This article originally appeared in Well+Good.
After a year's worth of pandemic-related lockdowns and travel restrictions, many people in the United States are finally enjoying an ease back into pre-COVID normalcy, especially as it pertains to travel. In a survey of 3,000 people, American Express Travel's Global Trends Report found that 78 percent of respondents want to travel in 2021 to relieve the stresses from 2020. And for a number of people, said getaways are bucket-list trips.
According to Merriam-Webster, a "bucket list" is "a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying." Bucket-list trips often bring to mind features that aren't the most easily accessible, like being far away, luxurious, time-consuming, and expensive.
But in the case of post-quarantine travel, a "bucket list" vacation doesn't have to mean jetting off to Africa for a safari or jumping out of an airplane over Dubai's Palm Island. Instead, it's about having an experience that truly means something to you. And that meaning doesn't have to come at the cost of all your vacation days or life savings.