How to Make a Travel Bucket List (and Actually Use It)

By KT Apps · Updated October 16, 2026

1. Brainstorm without limits

Start by writing down everything, without worrying yet about cost or practicality. Ideas come from many places:

• Places you have always talked about going.
• Countries linked to your family history, a language you are learning or a sport you follow.
• Food you love and want to eat where it comes from.
• Natural sights: mountains, coasts, deserts, forests, wildlife, night skies.
• Festivals and events that happen at a particular time of year.
• Recommendations from friends, books and films.

Write experiences as well as places, such as "see the northern lights" or "walk a long-distance trail". Then note which countries or regions could make each one happen.

2. Sort the list so it is useful

A long list of dreams is pleasant to read but hard to act on. Add a few quick labels to each entry:

Trip length

A weekend, a week, or a long trip of several weeks. Shorter trips are easier to fit in, so they tend to happen first.

Rough cost

Low, medium or high, considering flights and daily costs. You do not need exact figures at this stage.

Best season

Some places depend heavily on the time of year because of weather, daylight, wildlife or events. Noting the season tells you when to start planning.

Who with

Solo, with a partner, with children, with friends. Some trips suit some companions better than others.

3. Pick your next few

From the sorted list, choose a short "next up" group of two or three places. A good mix is one trip that is easy to do soon, one that needs saving up, and one that depends on timing, such as a seasonal event.

Some entries depend on things that change, such as health, mobility, family situation or the political or safety situation in a destination. It can make sense not to postpone those indefinitely.

Before booking, check your government's official travel advice, entry and visa requirements, and any health recommendations for the destination. These can change at short notice.

4. Turn a dream into a plan

1. Choose the season and a rough date range.
2. Estimate the budget and how long you need to save for it.
3. Check passports, visas and entry rules early, because some take time.
4. Read up on getting around, so you can plan a realistic route.
5. Set a decision date for booking, so the trip does not stay "someday" forever.

5. Keep the list alive

A bucket list works best when it changes with you. Review it once or twice a year, for example when planning annual leave:

• Move places you have been to a separate "done" list. Seeing it grow is part of the fun.
• Remove ideas that no longer excite you; that is not failure.
• Add new ideas as they come up, from conversations, books or trips themselves.
• Look at the balance: if every idea is on one continent, maybe that is your thing, or maybe there is a whole region you have not considered.

If you also want to keep score of where you have been, see how to track the countries you've visited.

Keeping a country wishlist in WorldFill

WorldFill puts your wishlist and your visited countries on the same map.

1. Tap a country on the map, or find it on the List tab, and choose Wishlist. It fills with the wishlist colour.
2. On the List tab, switch the filter to Wishlist to see only the places you want to go, grouped by continent.
3. When you visit, change the country's status to Visited. On the List tab, long-press to pick a status directly.
4. Open the Stats tab to see how many countries are on your wishlist alongside visited and remaining counts, and your progress on each continent.
5. Share a summary of your progress from the Stats tab.

WorldFill works at country level, so keep notes on cities, seasons or budgets elsewhere. In the web version your map stays in this browser. WorldFill is also available for iPhone.

Frequently asked questions