants to go to Morocco and Vietnam.

Speaker 3: 16:08

Oh, vietnam, and you know what's good about the Morocco and Vietnam trip. You can do Vietnam and then from Vietnam you can fly to Morocco and do Morocco as well.

Speaker 1: 16:18

Which is what I'm doing and we're both going to be doing yeah.

Speaker 3: 16:20

So, sandy, let's talk absolutely.

Speaker 1: 16:24

And then and sandy also mentions something else that we've- been talking about and actually, doug and I have just recently uh recorded an episode about the christmas markets um in germany and our trip actually around Europe in December because we traveled to about five or six different countries. I love Christmas markets Germany does them the best, in my opinion, and so we'd love to do Christmas markets in Europe 100%, and we'd like to look at doing a river cruise. I think that would be really cool as well, but we're also interested in not only doing the women-only tours, but also doing tours where you can bring along your partner as well yes, you know, the idea behind ladies who travel is not just women's only trips.

Speaker 3: 17:08

I mean, obviously that's what we've got going so far, but we want to support you no matter how you like to travel. Like, maybe sometimes you want to travel with your girlfriend, sometimes you want to travel with your girlfriend, sometimes you want to travel with your husband or your partner. Look, I mean, I have a teenage daughter. I'd really like the idea of having a, you know, a mom and daughter trip or something like that. So let us know how you want to travel and where to, because we're here to support you in any way you like.

Speaker 1: 17:37

Yeah, absolutely, definitely. You like yeah, absolutely, um, definitely there's so much. There's so much of the world to see there, see and go and explore. So you know, come with us and do it. I think that's, that's the key. The key thing is, sometimes it's finding your tribe to go and do that trip with as well and have fun with um. I'm going to just mention the third thing on my bucket list, because we're gonna, because we're kind of decided we were going to share what they were today, and it's another cold thing which is hilarious, honestly, and that is I really would like to spend some time in either the Ice Hotel or one of those igloos in the Arctic Circle and see the Northern Lights.

Speaker 3: 18:11

Yes, Northern Lights definitely on my bucket list, would love to see that. And lights definitely on my bucket list, would love to see that. Um, I'd have to really um, get prepped, though, because I don't like cold weather either, but, yes, it would be worth it, wouldn't it?

Speaker 1: 18:25

you'd forget about the cold oh, absolutely 100, and, and quite a few people actually in the group mentioned iceland, which is again kind of features. Hi, I've been wanting to go to Iceland forever Before I actually became like mega, mega, mega, mega probably over-touristed now, which kind of worries me. I'm trying to stick away from that. But yeah, iceland would be somewhere that I'd just I'd like to go there for a whole month if I could afford it and just really explore it and try the food, and I absolutely love some of the Icelandic dramas.

Speaker 2: 18:59

They're so good they're really, really good.

Speaker 1: 19:00

So I like to immerse myself, whether it's by reading or watching stuff on Netflix or TV about a place that I'm going to, and whether that's actually a fiction or non-fiction, it's just. It's just. You learn such a lot, you see a lot of what you know. You think, oh, I really want to go and see that or want to try that, um, or you can learn a little bit of the language, and we've talked about that before. Isn't it about kind of trying to prepare when you go to somewhere that you haven't been and learn a few words?

Speaker 3: 19:24

I've got another thing that's on my bucket list, which is also on Wendy in our group, and her bucket list is going to the Galapagos. I really would like to go to the Galapagos someday. She also has going to Machu Picchu, which I did do. That when I was a fair bit younger, in my early 30s. I did the trek there. It nearly killed me, but I did it. I did do it and it was fantastic. Seeing Machu Picchu South America, in fact, is amazing. But yeah, galapagos, I yeah, definitely on like something on my bucket list that I'd hope to see one day.

Speaker 1: 20:03

I know that's wendy saying it's like she's she's done some of these amazing things that the african safari and and um, machu picchu and galapagos, just I mean they're amazing trips that you've done there, wendy. Um, I have to say I haven't done any. I've obviously done african safari, but not on the masa amara. I would actually love to see the wildebeest migration and it's something that I keep trying to fit into my schedule and it just never happens. Um, I have to say I, quite a few people have mentioned uh, trekking, uh in rwanda to see the gorillas. I have to say that's just, you know, and this is where we're all different, because that I you know the reason why that isn't on my bucket list.

Speaker 1: 20:42

I would be terrified. I, um, you know the whole flight or fight thing. I would, I would want to run away, I'd be just I'm scared when I see them in a zoo, so god knows whatever, like, if I actually saw like a massive silverback, I might not. So I admire everybody who has done that or would like to do that, but it's definitely not something that I want to do. I think that's something you wanted to do, melissa.

Speaker 3: 21:03

Oh, I would love to Look. Honestly, I just love seeing wildlife in the wild, so I would be keen on that. It would probably have to depend on. I don't mind a bit of trekking, I don't mind getting a little bit dirty, but it probably would depend how dirty and how long and hard the trek is. If I would do it, but, yeah, I'd be up for that, wendy, definitely.

