Boomer Bucket Lists: A Huge New Travel Obsession

I haven’t seen the Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman flick that the term came from, but “bucket list” has certainly entered the lexicon of our age: Stuff to do before you kick the bucket.

Could be sky diving, could be bungee jumping — could be any number of things that might actually have you kicking the bucket somewhat before your allotted time.

Or, in my case — and that of many other baby boomers — it’s traveling to as many places as we can before we’re immobilized in one way or another.

Now, some of these may well include a certain level of risk: trekking to Machu Picchu; angling for a great shot of African buffalo on a safari in Kenya (tip: angle away while remaining safely in your vehicle); even climbing the Great Wall of China (some of those steps are killer on the knees).

Others might entail less physical exertion: sunbathing on the top ten beaches in the Caribbean; cruising all the great rivers of the world; trying to see every Hieronymous Bosch painting hanging in European museums. (Okay, I admit, I tried that and it’s not all that easy.)

The possibilities are endless. And for travel purveyors like tour operators and tourist bureaus — and travel agencies putting travel packages together — the possibilities of catering to boomer bucket lists are endless as well.

Think specialty tours. Haunted castles in England, anyone? Golfing journeys to Scotland? Culinary tours to Turkey?

Think eco-experiences:  Bird-watching tours to Costa Rica? Diving expeditions in the South Pacific? Searching for komodo dragons in Indonesia or polar bears in Canada?

In some ways, the more exotic the better. Boomers will pull out the stops to see places before it’s too late (either for them, or the places).

If they’ve been to six continents already, take them to Antarctica. Get them to Greenland before Greenland actually turns green. Is Venice sinking? Well, maybe mostly from the weight of tourists, but boomers can’t wait forever to find out.

Bucket lists are fun, and there are buckets full of opportunities in helping to make all those fantasies come true.

 

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