Speaker 1: 21:23

Yeah, I'm going to say I think some of these things you'll have to do. I won't be able to do, for example, anything that involves trekking or hiking, because I'm infamous for not wanting to do either of those things. It's just, those are not for me. That's not holiday for me unless I'm in New Zealand, south Island, and that's the one place in the world that I will do a hike. Otherwise, no, not for me. But it's good, otherwise we'd all be got in the same place, wouldn't we? Exactly, yeah, what about a bucket list thing that you have done that really delivered, or have you done something that you really expected to be better than it was?

Speaker 3: 22:00

Well, look, I think something that really delivered was definitely India for me. I really loved India. I was actually surprised how much I loved it. We went for a month and I thought the month would be a little bit hard in India, but we did prepare a little bit, but neither of us got sick. We were very, very well the whole entire time. But what surprised me? A little bit and in hindsight it probably shouldn't have surprised me but rather than just the destinations we visited or attraction, I love the interactions we had with the people and, like you said, we on a a woman's trip and it wasn't just as in women like us on the trip, the focus was on the women in the communities that we visited as well, and I really love that. I just love the interaction. But, like I said, I shouldn't have been surprised, because that's one of the things I find on any trip I go on. I'm always like, oh, I had this wonderful interaction with such and such and I mean that's what travel is to me, isn't it? It's just wonderful.

Speaker 1: 23:00

Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, to meet people while we travel is just amazing. It's just fantastic.

Speaker 1: 23:06

I mean for me actually. Yeah, always meeting people, that's always a highlight and I'm such a chatty person anyway. So any time that I'm on a train trip is always a joy for me, because just getting a chance to sit you do want to train you just sit and kind of naturally have a conversation with people that you meet. So I've done some some really cool train trips over the years In terms of actually seeing something. The fact that I waited like nearly 40 years to see the Golden Gate Bridge, that was kind of special. I remember coming out on the coach from the airport and the first sighting of it and it was like oh, wow. And I think it kind of underlined that.

Speaker 1: 23:47

You know, sometimes we have these lists or these ideas of places we want to see and sometimes you don't get to them straight away. But you know, eventually you can and that dream never went away and I managed to kind of fulfill it. So I know the other places that I really want to go to I will eventually get there. So sometimes it's just having that patience I haven't really been anywhere. That's been a letdown. I was thinking really hard about that and I just really embrace most of the places that I go to. I guess I've mentioned probably the place that I I don't dislike the most, but I I don't rush back to his paris, so I just found paris. Yeah, we also gonna say paris. Yeah, it's funny.

Speaker 3: 24:28

Yeah, it comes up so often I don't look, I don't mind, I I'd go again.

Speaker 1: 24:33

But I I'm a bit surprised how everyone's like I want to go to paris and I was with a very big towel I think it's just the kind of I think paris has done a really good job over the years of kind of publicizing itself. We've got emily in paris as well, you know we all. So I, I don't know. Uh, look, paris is okay. Um, it's certainly not my favorite city in europe, uh, which is split. Um, if you, if you want to, in croatia. Before that it was rome. I love history, so the fact that, uh, you know rome and it's really funny because my sister doesn't like Rome at all so, there you go, we're all different. Um, I just, I just love the fact that you can walk and feel the history, you can feel the past in those places, and I just love that. I just feel that you can reach over the centuries and actually feel the people who lived before us. Um, yeah, that's such a special thing.

Speaker 3: 25:25

I like that too, and my other one that, um, it wasn't on my bucket list, but it was just somewhere where we went that it seems to be on everyone's bucket list was hawaii. Um, it was okay, but I'm like, okay, it's just a beach destination. Look, I mean I know hawaii is a big place and I only went to Waikiki and Maui, but I just didn't really get it. Yeah, no.

Speaker 1: 25:47

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 25:50

It was okay, but it wasn't amazing for me.

Speaker 1: 25:54

What about the places that you want to visit or your style of travel? Has that changed over the years? Obviously, I mean, you did some solo travel when you were younger, as I did, and then you know we've both got daughters, so we've travelled with our kids as they've grown up. My daughter is quite a bit older than yours now, though, but have you changed the style of how you travel?

Speaker 3: 26:15

Yeah, I have a little bit.

Speaker 3: 26:16

I mean, I only started travelling, like my first international trip, I was 23, I think, and so you know, early on, like most travellers, I was keen to see all those iconic tourist places that we'd all heard about.

Speaker 3: 26:30

So I was really really keen to see them. And then, over the years, I kind of noticed that I seemed to really like the smaller, village, adventure-y style trips a lot more than those big iconic places. So I do tend to probably look for those type of trips a bit more now, and that's not to say I wouldn't go to, like, popular tourist places, because I will, but I just find that I enjoy, yeah, places where I can immerse myself in a different type of culture and um have opportunities to interact with local people a little bit more, which does tend to kind of lean towards that slower travel so that you can be, you know, in in a marketplace or um, as opposed to going to a I don't know, you know, the, the famous attraction in which might be the Eiffel Tower or something like that. So, yeah, it has changed a little bit. What about yourself?

Speaker 1: 27:30

Yeah, we talked about that, about India, didn't we? When we were talking about our highlights of India and the group that we travelled with, nobody mentioned the Taj Mahal, which is kind of what everybody says to you when you've been in India oh, did you go to Taj Mahal? You go? Yes, I went to Taj Mahal, but actually it wasn't. It was about the interaction and meeting the people, that kind of that kind of stood out.

Speaker 1: 27:53

Um, I've been guilty the last few years of actually doing faster travel than I'd like to, um, but mainly I feel like I'm trying to catch up on a lot of travel that I didn't do when I was bringing up my daughter and concentrating on on work, um, and and not traveling so much and also emigrating to Australia, which costs quite a lot of money. So I've done. I felt like I hadn't been to Vietnam, I hadn't been to Cambodia, I hadn't been to New Zealand, I hadn't been to. So I want to do all of those places. So I kind of have, over the last few years, fitted in a lot of places, probably 25, maybe even 30 countries. Even in December, when we're traveling around Europe, I was like, well, I've not been to Finland, I've not been to Poland. We're going to go there. So sometimes that drives a little bit of what I want to do, but I'm also keener on the future in doing the slower travel and actually spending some time. I'd love to spend six months in New Zealand and really kind of just explore New Zealand properly. I'd like to do the same in, maybe Malaysia as well, spend three months in Malaysia and really, you know, get to meet the local people, go and shop at the local market, learn more about the culture and the people who you know, who live in that country. Yeah, so slower travel is something that I'd like to do in the future as well. And you know, I think that's.

Speaker 1: 29:06

It doesn't matter how you travel. Really, it's about kind of what suits you and you know, if you only have 10 days holiday off, then that's what you've got to fit in If you have. You know if you, and then you've got to prioritize if you have got, you know more. I've got a friend in the UK who's about to travel around the world and he's doing it in about two weeks and he's just going from one flight to the other. He had all these free flights or cheap flights, so he's just done that.

Speaker 1: 29:32

So it's like wow, that to me would be I couldn't do that. I hate flying or anything. You couldn't force me to do that. But yeah, so it's just everybody. Some people choose to do different things. That's what he wants to experience, so that's what he's doing. So we all travel differently, which is absolutely fine, and we're looking to include as many different ways of travel and different destinations as we can over the next few years and hopefully develop Ladies who Travel tours and obviously the Ladies who Travel Facebook group as well, into a really, really thriving community, and also we can offer places that you want to go on your bucket list if you've got one over the next few years. That would be great, wouldn't it?

Speaker 3: 30:17

It would be. Tracey, I think it's probably a good time to say, like we've talked about Vietnam and Morocco, but if there is anyone out there who the UK is on their bucket list still but they're a bit afraid to go there that you're offering it's not a purely ladies-only trip, but if any of the people from the ladies who travel would like to go to the UK, they can have a chat with you.

Speaker 1: 30:41

Yeah, doug and I are hosting a tour around britain next year, so it'll be in england, scotland and wales. So if you're interested in that, do get in touch. You can find in my email address via the show notes. I'll put that in for uk travel planet as well. Uh, so get in touch if that's something you want to interested in and take listen to the uk travel planet podcast as well, because I will be kind of chatting about it in there as well. But yeah, absolutely, we do have some places left, so do get in touch. Love to see you on that tour as well. Anyway, I guess that's it. That's a wrap for this month.

Speaker 1: 31:12

Melissa, we've talked about our bucket list. We've shared some of the bucket lists from some of the amazing members and our Ladies who Travel Facebook group as well. As I say, you can find links to the tours. You can find links to the Facebook group in the show notes for this episode, which will be at globaltravelplanningcom. Forward slash, episode 78. And you can also leave us a message. Please leave us a message via speakpipe. We love to hear from you, but I guess that just leaves us until next month when we will be back to chat all things. I think we're actually going to be talking about how climate affects where we visit. So you know, cold weather, whether we like or not. Would we prefer heat? What do we like when we travel in terms of climate and how do we prepare, because I know this is something we've chatted about. Even preparing for Antarctica is dressing us out a little bit. Make make sure we don't freeze.

Speaker 3: 32:04

Yes, so that'll be a good one to talk about, because I struggle with the cold weather too.

Speaker 1: 32:09

Yes, so that'll be next month, but, as always, until next month. Happy global travel planning. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Global Travel Planning Podcast. For more details and links to everything we discussed today, check out the show notes at globaltravelplanningcom. Remember, if you enjoyed the show, please consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast app, because your feedback helps us reach more travel enthusiasts, just like you. Anyway, that leaves me to say, as always, happy global travel planning.